The Colour Of Spring

I'm going to create another list called "1001 Mediocre New Wave Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". That would reduce the current list by about 700, and it might be hard work to replace those, but I think it's worth it.

I'm going to create another list called "1001 Mediocre Albums That Made It Into the Book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Instead Of My Favorite Albums And I'm Mad About It". I know it's a mouthful, but it's hard to encapsulate the plight of the maligned in a succinct sentence. But anyways, this album is pretty good. The guy has a great voice and the songs flow really well. This is a nice way to start my work week. The generator keeps throwing me solids.

Everyone working their way through this project loves music. And everyone who loves music has an album that means more to them than the rest. And this one is mine. I got into Talk Talk when I heard their single 'Life's What you Make It', which reached Number 16 in the UK charts in November 1985. The two singles vying for the Number 1 spot at the time were the theme to Miami Vice by Jan Hammer and 'We Built this City' by Starship. No offence to Jan Hammer and Starship, but those fun tunes never left 1985. Thirty-eight years later Talk Talk's Colour of Spring still feels as fresh as, well, spring I suppose. When I first heard it I didn't fully understand it - and I still don't fully understand it. It feels different with each listen. A true work of art.

The true artist chooses from the seemingly infinite possibilities of notation, rhythm and instrumentation to create a song so infused with the spirit and intention of its purpose that the lyrics couldn't possibly be anything else. That's alchemy.

This esoteric, sometimes challenging record from Talk Talk bears a lot of rewards worth reaping, as it marked their divergence from straight-lace new wave into something a little more sprawling. I should start by saying how much I adore “Life’s What You Make It”. An absolute killer groove, constructed by drum machines (I think?), a live kit (possibly?) and shakers (definitely). That glorious four-note piano bass figure (you know the one)! The keyboards and soaring guitar lines layering over it are transcendental, and the lyrics (even if a bit Hallmark) are given such significance and weight by the power of the arrangement. It’s the all time great track on here and has long been a favourite of mine, earning at least two and a half of these stars on its own. Nothing else can quite match up to its power, but then it seems apparent that the band weren’t aiming for chart appeal on the same level for most of these songs. “April 5th” and “Chameleon Day” are both very sparse and take time to unfold over subtly shifting chord progressions, very tasteful woodwind or acoustic guitar ornamentations and drip-fed vocals. They’re soothing but don’t always hit me in the right place. More reliable is the gentle closer “Time It’s Time” and the urgent propulsion of “Living In Another World”, both suitably epic and dense in their scope and arrangements. While the rest of the songs aren’t constantly gripping, they’re at least flavoured by intriguing elements: “Happiness is Easy” with its jazz chords and a children’s choir backing the chorus, and “I Don’t Believe In You” for its sublime guitar solo in the second half. This has the feel of assured, intelligent and ambitious musicianship. It’s a bit lofty, at times even suggesting a new flavour of prog-rock excess in the mid 80s, but much more palatable than Talk Talk’s later work (which has yet to work its magic on me completely). Give me that opening of “Life’s What You Make It”, any day.

This one really blew me away and is apparently the absolute best Talk Talk have ever made, there's something new to hear in every song every time I put it on. Definitely an album to keep revisiting

You need to be in the right mood for this one, but if you are, it's great. You can really lose yourself in it.

I'm sad that I can only award this the maximum 5 stars this site permits. Its a 10 star album all day every day.

Many consider this album to be the transitonal album between prior synthpop and successive post-rock, but I believe this album stands on its way own. Indeed, Mark Hollis one said he wanted each album to be a new and different experience for his listeners, and I believe he accomplished that. With full creative control, Hollis has ditched the synths in favor of a more experimental orchestral sound. And after listening to Depeche Mode, I've grown to better appreciate elements of orchestral pop. Each track is solid and distinct, providing an engaging listen all throughout. And of course being a pop album, there are several tracks that you could just sing over and over again, with the biggest example being "Life's What You Make It." This album accomplishes what it intends to do and leads the way not just for the post-rock they end up doing, but also the orchestral pop others will follow.

