Customer Reviews

Mark Hollis

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Those who enjoyed Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock should find much to love in this solo outing. Do not expect virtuosity. Coming into Mark Hollis with such an attitude will cause you to miss the point of this album. This is about emotion, and the very frailties that make us human. If you seek machine-like precision and processed-to-death sounds, look elsewhere. Mark Hollis is a much more *intimate* album than that. Imagine sitting in a circle of musicians, tucked safely away in a back room somewhere, playing without an audience, without pressure. On occasion, a chair squeaks or someone misses a note, or someone joins in just ahead or behind where they "should"...but that's *not* what matters. Instead, it is the private communion with each other, and with the music created between them, that matters. Unconstrained, slowly flowing along from one song to the next, it's rather like a beautiful, spontaneous practice session committed to tape. In today's world of grandeur and overprocessed everything, this is a value we've forgotten. Perhaps that's why Mark Hollis so stirs the heart.

Mr. Hollis' voice and lyrics are as vulnerable as ever, and these soft, melancholy wanderings offer an intriguing contrast to the open, sometimes even refreshing, uplifting arrangements. While never building into the crescendoes of Spirit of Eden's "Inheritance" or Laughing Stock's "Ascension Day", there is certainly enough of interest to keep the ear engaged. Soft and subtle are the key words here. Listen for the murmurring choir in "A life (1895-1915)" for such beauty...I could live in that gorgeous section forever.

While, to be honest, I do not listen to most of the lyrics (they are rather depressing, but furthermore, Mr. Hollis has always focused on tone and expressiveness more than on clear enunciation anyway), I was very impressed by the lyrics of "A new Jerusalem", which seem to capture quite accurately the desolation left in the aftermath of war. This is the return of the shell-shocked soldier to a home that has been ravaged in his absence. I showed this song to a friend who has been personally affected by war, and he was quite moved. We both focused immediately, on our first listenings, on these lines:

"Heaven burn me
Should I swear to fight once more."

This song is lyrically on the level of "New Grass" or "I Believe in You", and that alone is worth the price of the entire album, as well as the stunning music of "A life (1895-1915)". Of course, there is not a bad track to be found on this album. If you cannot tolerate minimalism, imperfection, or improvisation, I recommend looking elsewhere--but if you can keep an open mind, Mark Hollis is well worth obtaining. And, as with the solo works of Pink Floyd's keyboardist Rick Wright, this is an underappreciated work where too few copies were made--so be sure to get it before supplies run out.

Remember Talk Talk from the eighties? Lead singer Mark Hollis returns in the present with an astounding array of ear candy for the open minded adventurist. With his mesmerizing vocal eccentricities MH delivers the goods in an esoterical gathering of pieces which well deserve the title "art" as well as music. Breathtaking instrumentation paints the background with haunting jazzlike percussion and percision that sweeps in and out of the tranquil landscapes directly and subliminally. The upright bass does justice to wind instruments from glass harmonica to flutes to the clarinet. Distinct subtle piano dances here and there as MH purposely starts, and then haults, his barely distinguishable rising and lowering vocal delivery of delightfully elusive lyrics throughout each arrangement.

Definitely a wonderful departure from the pop/hiphop humdrum that fills the airwaves of modern radio and teenage music television shrinkwrapped for the mindless masses that suck it up and soak it in like drones of zombie clones.

Strings are perfectly subdued in a number of pieces and one can almost drift into MHs' train of thought practically unnoticed. Interesting is the use of the tamborine as the main beat in many of the tracks with the drums taking the back seat. Mazzy Star comes to mind when hearing that strong tamborine leading the path into the depths of the transpiring vision that was obviously his direct intention.

Mellow music? Perhaps, but look for moments of intensity that seem to come out of nowhere as the notes dart from sharp to flat when MHs' voice dissapears at precisely the exact moment that the volume of music increases.
Smart, emotional, content indeed.

Overall, a splendid album that will not lose it's appeal after many listens like most cd's do with time. -d-

Hushed, intense meditative music which, to my mind, is quite unlike anything else. An album that finishes all too soon and leaves you with the horrible realisation that, until Mark makes another, there is no-where else to go! Utterly utterly beautiful - buy it!

After fronting the vastly underrated Talk Talk, the singer Mark Hollis, went on to fulfil his own increasingly individualistic path of music, with his own solo album. With a sound and structure that would encompass: Experimental, Post-Rock, Jazz, & Ambient. His is a sound that centres around the fractured dynamics of "Mark Hollis" vocals, with an album, that is not simple to categorise & easily define. Mainly because this is centred around a largely uncategorizable sound informed, by pieces of various downtempo genres reworked and composed to fit within his increasingly selective musical sensibilities, and seemingly committed to making huge musical (and artistic) strides.

