The Jayhawks - Smile
(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: The JayhawksEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2002-06-11
Music Label: American Recordings
Soundtracks:
- Smile
- I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
- What Led Me To This Town
- Somewhere In Ohio
- A Break In The Couds
- Queen Of The World
- Life Floats By
- Broken Harpoon
- Pretty Thing
- Mr. Wilson
- (In My) Wildest Dreams
- Better Days
- Baby, Baby, Baby
Music reviews of Smile
Music Review: One really catchy tune
Rating: 2 Stars
I come at this not as a Jayhawks fan of long standing; therefore, I don't have the axe to grind that some reviewers do. Some reviewers resent this CD because it isn't like earlier Jayhawks music. Some are just as rabid that those who pan it just won't let The Jayhawks evolve. Instead, I come at it as someone new to The Jayhawks music.
My first initiation to The Jayhawks was Music from the North Country. I thought there were some intriguing things on it; but, overall, I didn't quite get why The Jayhawks got the enthusiastic reviews they did. Sure, Blue was a catchy tune. Yes, some of the You-Tube videos showed a good live band. But, overall, I thought there were only 5 really good songs out of 20 on the CD.
Five out of twenty; that doesn't seem that all that good for a band that gets the reviews The Jayhawks do. I thought ... Hmm, there must be more to The Jayhawks than this CD shows. Maybe the person making the selections just didn't choose the really good stuff. I have certainly seen that before on compilations. So I took the song I thought was the catchiest (I'm Gonna Make You Love Me) and bought the CD from which it came, that being, of course, Smile.
So, now I have spent the better part of a week listening to this CD, giving it every chance I can to grab me. And it just doesn't. Don't get me wrong. You could buy the CD for I'm Gonna Make You Love Me and that song alone would probably be worth the price of the CD - especially if you can find it used, like I did. It is a very catchy tune. Yes, it sounds a bit like Fleetwood Mac's mid-period, but it works. The rest of the material simply does not measure up. Not even close.
Some is just too ponderous (What Led Me To This Town). But most of it is simply mind numbingly boring. I think the biggest problem is the rhythm section. The drums (or drum machine or whatever was used) are simply monotonous to the point of being irritating. They find a little rhythm riff and then just overwork it to death. And, unfortunately, most of the riffs are not all that intriguing in the first place. It is as if The Jayhawks think that, by repeating the same riff again and again and again, they will put you in a trance-like state. Sometimes that works. But not here. If you want to hear that done well, try listening to Change Is Now off the Byrds' Notorious Byrd Brothers LP. Now that works. Or if you want to hear someone who can take a simple riff and make it work, listen to Michael Clarke (again of the Byrds, the Burritos and Firefall). He was not a technically brilliant drummer, but he could figure out a pretty and catchy drum riff and use it to effectively underpin a song. It didn't get in the way. But it kept time in something more pleasant than simply banging hard on the downbeat in 4/4 time.
Other than I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, this CD is just a mush of the same thing over and over. Had they done this for 30 minutes rather than 53, it might have worked. But, no, they did it for a full 53 minutes and 23 seconds. Figure this out: more is not always better. In fact, in pop music, less is usually better. A good hook and a short tune that makes you want to come back for more. By the time Smile is over, I think, "Thank goodness!"
Description of Smile
Originally Issued in 2000.In the mid-1980s, this Minneapolis band shared tavern stages with fellow hometown punk bands like the Replacements and Soul Asylum, dishing out a then-unique blend of country-rock that pre-dated "alt country" by a decade. More than 15 years later, their sixth album is also their second without cofounder Mark Olson. Led by Gary Louris, the newfangled Jayhawks play pop music in the truest sense of the word, and Smile is another trademarked batch of their heartrending laments: hooks that you can't get out of your head ("I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"); melodies snatched off of '70s AM radio ("Mr. Wilson"); epic harmonies from the Big Star handbook ("What Led Me to This Town"); and even a modest attempt at Midwestern hip-hop ("Somewhere in Ohio"). Produced by Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd's The Wall), Smile is a tad slicker than 1997's Sound of Lies. But like its predecessor, this record's charm rests in a handful of dazzling ballads ("Better Days," "A Break in the Clouds" and "Broken Harpoon")--polished, yes, but never overbearing. --Scott Holter
General CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in General CDs
Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux KingRCA; Release date: 2009-06-02; Music CD
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
Muse - The ResistanceRelease date: 2009-09-15; Music CD
Best price: $8.58
Price in other shops:
xx - XXDig; Release date: 2009-10-06; Music CD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
![Teen Dream [CD + DVD] Image](/images/Teen-Dream-CD-DVD-B002ZIAC26-X.jpg)
Beach House - Teen Dream [CD + DVD]Beach; Release date: 2010-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $11.74
Price in other shops:
Twilight SoundtrackUnknown; Release date: 2008-11-04; Music CD
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops:
Spoon - TransferenceRelease date: 2010-01-19; Music CD
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
Kings of Leon - Only by the NightRCA; Release date: 2008-09-23; Music CD
Best price: $6.68
Price in other shops:
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus PhoenixPhoenix; Release date: 2009-05-26; Music CD
Best price: $6.96
Price in other shops:
Alicia Keys - The Element of FreedomRelease date: 2009-12-15; Music CD
Best price: $7.54
Price in other shops:
Joanna Newsom - Have One on MeRelease date: 2010-02-23; Music CD
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Golden Smog - Weird TalesRelease date: 1998-10-13; Music CD
Best price: $7.69
Price in other shops:
The Jayhawks - Music from the North Country: The Jayhawks AnthologyRelease date: 2009-07-07; Music CD
Best price: $9.92
Price in other shops:
Gary Louris, Mark Olson - Ready For The FloodRelease date: 2009-01-27; Music CD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
Gary Louris - VagabondsLOURIS,GARY; Release date: 2008-02-19; Music CD
Best price: $10.97
Price in other shops:
The Jayhawks - Blue EarthRelease date: 2003-04-22; Music CD
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops:
Jayhawks, The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music (Limited Edition w/ Bonus CD)Release date: 2003-04-08; Music CD
Best price: $3.75
Price in other shops:
The Jayhawks - Rainy Day MusicRelease date: 2008-01-13; Music CD
Best price: $9.22
Price in other shops:
The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town HallRelease date: 2006-09-04; Music CD
Best price: $9.21
Price in other shops:
The Jayhawks - Tomorrow the Green GrassRelease date: 2002-06-11; Music CD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The Jayhawks - Sound of LiesRelease date: 2006-09-04; Music CD
Best price: $6.77
Price in other shops: