Spirit of Eden
Encyclopedia
Spirit of Eden was the fourth album by the English band Talk Talk
. The songs were written by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene
, and performed by numerous musicians using a diverse combination of instruments. In 2008, Alan McGee of the Guardian
wrote: "Spirit of Eden has not dated; it's remarkable how contemporary it sounds, anticipating post-rock, The Verve
and Radiohead
. It's the sound of an artist being given the keys to the kingdom and returning with art."
The album emerged from a demanding recording process: often working in darkness, the band recorded many hours of improvised
performances, edited them down heavily, then arranged the remaining pieces into an album using digital equipment. The end product includes elements of rock
, jazz
, classical
, and ambient music
. The album was released on the Parlophone
record label, an imprint
of EMI
.
Critics often view Spirit of Eden as a departure from Talk Talk's previous albums. Compared to their 1986 hit The Colour of Spring
, it was commercially unsuccessful.
, John Coltrane
, Béla Bartók
, and Claude Debussy
as major musical influences. But Talk Talk's first two albums, The Party's Over (1982) and It's My Life
(1984), did not readily reflect such influences; critics compared the band to contemporary New Wave
groups, especially Duran Duran
. Hollis partly attributes the shortcomings of their early music to a financial need to use synthesizer
s in place of acoustic instruments.
Although critics did not favour the band's early output, the first two albums were commercially successful in Europe. This gave Talk Talk the money needed to hire additional musicians to play on their next album, The Colour of Spring
(1986). The band no longer had to rely on synthesizers. Instead, musicians improvised with their instruments for many hours, then Hollis and producer Tim Friese-Greene edited and arranged the performances to get the sound they wanted. A total of sixteen musicians appeared on the album. The Colour of Spring became Talk Talk's most successful album, selling over two million copies and prompting a major world tour. At the same time, minimalist songs like "April 5th," "Chameleon Day," and the outtake "It's Getting Late in the Evening" pointed towards the band's next direction.
, London
and took about a year to complete. Engineer Phill Brown has also stated that the album, along with its successor, was "recorded by chance, accident, and hours of trying every possible overdub idea."
Despite their reservations towards Spirit of Eden, EMI chose to exercise their option to extend the recording contract with Talk Talk. The band, however, wanted out of the contract. "I knew by that time that EMI was not the company this band should be with," manager Keith Aspden told Mojo. "I was fearful that the money wouldn't be there to record another album." EMI and Talk Talk went to court to decide the issue.
The case centred on whether EMI had notified the band about the contract extension in time. As part of the agreement, EMI had to send a written notice within three months after the completion of Spirit of Eden. The band said that EMI had sent the notice too late, arguing that the three month period began once recording had finished; EMI argued that the three month period did not begin until they were satisfied with the recording. Justice Andrew Morritt
ruled in favour of EMI, but his decision was overturned in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales
. Talk Talk were released from the contract and later signed to Polydor.
, John Robinson calls Spirit of Eden, like David Sylvian
's Brilliant Trees
, "triumphant, [but] completely unmarketable."
Although the band did not originally plan to release a single
, EMI issued a radio edit of "I Believe In You" in September 1988 (the previously unreleased "John Cope" was included as the B-side). The single failed to breach the UK Singles Chart
Top 75. Around November, Tim Pope
directed a music video
for "I Believe In You", featuring Hollis sitting with his guitar, singing the lyrics. "That was a massive mistake," said Hollis. "I thought just by sitting there and listening and really thinking about what it was about, I could get that in my eyes. But you cannot do it. It just feels stupid."
The band did not tour in support of the album. Hollis explained, "There is no way that I could ever play again a lot of the stuff I played on this album because I just wouldn't know how to. So, to play it live, to take a part that was done in spontaneity, to write it down and then get someone to play it, would lose the whole point, lose the whole purity of what it was in the first place." They would never tour again.
Spirit of Eden was released worldwide in 1988. It did not enjoy nearly as much commercial success as The Colour of Spring. The album spent five weeks on the UK Albums Chart
, peaking at #19. The album cover
depicts a tree festooned with seashells, snails, birds, and insects. It was illustrated by James Marsh
, who did Talk Talk's artwork throughout their career. The booklet provides reproductions of Hollis' handwritten lyrics. The album was digitally remastered
by Phill Brown and Denis Blackham in 1997. A hybrid Super Audio CD
(without surround sound
) surfaced in 2003.