“The Color of Spring” by Talk Talk (1986) A good album that has its flaws, mostly conceptual. In those places where the message tiptoes close to meaning (tracks 1 and 2), we find categorical moralizing without substance—they clearly want someone to feel bad, but who? Somebody wants to say something, but band mates (or managers) smother that baby in the bassinet. For the rest, there are only hints of feeling for another; only small attempts at expressing soul. But the music is good, well executed, incorporating elements of jazz, and effectively utilizing silence in distinct layers of the mix. Good dynamic contrast. Lead vocals are decent, successfully avoiding distracting from the soundscape (which, along with the excellent rhythm section, is the real musical feature here). The synthesizer arrangements were done by someone who really knows the instruments, creating sounds which merge well with the mood. Lots of free-form melodies and chord structures—but could use more harmony. Nothing jarring or out of place. Anxiety free music. This would be a good album to play in the background while working on the more routine aspects of a creative project. But I couldn’t figure out why the color palette of the cover (brown, yellow, orange) was used on an album entitled “The Colour of Spring”. I’m content to let it go. 3/5

Haven't listened to Talk Talk before, and am seriously regretting it now. Fantastic, dream-like songs that have fantastic melodies and are slightly reminiscent of late era Pink Floyd. Definitely listening to more. Favorite Song: I Don't Believe In You

Lots to love about this. A few months ago I became pretty obsessed with the follow-up 'Spirit of Eden'. The production on both albums is incredible. Every note, tone and strum fits perfectly. The craft and dedication to create and structure the songs is something I can only praise. On top of this is the introspective and existential lyrics.

Some signs of what was to come in Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden (their absence a grave injustice), which is enough for a 5

I'd never heard of Talk Talk or this album before today, but I'm so glad I now know who they are. This album is gorgeous! I wish I had more time to digest the lyrics, but this review will mostly focus on its sonic characteristics. This album showcases a wide range of moods. "Chameleon Day" is almost startlingly heartbreaking, with the singer's voice changing abruptly from soft and melancholy to loud and splitting. The track is spacious and empty, accompanied only by occasional piano notes and a soft woodwind outro. In contrast, a song like "Living In Another World" combines acoustic guitar, harmonica, driving drums, rock organ, piano, and funky bass to create a lush sonic landscape. Can I comment on that organ a bit? This album is full of it, giving it a grand, religious tone. The first and maybe second tracks are obviously religious in nature, though I don't know exactly what the singer is trying to comment on. But whatever it is, it sounds great. The final song, a long, gorgeous ballad called "Time It's Time", is a fitting end to such a lush and varied album. I really never got bored over the course of these long tracks, and I'll definitely be coming back to see what more I can get from this thing. 7/10

This album is amazing, but I very much love this band. As such, this album must be graded on a curve. Since 5 is the best I can give, I’m forced to give this a 4. Really a 4.5, maybe even .7. The problem is, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock are so absolutely amazing, that the 5’s are reserved for them. This album has Life’s What You Make It. So damn good

Ten albums ago on my list was The Dreaming, an eighties album that saw Kate Bush move on from the organic piano and rock band sound of her early albums to a sound dominated by synths and samples. This album sees Talk Talk go the other way - junking the synthpop of the first two albums for an analogue sound featuring organ, piano, harmonica, melodica and a choir. Like Bush Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene used the studio to get the sounds they could hear in their heads down on record, and this album is a perfect mid-point between their poppy roots and their studio tinkering of the last two albums. Everything's in balance - including 4 accessible singles, an epic closer and some more experimental album tracks. One of the all-time great headphone albums.

Pure Magic. if there ever was a perfect album, this is it..

Descubrimiento. Tiene todo lo bueno de los ochenta. Art pop de largos desarrollos con notas de blues o jazz, que sin dejar atrás la New Wave la sobrepasa yendo un poco más allá. La línea de bajo es de Rustin Man. El cantante, Hollis, se sale. Genial.

