Search - Act :: Laughter Tears & Rage

Eighties oddity- claudia brucken meets late style council

Alexandre Avezou | 04/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This previously impossible to find cd has been remastered and reissued from ztt records in 2003. 22 tracks and nearly 80 minutes worth of music. Post Propaganda project for german pop chantuese claudia brucken who carries the album over the once complex but now dated sounding late eighties electronic production from wizard partner thomas leer. Still its a great guilty pleasure and reminds me of a more electronic version of the style council-paul wellers allover the place popjazzsoul band that dabbled with house and syncopated eighties techno late in its career. Theres the same intelligent well written map explored by both- and claudia brucken is like an avantegarde new wave diva whose voice is unique-very german though the words ofcourse are in english. Theres hints of lounge-house-techno pop funk rock jazz-over the top at times but always interesting. Act shines where the style council failed late in its career-with synths and drum machines perfectly at home with bruckens past- it just seemed laughable behind the once angry guitar hero weller. This new version is worth the money for the original album plus all extra cuts including a very cool stab at white rabbit(grace slick classic). The other boxset version seems silly but i guess hardcore wants would want it all. For the newbie or old fan looking-this is perfect. Booklet is nice with history text and pictures of the beautiful brucken. A must for propaganda fans and fans of lost eighties classics and newwave alternative. Looking back a weller/brucken collaboration would have been a good idea. Also recommended is Claudias rare solo album love and a million other things cd and the style council collection import."

This Band Had Something To Say

Alexandre Avezou | Paris, France | 12/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This review refers to the original **Laughter, Tears & Rage** album as well as to the 3 CD-boxset recently released by ZTT Records. Sorry for the cliche, but this is really an underrated gem from an otherwise musically mind-destroying decade. Act was basically a duet: Claudia Brucken, from Propaganda, and experimentalist Thomas Leer made this one-shot attempt in 1987-1988, a record supposed to shake the pop industry and audiences up, but which shook only a few lucky listeners, not due to a lack of talent, but rather to a problem of that-was-not-what-people-were-ready-to-hear-at-the-time. In short: too much brain.Let's talk of the music: it ranges from fairly good to excellent, which, for a pop/dance album, is to be noticed. Remains of Propaganda weigh heavily on songs like "Under the nights of Germany", "Bloodrush" and "A friendly warning", which are not, in my opinion, really representative of the band's project. Act was a more straightforward band than Propaganda. Songs like "Absolutely immune" (2nd single, issued in 1988), "Gestures", "Chance", "Laughter", with their sophisticated groove, are more down-to-earth and are probably more ambitious in the sense that they try to melt different musical influences (new age, funk and rock). Thus, despite some unavoidable fillers, the musical texture of the album is rich, the harmonies inspired, the interpretation first-class, and - most important of all - the feeling is there.The first 13 tracks alone justify the purchase of the album. But the 14th is a real, real masterpiece, a work of genius which clearly stands out from the rest: its title is "Snobbery and Decay" and, to any true MUSIC fan, it MUST be a kick in the ass. This song was issued as a single in 1987 and was a total commercial flop, but it contains everything the song of your dreams has: 1/ an implacable rhythm 2/ 2 great voices 3/ tense lyrics 4/ a chorus whch raises the roof 5/ a cool, powerful sound 6/ a tremendous sax solo 7/ a strong emotional content. 15 years later, I still find it so damn good than almost any other song I play right after sounds bland. This song, depicting "the lifestyles of the rich and famous" (in fact, the yuppies of the Thatcher era) is some sort of manifesto, the musical war cry of two artists who were at the top of their creativity, who had perfectly integrated the musical and the sociological trends of their time and who had sufficient know-how to condensate them into a five minutes song. I personally don't expect more from a pop song or from music in general.The 2nd CD of the boxset contains the (in)famous 1988 remixes, the 3rd more recent ones. Both contain unreleased tracks, some of them not bad at all ("Body electric", "White rabbit" and "Winner 88") if not at the same level as the rest. The first CD also contains minimalist piano versions of "Laughter", "I can't escape from you" and "Snobbery and decay" which are worth the ride.Their was too much substance and too much taste in this record for the world of 1988. For those who missed the boat then, here's another chance: don't miss it, or **Laughter, tears and rage** will disappear from the shelves as quick as the 1988 edition - and for good this time."