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@#%& Smilers
by: Aimee Mann

List Price: £13.99

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Used Price: £7.25
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0698519002624
Label: Super Ego
Manufacturer: Super Ego
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Super Ego
Release Date: June 02, 2008
Studio: Super Ego
Sales Rank: 1253

Disc 1:

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk review:
Despite that unwieldy, rather craven title (a coy ‘@#%&!’ precedes the title, in lieu of proper swearing), Smilers has already been acclaimed by some critics as the best record in Aimee Mann’s long career. Few fans will be disappointed. The opening "Freeway" may be built around a fairly slight play on words ("you got a lot of money but you can’t afford the freeway" goes the chorus) but the nagging melody and expansive synth-laden arrangement, reminiscent of her East Coast counterparts and suburban critics Fountains of Wayne, is nigh on irresistible. "Stranger Into Starman" is a mere snippet, and all the better for its brevity, while "Looking For Nothing" is a perfect example of the southern Californian blankness Mann has captured for years now. The lush, orchestrated country-rock of "Phoenix" rhymes the title with ‘kleenex’ and truly captures the mood of someone leaving for good. Sean Hayes sounds uncannily like a boozy Antony Hegarty on the deceptively jolly closer "Ballantines", named for a whisky, while author Dave Eggers picks up a credit for his rather good ‘whistling’ on the gloomy, undeniably pretty "Little Tornado". The painfully detailed "Thirty One Today", a distant memory for Mann, is another successful attempt to voice dissatisfaction. Only the chirpy horns on the admonishing "Borrowing Time" actually lighten the mood. Smilers is an excellent record, cleverly thought out throughout. But the smiles here are rueful at best.—Steve Jelbert

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Grower
I've been a fan of Aimee Mann since "Whatever", and along with Lost In Space, it's still one of my favourite Mann albums. This one has taken time to grow on me. All the trademarks are there, the beautiful and warm alto, the witty world-weary obervations, lovely productions.

I would say that my favourite tracks here are Freeway, very radio friendly, the moving honesty of 31 Today, Phoenix - "you love me like a dollar bill, you roll me up and trade me in", and It's Over, a beautiful lilting 3/4 string-laiden ballad. The lyrics are often beguiling to the point where it's not always clear whether these are mere stories, or whether the lyrics are drawn from personal experience, I suspect possibly both. There are a handful of songs which ... Read More:

Rating:

- not quite up to scratch

Aimee, Aimee, Aimee. What can I say? I have been a longtime fan of Aimee Mann. At her best she is a writer of beautiful songs charting the ups and downs (often the downs!) of love and life. However, something seems to have gone wrong with the current album, I'm sad to say.

Unlike many, I was a big fan of The Forgotten Arm, Mann's previous record. Dismissed by most critics purely on the grounds of its `concept', it was a set of strong songs and at least a couple good enough to be ranked amongst Aimee's best. Unfortunately, the magic is somehow missing on Smilers. The songs are pretty enough; it's just that after a number of listens, they steadfastly refuse to stand out; not one has lodged itself in my brain (except maybe ... Read More:

Rating:

- Another fantastic album from the fantastic Aimee Mann
I loved this album, it just consists of beautiful songs after beautiful songs. For anyone who has no other Aimee music, I would say this album would be a fabulous introduction

Rating:

- Amazing Album
This is truly a must have album for any lover of well written music. Unlike previous albums, there is no theme running through this one which really makes each song carry more clout than individual extracts from albums like lost in space did.

Every song is superbly written as Mann boosts a vocabulary other song writers could only dream of. You know you're listening to a great songstress when you hear 'phoenix' rhymed with 'kleenex' and you don't cringe.

Every song is great in its own unique way though my highlights of the album would be 'Freeway' - the strongest start to an album i've heard for a long time, 31 Today - whose chorus you will seem to know instantly and be singing along with after the first verse, and Borrowing ... Read More:

Rating:

- quietly confident
Aimee Mann is one of those artists who quietly produces songs of real quality without really troubling the press or being lauded as the next so-and-so. Even providing the soundtrack for P T Anderson's mammoth movie Magnolia wasn't enough to make her more widely known over in the UK. Even I, who had enjoyed her work, had let her fall off my radar recently, only to find that her latest is another well crafted collection of West Coast melancholia; it's title, with deleted expletive, should make it clear how she feels about those with a sunny disposition (and I'm guessing there's a fair few of those in LA).

The album opens with the familiar sounding Freeway, containing everything you might expect; male backing, a catchy tune and chorus, which ... Read More:

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