Talk Talk shifted from their new wave synth-pop to a heavy art rock direction on this album, and they did a great job with the transition. This is one of my personal favorites when it comes to 80s art rock. Most 80s art rock comes off as overproduced, too polished, and very artificial, leaving me with a void or feeling of nothingness where I can’t connect with it on any level. Somehow, Talk Talk pulled it off and executed it perfectly with this album. It has all the elements I mentioned, but I find myself getting lost in this album. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes 80s new wave or art pop.

I adore this album. It feels like the cover...fresh, airy, lush, and lovely. I'm whisked away to another place, especially with Time It's Time. I want to live in that song. I got myself into Talk Talk about ten years ago after intentionally exploring bands I should've known earlier. My only regret is not being able to see them live before Mark Hollis passed. I hope he knows how much his music was loved. 5 stars.

Pleasant with an intense finale.

mixing is great, sounds like a majestic buff guy with long luscious golden hair riding a pony through the hillside, harmonica solo goes hard asf

The Colour Of Spring is something of a bridge album for Talk Talk. The prior two albums would feature a distinct synthpop sound; not especially notable but still fitting for the 80's. It would be this album, their third, that would indicate a pivot in sound. We start to see more acoustic instrumentation and a concise focus on songwriting, utilizing these instruments to layer sounds in such a way that it feels like a moving collage (imagine the album cover, but animated). In doing go, Talk Talk creates more delicate, refined sonic textures that are well-crafted. Just superb. These new songwriting skills would carry over into their following two album, in which we would see the beginnings of post-rock as a genre. As such, we should regard The Colour Of Spring as an important stepping stone for Talk Talk as they explore more sonic pallets.

J'ai adoré cet album, je suis en revanche un peu déçu par l'attitude du chanteur sur la 5ème piste de cet album. En effet, apres de solides prestations sur les 4 premières pistes, ce dernier s'est senti poussé des ailes. Il est en effet devenu absolument intenable. Les efforts des autres membres du groupe pour tenter de le ramener a la raison furent vain, il était absolument déchainé, et ne revint dans un calme relatif qu'a la fin de la chanson. Une belle frayeur pour tous les auditeurs du générateur, qui n'entâche en rien la qualité exceptionnelle de cet album.

A really solid album. There’s some great melodies here and a sombre, contemplative mood throughout, which feels perfect for autumn. There’s a couple of stand out tracks (Life’s What You Make It, Give It Up) which somewhat define the British new wave sound.

This band pushed and pulled at the limits of 80s New Wave and Synth Pop in the same way that Radiohead did with 90s alt rock and Bon Iver did with 00s/10s indie rock. I’m kind of amazed I never heard of them until Mark Hollis died two years ago.

Meh

This album has no business on this list. It doesn't even have their hits (all both of them). Even guest appearances by Steve Winwood and Robbie McIntosh can't liven up this snoozefest. The most interesting thing this band ever did was being named Talk Talk, with a song called "Talk Talk" on an album titled "Talk Talk". The result? "Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk". But that isn't even this album! No stars.

Tried it once, and I couldn't for the life of me keep my attention on it. Found it aggressively boring. Second try, I started digging the groove, was getting more out of the lyrics, and then a song or two later... nope. Not for me. I just can't figure out a way in.

I kept waiting for it to get ANY better. And it never does. When the children’s choir is one of the better points, you have a dud of an album.

This is the muzak you heard when you were at the doctor's office as a kid and all the chairs/decor were weirdly stuck between 90s and 2000s trends and it overall felt like a very liminal experience that doesn't seem quite real in hindsight.

Droney, 80s, bummer music. If there was a catchy song on here I would give it 2 but this was a chore.

Put on some good headphones and catch everything that's going on here. Incredible.

I have a very crackly vinyl copy of this in a somewhat water damaged case. It was a joy to get it out this morning for a spin. The production on here is fantastic, and there are some great songs on Side A. However I think the second side lets it down a bit. Great album, but not quite as good as their final 2.

