Yes, that's one of my favorite covers. The CD itself is pretty scarce these days. And it's a bit of an odd duck (pun intended ). It uses the 1997/98 masterings found on The Very Best Of and Asides Besides comps, and has a different track listing than either one, with one or two more rarities (and fewer hits) than The Very Best Of, and of course not nearly as many rarities as Asides Besides.
You seem to be the main authority on all things Talk Talk. I tried to get an overview but it's confusing... Example: From which gig was the live version of "Talk Talk", released on the "Such a Shame" 1990 maxi CDR 6276, taken? Montreux or London? And are the London versions released on the various singles generally the same ones as on the London '86 CD or from the other night? Was there really a video of London that was only released in Italy, as Asides Besides states? Can't seem to find that on discogs...
I don't think I did. I actually like the It's My Life remaster quite a lot. The lack of a fade-up on "Such a Shame" is a little strange, but also interesting, but overall I prefer the sound to the original CD, even though I have kept my original CD and enjoy it too. The remaster adds clarity, presence, and impact without overly compromising the dynamics IMHO. The DR ratings for the remaster are significantly lower than for the original - DR9 vs DR13 - but I don't find it fatiguing like the reamaster of The Party's Over, which is more compressed (some tracks DR6 - yuk). Ideally I'd like to see the remaster's DR be 10 or 11 rather than 9, but I would estimate that probably 2dB of the DR reduction from the original to the remaster is down to different EQ and most notably stronger and better bass on the remaster - upping the bass will reduce DR ratings by 1-2dB typically, without any compression being used. As for the original It's My Life CD, it's also great-sounding, but I believe the forum consensus (which I share) is that the US/UK mastering sounds better than the West German CD mastering. One final detail: the remaster is from 1997, but I got the 2012 reissue of it, as I prefer the artwork, which is cleaner and mimics the original LP on both the CD face and the inserts.
Some really cool interview clips shared today, featuring Mark Hollis and Paul Webb, held while Talk Talk was on tour in the USA between the release of their debut EP and "The Party's Over." Part 1 of 3:
I Hearing a few other interviews with Hollis in their later career he always comes over as a focused and driven man.
I love that Mark says he wanted to work with Chris Thomas on the follow-up to The Party's Over. That would have been a very different record to the one we got in It's My Life.
I think with Spirit of Eden they achieved what they were striving for. Personally I dislike The Color Of Spring and Laughing Stock. Its like they're attempts at Eden and just not close. Yesterday the lounge here was filled with an extended remix of Life's What You Make It and it made me realise just what a corking track it truly is.
The last two albums get a lot of love in various circles and are often credited as the earliest examples of "post-rock" and as the influencers of acts like No-man. Like you I struggle with them a bit. They are what is politely called "difficult listening". I've heard both albums a couple of times; I felt in each case as though I should be enjoying them but was impatiently waiting for something to happen. I should add that some of No-man affects me the same way.
Andrew, your avatar just sent a wave of nostalgia through me. I loved Stina back in the 90's. I have no idea where she went. She was always reclusive but I've not heard anything about her in many, many years.
I only really know her first two albums. After that I took my eye off her. However she'd done the job with the And She Closed Her Eyes album - an absolute classic as far as I'm concerned and easily in my top 20 albums of all time. And while I liked the Photographer's Wife ep it wasn't as affecting as the previous album. Sadly, no idea what she's doing now either.
She also had a really nice collaboration with Vangelis called 'Ask The Mountains' which had a similar vibe to 'She Closed Her Eyes'. 'Dynamite' and 'This Is Stina Nordenstam' are also both albums worth checking out. 'And She Closed Her Eyes' is a top 20 album for me too.
....although it sits just below Talk Talk’s ‘Laughing Stock’ and The Blue Nile’s ‘Hats‘ in terms of perfect records.
Oh yes I forgot I have the Ask The Mountains CDS too and the EPK for And She Closed... For me Talk Talk, The Blue Nile, Stina and David Sylvian and a few others too all belong in a very exclusive group of artists who have made very special albums that mean a lot to me for their vision and artistry.
Mark Hollis was one of the greatest songwriter and composer of the 80s and 90s, along with Kate Bush IMO. Spirit Of Eden, Laughing Stock and his solo record (Mark Hollis) are among the best and uncompromising achievements in popular music of the last 35 years. Let's not forget The Colour Of Spring.
I don't think that Colour of Spring was 'attempting' to be 'Spirit of Eden' ....it was the predecessor that gave them the funds and the support from EMI to start the Spirit of Eden-project. Which was an artistic triumph, but, at the time, a bit of a financial disappointment....and it did get mixed reviews when it was released. I see CoS---SoE--LS--Mark Hollis' solo-album as four logical steps in the journey to silence. I agree that Spirit of Eden is the peak of those four, but what do you think about a track like 'It's getting Late In The Evening'? The "orchestration" isn't there yet, but for me it's clearly pointing forward to Spirit of Eden!
Totally agree with this. In general, the non-album tracks from the Color of Spring and Spirit of Eden sessions clearly show the continuity between those two albums. Also, don't forget that when the band initially delivered Colour of Spring to the record company, the label told them to make it more hit-friendly. If memory serves, they added Life's What You Make It, and reworked Living in Another World. So the Colour of Spring they originally delivered was even a bit closer to Spirit of Eden than the Colour of Spring we all know and love. I've also re-listened to Laughing Stock a lot over the past week, and while it is not as dramatic as Spirit of Eden, it's a gorgeous album and IMHO differs from its predecessor more in tone/attitude than in actual content or quality. There's still the sound of the room, the emphasis on silence, the patchwork of found sounds and experimentation, and the emphasis on getting just the right mic placement, room ambience, guitar feedback, etc. Spirit of Eden is in places more intense, brooding, and even angry. Laughing Stock is a bit more meditative and - within Talk Talk's melancholy framework - almost optimistic. Finally, one aspect that I think is relevant especially for our community here is that Spirit of Eden exists in exceptional-sounding formats, notably the incredible SACD. Laughing Stock, by contrast, sounds very good but not quite as exquisite. A Laughing Stock SACD (re)mastered as well as the Spirit of Eden and Colour of Spring SACDs might help too.
This is interesting! Thanks! So I guess I can add some more thoughts to my hypothetical deluxe edition wishlist I wonder if Life's What You Make It replaced one of the tracks that ended up as b-sides? It's Getting Late in the Evening is such a stunning track, it's hard to believe they would put as much work into a track that was only intended as a b-side. For What It's Worth had been kicking around a while and I'm not sure it would've fit the album. Pictures of Bernadette is pretty upbeat... I agree that Laughing Stock has a different tone, but my perception is different. For me it's much more of a jazz album with a drier sound (there's almost no reverb on the vocals), and one of the first things we hear is a double bass. Even if Paul Webb's contribution had been smaller on Spirit of Eden, I think he still provided a sort of pop link. Either that or it was just Mark being more confrontative. I tend to agree with Phill Brown that Laughing Stock is the darker album. One-minute noise guitar and bass clarinet solos in Ascension Day and After the Flood are not the thing you could find on Spirit of Eden, save for Desire but that song seems more focused to me. Ultimately I struggle a bit with the musical content on Laughing Stock. I just don't think the underlying writing is as strong or memorable. New Grass goes on for almost ten minutes but I still can't really recall any particular moment from it.
