something deeply personal, together with the haunting, emotional quality of the understated music put Talk Talk heavily at odds with the commercial charts... the same qualities will ensure that even though Laughing Stock may lose Hollis some of his newly found friends, it will be valued long after such superficial quick thrills are forgotten." The album appeared in several "Albums of the Year" lists; Melody Maker included the album at number 12 in their list and OOR included it at number 20. Retrospectively the album has gone on to receive critical acclaim from critics, and today is considered a masterpiece. Jess Harvell of Pitchfork rated the album a perfect score of 10/10 and noted how "sound can become all the more powerful when surrounded by silence, great gulfs of which are all over the later Talk Talk albums, especially Laughing Stock." Sputnikmusic also rated the album a perfect score of 5/5, saying "in any light, each song on Laughing Stock is brilliant" and that "the world needs to hear this album, even if you haven't liked post rock before, because I guarantee that this is not the type of music you think of when you think post rock. Unfortunately, it should be." Jason Ankeny of AllMusic also rated the album five stars out of five, saying "a work of staggering complexity and immense beauty, Laughing Stock remains an under-recognized masterpiece, and its echoes can be heard throughout much of the finest experimental music issued in its wake." Donal Dineen of The Irish Times wrote that the album "shows what magic can happen if bands have the talent and daring to push boundaries". Legacy The album has appeared in multiple "best albums" lists. In 2003, Pitchfork listed Laughing Stock as 11th best album of the 1990s. The same year, Mojo placed the album on their list of the "Top 50 Eccentric Albums". In 1999, Ned Raggett included the album at number 4 in his list of "The Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties". In 2014, Rockdelux ranked the album at 138 on their list of "The 300 Best Albums of 1984–2014". In 2004, the German version of Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 108 in their list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". According to Acclaimed Music, a site which uses statistics to numerically represent reception among critics, the album is the 492th most acclaimed album