Customer Reviews

Laughter & Lust

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Laughter and Lust is an often-overlooked album. Admittedly, it is a recording that takes some work to get into, but it's well worth the effort. I didn't bother buying this album until I saw Joe Jackson perform "The Other Me" during a concert. This song left me transfixed and enraptured - I went out and bought this CD the next morning. Start with that song, but give the whole album a listen - it's very worth it. After all, some of the best art in the world is that which takes effort to enjoy. Laughter and Lust fits this bill nicely.

Professionally speaking it is indeed one of the most underated or under estimated albums made. It demonstates one of the best materials put together. It proves that sometimes you get the best albums at the lowest prices. I was at first skeptical of buying this album because usually when a musician puts out an album in the 90's or 2000's and it's cheap, it's either because the music store is over stocked or it stinks. But, when I heard this CD, I relized that I felt like I got a real bargain for once. Joe also demonstrates in this album that there is more to music than just love, like that song "Hit Single". The song, "Drowning" was the perfect song to end the CD. My favorite songs from this album is, "Stranger Than Fiction", "Drowning", "When You're Not Around", and the best, "In My House". It derserves a 5-star and a 10+.

Probably one of the most overlooked and underrated albums of his career. I loved it from the opening build up of "The obvious song" to the fading off of "Drowning". Simply a must have for any fan of JJ, and any fan of music in general.

People often write off this album as a dark, unsatisfying expression of Joe Jackson's rejection of the commericial mainstream. In truth, this is a bitingly satiric pop album, with fine songcraft and excellant musicianship--an album that shows Jackson giving one last try at being the pop/rock songsmith. He does fine, but is upset enough with the conventions of his own life that the lyrics bite through every sweetened chord. A complex delight.

This is by far my favorite Joe Jackson album. It's a shame that it's relatively obscure, it's got so many great tracks. After 20 years I haven't tired of it.

Not Joes' best album but sub-par Joe Jackson is better than most at their best. A little over-cooked and some of the lyrics are poor. A good investment if you are already familiar with JJ, but if you wish to investigate Joe from scratch, try "Look Sharp", "Night & Day", the live "Summer In The City" or his latest - the excellent "Rain"

Joe Jackson is a guy that I really did not discover until after his hey day as a punk / new wave star in the 80's. Of course I had heard some of his hits, but like Warren Zevon I never really gave him much of a listen until later in his career. For me this is one of the great overlooked albums of the early 90's. Jackson the songwriter is the feature here as he writes some incredible lyrics. The music on the album is probably some of Jackson's most straight forward, but that is not a distraction as it fits the overall tone of the album so well. The album is also probably one of Jackson's most pop oriented and at the time I think it was meant to get him back on the radio. For most artists this would be a turn off for me, but these songs are so good that they deserved a lot more airplay than they ever received. The album starts with "The Obvious Song" a great Jackson rant on society that is as relevant today as it was in 1991. Next up is "Goin Downtown" which is one of my least favorite songs on the disc. Next is "Stranger Than Fiction" which is an absolutely killer relationship song. This is one of those that came out at a perfect time in my life, and was kind of my theme song for a while. I've always loved the line "I love her so much I don't even know what planet I'm on. I love her so much I wish she'd just go away". Next is a cover of the Fleetwood Mac classic "Oh Well". Joe puts his own unique spin on the tune and it is a cool version. "Jamie G" comes next and is a rather average song. Next up is one of my all time favorite Jackson tunes "Hit Single" with very clever lyrics mixing being single from a failed relationship with the pressure to have a hit single on the radio. It sounds weird, but it works in a way only Jackson can write them. Some more great lines in this one, "When I die and go to pure pop heaven, the angels will gather around. They'll ask me for my whole life story, and ask for that fabulous sound. But I know they're gonna stop me as I start going through every line, and say please not the whole damn album, nobody has that much time....please...just the hit single". The next song is "It's All Too Much" containing yet another brilliant Jackson lyric and is another one that is still very relevant. More great lines in this one, "What shall we do this evening, send out for some sushi and champagne. Stay in and watch TV, 50 channels can't all be the same. Maybe go to a movie, 50 films on 50 tiny screens. They say that choice is freedom, I'm so free it's driving me insane". "When Your Not Around", "The Other Me" and "Trying To Cry", and "My House" are the next 4 and are all great tunes too. Next up is "The Old Songs", Joe's lament on classic rock radio and the fact that he had been around long enough that his audience just wanted to hear the oldies. This could be a theme song about my own generation with great lines like; "play us another one, play us the hopes and dreams of twenty years ago. They're all over the bloody radio. It's like they're telling us there's nowhere left to go.......me I blame the old songs, protect us all against a change of course. All our great expectations turn to alimony and remorse. But the old songs say - be my baby, and the old songs say - she loves you. All the old songs we'll sing come what may be. I like those songs, but I'd like something new." The last track is "Drowning" a mournful ballad of a lost relationship and more great stuff. Can you tell I really love this album? This disc pretty much tanked at the cash registers and came and went very quickly, so many Jackson fans do not have it. If you are into Jackson at all this is a must purchase in my opinion. I would think that people who enjoy more modern piano men like Ben Folds would also eat this up. You can get this album used on Amazon for less than $5 bucks.

Joe Jackson's music is energized with great melody, insightful lyrics that are easy to relate to, and his output of many classic albums in the 70's and 80's prove that he is a brilliant artist. This disc released in 1991, is in my opinion, one of his best. The performances are dynamic, Joe's vocals shine, and the production is perfect.

Some highlights - "Obvious Song" kicks the disc into high gear with a rocking up-tempo groove. "Stranger Than Fiction" is a great pop tune with a slight ska/reggae feel that has a repetitive, but never boring, percussion fill (think the SNL skit - I need more cowbell). My favorite, "It's All Too Much", is another upbeat tune with entertaining lyrics like... "I hate this supermarket / But I have to say it makes me think / A hundred mineral waters / It's fun to guess which ones are safe to drink". Right on, Joe! "Trying To Cry", a moving ballad, is simply arranged with the guitar strumming the occasional lone chord and the percussion floats softly in the background - a very powerful tune. Finally, "Drowning", another beautiful ballad, closes out the disc with only keys, guitar, and cello. The rest of disc ain't too shabby either.

I'm surprised by the limited reviews of "Laughter & Lust" and recommend this as highly as any of his other releases.

around this time joe jackson was getting into a lot of less pop and more soundtracks and instrumentals.this cd was a full return to pop and its a good one.Obvious Song is a stand out as well as Stranger than Fiction.i think i like Hit Single the best because it contains Jacksons sarcastic humor he can be known for.

I agree with many of the previous reviews; this is a grossly overlooked album. JJ is a lyrical satirist with a bulls-eye view. I love it when he sings "Sometimes love grows like a flower or it grows like a tumor. Love shows that god has a sense of humour." Joe's poetry crackles with verve, spunk and dash.