Mark Hollis' lyrics
contain religious
and spiritual
references. Though Hollis acknowledges that his lyrics are religious, he says they are not based on a specific religion, preferring to think of them as "humanitarian." "I Believe in You" has been described as an "anti-heroin song." When asked whether the lyrics are based on personal experience, Hollis replied, "No, not at all. But, you know, I met people who got totally fucked up on it. Within rock music there's so much fucking glorification of it, and it is a wicked, horrible thing."
was uncertain about the album: "It is either a work of immense merit and bravery or a load of bilge, and I cannot decide which." Roy Wilkinson of Sounds
, although rating the album highly, thought that the second side was not as good as the first and that the lyrics were a weak point. Chris Dafoe of The Globe and Mail
was largely unimpressed: "At its best, this can be evocative and slightly unsettling. More frequently, however, it sounds like dreary New Age
miserablism. Yawn Yawn." In the 1992 Rolling Stone Album Guide
, J.D. Considine rated the album 1 star out of 5: "Instead of getting better or worse, this band simply grew more pretentious
with each passing year. . . . by Spirit of Eden, Mark Hollis's Pete Townshend
-on-Dramamine vocals have been pushed aside by the band's pointless noodling." Simon Williams of NME
noted the album's pretentiousness and aimlessness, but found it forgivable, commenting, "...they're resolute and determined, flaunting commercial rules with fascinating disregard for understanding or acceptance." A review in Q criticized the band for not even trying to create the hit singles they'd led the record label to expect, but concluded that "If Spirit Of Eden often recalls the pastoral epics of the early 70s, it has a range, ambition and self-sufficiency that enables Hollis and co to step out of time and into their own." PopMatters
's retrospective review was less qualified in its praise, calling Spirit of Eden "an album for the ages."
Pitchfork Media
named Spirit of Eden the 34th best album of the 1980s. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #31 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".
, a music genre that developed in Britain and the United States in the 1990s. In a review of Bark Psychosis
' album Hex
, where the term post-rock was coined, Simon Reynolds
opined that Hex aspires to the "baroque grandeur" of Spirit of Eden. Andy Whitman of Paste
magazine argues that Spirit of Eden represents the beginning of post-rock: "The telltale marks of the genre—textured guitars, glacial tempos, an emphasis on dynamics, electronica, ambience and minimalism—were all in place, and paved the way for bands like Sigur Rós
, Mogwai
, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
, Low
, and latter-period Radiohead
." Simon Harper of the Birmingham Post
adds, "Certainly, their combination of jazz, classical, rock and the spacey echoes of dub, using silence almost as an instrument in its own right, lends itself to the vernacular of post-rock, and there can be little argument that Tortoise
and their Chicago-based compatriots would hardly sound the same were it not for the staggering achievements of Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene." Music historian Piero Scaruffi
believes that with Spirit of Eden, Talk Talk "invented a new form of music, one in which a complex atmosphere is created out of slow, inorganic, inarticulate streams of simple sounds. The six lengthy, free-form, brooding and cataleptic ruminations . . . pioneered 'slo-core'." Numerous bands and artists, ranging from Catherine Wheel
to Sarah McLachlan
to Matthew Good
, Graham Coxon
, Doves and Elbow
have praised Spirit of Eden or have cited it as an influence in their own music.
s of the songs were "Modell," "Camel," "Maureen," "Norm," "Inheritance," "Snow in Berlin," and "Eric."
Technical
Talk Talk
Talk Talk were an English musical group, active from 1981 to 1991. The group had a string of international hit singles including "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Dum Dum Girl", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World"....
. The songs were written by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene
Tim Friese-Greene
Timothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and producer. From 1983 to their breakup in 1992, he worked with the band Talk Talk. He currently releases solo albums under the name "Heligoland".-Producer:...
, and performed by numerous musicians using a diverse combination of instruments. In 2008, Alan McGee of the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote: "Spirit of Eden has not dated; it's remarkable how contemporary it sounds, anticipating post-rock, The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
and Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
. It's the sound of an artist being given the keys to the kingdom and returning with art."
