Customer Reviews

Meet the Smithereens

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1 star:		(9)

 

 

While the Beatles' influence on the Smithereens could always be heard, it takes a particularly special type of genius to cover one of your influences in such a way that captures the spirit of the original and yet reflects your own style. This is especially difficult with a group as outstanding and well known as the Beatles, and yet the Smithereens manage it here in a major way; 'All My Loving' sounds like it could be a DeNizio composition. This is a must for any Smithereens fan; I always knew this was an underrated band, but this album proves beyond any doubt the Smithereens are one of the best bands out there. An almost impossible idea pulled off with class and style. Bravo.

The Smithereens show "all their loving" for the "Meet The Beatles" album with this wonderful tribute to the fab four's 1964 U. S. release. And what an excellent labor of love it is! The Smithereens affectionately invoke the original spirit of the Beatles' landmark album while still managing to sound unmistakably like the Smithereens in the process. Pat DiNizio's distinctive vocals make the band's version of "This Boy" both poignantly wistful and beautiful at the same time. His feverish harmonica playing on "Little Child" is a bluesy-rock jam that builds on the original John Lennon mouth organ blueprint. Jim Babjak prods his guitar to power pop and crunch on rockers like "Hold Me Tight" and he even takes a rare lead vocal turn on "Don't Bother Me". Severo "the Thrilla" Jornacion thrills on pulsating bass. Dennis Diken masterfully switches gears from propulsive drumming on "I Saw Her Standing There" to a rhumba beat on "Till There Was You". He trades vocals with Pat on "Little Child" and follows Ringo's example by doing the lead vocal duties on "I Wanna Be Your Man". The sum of the parts equals a whole lot of fun for Smithereens and Beatles fans alike as The Smithereens joyously celebrate an album that has obviously inspired them and pretty much everyone else who loves rock `n' roll. The Smithereens have taken on a daunting task here but it all works remarkably well from infectious beginning to triumphant end.

The CD comes with a fun booklet that includes informative liner notes by Dennis Diken, Beatles experts/historians like Bruce Spizer, Andy Babiuk, Dave Connolly, musician Lenny Kaye and concert promoter Sid Bernstein. The Smithereens "meet the Beatles" and what a delightful get-together it is!

The Smithereens are NO Joke! I started listening to these guys when I was in college in the late 1980's. There has always been a Beatles influence in their music. In fact if I remember right a music critic once described their music as "the Beatles meet AC/DC".

While I never got to see the Beatles during their heyday (I was born in 1966), I have grown to love their music. I find the Smithereens album to be an acknowledgement and a "thank you" from them and bands like them that own a lot of their musical influence to the Beatles. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

And if you want acknowledgement of true Beatles fans from back in the day of how great this tribute cover album is, my in-laws, who were in college during the Beatles invasion, LOVE THIS ALBUM!

I was driving my fifteen-year-old daughter somewhere as she picked up the jewel case for "Meet the Smithereens!" The disc was loaded and playing as I explained to her that The Smithereens had recorded a complete cover of "Meet the Beatles!" with the intention of exacting the Fab's sound as much as could be. It wasn't an interpretation, at least not by intent.

After a pause she asked honestly, "Why don't you just put on 'MtB!' and listen to that?" Her question was not only a good one, but also a fair one.

I countered by asking why she comes in the door after school to immediately IM a friend she saw eight minutes ago on the bus. It was a lame comeback without any correlation, which left me with her question. Why didn't I just cue up "Mtb!" and listen to the real thing? Is "MtS!" any different from an Elvis impersonator?

Yes, because the Elvis impersonator tries to become Elvis, however incompletely. And because The Smithereens are The Smithereens, with a long history of great original music. And not even The Beatles can eclipse the sound of The Smithereens, which leaks out of their high resolution tribute to their source in the same sort of way that a real laugh is unavoidable and can't be contained. After all, eventually the shape and content of the protege no longer fits the contours of the mentor, which is of course the entire point.

In larger scope, culturally, The Smithereens are reminding us - those of us old enough to remember - of those electric months that straddled the end of 1963 and the start of 1964. For those not old enough, "MtS!" - and the dedication of the group to recreating the sound of The Beatles - is a sort of implicit documentray of a Western cultural watershed.

The emergence of "MtB!" in the fall of 1963, followed by the first of the appearances "The Ed Sullivan Show," was a rip in traditional mores. In such a short time, at least by popular perception, the old ended and the new began. This schism had been incubating since before JPG&R came of age, of course, and so The Beatles in no way wholly created it; nor did any one entity. But they did happen to catch the wave at just the right moment to become the presenters of "Why not?" to the masses.

