Spirit of Eden

Spirit of Eden is the fourth studio album by English band Talk Talk, released by Parlophone Records on 12 September 1988. It was compiled from a lengthy recording process at London's Wessex Studios between 1987 and 1988, with songs written by singer Mark Hollis and producer Tim Friese-Greene. Often working in darkness, the band recorded many hours of improvised performances that drew on elements of jazz, ambient, classical music, blues, and dub. These long-form recordings were then heavily edited and re-arranged into an album in mostly digital format. The results were a radical departure from Talk Talk's earlier synth-pop recordings, and would later be credited with pioneering the post-rock genre.

Compared to the success of 1986's The Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden was a commercial disappointment. Despite its mixed reception, the album's stature grew more favourable in subsequent years, with contemporary critics describing Spirit of Eden as an underrated masterpiece. In 2013, NME ranked Spirit of Eden at number 95 in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".