The album emerged from a demanding recording process: often working in darkness, the band recorded many hours of improvised
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
performances, edited them down heavily, then arranged the remaining pieces into an album using digital equipment. The end product includes elements of rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, and ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
. The album was released on the Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
record label, an imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
of EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
.
Critics often view Spirit of Eden as a departure from Talk Talk's previous albums. Compared to their 1986 hit The Colour of Spring
The Colour of Spring
-Personnel:* Mark Hollis - Organ, Keyboards, Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Melodica, Mellotron* Lee Harris - Percussion, Drums* Paul Webb - Bass, vocals, backing vocals* Tim Friese-Greene - producer, Piano, keyboards, Mellotron, Kurzweil synthesizer...
, it was commercially unsuccessful.
Background
Talk Talk, led by singer Mark Hollis, formed in England in the early 1980s. From the start, Hollis cited jazz and classical artists like Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, and Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
as major musical influences. But Talk Talk's first two albums, The Party's Over (1982) and It's My Life
It's My Life (album)
-Personnel:*Mark Hollis - vocals*Lee Harris - drums *Paul Webb - bass guitar*Tim Friese-Greene - keyboards*Ian Curnow - keyboards*Phil Ramocon - piano*Robbie McIntosh - guitar*Morris Pert - percussion*Henry Lowther - trumpet*James Marsh - cover art-Charts:...
(1984), did not readily reflect such influences; critics compared the band to contemporary New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
groups, especially Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
. Hollis partly attributes the shortcomings of their early music to a financial need to use synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s in place of acoustic instruments.
Although critics did not favour the band's early output, the first two albums were commercially successful in Europe. This gave Talk Talk the money needed to hire additional musicians to play on their next album, The Colour of Spring
The Colour of Spring
-Personnel:* Mark Hollis - Organ, Keyboards, Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Melodica, Mellotron* Lee Harris - Percussion, Drums* Paul Webb - Bass, vocals, backing vocals* Tim Friese-Greene - producer, Piano, keyboards, Mellotron, Kurzweil synthesizer...
(1986). The band no longer had to rely on synthesizers. Instead, musicians improvised with their instruments for many hours, then Hollis and producer Tim Friese-Greene edited and arranged the performances to get the sound they wanted. A total of sixteen musicians appeared on the album. The Colour of Spring became Talk Talk's most successful album, selling over two million copies and prompting a major world tour. At the same time, minimalist songs like "April 5th," "Chameleon Day," and the outtake "It's Getting Late in the Evening" pointed towards the band's next direction.
Recording
For the success of The Colour of Spring, EMI rewarded Talk Talk with an open budget and schedule for the recording of their next album, Spirit of Eden. Talk Talk was given complete control over the recording process; their manager and EMI executives were barred from studio sessions. Recording for Spirit of Eden began in 1987 at Wessex StudiosWessex Sound Studios
Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located in Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including The Sex Pistols, King Crimson, The Clash, Theatre of Hate, XTC, The Sinceros, Queen, Talk Talk and The Rolling Stones...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and took about a year to complete. Engineer Phill Brown has also stated that the album, along with its successor, was "recorded by chance, accident, and hours of trying every possible overdub idea."
Contract dispute with EMI
By early March 1988, the band had finished recording Spirit of Eden and had sent a cassette of the album to EMI. After listening to the cassette, EMI representatives doubted that it could be commercially successful. They asked Hollis to re-record a song or replace material, but he refused to do so. By the time the masters were delivered later in the month, however, the label conceded that the album had been satisfactorily completed.Despite their reservations towards Spirit of Eden, EMI chose to exercise their option to extend the recording contract with Talk Talk. The band, however, wanted out of the contract. "I knew by that time that EMI was not the company this band should be with," manager Keith Aspden told Mojo. "I was fearful that the money wouldn't be there to record another album." EMI and Talk Talk went to court to decide the issue.