I was only familiar with It's My Life, but I love that song and generally most things under the new wave umbrella, so I figured this would be right up my alley. I've listened to this twice now, going on three, and each song roots a little deeper with every listen. His voice is so rich with emotion and the instrumentation compliments it so well. It's interesting he wanted to move away from synths and use more traditional instruments for this album. I wasn't expecting that, but I think they made something really special. After a quick read of the wiki, I'm excited to explore the albums that came after this and hear them move into jazzier, more experimental territory.

A sweet sounding album from beginning to end. It’s a tad low key and only has a few moments of “whoa”, but it sounds great and the songs are varied while remaining cohesive as a whole. Life’s What You Make It and Living In Another World are the highlights to me.

Bass lines on this album are so fuckinng good

Sonically strong, my opinion may improve with more listens

Wasn’t happy with a song lengths but it was a pretty interesting listen. Vocals sounded like Tears for Fears. Two songs were just no sound for a while which was kind of annoying but the rest was good. Low 4.

super fun 80s album, I liked it a lot 8/10

Pretty enjoyable! Jammed out while working 8/10

Pretty strange, even for new wave. It was very good, but I don't know if I'd want to listen to these songs regularly. Dude's voice is kind of a lot to take in

Entspannter Pop 4/5

ja nee heel leuk album natuurlijk, wat een top ding, love it, echt een Roald album dit die zal ehm ook wel 5 sterren geven, alhoewel, speelt hij nog?

I don't think I'd ever heard this but the cover is vaguely familiar to me. And as far as mid 80s new wave albums go, this one is much less like a cheesy movie soundtrack. Maybe this is more like 80s art pop than new wave? I don't know but I dig it. Happiness Is Easy is a great song. April 5th is kind of a weird slow spot and I think might have worked better as the album closer rather than the side one closer. It didn't really make me want to turn the record over. The second side plays a lot like the first, a slow spot towards the end. All in all I really enjoyed this album and I'll definitely listen to it again. If I saw it in the record shop I'd probably pick it up. 3.5/5 round to 4 for the re-listenability.

It's this interesting transitional album between their synthpop phase and their genre-defining post rock records

I hear the words "sophisticated art-pop with jazz influences" and I reach for my vomit bucket. Actually, I don't mind 'Life's What You Make It' -- that's a pretty good tune. And I appreciate the use of 'real' instruments, which makes it more listenable than many records of the era. Steve Winwood's organ playing is reliably strong. But a lot of this is just a wash.

Fun Fact: They’re called Talk Talk because instead of being succinct, their songs blather on and on.

I tried to like this album. I had gone on and read some of the reviews before listening, and I really thought some of the negative reviews were too glib and too harsh. While the positive reviews seemed to consist mostly of fans and people familiar with the work, I was really leaning in their direction. After listening, however, all of the possible advancements and growth by the band didn't translate musically to me. There is certainly quality here, but more like a well made bookend rather than something to get excited about.

Un début très agréable jusqu'à ce que le chanteur devienne totalement incontrôlable au début de la cinquième piste. On se retrouve alors en tant qu'auditeur plongé au milieu d'une scène de négociation entre ledit chanteur et les forces de police rapidement arrivées sur les lieux. Les discussions aboutissent finalement après quelques minutes, le chanteur acceptant de terminer l'album vêtu d'une camisole et attaché à son siège.

Very interesting. I like the sparsness, its an element I havent seen a lot in New Wave type music.

Unispiring bland pablum. This is the band that gave us 'It's My Life' and the author(s) choose this album? 2.5/5.

Yet another mediocre new wave band on the list. I'm not even surprised by it anymore. I just expect to get at least one a week. Like ALL the other so far, this is ignorable bordering on annoying. At least the singer's voice is half-decent. That earns it a two star review.

This album deserves its place as the Oxford Dictionary definition of dreary. It is the background music to that classroom scene in Ferris Bueller.

I used to think it was really immature to describe something as “boring,” but it turns out sometimes there’s just no other word.

Typical 80's droning, boring trash. No business being on this list, as usual.

p551, 1986. 1 star. Poor man's Tears For Fears. Mark Hollis always sounds like he is straining, and not in a good way. It's all 80s synth and sax, long meandering tracks, and that ain't aged well. Soulless and dull. Not essential listening.

