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Suicidal Tendencies > How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today > 1988, CD, Epic Records > Reviews
Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today

A thrash metal tour de force - 91%

robotniq, December 13th, 2020

The third Suicidal Tendencies album is a crossover thrash classic. It has everything anyone could ever want from the genre. It is catchy, fun to listen to, the musicianship is amazing, the lyrics are great, the songs are exciting and there is plenty of variation. My appreciation for this record has grown over the years. It is now my 'go to' album for crunchy, melodic, song-based thrash. Whenever I want that particular sound, I usually choose this album over other classics like "Among the Living". That is how good this record is.

The improvement from the band's previous album is evident after eight seconds of "Trip at the Brain". The addition of rhythm guitarist Mike Clark makes all the difference. This guy is a thrash metal riff factory. The whole album is structured around his rhythms. Clark and vocalist/bandleader Mike Muir had already teamed up in No Mercy, and "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow..." has more in common with that band’s 1987 album ("Widespread Bloodshed Love Runs Red") than with previous Suicidal albums. The other magic ingredient was Rocky George. He might be the most underrated lead guitarist in metal. Each of his solos here is brilliant; technically superb, musically astute, timed to perfection. There are many examples where a solo explodes from the riffing, moves the song forward, and then blends back into the riffing. It creates irresistible momentum on all best songs here.

The song-writing is more varied than any thrash/crossover album I know of. The majority of the songs lean towards the thrash end of the spectrum. A couple of songs have more of a hardcore punk vibe ("Sorry?!", "The Miracle"), and the stomping "Pledge Your Allegiance" sounds like an upgrade of "Join the Army" from the band's previous album. The thrashiest songs tend to work best, but the others have grown on me with repeated listens. There are two awesome instrumentals which show the band’s thrashing in all its glory, unburdened by lyrical content. "Suicyco Mania" was originally a CD-only bonus track but it is the fastest and wildest tune of all. "Surf and Slam" perfectly captures the board-sports vibe using surf-rock style reverb behind the thrashing. There have always been spiritual and musical similarities between Californian surf-rock and Californian thrash metal, and this is conclusive proof.

Two songs stand above the rest, with Muir's soulful vocals and idiosyncratic delivery shining brightest. The title track is the album’s undisputed masterpiece. This is one of the all-time great metal ballads. It continues the tradition of introspective metal classics like "Beyond the Realms of Death" and "Fade to Black", but Muir's lyrics are more personal. Lines like “silently screaming as I bang my head against the wall, it seems like no one cares at all” are so poignant that he must be singing from personal experience of depression. Musically, the song’s middle section thrashes harder than anything on the album. It begins with rapid down-picked rhythms at 2:45 and ends with the resolution of Rocky George's best solo at 5:30, definitive thrash. The album’s second best song is "If I Don't Wake Up". This one begins with an impassioned soliloquy leading into the inevitable riff mania (1:08), and Muir shouting "WAKE UP!" to begin the song proper. If you like thrash in any shape or form then you need to know these two songs.

Almost everything on this album is great, the only weak track is "One Too Many Times". The stylistic variation gives the album a sprawling feel that might be off-putting for those who like thrash to sound a certain way. Suicidal Tendencies never cared about convention. This band was always more interested in contradiction. They delighted in juxtaposing a tough, streetwise image (shown on the album cover) with confessional vulnerability (shown in the lyrics). These types of contradictions endeared them to many people outside of the metal scene, sometimes at the expense of people inside it. I suspect that there are die-hard thrash fans who may have missed this album because it doesn’t fit genre stereotypes. If you are reading this and you fit that description: you are missing out on a thrash classic, listen to this album immediately, you'll love it.

Frowns Severely Frowned Upon in This Happy Camp - 94%

bayern, December 1st, 2020

Yes, let’s go back to those times, the late-80’s that is, when the Suicidals were riding a crest of a large American wave alongside the Big Four and a few other semi-blessed (Testament, Overkill) practitioners; when the “ST” abbreviation was smacked across the sky in capital letters, glittering with all the colours of the rainbow. This was also the time when the thrash/crossover brotherhood near-anonymously decided to step on the “thrash” pedal more forcefully, thus providing the more carefree analogue to the dense technical/progressive atmosphere that had started shaping ominously over the genre. Some of those (Cryptic Slaughter, Crumbsuckers) followed up this more ambitious trajectory, but the majority (Nuclear Assault, The Accused, Ludichrist, D.R.I., etc.) simply updated their already highly energetic repertoire with more aggressive strokes.

