THE COLOUR OF SPRING

Clearly the turning point in Talk Talk's career. The music is still pop, but with the jazzy/bluesy/ambient moments that will characterize their next albums. A large number of guest musicians help giving more density to the songs, though each song in itself is quite simply structured. I would tend to say this album is musically much better than the previous one "It's My Life", but because of two weak songs ("Give It Up" and "Chameleon Day") I cannot give a five star rating.

"Happiness Is Easy" is clearly the song that shows the maturity of the band on this album - simple structure, slightly sad melody with a lot of emotion put in it, warm voice. "I Don't Believe In You" is even darker - a pop/rock ballad similar to "Renée" from the last album. "Life's What You Make It" - the first single from this album - is another simple pop song: a piano/voice song with barely any extra instruments added. Then "April 5th" (maybe one of the most beautiful song ever written): a simplistic musical ensemble (dobro, keys, saxophone) and Mark Hollis' exceptional voice for a moment of overwhelming emotion. "Living In Another World" is the total opposite: the second single from this album sees the return of classic pop/rock with traditional guitar/bass/drums, clearly a song that could have been written for the previous album (the silly video for that song is hilarious though). Now comes the weaker part of this album... "Give It Up" is similar to "I Don't Believe In You" but without the emotion - almost a filler. "Chameleon Day" is simply too different from the other songs - only mellotron, synth and almost whispered vocals makes this one too boring. The last song "Time It's Time" is a mix of the different styles from this album - the fading outro is very long though and a bit boring too.

Rating: 88/100 (excellent)