The Smithereens - Especially For You (1986)

So I received this text message earlier this week:

There ya have it. And while I didn't need that reminder, it did prompt me to pull some Smithereens CDs from the shelf.

You know from the first drum smack that you're in for a rockin' treat here. Leader Pat DiNizio was a gifted singer/songwriter who wrote power pop hooks a'plenty, influenced by all sorts of '60s groups, mainly British Invasion. The band is tight, arrangements first-rate, energy is high, and the vocal harmonies are on point. The music has aged well and certainly the band should have been bigger than they were. And yes, the Smithereens are badass.

Now this disc is going to take up residence in my truck's CD player for a few months. Again.

10 things you might not know about The Smithereens’ ‘Especially for You’ album

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "a wealth of Beatlesque pop hooks"
• Rolling Stone: "like a long-lost greatest-hits album"
• Stereo Review: "when you're faced with music as exquisite as the Smithereens make here, the only sane response is to shut up and enjoy it."
• Robert Christgau (B-)

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #51
• Billboard Pop CD: #27
• CashBox: #41
• Rolling Stone: #50

Tracks: My favorites are Strangers When We Meet, I Don't Want To Lose You, Time And Time Again, In A Lonely Place (with Suzanne Vega and a tasty vibraphone solo), Crazy Mixed-Up Kid, and Hand Of Glory. I know I'm supposed to like Blood And Roses because that's a fan favorite, but it just doesn't do much for me except for the guitar solo.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but after discovering the band through Green Thoughts in 1988, it took me much longer than it should have to explore the group's back catalog.

Previously revisited for the blog:
2011 (2011)
Blown To Smithereens: Best Of The Smithereens (1995)
Blow Up (1991)
11 (1989)
Green Thoughts (1988)