MARK HOLLIS

Many fans of Talk Talk especially their last two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock often consider this to be the final TT album only it is a Mark Hollis solo album. And they would be right apart from the namesake change. There is a small difference however as where Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock ( to a lesser degree) exhibit such an incredible mix of ambient, minimalist progressive landscapes within a solid structural framework, Mark Hollis's debut solo somehow just does not hold as much water. Sure the frail, chilling and sombre vocals are evident again and minimalism but the songs do not hold up quite as solidly. They tend to lose their way at times and therefore ones attention kind get lost in the overall sounds. Don't get me wrong this is not a bad album but more for fans only. Highlights would be ' Inside Looking Out', the sad ' Life' and ' New Jerusalem'. The album is depressing in nature and this could depict Hollis's state of prescence in 1998 or leading up to it's release, but depressing does not mean bad either. Seldom have there been such radical shifts in artistic direction than Mark Hollis's but for any who admire the bands last two releases then this would be a must.