How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today

Last updated

How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today
Suicidal Tendencies-How Will I Laugh Tomorrow.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 13, 1988
RecordedApril 1988
Studio Cherokee (Hollywood)
Genre
Length50:17
Label Epic
Producer Mark Dodson, Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies chronology
Join the Army
(1987)
How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today
(1988)
Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit... Déjà Vu
(1989)
Singles from How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today
  1. "Trip at the Brain"
    Released: 1988
  2. "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow"
    Released: 1989

How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today is the third studio album by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. It was released on September 13, 1988 on Epic Records, the band's first album on that label. It was also their first album recorded with guitarist Mike Clark and their only release with bassist Bob Heathcote, who was replaced by Robert Trujillo in 1989.

Contents

Musical style

How Will I Laugh... is crucial to Suicidal Tendencies stylistic developments in that it sees the band abandoning most of their full-fledged punk influences in favor of a more thrash-oriented sound. One could see this stylistic changes in this album's predecessor Join the Army , but this album had a distinctly more defined metal sound, more complex and lengthy songs, and better production values.

The addition of a rhythm guitarist Mike Clark (who had played with vocalist Mike Muir in No Mercy, which was supposed to originally be a metal-only side project) changed the band's style heavily as well. Clark wrote much of the music for this album and gave lead guitarist Rocky George more soloing time, thus creating another factor in this album and future albums' more metal-oriented sound.

The album's back cover shows each member standing in front of the side of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Los Angeles.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]

Reviews for How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today have been mostly positive. AllMusic's Steve Huey awards the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, and described it as "one of its best efforts". For the musical direction, Huey stated, "The band's thrashy fusion of its hardcore roots with speed metal was fully developed by this point, and Mike Muir's social commentary and self-analysis were as ragingly compelling and by turns amusing as ever." [2] In the review made two months after the album release, RPM editors called the band one of the best of the current crop. [3]

How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today was moderately successful, peaking at number 111 on the US Billboard 200. It remained on that chart for eleven weeks. [4] The album featured the singles "Trip at the Brain" and the title track, both of which managed to become successful with their target audiences.

In August 2014, Revolver placed the album on its "14 Thrash Albums You Need to Own" list. [1]

Track listing

Original release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Trip at the Brain" Mike Clark, Mike Muir 4:32
2."Hearing Voices"Louiche Mayorga, Muir4:13
3."Pledge Your Allegiance"Mayorga, Muir4:32
4."How Will I Laugh Tomorrow"Clark, Muir6:44
5."The Miracle"Clark, Muir5:28
6."Surf and Slam" Rocky George (guitar solo), Suicidal Tendencies2:51
7."If I Don't Wake Up"Clark, Muir4:53
8."Sorry?!"George, Muir3:47
9."One Too Many Times"Clark, Muir3:13
10."The Feeling's Back"Clark, Muir4:04


CD version
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Trip at the Brain"Clark, Muir4:32
2."Hearing Voices"Mayorga, Muir4:13
3."Pledge Your Allegiance"Mayorga, Muir4:32
4."How Will I Laugh Tomorrow"Clark, Muir6:44
5."The Miracle"Clark, Muir5:28
6."Suicyco Mania"Mayorga, Muir5:52
7."Surf and Slam" Rocky George (guitar solo), Suicidal Tendencies2:51
8."If I Don't Wake Up"Clark, Muir4:53
9."Sorry?!"George, Muir3:47
10."One Too Many Times"Clark, Muir3:13
11."The Feeling's Back"Clark, Muir4:04

Credits

Chart positions

Album

Billboard (North America)

YearChartPosition
1988 Billboard 200 [4] 111

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicidal Tendencies</span> American hardcore punk band

Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice, Los Angeles, California, by vocalist Mike Muir. The band has undergone various lineup changes, with Muir as the only remaining original member.

<i>Prime Cuts</i> (Suicidal Tendencies album) 1997 greatest hits album by Suicidal Tendencies

Prime Cuts is a compilation released by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. It was released in 1997 on Epic Records.

<i>Join the Army</i> 1987 studio album by Suicidal Tendencies

Join the Army is the second studio album by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. It was released in April 1987, and is one of the most well known albums for crossing over the genres of punk and thrash metal, known as crossover thrash, a genre that Suicidal Tendencies have been credited for creating. Join the Army is arguably one of Suicidal Tendencies' most popular efforts, although it only reached No. 100 on the Billboard 200 chart. This was their first album with guitarist Rocky George and drummer R.J. Herrera, and their last recording with bassist Louiche Mayorga. This is also the last album to feature the band playing hardcore punk before an extended period with a more thrash metal focus.

<i>Suicidal for Life</i> 1994 studio album by Suicidal Tendencies

Suicidal for Life is the eighth studio album by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, which was released in 1994. It is their sixth full-length album with original material, and their last album to feature lead guitarist Rocky George and bassist Robert Trujillo as well as their only one to feature drummer Jimmy DeGrasso. Suicidal for Life was also Suicidal Tendencies' final studio album released on Epic Records and their last one before their temporary breakup in 1995–1996.

