''The Colour of Spring'' is the third
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by English band
Talk Talk, released on 17 February 1986. Written by
Mark Hollis and producer
Tim Friese-Greene, the album combines elements of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and
art pop
Art pop (also typeset art-pop or artpop) is a loosely defined style of pop music influenced by art theory, art theories as well as ideas from other art mediums, such as fashion, fine art, film, cinema, and avant-garde literature. The genre dra ...
in an effort by Hollis to embrace more organic instrumentation and production values. Unlike previous Talk Talk albums, synthesizers are rarely featured on the album, being replaced by guitar, piano, and organ. The album went on to become Talk Talk's greatest commercial success, spawning the hit singles "
Life's What You Make It" and "
Living in Another World" and reaching the
Top 20 in numerous countries (topping the Dutch charts), including the UK, where it reached No. 8 and stayed in the UK charts for 21 weeks.
[David Roberts ''British Hit Singles and Albums'', Guinness World Records Limited]
Background
''The Colour of Spring'' is commonly viewed as a bridge between Talk Talk's earlier, synthesized pop sound, and their later, more improvisation-based work. Despite the extensive use of synthesizers on the previous two albums, Hollis was vocal in his distaste for them, stating that they were used primarily for economic reasons and that “if they didn’t exist, I’d be delighted.” During the recording of the album, Hollis frequently listened to the music of composers such as
Erik Satie,
Claude Debussy, and
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...
, with the latter being a particularly significant influence on the album.
Like other Talk Talk albums, outside musicians were heavily utilized. Guests contributing to the album include
Robbie McIntosh adding guitar, and
Steve Winwood, who played organ on the hit "Living in Another World", alongside "Happiness is Easy" and "
I Don't Believe in You".
Reception
''The Colour of Spring'' became the band's highest selling non-compilation studio album, reaching the
Top 20 in numerous countries (topping the Dutch charts), including the UK, where it reached No. 8 and stayed in the UK charts for 21 weeks.
It did not quite match the sales of its predecessor in the United States but was nonetheless their last album to enter the
''Billboard'' 200, reaching number 58.
With the international hit "
Life's What You Make It", Talk Talk expanded their fan base. The song became the band's fourth of four American hits, along with 1982's "
Talk Talk" and 1984's "
It's My Life" and "
Such a Shame".
The album was included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits per album notes.
;Talk Talk
*
Mark Hollis —
lead vocals,
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
(tracks 3, 5, 6, 7),
Variophon (tracks 1, 4 and 7),
organ (track 4),
Mellotron (track 6),
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
(track 8),
melodica (track 8)
*
Lee Harris —
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
(except 4, 7)
*
Paul Webb —
bass guitar
The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
(tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8),
backing vocals (tracks 3 and 5)
;Additional personnel
*
Tim Friese-Greene —
producer, piano
(tracks 1, 2, and 8),
Kurzweil Synthesizer (tracks 1, 4 and 7), organ
(tracks 3, 6 and 8), Variophon
(tracks 4 and 7), Mellotron
(track 3)
* Ian Curnow — synthesizer
solos (tracks 2 and 6)
*
Martin Ditcham — percussion
(tracks 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8)
*
Mark Feltham —
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
(track 5)
*
Alan Gorrie — electric bass
(track 1)
*
Robbie McIntosh — guitar
(tracks 1, 2, 5 and 8),
Dobro (tracks 4 and 6)
*
Morris Pert
Morris David Brough Pert (8 September 1947 – 27 April 2010) was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music. His compositions include three symphonies, p ...
— percussion
(tracks 1, 2, 5, and 8)
* Phil Reis — percussion
(track 1)
*
David Rhodes — guitar
(tracks 3, 5, and 6)
*
David Roach —
soprano saxophone (tracks 2, 4, and 5)
* Gaynor Sadler —
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
(track 2)
*
Danny Thompson — acoustic bass
(track 1)
* Children from the school of Miss Speake —
children's choir (track 1)
*
Ambrosian Singers —
choir
A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
(track 8)
*
Steve Winwood — organ
(tracks 1, 2, and 5)
;Technical
* Dennis Weinrich — engineer
* Dietmar Schillinger — engineer
* Paul Schroeder — engineer
* Pete Wooliscroft — engineer
*
James Marsh — cover art
Charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colour of Spring, The
Talk Talk albums
1986 albums
EMI Records albums
Progressive pop albums
Experimental pop albums
Art pop albums
Albums produced by Tim Friese-Greene