Talk Talk, Mark Hollis

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I was relistening to Talk Talk's final three albums and also Mark Hollis' self-titled solo and it hit me, not for the first time, that Talk Talk may have been one of the best bands of all time.

Listen to Happiness Is Easy. Give it the time it needs, shut everything else out and just listen to how absolutely immaculately put together every single facet of it is. Such detail, not a wasted sound, each layer completely distinct yet all forming an organic whole.

This song just absolutely floors me, and it seems to get better the more I listen to it. Now consider that they basically made four albums of this in a row and we're looking at a god-like band.

If you like Elbow for example, listen to Talk Talk and see where they more or less stole their entire act from.

Talk Talk seem to improve with age though and I don't just mean that they're growers, which they are, but your own age. I can totally see my 20 year old self not getting Wealth at all, but with age, Talk Talk's music speaks to you more and more as you begin to live and understand the strangely joyful sorrow Hollis so often evokes.

Some people talk of Hollis' sudden and complete retirement from music as a great tragedy but I think it's a great joy that we have the four masterpieces of his that we do.

The Colour Of Spring
The Spirit Of Eden
Laughing Stock
Mark Hollis

BTW, for noobies, watch out for Talk Talk's first two albums, The Party's Over and It's My Life. They're not terrible but they're not what I'm talking about above.

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Textbook Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: October 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 3281	Posted: November 04 2011 at 05:50
	I was relistening to Talk Talk's final three albums and also Mark Hollis' self-titled solo and it hit me, not for the first time, that Talk Talk may have been one of the best bands of all time. Listen to Happiness Is Easy. Give it the time it needs, shut everything else out and just listen to how absolutely immaculately put together every single facet of it is. Such detail, not a wasted sound, each layer completely distinct yet all forming an organic whole. This song just absolutely floors me, and it seems to get better the more I listen to it. Now consider that they basically made four albums of this in a row and we're looking at a god-like band. If you like Elbow for example, listen to Talk Talk and see where they more or less stole their entire act from. Talk Talk seem to improve with age though and I don't just mean that they're growers, which they are, but your own age. I can totally see my 20 year old self not getting Wealth at all, but with age, Talk Talk's music speaks to you more and more as you begin to live and understand the strangely joyful sorrow Hollis so often evokes. Some people talk of Hollis' sudden and complete retirement from music as a great tragedy but I think it's a great joy that we have the four masterpieces of his that we do. The Colour Of Spring The Spirit Of Eden Laughing Stock Mark Hollis BTW, for noobies, watch out for Talk Talk's first two albums, The Party's Over and It's My Life. They're not terrible but they're not what I'm talking about above.