Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring (1986)

The Colour of Spring is not Laughing Stock, and never will be. I know that as much as anyone else, and still, I find it to be a beautiful, compelling record that stands up to its two follow-ups.

The story, in brief: Talk Talk scored a few new-wave hits in the early/mid 80s, including the thanks-to-No-Doubt ubiquitous It's My Life. They grew as a band and came out with this album, The Colour of Spring, which was highly regarded and quite successful in the UK. Next came Spirit of Eden, which was even more experimental, less commercially successful, but highly regarded. In 1991, they put out Laughing Stock, which barely resembled anything of their early days, taking an experimental/avant-garde approach to modern music; it is widely regarded as an all time classic. Then they broke up.

These three albums are often lumped in with one another, in part because they so fascinatingly show the band's growth as songwriters and composers, most notably leader Mark Hollis and producer Tim Friese-Greene. I love each of the three differently, the same way some may have a preference for a single Nick Drake album, or argue between the trilogy of Big Star albums (let's all forget that reunion one a few years ago). In some ways, the It's My Life Talk Talk died the second this album came out, pronouncing a bold new artist willing to take risks and create beautiful new music. Laughing Stock is the least accessible by far, but definitely the most rewarding. Spirit of Eden is the perfect mix of the poppier, catchier side, mixed in with some essentially post-rock and experimental elements, long before that was a thing. The Colour of Spring is a pop album, but a lush and well-crafted one at that.

Given the universal acclaim and fawning over Laughing Stock, and even a general high regard for Spirit of Eden, The Colour of Spring very frequently gets neglected when discussing Talk Talk. Unlike their earlier work, which seemed to revolve around singles, The Colour of Spring is a cohesive, intricate, and complex album that is intended to be taken in as such. Some of the tracks, especially I Don't Believe In You, stand out with immediately catchy melodies and dark gothic tones, but they fit comfortably within the songs around them. Much like subsequent albums, the band favours fewer but longer songs to what has become the common twelve three-minute track long player. The Colour of Spring features eight tracks in roughly 45 minutes, which gives each song time to develop and become fleshed out. The next two albums feature similar album lengths and six tracks, further focusing on the development of tone and sound within each song.

The Colour of Spring will never top anyone's best of the 1980s list, and more than anything, will be forgotten in favour of the two albums that would follow, but there's no reason, in my opinion, that it can't be mentioned in the same breath. As far as music from the 1980s, it is as lush, complex, and beautiful as anything put out in that decade, including the band's later fare.