Talk Talk: Not Just a One-Hit Wonder
We’d like to welcome Ryan Holiday to the staff. Take it away, Ryan…
When pundits make their annual “most important albums everyone should own” lists, classics such as Blood On The Tracks, The White Album, Exile on Main Street and even Nevermind are mainstays. It’s not hard to ignore these albums. Between selling millions of copies and constant exposure, most of us have been hit over the head a thousand times with them. The artists who made them have the type of recognition most of us musicians crave.
I’ve often wondered what it would feel like to a write a brilliant piece of music, only to see it fall into obscurity. To me, Talk Talk’s albums Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock are prime examples.
Lead by singer Mark Hollis, Talk Talk enjoyed hits like It’s My Life and Life Is What You Make It during the 1980s. In the US they were cast off as one-hit-wonders; that was solidified with No Doubt’s awful re-make. But because of those hits they were able to create two of the most wonderful post-rock albums ever in Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock. I discovered both albums in a used CD bin. Having been on a new wave kick at the time, I took a chance, thinking that the discs would sound like the electro-pop that made Talk Talk. I was astounded to find much, much more. Talk Talk had transformed themselves from a Duran Duran clone to an experimental, progressive, organic, art-rock band. READ ON for more…