The mood is a resolutely subdued one, which takes in a mannered and organically gloriously uplifting piece of sophisticated reflective experimental/Post-Rock tracks. Which are in parts breath-taking, or just simply beautiful, with an understated grace and mood, not since his work with Talk Talk. Here, things are comprised of eight tracks, each of which are arguably stand-out in their own right. Songs, with the barest sketches of ambient instruments, and compositions of equal parts minimalist guitar & piano. With Mark Hollis adding fractures of vocals over the top.... that like a previous reviewer commented on, has lyrics that seemed to be chosen for their tone and expressiveness, rather than their enunciation, in the subtlest way possible....its cerebral without seeming pretentious, moving without feeling forced, and a statement of artistic endeavour over commercial appeal.

There simply no getting away from the fact the arrangements here, aim for maximum emotional impact, and frequently resonant with their minimalist tones, with layers of percussion and lingering guitar riff, punctuated by strings and horns, and detached vocals matched with a haunting hypnotic sound, belie a level of complexity and immense beauty, and it becomes quickly clear that the music is stretching for something far beyond conventional pop/rock themes and entering into a more spiritual realm, even if that means sacrificing mainstream appeal, in favour of something more substantial.

And although most of the tracks on this album, feel like long improvised sections, with delicately balanced ambient flourishes....it's the way that each track delicately unfolds, subtly and fitting perfectly into the dreamlike mood of the rest of the album, and feel like evolving soundscapes, constantly pushing the boundaries of atmospheric music, & instrumentation, to a level only previously felt on Talk Talk's previous albums, and thus managing to make all the elements combine, to produce something of a truly breath-taking introspective elegance.

For an album that was generally ignored by the record-buying public (expect the diehard fans of Talk Talk's work), it's probably not too hard to see why this was passed over. It's not a regular album in the conventional sense, with the lilting, delicate and softly-focused performances pointing towards a quietly elegant album, which seems so largely out of step with relatively dominance of Pop/Rock/Indie bands over the last decade, that I'm sure only a small minority; of listeners actually bother to pick up this album. If you are reading this review, then you are almost certainly strongly recommended to pick this album up. It shows an air of grace, bittersweet and passionate subtlety rarely seen in the music, around the time this was released (or indeed since), and one that unfortunately relegated the album to the margins of being a cult release, It's a album that is far too subtle for mass market appeal, but those that are prepared to take the leap, will be rewarded with a creatively and artistically stunning album. Extremely recommended.

A track from this just came up on my jukebox. When a track from this record, Spirit of Eden, or Laughing Stock comes up on the player, time just stands still. I guess this is the function of transcendent music. Really, Mark Hollis and Talk Talk changed music. They had far more influence on musicians than they did on the market. Being a musician, this is what I aspire to - not music that sounds like this, but music, any music, that can move and captivate like this...what a gift.

I got this CD from as a special gift from a friend 6 years ago. She thought I will love it since we both were a long time collector of music.
After a long time listing to it and experiencing this sublime music over and over again, I can tell you that my experience with Mark Hollis solo album is incredible: never get tired of it, and always is about beauty and great music.

I understand that this CD is only found as an IMPORT. My is from Germany and the sound of the recording is gourgeus even when this includes dealing with silence.

If you are a serious collector or like good music over the usual shallow expectations of commercial music, don't doubt it and expect perfection!

I don't think there is much to say about this album other than it is simply beautiful. While it will never achieve any level of commercial success - who cares? This is yet another album for fans of the breathy yet nasal, eclectic and hauting voice of Mark Hollis. If you followed the course of the Talk Talk albums as they moved further and further outside of the mainstream, you'd have to agree that this album fits right in as the next link in the chain. Love it.

Take Debussy's Claire de Lune, add some feedback and silent bits, sprinkle in a touch of Martin Fetltham's awesome electric harmonica, an upright bass that could stress a hip-hop addict's car stereo, lyrics that are more intrumental than clear (they are quite poetic and are in the liner for the curious), and an excellent production/mixing and you will come close to this. Much more mellow than prior releases...Robbie McIntosh and Martin Ditcham are back, but Tim Friese-Greene is gone. :-( Still, Mark has certainly stretched even -his- envelope with this one. Much more disciplined, yet there is still evidence of creative freedom. Well worth the extra currency. Go for it.

The sweetest music to my ears. It couldn't be more perfect. After I bought it, unwrapped it and listened to the first 3 songs, I knew I had found the rarest of gems. A culmination of the evolution of mark Hollis from Talk Talk to his solo work.

This sparse Miles Davis influenced stunner from former Talk Talk vocalist/ songwriter is a must own must have life changing cd if there ever was one. Its hushed downtempo ambience and slowburn intensity rivals any music put to tape. Anyone into Miles davis or the last two great cohesive Talk Talk records will love this. Everyone else with a longing for timeless music needs to just stop reading the reviews and get it. I never thought a cd from the 90s would deserve a place in the my top ten of alltime but Mark Hollis is it. Perfect down to every note brushed drum and mournful vocal. Mark, if you ever read this- thank you for this fantastic album and know that many of us think this is simply one of the greatest ever!