Talk Talk: 'Spirit of Eden' vs. 'Laughing Stock'

... though not because they sound 'adult contemporary', which is what exactly?

The Colour Of Spring is rather "adult contemporary" imo

hollis's vocals on 'wealth' are among the most powerful ive ever heard so i definitely disagree

If you don't like the vocals, maybe you'd prefer this:

http://open.spotify.com/album/1bZJF6RXhSy87wSEAxhiLl

i like hollis's voice a lot but he definitely sometimes sounds like a depressed goat

Not sure why but seeing that Talk Talk processed through Paulstretch thing on Spotify makes me mental.

(xp) So that's what Adult Contemporary vocals sound like.

Is it just that Hollis's voice cues very 80s? Which basically implies that his particular delivery style is outdated.

maybe 80s is what I mean... but it's a particular style of 80s, like stuff I remember hearing on soft rock radio in the late 80s.

I realize now that this is probably what has prevented me from really getting into these albums. I've probably listened to each about 1-2 times a year for the past 10 years, with no success at "getting" them. This morning I listened to both twice, and they are still musically intriguing, but the vocals just feel really jarring and out of place. They take what could otherwise be transcendent music and ground them into an obviously 80s production style, robbing them of a timeless feel that they might otherwise have.

im not a huge fan of his vocals but i like how i have listened to these albums a bunch and have favourite songs on them yet have no idea what they're called or what the lyrics are because of his habit of not really bothering to enunciate at all.

I think 'depressed goat' is a more accurate description than 80s soft rock

maybe depressed goat from the 80s

I think 'depressed goat' is a more accurate description than 80s soft rock

I mean, let's take Chris de Burgh for instance. I just put on "Lady in Red" and vocally I don't hear it as being all that far off from Mark Hollis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt2YIpZWBqA

his vocals are literally the sound of a religious experience occurring, ban poliopolice

Poe's Law.

anyway, i'm sure comparisons to reviled soft rock icons is not going to win me any fans here

you were kidding the whole time, is that your little scheme

"I Believe In You" from Color Of Spring has astonishing vocals. I love his voice, it's really unique. Seeing him sing really makes his voice seem all the more extreme.

Ha, Chris de Burgh!!! Who has better diction than Hollis tbf.

his vocals are literally the sound of a religious experience occurring

This^^^

Even more so on his solo record.

I don't care for Hollis' voice either but then again I don't care for many sax solos on many of my favorite pop recordings so I ignore it oftne.

his vocals are literally the sound of a religious experience occurring

just like Chris de Burgh's!

Wow, it never occurred to me before that someone might not like Hollis' voice. It's so tender, so uniquely... bruised-sounding, that I would never have imagined other listeners not being as drawn to it as I am.

any emotionally affecting voice has potential for being annoying to somebody

I think Hollis has a wonderful voice, but I can see why it might grate on others. He has this "weepy" quality to his voice, I think, that might put some folks off.

finding out that people don't like MH's voice is way more mindblowing to me than that tumblr dress-color thing

I like the unintelligibility, the "weepy" quality (never thought of it in connection with Hollis before; Okkervil River singer has this quality in spades), but most of all I love how dynamic his singing is

I'm also curious to hear more about "singing 80s" / 80s vocal production 'fingerprints'

what kind of vocals should be on these albums? shitty indie vocals? lemmy? millie jackson? phil oakey? smh

wish they has just gotten rid of the vocals, my friends laughed at me for liking something so adult contemporary

you know what would be great is if all music sounded like explosions in the sky

don't take someone else's taste personally

??? i'm just clowning on you dude, relax

alright, hard to tell. ILM can get weirdly abusive at times.

also, are you saying sounds like Explosions in the Sky with 80s vocals?

no, i'm saying you should listen to explosions in the sky, they're safe.. no saxophones or adult contemporary vocals

it's just kind of hilarious to revive a thread and be all "y know this music would be better if you removed this part of it that makes it hugely remotely affecting"

remotely? i don't know what i meant by that maybe i meant to type "emotionally"

It's a music discussion board...? I mean, I guess I could just join the circlejerk or not say anything... but why wouldn't I say what I think? Others who previously never mentioned it also chimed in to agree on being lukewarm on the vocals.

I'm interested in hearing others' thoughts on it, even if they diverge from mine.

sacred cow!

i felt the same way about the vocals years back the first few times i listened but ended up joining the circle jerk so i could fit in.

i don't even like these records that much, i just enjoy fighting

no, i'm saying you should listen to explosions in the sky, they're safe.. no saxophones or adult contemporary vocals

I'm kind of lukewarm on Explosions in the Sky, honestly. I've listened to them and owned a couple of their albums but I was just telling a friend that they strike me as the most generic expression of postrock. Bark Psychosis, on the other hand, sound very much like what I want Talk Talk to sound more like. Much more atmospheric than Explosions in the Sky. And they have saxophones and glockenspiels! I also like the vocals better; less intrusive and jarring. Better as a texture.

they're fucking terrible, i'm just fucking with you, dude

just stop it with the challoping

um... i will agree to stop challoping (had to look that up) if you agree to stop trolling.

although i will not admit to challoping, and in fact deny it to the fullest extent possible

I like the unintelligibility, the "weepy" quality (never thought of it in connection with Hollis before; Okkervil River singer has this quality in spades), but most of all I love how dynamic his singing is

― & I was throwing a party the same night as (bernard snowy), Friday, February 27, 2015 3:21 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I definitely agree with you, re: how dynamic his singing it.

Personally, I couldn't imagine any of these songs without Hollis' voice on them, because his voice creates as much tension and release as the rest of the instruments do. I can imagine and understand people not liking the overall sound of Hollis' voice, but what he does with his voice and how he uses his voice are key to the tracks, IMO.

His voice absolutely does code 80s to some people, and not 'cool' 80s either. Emma's never liked Talk Talk for exactly this reason; she's got no issue with the music, but doesn't like the vocals. And she doesn't single out Hollis' <i>voice</i> per se, but, like Poliopolice, a certain hard-to-define 80s quality or sound that is part of the voice, if that makes sense. And it does almost feel like a 'production' aesthetic, rather than a human voicebox, that's problematic here, but it patently can't be that, because Hollis is strongly identifiable as the same singer whether it's on "The party's Over" or "A Life (1895 to 1915)" and the production approach on those two songs is 15+ years apart and wildly different.

But y'know, different strokes for different folks. I love his voice and find it insanely affecting.

His voice absolutely does code 80s to some people, and not 'cool' 80s either.

What do you mean by "cool '80s"? Are you saying that Hollis gives off a similar vibe to, I dunno, Phil Collins or something?

The Salamanca, Spain concert is fab too, Belgium is a radio broadcast from the Werchter Festival iirc.

yes i also downloaded two versions of Salamanca, great show, both versions had different little audio glitches that were not enough to ruin it for me.

ooh, thanks, going to track down that Belgium show!

yes I have that book (the paperback). I didn't realize that was out of print also now.