Laughing Stock

For other uses, see Laughing stock (disambiguation).

Laughing Stock
Studio album by
Talk Talk
Released16 September 1991
RecordedEarly 1990[1] – 1991 (credited as September 1990 – April 1991)
StudioWessex, London
Genre
Length43:29
LabelVerve, Polydor
ProducerTim Friese-Greene
Talk Talk chronology
History Revisited
(1991) 		Laughing Stock
(1991) 		Asides Besides
(1998)
Talk Talk studio album chronology
Spirit of Eden
(1988) 		Laughing Stock
(1991)
Mark Hollis chronology
Spirit of Eden
(1988) 		Laughing Stock
(1991) 		Mark Hollis
(1998)
Singles from Laughing Stock
  1. "After the Flood (Outtake)"
    Released: 7 October 1991 [6]
  2. "New Grass"
    Released: 28 October 1991 [7]
  3. "Ascension Day"
    Released: 25 November 1991 [8]

Laughing Stock is the fifth and final studio album by English band Talk Talk, released in 1991. Following their previous release Spirit of Eden (1988), bassist Paul Webb left the group, which reduced Talk Talk to the duo of singer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Hollis and drummer Lee Harris. Talk Talk then acrimoniously left EMI and signed to Polydor, who released the album on their newly revitalised jazz-based Verve Records label. Laughing Stock was recorded at London's Wessex Sound Studios from September 1990 to April 1991 with producer Tim Friese-Greene and engineer Phill Brown.

Like Spirit of Eden the album featured improvised instrumentation from a large ensemble of musicians. The demanding sessions were marked by Hollis' perfectionist tendencies and desire to create a suitable recording atmosphere. Engineer Phill Brown stated that the album, like its predecessor, was "recorded by chance, accident, and hours of trying every possible overdub idea."[9] The band split up following its release.

The album garnered significant critical praise, often cited as a watershed entry for the budding post-rock genre at the time of its release. Pitchfork retrospectively gave the album a 10 out of 10 score and named it the eleventh best album of the 1990s, saying it "makes its own environment and becomes more than the sum of its sounds."[10] In a 2007 list, Stylus Magazine named it the greatest post-rock album.[11]

  1. ^ "Snow in Berlin: Laughing Stock – a Talk Talk & Mark Hollis resource". snowinberlin.com. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  2. ^ Terich, Jeff (12 August 2008). "Talk Talk: Laughing Stock". Treble. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  3. ^ Paste Staff (3 June 2024). "The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time". Paste. Retrieved 3 June 2024. ...the complex, pastoral post-rock of final two albums Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock.
  4. ^ SPIN. Vol. 15. SPIN Media LLC. 1999. p. 123.
  5. ^ Wide, Steve (22 September 2020). "Honourable Mentions: Talk Talk". A Field Guide to Post-Punk and New Wave. Smith Street Books. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-925811-76-6.
  6. ^ "Talk Talk – After the Flood (Outtake) (1991, CD)". Discogs. September 1991.
  7. ^ "Talk Talk – New Grass (1991, CD)". Discogs. 28 October 1991.
  8. ^ "Talk Talk – Ascension Day (1991, CD)". Discogs. November 1991.
  9. ^ Brown, Phill (12 November 1998). "The Colour of EQing". Tape Op. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s; 20–11". Pitchfork. 17 November 2003. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  11. ^ Southall, Nick (27 April 2007). "Top Ten Postrock Albums". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2019.