The Colour of Spring Although I would likely gravitate more towards the fantastic Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, this is still an excellent album and an interesting meeting point between their synthpop origins and the strange, austere magic of those next two albums. There’s a bit of jazz, a bit of psychedelia, a bit of Eno-ness in places and a kind of icy dreaminess to it, almost like being held at arms length. Despite the warmth of the bass (both electric and stand up) and the organ, it feels like the drums and piano have an algid quality to them. You can almost hear moments, eg on Life is What You Make It or Time It’s Time, where it feels like It’s My Life is going to break out, and Living in Another World has some of the poppy exuberance of their first couple of albums, but around those moments it’s full of considered, meticulous layers of instrumentation, with songs slowly unfolding themselves, especially on repeat listens - although Happiness is Easy is pretty catchy, it is brilliantly arranged, languidly building piece by piece. I Don’t Believe You is a grower too, I love the George Martin-esque horns over the last half. April 5th, a song surely about the last day of the tax year, has some of that iciness and distance to it, a superb downcast song that never quite resolves, with a little touch of Astral Weeks. Give It Up has a great soulful swirl to it, I think the first song where you get close to the emotions of the narrator, before the maudlin, solemnity of the superb Chameleon. It’s a superb album in its own right, but also as the sole Talk Talk album on the list its easily a 5. 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Playlist submission: Give It Up

Very nice

Love this album, love talk talk

Talk Talk got weirder with each record, but even with this mid-career effort their painterly, layered direction is clear, dreamlike in how a double-bass might materialise for a couple of daubs, Fender Rhodes shimmering in to replace it. Most of the melodies infuse into rather than hook the listener, and it takes a while for the structure to cohere in mind, but the payoff is worth it. They’re an epiphanic band; I started backwards with “Laughing Stock” after being told it was a post-rock landmark, spent a couple of years confused it didn’t sound like “Spiderland”, and then the excruciatingly gorgeous noise solo of “After the Flood” suddenly swivelled the record into focus. The moodiness of “April 5th” did something similar to me here. I identify two absolute pop bangers in their discography: “Life’s What You Make Of It”, on here, and the earlier, thematically similar “It’s My Life”. I feel like Hollis threw these out as a sop to the industry, afterthoughts for cash. Their strand of epic, soaring, stoic anthem is something I’d love more of, but I’m happy they exist, and the main body of their work is something you can swim in.

Try as I might, I just can't get excited by Talk Talk. The music is very pretty and accomplished, and I remember the singles on here fondly, but they don't really grip me even after a weekend's worth of exposure (serendipitously including Apr 5th) Rounded up a bit as I was substantially more engaged on my last listen, on headphones after a large glass of wine; perhaps a "grower".

A decent art rock album with a very lush and calming sound that comes as a result of the clear influence in the sophisti-pop. What primarily makes this album so artsy is how ambitious the instrumentation and clear the production are. They use a a great range of instruments to add a lot of texture to the sound, showing that a lot of hard work was behind the creation of this project, which is something to admire. However, I think the main burden of this album is that it can be too steady and slow. What I mean by steady is that I feel the songs main focus is to create a specific mood and work around it, with little to no changes in the structures. This type of composition is not bad at all, and it works very well in genres such as ambient, but because I find it hard to really resonate with the material in here, being so static is more of an disadvantage. To try to make myself clear, I'm giving two examples of songs that I feel don't do anything interesting: "April 5th" and "Chameleon Day". The other songs I found more interesting and appealing, with my favourite being "Living In Another World", which is very catchy and full of life tune thanks to the grandiose choruses. In the end, I think it is a good experience, but not something I'm crazy about.

It was fine. It didn't really catch my attention too much, but there were some good tracks on it. It was a pretty reasonable 3. Favourite Tracks: April 5th, Give It Up

3.7 - Peak 80s adult contemporary. Reminds me of high end stereo equipment of that era. I could imagine a fancier showroom having this in the CD player to show off audio performance. It also would’ve been playing in my friend’s divorced dad’s car stereo - a nice convertible coupe with bucket leather seats, maybe a car phone.

