Search - Bill Hicks :: Love Laughter & Truth

The Rodney Dangerfield of Bill Hicks CD Releases?

matthewslaughter | Arlington, VA USA | 05/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

""LoveLaughterAndTruth" deserves more respect than it has been granted by some of the other customer reviewers. While they are right to criticize its lack of continuity as well as the inconsistency of its sound quality, this has some genuinely brilliant material on it--and for that alone, it is worth the price of admission. It's nice to have some of these bits without having to find them online. Hicks is at it again, railing against non-smokers, anti-drug legislation, children on airplanes, the insipidity of American comedy club audiences and arch-conservative politicians like Jesse Helms and Bob Martinez. "Children on Airplanes," "Australia" and the vividly distasteful "You Can't Get Bitter" are as good as anything in his repetoire. Let's be honest: "LoveLaughterAndTruth" is funnier than "Dangerous" and/or "Relentless" (which drags in the middle). Obviously the must-haves are "Arizona Bay" and "Rant in E-Minor," and this disc, because of its scattershot sequencing, cannot match the power of them. The new "Flying Saucer Tour Vol. 1" disc is also a worthy addition to the Hicks cdiscography. Believe it or not, "LoveLaughterAndTruth" just might be the place for neophytes to start getting acquainted with Hicks."

Doesnt deserve all the negative reviews

matthewslaughter | 02/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"yes, this release is a collection of random bits, and the sound quality is sketchy in some spots. however, you must realize what you're getting- 45 minutes, of essentially "unheard" Bill Hicks material! owning every bootleg, i had heard alot of these bits before, but there was some stuff on here that was new even to me. i wouldnt recommend this disc before his first 4 albums, or the excellent "Flying Saucer Tour, Vol. 1", but if you own those albums already and enjoy them, you MUST own this."

Missed opportunity.

saundino | 11/21/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Two stars for a Bill Hicks album? 'Fraid so, but before I go any further I'll emphasise that all of Hicks' material gets a five star treatment from me, and the routines on this cd are no exception. Even when he's at his laziest he still has more going for him than any other comedian, dead or alive. It gets one star above the lowest mark purely because the material is finally out.So why two stars? This cd is a compilation of material taken from a number of shows at various points in Hicks' career that wasn't included on any of the available cds released in 1997. As such the sound quality is absolutely all over the place, going from perfect to bootleg quality (the booklet admittedly does emphasise this...but so what? It doesn't work, it just makes for a very haphazard listen); the material is arranged in a way that bears no relation to how Hicks used to fashion his shows; some of the routines are truncated, the most heinious example being the "Speaking Of Homosexuality" piece where the finishing line pointing out the hypocrisy in the attitudes he talks about is missing and completely alters the tone of the routine (I have a tape of the show the routine is originally from); there are glaring omissions that should and could have been on this cd (it is only 47 mins long) - where are the Goatboy, the It's Just A Ride, & Dick Clark pieces, to name a few? And the photographs in the booklet are rubbish - badly reproduced, no dates or locations (which can also be said about the lack of similar info on the material) etc.Really what it boils down to is that a comedian like Hicks can't be overviewed like this in a mere 3/4 hr, his act evolved tremendously over a number of years from a Sam Kinison alike in the early/mid 80's to finding his own voice in the late 80's/'90's. It would have been a far better option to have released full shows that included the unreleased material with the full production values that raised his last Arizona Bay and his Rant In E Minor cds out of the ordinary. The cd released simoultaneously with this one, "Flying Saucer Tour Vol 1" is a more satisfying release, though even that one is still problematic due to the material on that already being widely available and having no production or editing to speak of.I imagine that most people looking to buy this cd will already be familiar with the nature of Hicks' comedy, those that aren't should definitely look at buying the first four cds previously released by Ryko. Expectations were high for the first Hicks releases since then (bar last year's absolutely pointless compilation 'Philosophy', to which most of the above criticisms can also be levelled), and in my opinion have not been fulfilled. A missed opportunity - get your act together Ryko."