Needless to add, from this group the band under scrutiny here were by far the most successful unit, even increasing their fanbase when they changed their style (“The Art of Rebellion”) to a more avant-garde, progressive one. It seemed as though, apart from Metallica and Megadeth, there would be another US veteran to continue bathing in fortune and glory through the difficult 90’s… nah, this scenario never came to pass. What the hell happened? Cyco Miko happened, that’s what. Mike Muir was suddenly embalmed with a gust of creativity, and before you know it, he had two projects up-and-running, Infectious Grooves and Cyco Miko. He never abandoned his old love, but man, were some of the subsequent albums some of the worst entries from the entire 90’s catalogue…

no, we won’t delve into this shameful chapter from the band’s career, but will look into the golden period, the time when the band released this smattering sequel to this impossibly catchy, uplifting piece of crossover grandiosity titled “Join the Army”. Naturally, to repeat the same feelgoodness note-by-note would have been a redundant decision, especially when the good old thrash was beckoning invitingly, only too eager to recruit more teams under its rowdy banner…

and boom, the thrash/crossover hybrid reaches a near-impossible high here, the more aggressive veneer by no means ruining the vital memorability factor. The bouncy lively rhythms of “Trip at the Brain” playfully compel the fans to join the mosh which is initially woven of assured mid-paced strides, with everyone joining the “ST” shouts on the definitive sing-alonger “Pledge Your Allegiance”. From this moment onward the album simply steam-rolls to greatness the title-track revealing a supreme lyrical, also more complex side of the band, the latter aptly reflected in a string of highly entertaining “fast-intense vs. slow pensive” juxtapositions (“The Miracle”, the emblematic “Suicyco Mania”) with the staple goofy element never lost even for a split second. The psychedelic urgency of the all-instrumental piece “Surf and Slam” is another feast for the ears, the audience surfing and slamming in badly disguised jubilation, switching to punky jumping around on the absolutely elevating crossover delight “Sorry!!”, the vestiges from the preceding opus prolonged with the near-romantic albeit still dynamic rhythms on the brilliant “One Too Many Times”, the nerve-calming bluesy epitaph on this one violated by the ruder crossover shenanigans on “The Feeling's Back”.

Party stuff from beginning to end, no more no less… yes, thrashers can also have fun, what do you know? They can mosh and jump and headbang, and mosh again on the beach in Venice town, and anywhere else for that matter, grateful to this bunch here that they have an alternative to the excesses and the walls of death on the other concerts. Laughing on the way out is absolutely guaranteed, for days on end even, as this is the Suicidals’ prime agenda: the fans to have a very good time, and to be willing to come back for more… again and again… cause, if you think of it, what’s not to like here? Mike Muir’s seductively melodic, semi-stoned antics? Or Rocky George’s very effective, near-virtuoso-prone at times, lead segments? Or Bob Heathcote’s restless, vigilant bass burps? Or R. J. Herrera exigent, on-the-verge-of-snapping drum fills? Everything for a grand scale entertainment has been provided; the guys want you to stay, they want you to stick around… no, they don’t want you to pledge blind allegiance to them; they’re not some pernicious suicidal sect. They simply invite you to join in the celebration of life, the way they understand it, with crossover pageants and thrashy skirmishes intertwining in the bright blue sky above…

and the fans did stick around, banging even harder on the more thrash-fixated “Lights...Camera...Revolution” two years later, the band swiftly turning into one of the best-selling acts from the circuit, hitting the top both commercially and critically on the more serious, less joyful “The Art of Rebellion”. Geniuses, what can you do? Anything they touch they turn to gold… the Midas touch was invariably lost at some point, but the Suicidal flag is still raised high… defiantly. The world doesn’t view them as psychos anymore… they’re more like sages now, having gone through tribulations and ordeals, sitting on top of this hill, gleefully looking at mankind rushing towards a most engulfing vortex of insanity.