Interesting album, and by interesting I mean boring. Very 80’s slow vibe you’d hear in some weird transition during a boring Bond movie. Might be the epitome of lack of effort 80s slow album

Great vocals, big, expansive songs, and a wonderfully chunky organ sound

I own this one on vinyl . Bought it about 18 months ago as a bit of risk , not knowing to much about Talk Talk other than they are highly regarded. It’s an absolutely superb album from beginning to end . No bad songs . It’s a real overall feel of an album

Finally an album from a band I'd heard of, but never got into. To me they were poppy/synthy typical 80s music band. But this - this is different. It was music to get lost in, I wanted more! This is what I was hoping for when I started going through this list. Not the over abundance of garbage we've been told we HAVE to listen to. This one is going on my list!

Amazing album

A very precise record, beautifully crafted and beautifully recorded - a deep, resonant album

A special album.

And Colour of Spring is a low to solid 5, what Talk Talk do here is largely unique to both their catalogue, era, and possibly music more broadly. It contains hints at what’s to come (my favourite Hollis projects are the two Talk Talk records which follow this, along with his later solo record) and also shows some of their earlier ear for a hook in a new more acoustically substantial environment I’ll listen to this band and this album forever

Makes me feel cool and complicated but also chill.

What a fantastic album to listen to on 5th April! You've got the Talk Talk classics of Life's What You Make It and Living In Another World, the understated anger of I Don't Believe In You (Are you paying attention Donald? No? I thought not.) and the Omen-esque herald of Time It's Time to cover just half of this wonderful, complex album. The only song I remained unsure about was the coincidental April 5th, and today, April 5th 2026, a beautiful Spring day after Storm Dave, I evoked my inner hippy and finally got it! I love the colour of Spring, and I love The Colour Of Spring. 5 stars for my favourite Talk Talk album.

I liked it a lot :]

It took me a while to warm to this. At first it seemed like MoR lounge rock with some jazz chords and ambient touches - a safer Blue Nile. But I warmed to it alright. I warmed to the boil. It never goes fully for the pop jugular. The album balances accessible 80s pop with jazz-influenced ambience. Synths are kept to a minimum in favour of piano. There are still 80s touches, but it does not feel dated. Overall, a completely captivating album full of atmosphere, just enough melody, and all with a dark undercurrent.

My favorite Talk Talk album that isn’t Spirit of Eden

Amazing album. Great atmosphere, composition, instrumentation, one of my all time favourite albums, Steve Winwood on organ and Robbie McIntosh on guitar!

Exceptional

This was a genuine surprise. I hadn’t heard of this band before, and I really enjoyed the album from start to finish. The vocals are very ’80s, but the music around them feels much more timeless. I don’t think there’s a bad track on here.

I knew I loved Talk Talk from the first moment I heard "Life's What You Make It." It is, indeed, and more Talk Talk makes it better.

Tall Talk son mi debilidad. Desde sus primeros éxitos comerciales synthpop hasta su último disco orgánico y experimental. Y justo en medio de ambas épocas está este “The Colour Of Spring”, un álbum que recoge su mejor lado comercial y armónico mientras se desprende del peso de los sintetizadores, apostando por un sonido más puro, menos recargado y unas composiciones más complejas. El viaje del synthpop al art-rock en cinco discos es digno de elogio.

One of the best albums of the 80s, if not the best. Life's What You Make It is the Gen X theme song.

I really should listen to this album more, its so so good Everything is good but then you have something like Give it Up, which is incredible Happiness is Easy is another top tune. The outro on the closer Time Its Time is great.

