THE COLOUR OF SPRING

As some others have mentioned, this is not a standard prog album and many prog fans may not like it. Still, this is a marvellous album and it's progressive in the truest sense, namely it is a milestone in the development of the band, and something truly original and unique for whatever could be called pop music.

It helps if catchy hit singles don't put you off but if you like them if they are well done. This album has two of them, "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World". Both of these are spectacular, dynamic, unforgettable and rank among my favourite songs of all time. One major development on this album is that the former synthpop band here uses much warmer sounds, piano, hammond organ, mouth harp and more guitar with a very transparent mix that already let's you appreciate every small detail in the playing (this will become even more characteristic on the next two albums of the band). "Life's What You Make It" with its repetitive easily recognizable motif has drilled itself into my ears like hardly any other song. "Living in Another World" on the other hand is for a hit single very complex and dynamic, a perfectly crafted little masterpiece.

Apart from these the album has "Happiness Is Easy", quite relaxed and swinging with nice percussion and a surprising chorus sung by children (have a nice time comparing this to "we don't need no education"). The warm and transparent sound of the album is best appreciated in this song. "I Don't Believe In You" is a fairly slow simple song that has stood the test of time very well. "April 5th" goes more in the direction of their later more experimental releases. It's very calm and delicate and has a free psychedelic feel to it. "Give It Up", a mid tempo number, is perhaps the most conventional song on the album and not that interesting composition-wise but the instrumentation and sound are once more a winner. It's just like having beautiful unexpected small flowers popping up all around you when listening to these songs. After this follows "Chameleon Day", a stark contrast, the song that is closest to what would happen on the next album. This is an experimental song that at the time nobody could have expected from any popular band. It sounds very calm and fragile with partly atonal keyboard and woodwind and a very vulnerable and delicate voice, but finally manages to evolve into something like a melody. Haunting and fascinating. It would have been a jewel even on "Laughing Stock" or "Spirit of Eden"; here it is a total shocker (in a good way). "Time It's Time" is a more conventional song again that doesn't start off all too spectacular but comes up with a very dramatic build up of an intense chorus to bring the albums to the end on another high (although I'd have preferred if it they hadn't ended it by fading out).

This album has top notch songs, Mark Hollis's very unique intense voice, and an unexpectedly rich and warm instrumentation that makes it a pleasure from beginning to end. My brother thinks that this is the best album ever. For me it comes close (although otherwise we have quite different tastes).