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

"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?

Cool 80s means... The Smiths, late postpunk, maybe. Alternative / indie stuff. Hollis codes differently to that.

If Hollis sounds 80s then I was trying to think what other 80s singers sound like Hollis? Orzabel, Weller, Winwood, Rowland? They all have a bit of the oi-mates-soulboy-cum-braying-donkey thing going on, would put Hollis at the more sensitive end of the spectrum though

Oh god, yeah, I can definitely see how Hollis would code differently when compared to The Smiths, and I definitely wouldn't have Talk Talk down as an indie band. I guess Talk Talk are alternative in a way, but not in the way that most would think of when they read the words "'80s alternative". I have Talk Talk down in the same bracket as someone like, say, David Sylvian, who makes music that I personally would describe as "adult oriented", but not in the sense that that term suggests. More that Talk Talk and David Sylvian make "mature" (for want of a better term) music that is also arty and off-kilter. It's not The Smiths, but it's not Chris de Burgh either.

If Hollis sounds 80s then I was trying to think what other 80s singers sound like Hollis? Orzabel, Weller, Winwood, Rowland? They all have a bit of the oi-mates-soulboy-cum-braying-donkey thing going on, would put Hollis at the more sensitive end of the spectrum though

― we reward the hake (NickB), Friday, February 27, 2015 12:51 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't think Weller, Winwood or Rowland sound much like Hollis at all. Orzabal is probably the closest, but not that close.

This is the thing, I think Hollis has a really unique voice, but it obviously carries associations even though no one actually sounds like him.

I also had issues with his voice but as i did with coffee, I kept consuming it because I liked the way it made me feel. Now I love them both.

Talk Talk down in the same bracket as someone like, say, David Sylvian,

OTM, dont like his voice either.

I never thought of Hollis as an '80s-sounding vocalist, unlike the sounds-like-Bowie-n-Ferry crew (including Sylvian, Fry, et al). Hollis is of the sensitive sounds like Peter Gabriel art rock crew, which is a lot less 80s lounge lizard louche.

I am a Sylvian fan but could not get into Talk Talk because of his voice! I can't even remember now I tried so long ago, but it sounded like Radiohead or Coldplay to me, I think?

Jeebus, what albums are you guys listening to?! For the life of me I cannot imagine someone liking prime Sylvian (like "Gone to Earth," say) and thinking Talk Talk sounds like Coldplay.

Like, you sure you're not listening to Keane or something?

Not the music, mind you, just what I remember as his tremulous voice irritated me. I'm going to re listen today and see what I'm on about!

Yeah, it was the tremulousness that took getting used to. I'm fine now.

is tremulous like, warbly? that's what i meant...sorry, bowing out in embarrassment over this whole thing!

to me it conveys "warbly but quiet; fragile"

I found the "adult contemporary" thing objectionable because to me "adult contemporary" as a put-down tends to mean "populist" & in this case the affectation being derided seems more art than pop? but then I think about like, Josh Groban, and I don't know what to think

Yes, Bernard! (xp) I just skipped thru SofE and his voice IS indeed tremulous. I love the music but that voice...

Adult contemporary has nothing to do with "populist" for me. It's about production choices and the particular way that the singer emotes.