There is something about Talk Talk's music that transports me to another dimension: the calm I feel, the sense of well-being and communion with the universe, the way my body and spirit react to the melody, my body wanting to dance and my mind escaping to an open space free from the rules of our physical world... I don't know, revisiting this album was great and listening to it at the end of such a busy day! A solid 5 for all that.

really dope stuff. very 80's very synthy. there's maybe one or two skips that blemish an otherwise vibe-dense listening experience, but the album is such that my brain is already making excuses on its behalf like "nah dude you don't get it April 5th is a perfectly positioned slower paced song so the listener can take a breath before getting whisked away by Living in Another World". the I Don't Believe in You breakdown solo outro into Life's What You Make It is a killer combo (thank you gta vice city). favorite song though is probably Time It's Time, really sick vibey outro that doesn't get boring even while it takes its time

Rating: 10/10 Long been a 9/10 for me but I fully realize there’s nothing stopping The Colour of Spring from being a 10. Lush and intelligently composed progressive pop songs that create a beautiful soundscape. I love every song, the A and B sides are equally fantastic with the slight exception of Chameleon Day which just atmospherically leads into the closer. Life’s What You Make It is literally one of the greatest rock songs ever made and I never want it to end when it’s on. I love every little piece of instrumentation from the addicting bass line to the keyboard, soaring guitar riffs, and shakers that make a really cool percussion. Oh, and a gorgeous album cover art also

A beautiful, well crafted album

Wonderful album. One of the highlights of the 80s. Life's what you make it being the track everyone knows, but the rest of the album is of a similar high standard. Every track is layered and stands up to repeat listening, when it opens up and gives more and more. And they went on to even greater things with later releases! 5

was für ein album! auch retrospektiv tolle songs, dicht arrangiert mit einer fülle von einflüssen die das album bemerkenswert machen.

Ein wunderschönes Album mit unverwechselbarem Sound.

Talk Talk were and are my favourite 80’s band. Moreover I consider Mark Hollis a genius. All of his music appeals to me. From lovely melodic songs instantly recognisable to gut wrenching sounds put together to form music which is truly unique to him. It is the latter musical form which appeals to me the most. When feeling desperate, lonely and sad his music won’t make you feel better but is the perfect soundtrack to somehow express why and how you feel. He retired from music much too early and more tragically died much too young. But he left us a splendid catalogue of work of which this album is a fine example. Not my absolute favourite. Spirit of Eden gets that accolade which in turn is superseded by Mark Holllis’s solo album (a candidate for my personal selection when I complete this journey) But it does mark the beginning of Talk Talk’s emergence from their synth pop era to go on and produce some of the finest music of that time. 5/5 16/1/26

This is #day520 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… here's to a prime example of mid-'80s art pop or prog-leaning new wave, if you will. The Colour of Spring is one of the most exquisite-sounding records not only of the '80s, but in general; music that feels truly outside of time. "Happiness Is Easy," "Life's What You Make It," "Living in Another World," and one of my personal favorites, "Chameleon Day," are all highlights. It's fascinating to witness the band's, or rather Hollis's, transformation here, especially in light of the two albums that followed, known for their stark intimacy and near-deafening minimalism. This is a 5 out of 5, of course. Looking forward to #day521.

episode 583257823 of this site having me bugged, i decided i finally needed to catch up on the pre-spirit of eden talk talk records, listening to its my life Literally The Moment that i unveiled this record. separated from the merits of the individual records (which are high!!!), i think what impresses me most is that it really is just a far more perfect gradient then i ever could have imagined...every record is literally an Exact iterative step on the bridge from the debut to laughing stock, in a way that kinda freaks me out. its such a full and robust and wholly satisfying set of albums...and this exact middle point contains every strength i could possibly have wanted from it, using patience and spiritual ecstasy to somehow hone the impact of the pop appeal...extracting Strong Reactions and enveloping dreams every bit as much as u could want from the whole pop school of thought, all while never being halted by convention. possibility-expanding, with some of the best sonic worldbuilding ive heard for the first time this year. best band ever energy.

A totally biased 5... Spirit of Eden & The Laughing Stock need to both be on here instead tho.

Nine surprise

Absolutely terrific.

Lays the groundwork for two absolute classic albums to come. Doesn't quite reach the peak of those two, but still worthy of a 5 for me.

4.5/5