Vim Fuego
'Laughing'? I bloody wasn't after I bought this! To be brutally honest, it is sub standard, and an all round piss poor effort.
This was apparently a contractual obligation album, and sounds like it through and through. The sound is thin, the song writing unenthusiastic, and it is full of hit and miss experimentation.
On their day, Re–Animator could thrash with the best of the United Kingdom Apple Core. The 'Condemned To Eternity' album and the 'Deny Reality' EP were solid efforts with the odd outstanding track, if not thrash essentials. The high points of 'Laughing' hardly match the filler tracks of the previous releases.
Opener "Rude Awakening" is just that. Fans will be asking, "What the fuck happened?" To put it simply, it just is not a very good song. Nothing in it grabs the attention. Worse is to follow. The title track is not just poorly played, it is also boring, disjointed, and has inane lyrics.
Just when you think things couldn't get any worse, they don't. "Kipper 'N'" is an excellent acoustic track, not in a girly power ballad manner, but more of a sub–Billy Bragg modern folk style. It is probably the strongest track on the whole album. "Another Fine Mess" is a tribute to the unique comedic genius of Laurel and Hardy– not the usual fare for a thrash song, but it works in its own odd way. After that though, the only high point left in the album is the instrumental "?".
There's a reggae version of "Too Drunk To Fuck" which is as dreadful as the idea sounds. "Time And Tide" is a fucking awful attempt at funk. The rest of the songs don't even deserve a mention.
Instead of soiling their good name, Re–Animator would have been better served recording a live album. 'Laughing' should be ignored at all costs.