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Laughter & Lust

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Laughter & Lust is the 11th studio album by Joe Jackson, released in 1991.[5] A year before, he left A&M Records, which soon released Steppin' Out: The Very Best of Joe Jackson, which became a Top Ten hit in the UK.[6] Jackson subsequently signed a recording contract with Virgin Records.[6]

Laughter & Lust
Studio album by
Joe Jackson
Released29 April 1991[1]
RecordedOctober–November 1990
StudioDreamland Recording Studios (Hurley, New York); Electric Lady Studios (New York City, New York).
GenreNew wave, pop rock
Length51:22
LabelVirgin
ProducerJoe Jackson, Ed Roynesdal
Joe Jackson chronology
Stepping Out: The Very Best of Joe Jackson
(1990) 		Laughter & Lust
(1991) 		Night Music
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Rolling Stone[3]
Select[4]

Music journalist Martin C. Strong states "Laughter & Lust was Jackson's most direct, accessible material in years, a welcome diversion from his constant experimentation".[5]

Background

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The recording of Laughter & Lust was preceded by a five-week "workshop tour" in the US during September and October 1990. The tour, which was billed as "Joe Jackson's Workshop", included performances of songs to be recorded for the album as a way of testing the new material before an audience.[7] Laughter & Lust was then recorded over the course of October and November 1990 at Dreamland Recording Studios in Hurley, New York. It was mixed at Electric Lady Studios in November and December 1990.[8]

Laughter & Lust was Jackson's first album for Virgin, following his departure from A&M in 1990. Jackson and his band embarked on a world tour to promote the album, which began on 18 May 1991 in Münster, Germany, and ended on 20 September 1991 in Sydney, Australia. The latter show was filmed and released in 1992 as Laughter & Lust Live.[9]

Jackson told the Sandwell Evening Mail in 1991, "It's an album of light and shadows. Most of the songs are about sex and other romantic entanglements. We've put a lot of thought and feeling into the new songs."[10] He added to the Evening Standard, "It's about one-third autobiographical, I suppose. You have to put yourself, your own experience into it or it isn't convincing."[11]

Laughter & Lust would be Jackson's last non-classical studio album until 2000's Night and Day II. Jackson recalled in 2003, "After the Laughter & Lust world tour, it all turned to shit, basically. I had real bad writer's block. I couldn't even listen to music. I just lost it, totally. It was awful."[12] In a 1994 interview with Cash Box, Jackson said, "Laughter & Lust, I felt, was the closest thing I could possibly do to a commercial pop record that I thought everyone was gonna love. And it was not very successful in the States. It did okay in Europe, actually. So it wasn't a complete flop."[13]

Critical reception

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On its release, Stephen Dalton of New Musical Express was negative in his review, commenting that Jackson is "not even interestingly bitter" and adding that he "present[s] these mundane mid-life moans as half-hearted social commentary that makes Phil Collins sound like Public Enemy."[14]

Track listing

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All songs written and arranged by Joe Jackson, except where noted.[5]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Obvious Song" 4:11
2."Goin' Downtown"Joe Jackson, Drew Barfield3:05
3."Stranger than Fiction" 3:40
4."Oh Well"Peter Green2:29
5."Jamie G." 2:04
6."Hit Single" 3:37
7."It's All Too Much" 4:22
8."When You're Not Around" 4:01
9."The Other Me" 4:11
10."Trying to Cry" 6:35
11."My House" 4:26
12."The Old Songs" 3:32
13."Drowning" 5:09

Personnel

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Musicians

  • Joe Jackson – keyboards, vocals
  • Joy Askew – keyboards, vocals
  • Tom Teeley – guitars, vocals
  • Graham Maby – bass, vocals
  • Sue Hadjopoulos – percussion, drums
  • Dan Hickey – drums

with:

  • Tony Aiello – saxophones
  • Annie Whitehead – trombone
  • Michael Morreale – trumpet
  • Charles McCracken – cello

Production

  • Joe Jackson – arrangements, producer
  • Ed Roynesdal – producer
  • Larry Alexander – engineer, mixing
  • Dave Cook – assistant engineer
  • John Yates – assistant engineer
  • Adam Yellin – mix assistant
  • Scott Hull – digital editing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Masterdisk (New York, NY) – editing and mastering location
  • Melanie Nissen – art direction
  • Inge Schaap – design
  • Patrik Andersson – photography
  • Calef Brown – lettering
  • Bobbie Brown – make-up
  • Kellie Kutsugeras – stylist
  • Steven Jensen and Martin Kirkup with Direct Management Group – management

Charts

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Chart performance for Laughter & Lust
Chart (1991) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 57
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[16] 43
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 22
European Albums (Music & Media)[18] 47
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 20
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[20] 24
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 17
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 41
US Billboard 200[23] 116
US AOR Albums (Radio & Records)[24] 19

References

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  1. ^ "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music Week. 27 April 1991. p. 14. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  2. ^ Laughter & Lust at AllMusic
  3. ^ "Joe Jackson: Laughter & Lust : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2007.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ Collis, Andrew (June 1991). "Reviews: The New Discs". Select. p. 74.
  5. ^ a b c Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 485–486. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  6. ^ a b "Biography by William Ruhlmann". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  7. ^ Catlin, Roger (14 September 1990). "Jackson's 'Workshop' has fine polish". Hartford Courant. p. B12.
  8. ^ Laughter & Lust (US album booklet). Joe Jackson. Virgin Records. 1991. 2-91628 D 164269.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ "The Joe Jackson Chronicle". The Joe Jackson Archive. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  10. ^ Cole, Paul (29 March 1991). "Go Joe! - Jackson joins Viva in ICC Symphony Hall". Sandwell Evening Mail. p. 36.
  11. ^ Alexander, Jane (24 May 1991). "Lust for a crust". Evening Standard. p. 26.
  12. ^ Beckett, Simon (23 May 2003). "The Joe Jackson Band: Jackson thrives". The Independent. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  13. ^ Stone, Adrianne (22 October 1994). "Joe Jackson tries to compose himself with Night Music" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. 58, no. 8. p. 5. Retrieved 3 July 2021 – via World Radio History.
  14. ^ Dalton, Stephen (11 May 1991). "Short Circuit". New Musical Express. p. 36.
  15. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1551". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Joe Jackson – Laughter & Lust" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  18. ^ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 22. 1 June 1991. p. 28. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  19. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Joe Jackson – Laughter & Lust" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 15 July 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "Laughter and Lust" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".
  21. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Joe Jackson – Laughter & Lust". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  23. ^ "Joe Jackson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  24. ^ "National Airplay: AOR Albums". Radio & Records. No. 891. Radio & Records, Inc. 24 May 1991. p. 71. ISSN 0277-4860.
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