Spirit of Eden
| Spirit of Eden | ||||
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| Talk Talk studio album | ||||
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Publication |
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Parlophone EMI Records |
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
6th |
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running time |
41:30 |
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| occupation |
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Tim Friese-Greene |
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Studio (s) |
Wessex Sound Studios, London |
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Spirit of Eden is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Talk Talk and was released in 1988 on the Parlophone label. Although it was moderately commercially successful, the album is widely regarded as a milestone inlate 20th century pop music and is considered to be one of the first major post-rock albums.
Style and history
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Spirit of Eden marks the departure of Talk Talks from the catchier sound still to be found on the previous album The Color of Spring , which was strongly influenced by contemporary trends in British pop music in the mid- eighties . The instrumentation with numerous orchestral instruments, which were used extremely sparingly in order to create overflowing soundscapes in cooperation with the band, was extremely progressive, but not very commercial. Stylistically, the album is difficult to classify: In addition to rock and pop elements and ambient, there are also strong influences from classical music and jazz . Mark Hollis often cited composers and musicians such as Claude Debussy , Erik Satie or Ornette Coleman as his influences.
After completing the recording of Spirit of Eden , the band sent the recordings to their record label EMI . There they feared that the record might not be commercially appealing enough, and asked Mark Hollis to record more songs for the album and replace existing ones. Hollis refused, EMI released the record anyway and wanted to extend the existing contract with Talk Talk, although the band wanted to leave the label. The existing dispute was finally decided in court, and Talk Talk signed for their last studio album with Polydor .
Track list
All compositions are by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene.
- The Rainbow - 9:05
- Eden - 6:37
- Desire - 7:08
- Inheritance - 5:16
- I Believe in You - 6:24 am
- Wealth - 6:35
Commercial win
Contrary to the fears of EMI, the album reached number 19 in the British charts (as well as a silver medal from the British Phonographic Industry for 60,000 units sold). In the German charts it reached number 16, and it even reached number 3 in Belgium and number 8 in the Netherlands. In the US Billboard charts , the album could not place.
Reviews and late appreciation
| source | rating |
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| Allmusic |
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| New Musical Express |
 
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| Pitchfork Media |
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| Laut.de |
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When the album was released, the reviews were rather mixed. In general, there was some confusion about how to deal with the unfamiliar sounds and arrangements - especially since they came from a group that had previously been established as a pop band. The Spectator wrote:
"It's either an extremely meritorious and courageous work or a pile of junk - I can't decide which of the two."
There was also direct positive feedback, such as in the Musikexpress :
“Puts everything previously“ talked ”in the shade ... Strange changes in style and rhythm need to be coped with, unexpected breaks, meditative calm, but also raw guitar riffs and some dissonance. Nevertheless, all of this flows very naturally ... The 16 musicians did not shy away from anthemic beauty. But it is always gently broken, beyond banal clichés ... A classic? "
In many places, however, there was a lack of understanding for the band's new direction. In 1992 the Rolling Stone Album Guide only gave the record 1 out of 5 stars ("disastrous") and wrote:
"Instead of either getting better or worse, this band just got more pretentious with each passing year ... with Spirit of Eden , Mark Hollis' vocals, which sound like Pete Townshend on dimenhydrinate , are pushed aside by the band's senseless mess."
In retrospect, the album is seen as a masterpiece on a much broader level. The German magazine Musikexpress selected Spirit of Eden in 2003 as number 5 of the 50 best albums of the 1980s. The New Musical Express voted it 95th of the 500 best albums of all time. Pitchfork Media listed the record at number 34 of the 100 best albums of the 1980s (ahead of classics like Licensed to Ill or Computerwelt ) and wrote:
"Usually used terms for music that cannot be assigned to any genre, such as obscuro or post rock , do not have to be used at all - Spirit of Eden is the sound of elegance par excellence."
Music critic Alan McGee wrote in the Guardian in 2008 :
“ Spirit of Eden is ageless; it's amazing how contemporary it sounds, anticipating post-rock, The Verve and Radiohead . This is what an artist sounds like when you hand over the keys to a kingdom and return with a work of art. "
Christoph Dallach praised Spirit of Eden 2012 as an "enigmatic and masterful opus" and "breathtaking":
“It becomes clear what Mark Hollis meant when he repeatedly named Can , Miles Davis , Bartók , Debussy , John Coltrane , Otis Redding and Burt Bacharach as musical heroes. And after hits like “It's my Life”, he finally had the budget, the freedom to make the music he always dreamed of. The melodies are nested here, the mood: minor! The sound of smoldering trumpets, clarinets, a church choir and the all-cohesive, fascinating lamentation of Mark Hollis. "
Guy Garvey , front man of the British band Elbow , praised Spirit of Eden as an important influence on his own musical work:
“With this record, Talk Talk finally broke away from the expectations of the music industry. Spirit of Eden is uncompromising art, a highly concentrated and highly emotional masterpiece. Talk Talk will have driven your record company to the brink of madness with this music. I remember that for the single the unbelievable track I Believe In You had simply been cut in half in order to have the theoretical chance that Talk Talk would continue to be on the radio. But the band was not deterred, they continued to stoically follow their art, as the album Laughing Stock from 1991 and the solo records by Mark Hollis prove. This approach was exemplary for Elbow. Like Talk Talk, we believe that people are able to understand complex structures. As a band you shouldn't be afraid of ambition. However, as far as I can tell, we are much more uncomplicated people than Talk Talk. "
The album was added to the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list.
Artwork
The cover design comes from the artist James Marsh, who is responsible for most of Talk Talk's album covers.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Full Official Chart History on officialcharts.com (accessed January 13, 2019)
- ↑ Talk Talk - Albums on chartsurfer.de (accessed January 13, 2019)
- ↑ Talk Talk at laut.de
- ↑ EMI Records Limited v Hollis & Others (Court of Appeal (Civil Division) May 23, 1989)
- ↑ Review by Jason Ankeny on AllMusic.com (accessed August 17, 2017)
- ↑ NME review by Simon Williams (archived) (accessed January 13, 2019)
- ↑ Review by Jeremy D. Larson on pitchfork.com (accessed January 13, 2019)
- ↑ Review by Michael Schuh on laut.de (accessed on August 17, 2017)
- ↑ http://www.ireference.ca/search/Spirit%20of%20Eden/
- ↑ ME-SOUNDS 10/88
- ↑ Musikexpress 3/2003
- ↑ The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 100-1 on nme.com, accessed August 17, 2017
- ↑ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5882-top-100-albums-of-the-1980s/7/
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2008/apr/09/markhollis
- ↑ Christoph Dallach: Enigmatic from Eden on spiegel.de (April 6, 2012), accessed on August 17, 2017
- ↑ Guy Garvey on Spirit of Eden, in Visions 01/2014, issue 250, p. 140.
Web links
- Reviews of Spirit of Eden on the Babyblauen Seiten
- Spirit of Eden at Allmusic (English)