...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Laughing Stock (Music)
- 117 statements
- 21 feature instances
- 2 referencing feature instances
| Laughing Stock (Music) | type |
TVTItem | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | label |
Laughing Stock (Music) | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | page |
LaughingStock | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | comment |
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Laughing Stock, released in 1991, is the fifth and final album by British group Talk Talk, embarking on an even further departure from their Synth-Pop/New Wave Music beginnings that began with their previous album, Spirit of Eden, and letting their jazz influences and experimental leanings shine through. The album is sometimes referred to as being a Mark Hollis improvisation session with a bunch of guest artists: bassist Paul Webb left the band prior to recording, and Hollis hired a large ensemble for recordings (to put it into perspective, the amount of violists featured in this album is seven). Like its predecessor, the album was a considerable influence on the genre of Post-Rock, and together with Slint's sophomore album Spiderland (also from 1991) is frequently described as the outright Trope Maker.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Talk Talk had already accomplished their musical goals with Spirit of Eden, and had fully expected that to be their last album. However, a legal dispute with EMI regarding a last-minute contract extension resulted in the band jumping ship to Polydor Records. Polydor, aware that the band didn't expect to be active for much longer, gave them a contract that asked for just two albums: Hollis would eventually put out the second in the form of his 1998 solo album. In both cases, Hollis was given the same free rein as on Spirit of Eden: for Laughing Stock, Talk Talk repeated their prior method of improvising with session players in darkness before piecing together songs out of the results. Distribution of the album was handled between both Polydor and their jazz subsidiary Verve Records, previously known for their handling of The Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa catalogs in the 60's. Verve put out the album in the UK, while Polydor themselves distributed it in the US.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })Laughing Stock was supported by three singles: "After the Flood (Outtake)", "New Grass", and "Ascension Day", all of which were released solely as part of an elaborate Boxed Set compiling the three together across three CDs (a 10" acetate of "After the Flood (Outtake)" and a promo 7" of "Ascension Day" were put out, but these specific releases weren't made available to the public). These singles and their associated B-sides (most of which are just other tracks from the album) were later collected alongside a solo piano instrumental by Hollis on the scarcely-distributed and now out-of-print Missing Pieces compilation in 2001, released to commemorate the album's tenth anniversary. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | fetched |
2022-07-21T00:45:07Z | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | parsed |
2022-07-21T00:45:07Z | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | processingComment |
Dropped link to AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | processingComment |
Dropped link to CallBack: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | processingComment |
Dropped link to GrandFinale: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | processingUnknown |
AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_14beeefd | type |
Darker and Edgier | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_14beeefd | comment |
Darker and Edgier: The album is much heavier in mood and more fractured in comparison to Talk Talk's earlier Spirit of Eden, itself already an emotionally heavy and fractured album. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_14beeefd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_14beeefd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_14beeefd | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_23b0d78 | type |
Title Track | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_23b0d78 | comment |
Title Track: Played with. While no song on the album is named "Laughing Stock" in English, both "Myrrhman" and "Runeii" literally translate to the phrase, essentially giving the album two title tracks at once. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_23b0d78 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_23b0d78 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_23b0d78 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_3096c919 | type |
Boléro Effect | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_3096c919 | comment |
Boléro Effect: "After the Flood" starts out as a quiet, minimalist jam and progressively grows louder as various instruments step into the mix. Unlike most examples, the song then does the trope in reverse, stripping itself back down to that initial quiet jam after reaching its climax. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_3096c919 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_3096c919 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_3096c919 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_34f6774c | type |
Concept Album | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_34f6774c | comment |
Concept Album: Analysts have speculated that the album, taken together, details the narrator being Driven to Suicide, ascending to heaven, making contact with God, facing judgement, and finally being granted His final mercy. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_34f6774c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_34f6774c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_34f6774c | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_38da8916 | type |
Uncommon Time | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_38da8916 | comment |
Uncommon Time: "Ascension Day" is in 7/4 and "After the Flood" is at least partially in 10/4. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_38da8916 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_38da8916 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_38da8916 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_415b3315 | type |
Stylistic Suck | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_415b3315 | comment |
Stylistic Suck: The guitar at the end of "Ascension Day" is intentionally played off-tempo and adds to the chaos of the song's closing moments. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_415b3315 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_415b3315 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_415b3315 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_47b97b31 | type |
Album Closure | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_47b97b31 | comment |
Album Closure: The lyrics of "Runeii" are conclusive and reflective in tone, acting as a contemplation on all the musical and lyrical themes that've been explored throughout the album and acting as the closing of Talk Talk's door. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_47b97b31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_47b97b31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_47b97b31 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_5313c266 | type |
Bookends | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_5313c266 | comment |
Bookends: The album begins and ends with songs whose titles literally translate to "Laughing Stock" and are partly references to the band's earlier works. Furthermore, "Myrrhman" opens with an amplifier hiss, while "Runeii" ends with it. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_5313c266 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_5313c266 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_5313c266 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_6d332aea | comment |
