****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I ordered this CD because of all the good reviews I read, and also I was curious. I am a big fan of Talk Talk traditional mode, and I must admit that they progressed amazingly since their beginning. But I was afraid not to be the kind of customer for this one.I actually needed to listen to it twice to understand what just happened. I am still under shock. What a whole new perspective for me! This is valid for music, but also for any art, I am a painter myself, and I see suddenly the things quite differently.If you are searching for a CD to play in a dancing party, I am not sure this one will make it, although I was sometimes slightly tempted to dance on it...It is about feelings, it is like an enchanted trip in a musical dream. It is a must-have, there is before and after this one.This is a very difficult piece to explain, because it sounds like nothing else, but I will try. I am not a professional critic, so forgive me if I say something stupid.Taphead (I love) has a brilliant gimmick melody which is muted by such a way that we can only guess it, but it is there, and we can hear it, and we want more, Mark's voice is very soft, I have a slight feeling of flamenco on this "song", if we can call it a song... The trumpets or horns, or I don't know what kind of instrument it is, are very strange, but still the whole thing is unbelievable and coherent, I love love love it!Ascension Day: OMG OMG OMG, something psychedelic in the guitars, it makes me think of the Doors because of the guitars, maybe they used a bottleneck or something? I am sorry, I am not really a musician, so forgive me if I am wrong. This track is full of sensuality, I love love love it, and the voice! OMG!New Grass: very ambiance, like an impressionist painting, but also like a hidden ancestral folklore with still this specific guitar. Love, love it!Runeii: OMG OMG OMG, makes me very vaguely think of The End by the Doors, but by a very Mark Hollis way, there is also something from India or I also imagine a Western movie (?) Once I have said that, you understood all, didn't you? :-) What can I say? It sounds like nothing else! You know, it is supposed not to be commercial, but still, there is something in it which could be commercial, except that it is muted by such a way that we are wondering what is going on...Myrrhman: OMG the voice again! Kind of Jazz-ish Blues-ish, difficult to explain, I am trying very hard here... :-)After The Flood: the most Talk Talk-ish I would say, but when you think you understood, actually, no, you didn't. The voice: deep. I think that what is the most comforting is the voice, because we trust Mark Hollis, so we let him take us with him in this trip. Every time I am hearing his voice, I am like, ok, it's him, everything is fine... In this specific song, there are some purposely made dissonances, it's very spectacular, it sounds almost like a scream of despair at a point, but Mark is there, and we let him do. I also heard a very 60's organ, is it a Hammond organ? Am I saying something totally stupid? I don't know, this organ makes me think of the ones we could hear in the 60's. The rhythmic is very captivating.I don't know where in the album, but at a point, I thought of the Pink Floyd. Then I wondered why, and I still don't have a clue. I am not sure.I will need to listen to it again and again, because it is impossible to get it right away. I just know that I love it. This is a master piece, a must have absolutely. I certainly don't regret my purchase, what was I waiting for?I never saw such a quick evolution in a group, and especially in one person: Mark Hollis. The Colour of Spring was certainly the peak of his "traditional" career, but with this album, it is like if he had reinvented the music.He is still there, it is still him.We just miss him a lot, we want more.I would just like to add one thing: this CD is full of potential hits. But Mark deliberately treated these songs by a different way, as an experimentation, I suppose. I totally adhere to his way of doing, but I am not fooled, the talent is there, the treasure is camouflaged, of course: this man is an authentic genius.
