Only with Laughter Can You Win
Studio album by
Rosie Thomas
ReleasedSeptember 23, 2003
GenreAlternative
Length39:03
LabelSub Pop
ProducerRosie Thomas, Eric Fisher, Martin Feveyear
Rosie Thomas chronology
Paper Aeroplane
(2002)		 Only with Laughter Can You Win
(2003)		 If Songs Could Be Held
(2005)

Only with Laughter Can You Win is the second album by American singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas, released on September 23, 2003 by Sub Pop.[1]

The album's title is taken from the lyric of Joni Mitchell's "Roses Blue".[2] "All My Life" was used in the television series Alias.[3] "Let Myself Fall", recorded in St. John's Church, Detroit, features a duet with Thomas's mother and her father, brothers and sister also feature on "I Play Music".[4][5][6] The album also features Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) on "Red Rover".[6]

"I Play Music", "Red Rover", and "Sell all my Things" were included as sample music on Windows XP Media Center Edition in 2005.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
The Boston Heraldfavorable[8]
Christianity TodayPositive[2]
Pitchfork Media5.4/10[9]
Pittsburgh City Paperfavorable[4]
PopMattersfavorable[10]
Punknews.org[11]

The album received favorable reviews from PopMatters, the Pittsburgh City Paper, The Boston Herald, and Christianity Today.[2][4][8][10] AllMusic gave the album a three star rating.[7] Pitchfork Media gave it 5.4 out of 10, with Amanda Petrusich describing it as "a solidly crafted, fully realized work" but "a heartbreakingly predictable singer/songwriter collection".[9] The Stranger called it "a gorgeously understated indie-folk album that demonstrates how entwined Thomas' life and music are".[12]

Track listing

All songs written by Rosie Thomas.

  1. "Let Myself Fall" – 1:52
  2. "I Play Music" – 3:38
  3. "Red Rover" – 3:20
  4. "Sell All My Things" – 3:54
  5. "Crazy" – 2:35
  6. "One More Day" – 4:15
  7. "All My Life" – 3:19
  8. "You and Me" – 2:04
  9. "Tell Me How" – 3:52
  10. "Gradually" – 5:05
  11. "Dialogue" – 5:02

References

  1. ↑ "Just Out", Billboard, October 2003, p. 65. Retrieved January 22, 2014
  2. 1 2 3 Breimeier, Russ (January 1, 2003). "Only With Laughter Can You Win". Christianity Today. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ Stafford, Nicki & Burnett, Robyn (2004) Uncovering Alias: An Unofficial Guide, ECW Press, ISBN 978-1550226539, p. 333
  4. 1 2 3 "Rosie Thomas; Only with Laughter Can You Win", Pittsburgh City Paper, January 14. 2004.
  5. ↑ "Rosie Thomas; It's a Family Affair", Pittsburgh City Paper, September 28, 2005.
  6. 1 2 Cowen, Andrew (2004) "Culture: Different Folk with Different Strokes", Birmingham Post, May 13, 2004.
  7. 1 2 Johnson, Zac "Only With Laughter Can You Win Review", Allmusic. Retrieved January 22, 2014
  8. 1 2 Katz, Larry (2003) "Pearl diving; Searching for 2003's neglected CD treasures", The Boston Herald, December 31, 2003.
  9. 1 2 Petrusich, Amanda. "Rosie Thomas - Only With Laughter Can You Win". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Su, Peter (January 20, 2004). "Rosie Thomas - Only With Laughter Can You Win". PopMatters. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Rosie Thomas - Only With Laughter Can You Win". Punknews.org. December 9, 2003. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Drunk By Noon; Roots & Americana", The Stranger, December 17, 2003.
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