Driven to Suicide: The lyrics of "Myrrhman" heavily allude to the narrator hanging himself. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_6d332aea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_6d332aea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_6d332aea | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_74149c93 | type |
Epic Rocking | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_74149c93 | comment |
Epic Rocking: Only one song, "Runeii", is under five minutes long, and even that song's merely two seconds shy. "After the Flood" and "New Grass" in particular stand out, both being over 9 and a half minutes. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_74149c93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_74149c93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_74149c93 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_81a1960f | type |
Silence Is Golden | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_81a1960f | comment |
Silence Is Golden: "Myrrhman" opens with 15 seconds of nothing but amplifier hiss. Mark Hollis explained that this was a deliberate attempt at emphasizing the importance of silence above all else, intended to counteract his perception that there was an overabundance of background noise in modern life. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_81a1960f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_81a1960f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_81a1960f | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_8bc590a | type |
Post-Rock | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_8bc590a | comment |
Post-Rock: Generally considered the Trope Maker, alongside Spirit of Eden and Spiderland. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_8bc590a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_8bc590a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_8bc590a | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_919c59b6 | type |
I Am the Band | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_919c59b6 | comment |
I Am the Band: Despite the presence of long-time drummer Lee Harris, Mark Hollis is the dominant force on the record, being the leader of the project and having a much greater level of involvement in composing the final product. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_919c59b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_919c59b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_919c59b6 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_b24ce4b2 | type |
Rearrange the Song | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_b24ce4b2 | comment |
Rearrange the Song: The single release of "After the Flood", titled "After the Flood (Outtake)", is an alternate take of the song that runs for roughly half the length of the version included on the album and consists of the vocal part overlaid atop all the instrumental tracks playing at once. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_b24ce4b2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_b24ce4b2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_b24ce4b2 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: "Myrrhman"— and by extension, the album— opening with an amplifier hiss nods to the start of "21st Century Schizoid Man", itself the opening track of In the Court of the Crimson King. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_c75df49a | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cda5af50 | type |
Not Christian Rock | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cda5af50 | comment |
Not Christian Rock: As with Spirit of Eden, religious themes are very prominent on Laughing Stock, to the point where one of its descriptors on Rate Your Music is "Christian." However, it's more to serve as a reflection on Hollis himself than anything regarding Christianity. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cda5af50 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cda5af50 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cda5af50 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ce2969d8 | type |
Spiritual Antithesis | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ce2969d8 | comment |
Spiritual Antithesis: To Slint's Spiderland, the other Trope Maker for Post-Rock that came out in the same year. The two, while both considered cornerstones of the genre, are so starkly different from each other that they inadvertently illustrate just what a nebulous phrase "post-rock" actually is. Spiderland is a sparse, cold, eerie record made in a basement by a bunch of Louisville punks, which uses unusual song structures, deadpan vocals, and skeletal production to create an oppressive, macabre atmosphere. Laughing Stock meanwhile is a lush, jazzy record that uses diverse instrumentation and free flowing song structures to create a peaceful, spiritual, faintly melancholic atmosphere. It was made by a British band that already had several commercially successful New Wave Music albums under their belt, and featured over a dozen studio musicians playing everything from saxophone to viola. If Spiderland is an old, rusting railroad bridge standing over a swamp, then this album is a beautiful, Edenic garden. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ce2969d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ce2969d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ce2969d8 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cfdb9e17 | type |
Cerebus Syndrome | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cfdb9e17 | comment |
Cerebus Syndrome: The album is far more dour in tone than Spirit of Eden while still maintaining the same jazzy, abstract musical style. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cfdb9e17 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cfdb9e17 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_cfdb9e17 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ea2e9f2d | type |
No Ending | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ea2e9f2d | comment |
No Ending: "Ascension Day" cuts off abruptly at the six-minute mark. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ea2e9f2d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ea2e9f2d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_ea2e9f2d | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_f3cf057b | type |
Fading into the Next Song | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_f3cf057b | comment |
Fading into the Next Song: Thanks to its abrupt ending, "Ascension Day" hard-cuts into "After the Flood". "After the Flood" into "Taphead" on CD copies outside the US; American CD copies lack the crossfade effect and instead feature "After the Flood" and "Taphead" as wholly separate tracks, as on the LP release. Interestingly, the lack of a cross-fade ends up highlighting a brief four-second guitar warmup at the start of "Taphead" that the crossfade on most CD copies obscures. | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_f3cf057b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_f3cf057b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_f3cf057b | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_name | comment |
||
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Laughing Stock (Music) / int_name | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) / int_name | itemName |
Laughing Stock (Music) |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
British Music / int_11a6dd3a | |
| Laughing Stock (Music) | hasFeature |
Post-Rock / int_11a6dd3a |
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.