<i>Suicidal Tendencies</i> (album) 1983 studio album by Suicidal Tendencies

Suicidal Tendencies is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Suicidal Tendencies, released on July 5, 1983 through Frontier Records. Regarded as one of the best-selling and most successful punk rock albums, Suicidal Tendencies was well-received by fans and critics alike, and the airplay of its only single "Institutionalized" brought the band considerable popularity. The album was a major influence on the then-emerging genre of thrash metal and its subgenre crossover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Muir</span> American singer

Michael Allen Muir is an American singer who is the lead vocalist and the only sole continuous member of Los Angeles-based bands Suicidal Tendencies, Los Cycos, and Infectious Grooves. He has also released several solo albums under his nickname Cyco Miko. Muir's trademark is wearing bandanas, jerseys with the number 13, and hats with block-style letters that read "suicidal".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky George</span> American guitarist

Leonard F. George, best known by his stage name Rocky George, is an American guitarist who has been a member of several notable musical acts, including Suicidal Tendencies, where he was their lead guitarist from 1984 to their first breakup in 1995, and was the first African-American member of the band. After Suicidal Tendencies, George played with 40 Cycle Hum and Cro-Mags, and in 2003, he joined Fishbone. George was also a member of a local punk rock band called Pap Smear with Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo. In 2019, George returned to the Cro-Mags lineup.

<i>Lights...Camera...Revolution!</i> 1990 studio album by Suicidal Tendencies

Lights...Camera...Revolution! is the fifth studio album by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, released in 1990. This was the band's first release with bassist Robert Trujillo and their last studio album with drummer R.J. Herrera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Clark (guitarist)</span> Musical artist

Mike Clark is an American heavy metal and punk rock guitarist. He is best known for being the rhythm guitarist with Suicidal Tendencies, a band he played with from 1987 to 2012, and was the only member besides Mike Muir to return to the band when it reunited. He originally played in the thrash metal band No Mercy of which Muir was also the vocalist. During Suicidal Tendencies' hiatus he was a member of the thrash/rap rock band Creeper.

<i>Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit... Déjà Vu</i> 1989 studio album by Suicidal Tendencies

Controlled by Hatred / Feel Like Shit… Déjà Vu is the fourth album by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, released on October 17, 1989, by Epic Records. Despite containing re-recorded songs of previously released material, Controlled by Hatred / Feel Like Shit… Déjà Vu is still considered a studio album rather than an EP or a compilation album. It includes four covers of No Mercy, a cover of Los Cycos, two never-before released tracks and two different versions of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow" : the "video edited" version and the "heavy emotion" version. Controlled by Hatred is the first of two Suicidal Tendencies albums to go gold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Mercy (metal band)</span> American thrash metal band

No Mercy is an American thrash metal band from Venice, California, the brainchild of guitarist Mike Clark who later played in Suicidal Tendencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institutionalized (song)</span> 1983 single by Suicidal Tendencies

"Institutionalized" is the debut single by American hardcore punk/crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. It was released in 1983 as the only single from their self-titled debut album. "Institutionalized" is one of the band's most popular songs and has remained a live staple since it was first played in 1982. The song was re-recorded on the band's 1993 album Still Cyco After All These Years; this version was nominated for the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 1994, but lost to Ozzy Osbourne's live version of "I Don't Want to Change the World".

Mark Dodson is a British record producer and sound engineer, who mostly works with artists in the heavy metal genre. He is best known for producing albums by Anthrax, Judas Priest and Suicidal Tendencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicidal Tendencies discography</span> Cataloging of published recordings by Suicidal Tendencies

The discography of Suicidal Tendencies, an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 by vocalist Mike Muir, consists of thirteen studio albums, four compilation albums, two extended plays, twenty-one singles and twenty-two music videos. Their first studio album, Suicidal Tendencies, was released in 1983 but failed to chart. Their second album, Join the Army, was released four years later and peaked at number 100 in the United States and number 81 in the UK. The album caught the attention of Epic Records, who signed Suicidal Tendencies in 1988. The band released their first album for the label, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today, in September 1988, and in the following year they released Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit... Déjà Vu, which was their first album to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

"Trip at the Brain" is a song by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. It is the first track on their 1988 third album How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today and was the album's first single. It is also the first track on the 2010 compilation album Playlist: The Very Best of Suicidal Tendencies, which was not endorsed by the band.

<i>13</i> (Suicidal Tendencies album) 2013 studio album by Suicidal Tendencies

13 is the eleventh studio album by the American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. It was released on March 26, 2013. The album was recorded over a ten-year period at the band's studio "ST Studio", while additional recording took place at Interscope Studios, Stall #2 and Titan Studio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luicidal</span> American punk rock band

Luicidal is a punk rock band from Venice, Los Angeles, California, formed in 2012. The band consists of Mando Ochoa (vocals), Mike Avilez (vocals), Louichi Mayorga (bass/guitar), R.J. Herrera (drums), Gene Duarte (guitar), and Doug Mug Swanson (bass).

<i>Lights...Camera...Suicidal</i> 1990 video by Suicidal Tendencies

Lights...Camera...Suicidal is a 1990 home video released by American hardcore punk band Suicidal Tendencies. It was released to accompany their fourth album Lights...Camera...Revolution!, which was released four months earlier, and contains six of the band's music videos, with frontman Mike Muir speaking about each one, and a live video for "War Inside My Head". Lights...Camera...Suicidal is currently out of print, and has never been released on DVD.

<i>World Gone Mad</i> 2016 studio album by Suicidal Tendencies

World Gone Mad is the twelfth studio album by the American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, released on September 30, 2016. It is the band's first studio album to feature Dave Lombardo on drums, Ra Díaz on bass, and Jeff Pogan on rhythm guitar. Vocalist Mike Muir had stated that World Gone Mad could have been Suicidal Tendencies' final studio album, although he later retracted that statement.

References

  1. 1 2 "14 Thrash Albums You Need to Own". Revolver.com . August 29, 2014. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Huey, Steve. "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today - Album Review". AllMusic . Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  3. "Review: Suicidal Tendencies — How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today" (PDF). RPM . Vol. 49, no. 6. November 19, 1988. p. 8. ISSN   0315-5994 . Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today - Suicidal Tendencies". Billboard . Retrieved December 25, 2012.