Rated 6/10
Some good moments, but mostly I didn’t enjoy this sound palette. The airy instrumentation needed some stronger melodies. Maybe I need a closer listen to this one, seeemed like there should be more gems in here.
Fave Tracks: Australia, The Room We Sat In Before
3/5
Rated 4/10
Didn't like this much.
2.5/5
Rated 8/10
I can’t really explain it but I thought this was pretty great. Not sure I would want to relisten much, but the spirit of these tracks felt so genuinely gritty and punky.
Fave Tracks: Albatross, Memories, Poptones, Chant
3.9/5
Rated 6/10
Liked some parts, hated some parts. 3 overall.
3/5
Rated 6/10
Quite enjoyed the vibe of this at first, though I think the mix of samba and 2000s new age has a bit of a tacky sheen to it. But then it kinda dropped off for me and not a lot of tracks grabbed me.
3.4/5
Rated 6/10
Fave Tracks: Assessment, Space Beatle, Pure For
Liquid bird kinda sounds like a Ween song.
3.2/5
Rated 6/10
I’ve always found FF to be quite bland, and nothing has really changed for me on this listen. It’s borderline co-worker music. White Winter Hymnal is nice.
2.9/5
Rated 8/10
Can’t believe how much I liked this. Some really beautiful jazzy moments in the instrumentation. The first 4 tracks were a really strong start. A track like Billericay Dickie should irritate me, and yet it doesn’t, its simplicity feels genuine, as this album on a whole does.
3.9/5
Rated 6/10
Cool selection, never heard of these guys. Noisy, and quite difficult to listen to at times.
3.3/5
Rated 6/10
Fine - Lana Del Rey sounding Lana Del Rey record.
3.4/5
Rated 6/10
Didn't really get a lot from this, quite disappointed. Unfinished Sympathy stood out, and a lot of other songs fine, but mostly I found the dub tracks uninspiring.
3.2/5
Rated 6/10
I'm two tracks and a bit of David Bowie knowledge into this album and I already feel that this is going to be superfluous to the 1001.
Boring mostly.
2.6/5
Rated 6/10
This passed me by somewhat, I feel like it should be something I like but it didn't grab me much until the last track.
Fave Track: Gospel Plow
3.1/5
Rated 4/10
Lame if you ask me. Tries way too hard to be hard, and only succeeds in making music thats uninteresting to listen to. The opening track lyrics are so corny.
2.2/5
Rated 10/10
Of course this is a 5, don't be silly.
Fave Tracks: Sir Duke, Summer Soft, Isn't She Lovely, Black Man, As
4.6/5
Rated 6/10
Fine. Not as interesting as their most interesting tracks. I can see how a SOAD fan would like this a lot.
Fave Tracks: Suite-Pee, Sugar, Peephole
3/5
Rated 8/10
I would skip the first two songs and go Chump into Longview to start the album - I like the clean track transition.
There are some good pop rock songs here but Basket Case does kinda blow everything else out of the water.
Fave Tracks: Longview, Welcome to Paradise, Basket Case
3.7/5
Rated 6/10
Quirky little album. The instrumentation I really quite like, but I do just wish the music, the songs would take themselves a bit more seriously. Lots of cool ideas, and most of them over in a flash.
My ears perked up at track 40 "Dr Wu", and I thought finally a great track, only to realise that this is just a Steely Dan cover.
3.1/5
Rated 6/10
I found this mostly very annoying. Its so disgustingly clean cut and major. Of course some moments are nice - melodically it's all "nice" - but its just so sickly sweet, give me some grit Brian.
Why is Good Vibrations here at the end? Obviously its a good song, but it kinda makes the rest of the album sound like poor imitations in comparison. Its a reminder at the end that this twee pop can be magic - but that the majority of Smile isn't it.
Fave Tracks: Cabin Essence, Wind Chimes
2.6/5
Rated 8/10
Feels a bit campy but I like a lot of the songs here. Its like Queen but a bit less flamboyant, which leads to higher lows and lower highs, though I do think Turn to Stone and Mr Blue Sky are just great pop songs.
Fave Tracks: Turn to Stone, Mr Blue Sky, The Whale
3.8/5
