Polydor 
Mark Hollis (UK,1997)****°
I’m not sure how much official attention and support this release has received, but since I am a fan of the second and third Talk Talk releases, where Mark Hollis had the guts to make more personal music after their pop hits, with "Spirit of Eden" and "Laughing Stock", and since I noticed this can be regarded as a kind of part three in this series of different releases, I thought I should mention it now.
Talk Talk was given complete freedom working on their second album, "Spirit Of Eden", it became one of the most expensive albums for Polydor, with a lot of studio time, accompanied by a group whose sound held the perfect middle between jazz, progressive music and let’s say a classical orchestra. The album was denied by those who loved the mainstream pop sound of their hits, while it was relatively unnoticed by those who only listened to serious compositions. Almost 5-10 years later, most progressive music lovers have taken notice, because many such albums, especially still in LP form, were thrown on the second hand market. A third uncut album was pressed on Voiceprint a few years back, called "Missing Pieces", but for me didn’t show much new or essential stuff. I’m a bit afraid also this album will pass unnoticed. The very beautiful voice of Mark Hollis is rather melancholic. On the Talk Talk albums the melanchollic effect might even have been stronger. Personally I think the whole sound more emotionally balanced with this album. Within some piano and acoustic guitar with voice pieces, the arrangements flow even smoother than ever before. A terrific album, which might even be a better starter than the other two Talk Talk classics.
Following artist was inspired by Mark Hollis :
