The Smithereens Anthology: The Reviews


	The Smithereens Anthology: The Reviews Capitol/EMI Records #7740 Release Date: Sept. 7, 2004 By Dan Pavelich Writer for the Kenosha (WI) News, for DSP Fans of the venerable New Jersey rock band, The Smithereens, have waited anxiously throughout the years for an adequate greatest hits package. Though Capitol Records, the band's former label, saw fit to release Blown To Smithereens (1995) and an abbreviated Best Of (1998), the resulting effect was the equivalent of ordering a steak and receiving a White Castle slider. Perhaps in an effort to console the fans, Capitol has now issued the double CD set From Jersey It Came! The Smithereens Anthology. Culling a slew of tracks from the band's highly-successful Capitol years, the Anthology also serves up tunes from the bands' stints with RCA (A Date With The Smithereens) and Velvel (God Save The Smithereens). For the diehard collectors that already own the original releases, the band has unearthed several previously unreleased rarities. Disc one offers up Back To Balboa, an early surf-punk instrumental from 1982. A gritty live version of White Castle Blues also shows those not in the know why The Smithereens have always been a stellar live band. Also included is an interesting look at an early demo of Elaine, which later was re-worked for the band's 1988 Capitol release Green Thoughts. The demo features only singer/rhythm guitarist Pat DiNizio and drummer Dennis Diken. The absence of lead guitarist Jim Babjak and bassist Mike Mesaros give us an insight into the importance of each individual Smithereen. Disc one also showcases the most popular tunes from Especially For You (1986) and Green Thoughts (1988). Behind The Wall Of Sleep, Blood And Roses, Only a Memory and House We Used To Live In are all present and accounted for. Disc two begins with A Girl Like You, perhaps the most well-known Smithereens' track from the 11 (1989) album. Though the bonafide radio hits Too Much Passion and Top Of The Pops from Blow Up (1991) are here, conspicuous by it's absence is Indigo Blues. Long a personal favorite of mine, this song in particular is a great showcase for what the guys from Jersey can do outside of the Beatles-meet-AC/DC mold. From A Date With The Smithereens, we get Jim Babjak's demo of Love Is Gone and the album track Miles From Nowhere. Though most casual fans will be satisfied with these two, I'm going to add Gotti when I dump this disc into my computer. A seudo-psychedelic piece of rock about the famed gangster, which would've been right at home as a track on The Beatles' Rubber Soul. Two tracks from God Save The Smithereens and a cover of Springsteen's Downbound Train complete the set. What amazed me as I listened through the entire package in one sitting, was the wealth of quality material. In an age where a rock star over the age of 25 is considered washed up, it's a rarity to get an overview of a truly illustrious career, as The Smithereens have had. Dennis Diken adds,"Just being able to do this as a career is a dream come true." Whereas most bands might hit on two or three songs during their career that are truly memorable, The Smithereens have dozens. "It's interesting to hear the songs on the new Anthology in chronological order and listen to how we've grown," comments Babjak,"the different styles of music are more evident on this package as opposed to a standard greatest hits that just has the popular radio songs." For folks like me, in their mid-thirties, these songs have traveled with us from senior year in high school, through college, dating, marriage & children to still remain exciting and immediate music of the moment. As From Jersey It Came! is a huge part of the soundtrack of my life, I'm highly recommending it. To the casual fan, it's the most complete best of package you can get. To the diehard fan, it's a great sample of rarities and alternate versions. To anyone not familiar with The Smithereens, you are truly missing out. Check out Dan's interview with Jim and Dennis! By David Chiu Newbeats.com A band that us tri-staters can be proud to call our own, the Smithereens delivered edgy sometimes brooding rock and roll with a nod towards '60s pop. Frankly this group should have been bigger than most of the MTV dreck bands that came during the '80s, but being Jersey's best kept secret did do this band a big favor: they never sold out artistically and rocked hard. And anyone who saw this band live (like myself in the summer of '99) knows what I am talking about. This double disc anthology spotlights