Joe Jackson: Laughter & Lust CD Track Listing

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Joe Jackson Laughter & Lust (1991)
Originally Released April 30, 1991 \n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: After the inappropriately bombastic arena rock of Blaze of Glory, Joe Jackson returned (somewhat) to his roots to deliver the most straightforward pop album in his career in Laughter & Lust. While Jackson's late-'80s output is composed of intelligent, if often forgettable, adult pop/rock, Laughter & Lust feels almost like a snotty declaration of Jackson's pop skills. He's "been there, done that" with pop music, and with Laughter & Lust he shows off just how effortlessly he can construct a commercially viable pop album. Nowhere is this more present than on the bitter "Hit Single," a tirade about the disposability of pop music and the public's inability to digest more than "just the hit single." But Jackson saves this inscrutable slap in the face of his fans by setting it to -- surprise -- a massive pop hook. And it's that paradox that exists all over Laughter & Lust; songs like "Stranger Than Fiction" and "When You're Not Around" sound so effortless, so catchy, so made for radio -- and yet you know that Joe Jackson constructed these songs just because he could, not necessarily because he wanted to. It's a testament as much to Jackson's abilities as it is to his ego, and Laughter & Lust became his not-so-subtle goodbye to pop music, as he would continuously foray into "serious" music from here on out. Still, for a fan who can see past the attitude, Laughter & Lust does deliver more bang for the buck than any Jackson album since Night and Day, simply because Jackson really does know how to construct a good pop song, even if he's condescending while doing it. -- Jason Damas\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA very different album for Joe., August 13, 2001\nReviewer: Jim Toms (W. Frankfort, IL (USA))\nI don't think Joe had made an album like this before its release and he definitely hasn't made one since like it. It is a somewhat popish album and not all of the songs are on the mark, but others are excellent, in both a musical and lyrical sense. "Obvious Song" may not be mindblowing, but it's typical Joe, as he vents about a few different social topics that he happened to have on his mind at the time. I absolutely love "When Your Not Around", "The Other Me", and "The Old Songs". Most of the rest I would classify as good. In this case, the whole is certainly greater than the sum of its parts. Thus, a four stars rating.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA remarkably overlooked record, January 12, 1999\nReviewer: A music fan\nPeople 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.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nHidden Gem, May 5, 2000\nReviewer: Megan Cohen (New York City)\nLaughter 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.\n\nHalf.com Details \nProducer: Ed Roynesdal, Joe Jackson \n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel: Joe Jackson (vocals, keyboards); Joy Askew (vocals, keyboards); Tom Teeley (guitar, vocals); Charles McCracken (cello); Tony Aiello (saxophone); Michael Morreale (trumpet); Annie Whitehead (trombone); Graham Maby (bass, vocals); Dan Hickey (drums); Sue Hadjopolous (percussion, drums).\n\nIn the late-'80s/early-'90s, Jackson seemed unsure of what direction to take. His various stylistic experiments seemed to have backed him into a corner, but he'd grown too much to return to the effervescent rock & roll of his early days. Instead, he put his energies into a couple of slickly produced, carefully composed albums that approached pop music with a decidedly adult sensibility and a decades worth of hard lessons.\nLAUGHTER & LUST takes the ideas introduced on the preceding BLAZE OF GLORY to extremes. The more sophisticated, arrangement-driven material like "Trying to Cry" relies more on elaborate textures than basic songcraft for its impact. Many of the tunes though, achieve a viscerality missing on BLAZE OF GLORY. Unsurprisingly, the simplest are the most effective; the self-explanatory "Obvious Song," the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac cover "Oh Well," the Latin-tinged "Jamie G." The cynicism that is Jackson's hallmark is in fine form on the self-mocking highlight "Hit Single."\n\nIndustry Reviews\n3.5 Stars - Very Good\n\n\n...marks the 36-year old singer's debut on Virgin Records after 11 years with A&M. Among the subjects addressed are the difficulty men have in crying, the temptations of slavish pop commercialism and the complexities of grown-up relationships.\nNew York Times (05/01/1991)\n\n3 Stars - Good - ...There's more drive and energy than he's exhibited in some while...\nQ (06/01/1991)
This rock cd contains 13 tracks and runs 51min 40sec.
Freedb: a50c1a0d
Buy: from Amazon.com

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