The Template For Their Next Disaster. - 39%

Testament1990, November 19th, 2020
Written based on this version: 1988, CD, Epic Records

By 1988 Suicidal Tendencies were basically entirely shed of their hardcore punk roots and had tried to evolve into a full on thrash metal band and I appreciate their effort in trying to do so but man this shit is just cringeworthy. While this is not as a bad as what comes afterwards on 1990's Lights...Camera...Revolution this is still pretty bad. Musically there really is nothing terribly wrong with this release the band was growing tighter and evolving just fine it's just this bands leader and frontman Mike Muir structured this bands songs around his god awful vocals and lyrical concepts. Production/mix wise this album sounds really good bass is audible and not drowned underneath the guitars and the drums sound pretty good even without a lot of reverb on them. Muir does sound alright when he isn't acting tough or trying to be funny as that shit just didn't work past their greatest offering the self titled 1983 debut.

The songs here musically are pretty decent Rocky George has always been a good guitarist and was my favorite part of this band when I did enjoy them when I was between the ages of 13-16. The album kicks off with the brain numbing "Trip At the Brain" which has one of the most annoying choruses in thrash. "Hearing Voices" isn't terrible as Muir lays off the dumb shit most of the time and the chorus has a lot of whispering in it. "Pledge Your Allegiance", "Suicyco Mania", "One Too Many Times", and "Sorry?!" ramp up the cringe quite a bit and are totally forgettable tracks. "The Miracle" and "The Feelings Back" are mediocre but are as grating as the others mentioned above. The best track by far on this record is the title track which is a more mellow laid back song but actually is pretty good its the one song on here that is miles ahead of the rest of the tunes on this album. "Surf and Slam" is just useless an instrumental piece that involves the band chanting the title in the intro and outro but does relieve the listener of Muir so it's not all that terrible I guess and Rocky does showcase his abilities in it for a brief amount of time but nonetheless it fits right in with the rest of this album.

How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today is pretty much an album full of filler with a one badass mellow track thrown in there. This record would be the template for their next and even worse disaster in 1990 and boy does Muir really destroy that release. I wouldn't really recommend How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today to anyone who is seasoned in the thrash metal field as there are hundreds of thrash metal bands that shit all over Suicidal Tendencies. The only track worth a damn here is the title track the rest is pretty much forgettable.

Yes, it's thrash. Yes, it's awesome. - 94%

DUTheFek1834, June 17th, 2011

Whenever I talk about the most underrated guitarist in all of metal, I always bring up the same person, and people always ask "who?". Then, I tell them "he was in Suicidal Tendencies". If I had a nickel for every time I got "Oh! I know those guys from Guitar Hero!" or "What? The punk band? They're not metal!", I'd probably have...well, I'd only have like a dollar, but you catch my drift here. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with discovering music through Guitar Hero, but to say that Suicidal Tendencies was never a metal band is completely incorrect. I stand by my statement. Rocky George is the most underrated guitarist in metal.

The album begins with Trip at the Brain, a song which is an excellent indicator of how the rest of the album is going to sound. Awesome chugging riffs with excellent fucking bass underneath it to almost make it a funk-influenced thrash album at times. Every single song on this album has some sort of solo by Rocky, and every single one of those solos is phenomenal. He has the technical prowess of Marty Friedman, and the music-writing ability of (80's) Kirk Hammett. He doesn't only shred on this album, and he does more than just a few chugging riffs too. He also has the ability to play great, clean and melodic sections. He is definitely not just a one trick pony.

How about charm? Does this album have any? You bet your ass it does. Mike Muir definitely has a unique voice which helps you know exactly which band you're listening to once you hear it. Just as Rocky is multifaceted, Muir is as well. He can go all out on songs like If I Don't Wake Up, or sing with a soft voice just as well like he does on Sorry?! The band is able to turn up the heat when they need to, and turn it down just as the right points.

This album is a thrash metal must-have if you're tired of the same old chugging riff-solo-wash, rinse repeat style. This band brings a whole new flavor to thrash with their different levels of tenacity within the same album. Rocky brings the riffs and solos, Muir brings the intensity and a great voice, and the entire band brings grade-A metal from a former hardcore band.

    Top 3 songs:
    3. Surf and Slam
    2. How Will I Laugh Tomorrow
    1. Sorry?!