the best songs of the quartet's career ("Blood and Roses," "Strangers When We Meet," "Behind the Wall of Sleep," "Girl Like You") with some rare and early tracks. No one has made turbulent, foreboding music sound so Beatlesque and melodic as this band did. As former producer Don Dixon said in the liner notes, Nirvana cited them as an influence. High praise indeed. By Stephen Thomas Erlewine All Music Guide The Smithereens already have a single-disc compilation, 1995's excellent Blown to Smithereens: The Best of the Smithereens. Released in 2004, From Jersey It Came! The Smithereens Anthology expands on that collection, taking 15 of its 16 songs (a cover of the Outsiders' "Time Won't Let Me" is left behind) and adding 24 other tunes, including their version of "Downbound Train" from a Bruce Springsteen tribute and a selection from 1999's God Save the Smithereens, for a grand total of 39 tracks over two discs. It's a significant expansion, and by and large it's terrific. The Smithereens were a consistently satisfying band, partially due to Pat DiNizio's songwriting and partially because the bandmembers were tough, hard-hitting rock & rollers, and that consistency keeps From Jersey It Came! enjoyable throughout its lengthy running time. While there are a handful of rarities — a 1980 demo of "Elaine" and a live version of "White Castle Blues," a demo of "Love Is Gone," and different mixes of "Cut Flowers" and "Everything" — most of the genuine rarities came out on 1995's Attack of the Smithereens, which leaves this for that curious group of big fans who don't want all the full-length albums. For those fans, this is an excellent choice, but those looking for an introduction, or who just want the band at its absolute prime, Blown to Smithereens remains the first pick. By Jay Lustig NJ Star-Ledger You can't keep a good band down In a remarkable display of commitment, or maybe just stubbornness, the Smithereens have been making music for 25 years. Think of everything that singer-guitarist Pat DiNizio, guitarist Jim Babjak, bassist Mike Mesaros and drummer Dennis Diken have endured during that time. MTV and Napster. Contracts with four different record labels. Band members' solo projects, and even DiNizio's unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 2000. These musicians, natives of Carteret and Scotch Plains, never had a monster hit. But they did make the Top 40 with "A Girl Like You" (1990) and "Too Much Passion" (1992), and their brooding but uplifting sound -- blending dark-toned guitars with pop melodies -- has influenced countless bands. Nirvana, in its early days, traveled with just one tape in the van. The Smithereens were on one side, and heavy-metal group Celtic Frost was on the other. "That tape was always getting played, turned over and over again," bassist Krist Novoselic told Rolling Stone in 2001. This anthology is a fine career overview, with all of the expected album tracks (including signature songs like "Blood and Roses," "Behind the Wall of Sleep" and "Only a Memory") and a smattering of previously unreleased tracks and rarities. It begins with debut single "Girls About Town" (1980) and ends with two cuts from the band's little-heard 1999 album "God Save the Smithereens," but understandably emphasizes breakthrough album "Especially For You" (1986) and follow-up, "Green Thoughts" (1988). A rowdy, nearly eight-minute version of "White Castle Blues," recorded live at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park in 1987, captures the crowd-pleasing zaniness of the Smithereens' concerts, while "Back To Balboa," a previously unreleased instrumental from 1982, showcases the band's surf-rock capabilities. Other styles covered the anthology include rockabilly ("Much Too Much") and bossa nova ("In a Lonely Place," featuring Suzanne Vega on backing vocals). "Too Much Passion" has a Motown vibe, and "If the Sun Doesn't Shine" boasts Beach Boys-like harmonies. The liner notes are by producer Don Dixon, who calls the Smithereens "... my very favorite band. Ever." And Diken writes a few sentences on each song, pointing out, for instance, that the drum fill near the end of "Strangers When We Meet" was inspired by the Four Seasons' version of "I've Got You Under My Skin," and that the Chi-Lites' "Have You Seen Her" was one of the influences on "Evening Dress." About debut single "Girls About Town," he writes, "Though it may not have occurred to us at the time it sounds a bit 'new-wave-y' 24 years on!" And he describes "Cigarette" as an "Euro-centric Stranglers-influenced waltz."