The case centred on whether EMI had notified the band about the contract extension in time. As part of the agreement, EMI had to send a written notice within three months after the completion of Spirit of Eden. The band said that EMI had sent the notice too late, arguing that the three month period began once recording had finished; EMI argued that the three month period did not begin until they were satisfied with the recording. Justice Andrew Morritt
Andrew Morritt
Sir Robert Andrew Morritt CVO is a British judge, currently the Chancellor of the High Court.He attended Magdalene College, Cambridge....
ruled in favour of EMI, but his decision was overturned in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
. Talk Talk were released from the contract and later signed to Polydor.
Marketing and release history
Spirit of Edens moody, experimental nature made it a challenge to promote; one critic said it "is the kind of record which encourages marketing men to commit suicide." Tony Wadsworth, Parlophone's marketing director at the time, told Q: "Talk Talk are not your ordinary combo and require sympathetic marketing. They're not so much difficult as not obvious. You've just got to find as many ways as possible to expose the music." Evaluating some masterpieces of the eighties in a 2004 article for The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, John Robinson calls Spirit of Eden, like David Sylvian
David Sylvian
David Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
's Brilliant Trees
Brilliant Trees
Brilliant Trees is the debut solo album by British singer/songwriter David Sylvian, released in 1984.-History:Produced by Sylvian with Steve Nye, it was his first full length release after the break-up of his band Japan in late 1982. The album peaked at no.4 in the UK, the highest chart position of...
, "triumphant, [but] completely unmarketable."
Although the band did not originally plan to release a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, EMI issued a radio edit of "I Believe In You" in September 1988 (the previously unreleased "John Cope" was included as the B-side). The single failed to breach the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
Top 75. Around November, Tim Pope
Tim Pope
Timothy Michael Pope is a film director most famous for his music videos, having directed feature films, and for a brief pop career.-Early life and career:...
directed a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "I Believe In You", featuring Hollis sitting with his guitar, singing the lyrics. "That was a massive mistake," said Hollis. "I thought just by sitting there and listening and really thinking about what it was about, I could get that in my eyes. But you cannot do it. It just feels stupid."
The band did not tour in support of the album. Hollis explained, "There is no way that I could ever play again a lot of the stuff I played on this album because I just wouldn't know how to. So, to play it live, to take a part that was done in spontaneity, to write it down and then get someone to play it, would lose the whole point, lose the whole purity of what it was in the first place." They would never tour again.
Spirit of Eden was released worldwide in 1988. It did not enjoy nearly as much commercial success as The Colour of Spring. The album spent five weeks on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, peaking at #19. The album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
depicts a tree festooned with seashells, snails, birds, and insects. It was illustrated by James Marsh
James Marsh (artist)
James Marsh is an English visual artist, illustrator, Designer & Author with a 'National Diploma in Design' amongst other qualifications. He has worked in all areas of the media, from Advertising, Publishing to Editorial commissions...
, who did Talk Talk's artwork throughout their career. The booklet provides reproductions of Hollis' handwritten lyrics. The album was digitally remastered
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
by Phill Brown and Denis Blackham in 1997. A hybrid Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
(without surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
) surfaced in 2003.
Musical style
Although the album is noted for its tranquil soundscapes, Graham Sutton of Bark Psychosis notes "Noise is important. I could never understand people I knew who liked Talk Talk and saw it as something 'nice to chill out to' when I loved the overwhelming intensity and the dynamics."Mark Hollis' lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
contain religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
references. Though Hollis acknowledges that his lyrics are religious, he says they are not based on a specific religion, preferring to think of them as "humanitarian." "I Believe in You" has been described as an "anti-heroin song." When asked whether the lyrics are based on personal experience, Hollis replied, "No, not at all. But, you know, I met people who got totally fucked up on it. Within rock music there's so much fucking glorification of it, and it is a wicked, horrible thing."
Critical reception
Spirit of Eden has been both acclaimed and panned by numerous music critics. Markus Berkmann of The SpectatorThe Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
was uncertain about the album: "It is either a work of immense merit and bravery or a load of bilge, and I cannot decide which." Roy Wilkinson of Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
, although rating the album highly, thought that the second side was not as good as the first and that the lyrics were a weak point. Chris Dafoe of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
was largely unimpressed: "At its best, this can be evocative and slightly unsettling. More frequently, however, it sounds like dreary New Age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
miserablism. Yawn Yawn." In the 1992 Rolling Stone Album Guide
Rolling Stone Album Guide
The Rolling Stone Album Guide, previously known as The Rolling Stone Record Guide, is a book that, along with its sister publication Rolling Stone magazine, contains professional reviews of popular music...
