Love, Laughter and Truth Bill Hicks

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CD

  • Release Date: 11/12/2002
  • Sales Rank: 84,816
  • Label: RYKODISC
  • UPC: 014431063121

Listener Rating: (2 ratings)

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  • Overview
  • Tracks
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Customer Reviews
  • Details & Credits
Track List
Click on LISTEN or link to hear an audio clip.
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Love, Laughter and Truth

1LISTENIntro/Smokers vs Drinkers 1:33
2LISTENDrunk Driving 6:53
3LISTENNew York Apartment 1:53
4LISTENMy One Man Show 1:32
5LISTENPot Smoking 1:11
6LISTENDrugs Are Bad 3:14
7LISTENChildren on Airplanes 3:52
8LISTEN50 Year Smoker 1:37
9LISTENSmoking in Heaven 3:57
10LISTENAustralia 2:18
11LISTENSatiating the American Comedy Audience 0:44
12LISTENDance Club 1:44
13LISTENSpeaking of Homosexuality 2:32
14LISTENPoe-Naw-Grah-Fee 1:46
15LISTENA Question for the Ladies 4:33
16LISTENMy Favorite New Kid 1:07
17LISTENYou Can't Get Bitter 2:53
18LISTENClosing Bit 0:27

About this Artist

Editorial Reviews

When Rykodisc issued the first two posthumous Bill Hicks albums in 1997 (Arizona Bay and Rant in E-Minor), the size of the Hicks cult was already in the midst of an upward swing. Between a prominently featured sample on Tool's platinum-selling Aenima album, to the respectful acknowledgements expressed in many a band's liner notes (Radiohead and Super Furry Animals among them), Hicks' humor was beginning to reach an audience far larger than he experienced during his lifetime. This newfound awakening led many to quickly snap up the four albums that were already available, but as time passed, the anticipation for the release of more Hicks material began to heighten considerably. It was a full five years before Rykodisc finally satiated this hunger with two simultaneous releases in 2002 -- a complete show from 1991 (documented on Flying Saucer Tour, Vol. 1) and a compilation of "new" material titled Love, Laughter and Truth.

For the Hicks fan who already owns the first four albums, Love, Laughter and Truth is the next logical (and essential) piece of the puzzle, compiling almost 45 minutes of material not found on any of Hicks' previous recordings. Because the material is culled from a number of different shows from various eras of his career, the sound quality varies from track to track (although not distractingly so) and the material can be a bit scattershot (unlike, say, the focused vitriol of Rant in E-Minor) -- and yet it is always funny. It is Hicks' rare gift that even when he is simply bantering with the audience or dipping his toe into more prurient subject matter, he still manages to best other comedians whose entire repertoires consist solely of this level of humor -- and this is merely the bottom rung on the lofty ladder that Hicks could scale with great ease. Love, Laughter and Truth is yet another essential entry into the catalog of a sorely missed genius whose entire catalog is essential to the liberally minded, free thinkers of the world. Steve Bekkala, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

  • Listener Rating:
  • Ratings: 2Reviews: 1

Love, Laughter and Truthby Anonymous

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December 05, 2002: As advertised, this CD does present, for the most part, previously unreleased material. However, you've heard some of it before if you've seen any of Hicks' TV specials or videotapes such as "Revelations" or "Sane Man". There also might be slight overlaps between the other CDs - a line here or there. On the whole though, the material is new to CD. In my opinion, it's uneven and starts weak; although there are great moments and lines in the first 10 or so minutes, there's no sustained genius as I've come to expect from W.H. Some of these early bits seem ill-chosen for audio, as they rely heavily on physicality and pantomime. For example, a riff on the field sobriety test (track 2) includes a 15 second spot of complete silence where Hicks is apparently walking as part of the joke. Things take a dramatic turn for the better with "Children on Airplanes", one of the highlights of the CD. From this point until the conclusion (with the exception of track 16, see note later), it's great stuff. The penultimate track (#17) is a great Hicks dark vision in the vein of Rush Limbaugh-as-an-impotent-sex-fetishist from a prior CD. Totally harsh, totally raw, totally hysterical in a disturbed and disturbing way. I've heard it somewhere before and I'm glad I've got it on CD now. Because it was culled from multiple shows, the audio does have a tendancy to shift quality from one track to another (and sometimes even within tracks). For the most part, it's not a big deal but it does detract from track 16 "My Favorite New Kid" - it's too loud and a little distorted. Overall, this is a welcome addition to the Hicks oeuvre, even if parts of it are sub-standard.