There is no DVD-Audio of Laughing Stock. After Talk Talk, Lee Harris and Paul Webb did O'Rang which was very Talk Talk ish although a bit more electronic in backdrop. Also highly recommended is Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man's Out of Season, a spectacular album.
The only tracks I have are Talk Talk and Life's What You Make It as 320kbps Mp3s. They both sound very good so I guess the album was a good recording to begin with. Talk Talk's music reminds me a bit of Black, Wonderful Life etc.
It's bested by a couple of sixteenth-century ones. Marenzio was really on a roll back in the day, and then there's Giaches de Wert.
I know what you mean. I bought my copies when they were still reasonable. It looks like even the "Hex" vinyl reissue from a few years back is quite pricey now, too.
Agree on both counts. The first two albums are the best synthpop/New Romantic records ever produced IMHO (though I should note that I don't count post-1983 Depeche Mode and other similarly industrial-tinged bands as synthpop/New Romantic). It's My Life in particular is just as exquisitely crafted, and just as top-notch on sound quality (given the musical style) as the albums that followed it. I also agree about the live recordings. I prefer the performance and oomph of the London 1986 CD, although it is unfortunately compressed and (IIRC) a bit brickwalled. There's a bootleg soundboard recording of the same show that includes most of the songs from the official release, plus a few others, and that one is probably my favorite Talk Talk live recording, considering both performance and sound quality. It's also worth noting that the 1986 tour is fantastic because they're performing songs from the first three albums, with a mix of synths and traditional instruments that's unique: the performances are far more muscular than the studio versions, and are a great variation for when you're in the mood to hear them kick a bit more a**. The 2012 180g vinyl reissues of The Colour of Spring and Spirit of Eden each came with a DVD-Video formatted disc. The tracks on the disc are in high-res 24/96 format, just as one would find on a DVD-Audio disc. But the disc is formatted as a regular DVD-V, meaning it can be played in any DVD player and does not require a DVD-A capable player. These DVD-V high-res discs are great for four reasons: Each contains a bonus track/b-side: The very nice "It's Getting Late in the Evening" on TCoS, and the even better "John Cope" on SoE. Both are available on the 2-CD Asides Besides collection, but AFAIK these DVDs are the only places you can get them in high-res. The sound on these DVDs is fantastic. Folks who own both these and the SACDs say the sound is very close to that on the SACDs (and at least one forum member says the sound is equal to the SACDs - he sold his SACDs after getting ahold of the DVDs). The DVDs have very simple menus, so you don't need a TV hooked up to navigate and play them. Just press play/enter on your remote once the root menu has loaded and it will play the album just as if it were a CD/SACD. (The only trick is that the bonus track doesn't automatically play after the main album - to play it, just press the right arrow on the remote while you're at the root menu, and then press play/enter). The SACDs are crazy expensive, while these LP/DVD sets still can be had fairly inexpensively. I got lucky and got both in brand new, sealed condition for a total of $55 shipped from a discogs seller, and periodically you can find the DVDs by themselves in open but unplayed condition here or on eBay for $20-$30 apiece. Well worth it.
Marenzio was OK, but I prefer the limited edition 12"s he released more than the album. Spirit of Eden still wins.
Anybody else read the book by the engineer on spirit of Eden, laughingstock and Mark Hollis? Brilliant ready. Think it is called Are we still rolling...
Did someone compare the latest US and EU reissues on vinyl of "Laughing Stock"? I don't know which one should I buy.
Just received the new back to black of Laughingstock. Oh my word. Sounds amazing. As good as the recent spirit of Eden. Flat, beautiful sound and of course the second best album ever made, after Spirit...!
I finally picked up Spirit of Eden vinyl plus DVD to go with my CoS companion set. Listening to vinyl now - wow!!
I also bought this one and it's not 100% flat but it's very quiet, no surface noise or clicks/pops which disturb the pauses and long fadeouts. I can't really judge the sound because I have to listen on an "emergency system" with a digital amp instead of my pre- and power-amp which are getting repaired at the moment.
I feel kinda bad guys. I haven't played Spirit of Eden or Laughing Stock in quite some time but was happily singling along to It's My Life in the shower the other day *hides* as much as I like the later stuff I probably have played It's My Life more than any other record by them. The first side and Tomorrow Started are all such good songs. Colour of Spring is still my favorite.
I love the singles and recently started listening to some album tracks from the later albums. They just didn't grab me ,a few were so very minimalist and low key. Might give them another go or just stick to the first couple of albums.
Nothing to feel bad about. "Tomorrow Started", that song has an ENORMOUS space. I still remember putting it on at the very end of a party circa 1988. Four o'clock, dimly lit room.....
I had to telephone-interview him on the release of his solo album. Never had a more reluctant interviewee in 30 years - nearly made me go and get a proper job...
Strangely I just noticed this thread whilst playing some early Talk Talk demos, which came as a bonus 7" with the single of "Such A Shame". Right from the start it's clear that this is a very special band, although no one would have imagined they'd end up with Laughing Stock ten years later!
I absolutely love Colour Of Spring. As someone said earlier, it is somewhat of a transitional album and I think that is one of it's strengths, it has a nice diversity of material. It's My Life is also very good pop album. That's where it ends though, the next 2 albums sound really good but are snooze-fests for me. Then Mark Hollis released his solo album to make those 2 sound more lively