, J.D. Considine rated the album 1 star out of 5: "Instead of getting better or worse, this band simply grew more pretentious
Pretentious
Pretentious person means a person pretending to be someone who he is not just for the sake of showing that he is a higher intellectual than others....
with each passing year. . . . by Spirit of Eden, Mark Hollis's Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
-on-Dramamine vocals have been pushed aside by the band's pointless noodling." Simon Williams of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
noted the album's pretentiousness and aimlessness, but found it forgivable, commenting, "...they're resolute and determined, flaunting commercial rules with fascinating disregard for understanding or acceptance." A review in Q criticized the band for not even trying to create the hit singles they'd led the record label to expect, but concluded that "If Spirit Of Eden often recalls the pastoral epics of the early 70s, it has a range, ambition and self-sufficiency that enables Hollis and co to step out of time and into their own." PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
's retrospective review was less qualified in its praise, calling Spirit of Eden "an album for the ages."
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
named Spirit of Eden the 34th best album of the 1980s. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #31 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".
Legacy
Some music critics consider Spirit of Eden and its 1991 follow-up Laughing Stock influential to post-rockPost-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
, a music genre that developed in Britain and the United States in the 1990s. In a review of Bark Psychosis
Bark Psychosis
Bark Psychosis are an English post-rock band/musical project from east London formed in 1986. They were one of the bands that Simon Reynolds cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands defining the genre...
' album Hex
Hex (album)
Hex is a 1994 album by Bark Psychosis. The term "post-rock" was coined by music journalist Simon Reynolds in his review of this album for Mojo magazine.-Reception:...
, where the term post-rock was coined, Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds is an English music critic who is well-known for his writings on electronic dance music and for coining the term "post-rock". Besides electronic dance music, Reynolds has written about a wide range of artists and musical genres, and has written books on post-punk and rock...
opined that Hex aspires to the "baroque grandeur" of Spirit of Eden. Andy Whitman of Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
magazine argues that Spirit of Eden represents the beginning of post-rock: "The telltale marks of the genre—textured guitars, glacial tempos, an emphasis on dynamics, electronica, ambience and minimalism—were all in place, and paved the way for bands like Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with classicaland minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound, and frontman Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto vocals and use of bowed guitar. In January 2010, the band announced that they will be on hiatus. Since then, it has since been announced...
, Mogwai
Mogwai
The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...
, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
, Low
Low (band)
Low is an American indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993. As of 2010, the group is composed of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker , both founding members, and Steve Garrington ....
, and latter-period Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
." Simon Harper of the Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
adds, "Certainly, their combination of jazz, classical, rock and the spacey echoes of dub, using silence almost as an instrument in its own right, lends itself to the vernacular of post-rock, and there can be little argument that Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
and their Chicago-based compatriots would hardly sound the same were it not for the staggering achievements of Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene." Music historian Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi received a degree in Mathematics in 1982 from University of Turin, where he did work on the General Theory of Relativity. For a number of years he was the head of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Olivetti, based in Cupertino, California. He has been a visiting scholar at...
believes that with Spirit of Eden, Talk Talk "invented a new form of music, one in which a complex atmosphere is created out of slow, inorganic, inarticulate streams of simple sounds. The six lengthy, free-form, brooding and cataleptic ruminations . . . pioneered 'slo-core'." Numerous bands and artists, ranging from Catherine Wheel
Catherine Wheel
Catherine Wheel were a four-piece alternative rock band from Great Yarmouth, England. The band was active from 1990 to 2000, experiencing fluctuating levels of commercial success, and embarking on many lengthy tours.-Biography:...
to Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
to Matthew Good
Matthew Good
Matthew Frederick Robert Good is a Canadian rock musician. He was the lead singer for the Matthew Good Band, one of Canada's most successful alternative rock bands in the 1990s, before dissolving the band in 2002...
, Graham Coxon
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
, Doves and Elbow
Elbow (band)
Elbow are an English rock band. They have played together since 1990 and recorded five studio albums, the most recent of which is Build a Rocket Boys!, released in March 2011...
have praised Spirit of Eden or have cited it as an influence in their own music.
Track listing
The track times reflect the original North American version of the compact disc. UK and European releases of the compact disc present the first three songs, "The Rainbow," "Eden," and "Desire," as a single track, totaling 23:11. The North American version of the album, and subsequent international reissues, divide the suite into three tracks, although they are still presented without an audible break. There is a forced silence of just over 30 seconds between "Desire" and "Inheritance". Working titleWorking title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
s of the songs were "Modell," "Camel," "Maureen," "Norm," "Inheritance," "Snow in Berlin," and "Eric."
Personnel
Musicians- Lee HarrisLee Harris (musician)Lee David Harris is an English drummer and musician. Harris attended secondary school with Paul Webb, and the two became good friends. They played in the reggae band Eskalator before being recruited to form Talk Talk in 1981. Harris played drums for Talk Talk until 1991. In the early 1990s he and...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Paul WebbPaul WebbPaul Douglas Webb is an English musician.Webb attended secondary school with Lee Harris, and the two became good friends. They played in the reggae band Eskalator before being recruited to form Talk Talk in 1981. Webb played bass for Talk Talk until 1988.In the early 1990s he and Harris formed...
– electric bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Tim Friese-GreeneTim Friese-GreeneTimothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and producer. From 1983 to their breakup in 1992, he worked with the band Talk Talk. He currently releases solo albums under the name "Heligoland".-Producer:...
– harmoniumHarmoniumA harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Mark Hollis – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, piano, organ, guitar - Martin Ditcham – percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
- Robbie McIntoshRobbie McIntoshRobbie McIntosh is an English guitarist. McIntosh is well known as a session guitarist and member of The Pretenders from 1982 until 1987. In 1988 he began doing session guitar work for Paul McCartney joining his band full time until early 1994...
– dobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
, 12 string guitar - Mark FelthamMark Feltham (musician)Mark Feltham is an English musician best known for his harmonica playing. Feltham is a long term member of the British rhythm and blues band, Nine Below Zero, and Rory Gallagher's band; and is often utilised as a session musician.-Albums:*Nine Below Zero: Live at the Marquee ; Don't Point Your...
– harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Simon Edwards – Mexican bass
- Danny ThompsonDanny ThompsonDaniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
– double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Henry LowtherHenry Lowther (musician)Henry Lowther is an English jazz trumpeter.Lowther's first experience was on cornet in a Salvation Army band. He studied violin briefly at the Royal Academy of Music but returned to trumpet by 1960 though he sometimes played violin professionally...
– trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Nigel KennedyNigel KennedyNigel Kennedy is a British born violinist and violist. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.... - Hugh DaviesHugh DaviesHugh Seymour Davies was a musicologist, composer, and inventor of experimental musical instruments.Davies was born in Exmouth, Devon, England. After attending Westminster School, he studied music at Worcester College, Oxford from 1961 to 1964. Shortly after he traveled to Cologne, Germany to work...
– shozygs - Andrew Stowell – bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
- Michael Jeans – oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
- Andrew MarrinerAndrew MarrinerAndrew Marriner is a British classical clarinettist and the son of the famed conductor Neville Marriner. He was a boy chorister in the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. In 1968, he joined the National Youth Orchestra, and eventually pursued studies at Oxford University. He then left Oxford and...
– clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed... - Christopher Hooker – cor anglaisCor anglaisThe cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
- Choir of Chelmsford CathedralChelmsford CathedralChelmsford Cathedral in the county town of Chelmsford, Essex, England is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, St Peter and St Cedd. It became a cathedral when the Anglican Diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914 and is the seat of the Bishop of Chelmsford....
Technical
- Phill Brown – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Tim Friese-GreeneTim Friese-GreeneTimothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and producer. From 1983 to their breakup in 1992, he worked with the band Talk Talk. He currently releases solo albums under the name "Heligoland".-Producer:...
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - James MarshJames Marsh (artist)James Marsh is an English visual artist, illustrator, Designer & Author with a 'National Diploma in Design' amongst other qualifications. He has worked in all areas of the media, from Advertising, Publishing to Editorial commissions...
– cover art