For anyone who, by age or isolation, was somehow unaware of The Beatles at that time it's not really possible to fully describe their impact, so I'll just say this. I was ten years old and in the fourth grade. I left school on Friday, February 7th to enjoy the weekend. On the night of Sunday, February 9th, I watched The Beatles perform on Ed Sullivan. When I returned to school Monday, February 10th, I was a different person. I couldn't appreciate intellectually what had happened, but I knew viscerally something had. A lot of us did that Monday morning, which was only confirmed by our teacher refusing to let as talk about what we had heard and seen. But we talked anyway. Quietly at lunch and enthusiastically on the playground. Something was up, something so powerful it washed over us despite being delivered in a black-and-white image and through a tinny mono speaker. Something big, something permanent.

That, really, is what "Meet the Smithereens!" is about. And so here we are in 2007, the 21st century, dealing not with The Future as we imagined it would be way back then, but with tribal warfare, religious fundamentalist nut jobs and, once the calculated selling of cool is removed from the mix, a stunning degree of conformity. I can't think of a better time of which to be reminded than when we met The Beatles. Thanks, Smithereens, you're gear!

This is the most inspired tribute to the Fabs in a LONG time. Folks who complain about it being "only 28 minutes" might do well to brush up on their Beatle history ... that's all there was on the original album! That's the point. Yet, as disciples of classic rock (see their many & varied covers - The Seeker, Just A Little, etc) these guys pay homage like very few can. They don't make it an attempt at being "the Fab Faux", "Beatlemania" or any of those other "copy bands" out there and create the "note perfect" clones, with fake accents, etc. That stuff is OK to check out "live" but why buy a record of people trying to sound exactly like the Beatles (just buy the originals for chrissakes). No, this first and foremost sounds like a SMITHEREENS album. That said, you can hear the group's musical DNA in all it's big fat ringing guitar glory. Look, nobody's going to even TRY to tell you it's "better than the beatles" - if that were the case - NOBODY would ever get a good review ! But if you love the Beatles and even LIKE the Smithereens, this record is, to put it simply, ESSENTIAL listening. Pat D and the boys carry the torch in admirable fashion. The way the Fabs passed on their musical heritage (how many Carl Perkins songs did you REALLY know without hearing of them through one or more of the fabs ?), The Smithereens are doing for us in 2007. Don't think twice - this one is WAY MORE than alright !

This is a tribute album by one of the best bands around. If you grew up listening to Beatles as I did you'll enjoy this CD. Ignore all psychos writing reviews with a personal ax to grind.

I went to see the Smithereens recently at the Ramshead in Annapolis, and while there, bought a copy of the CD. Popping it into the changer in the car on the way home the next morning, hearing the first notes, instantly transported me back to the first time i heard it. But it's not The Smithereens being the Beatles, it's the Smithereens Being THE SMITHEREENS, playing a Beatles tune. Thats why it works so well when you listen to it.

You know right away its the Smithereens if you're familiar with their sound. And the other reviews are uncanny in their ability to say it better than *I* can...Pat Dinizio's voice comes thru in the vocals in such a differently intense way that puts an 'edge' on the performance. A little more gritty, a lot more serious. I especially like it on THIS BOY and really enjoyed the harmonica on LITTLE CHILD.

The more you listen to it, the more layers you discover. It's a true tribute to the band that all made us realize we didn't have to listen to our parent's music anymore.

PLAY IT LOUD !

From start to finish, cover to disc, this is a loving tribute to one of rock & roll's most valuable treasures from one of rock's most underappreciated commodities ...

And while you'd expect the well-known songs to be a blast, what I enjoyed most about this cd was how the Smithereens made the lesser-known tunes that you don't always hear (THIS BOY, IT WON'T BE LONG, ALL I'VE GOT TO DO, LITTLE CHILD, HOLD ME TIGHT and NOT A SECOND TIME) sound like the hit singles that they should have been - either by the Liverpool foursome or central joisey's gift to rock. DiNizio's best vocal performance on the cd? I'd say THIS BOY. And while Dennis Diken, Jim Babjak and Severro (Masticators rule!) play nearly all of the same licks, fills and solos that were on that rainbow-labeled Capitol LP (or orange Capitol, or Apple, or purple Capitol) ... to my ears it all just sounds fab and gear ... er, very modern, yet lovingly nostalgic. And I also love Jim Babjak's lead vocal on DON'T BOTHER ME. Until the next Buzzed Meg release, this will have to do me.

Now, where can I buy a set of 'Reens bobbleheads?

And isn't it about time McCartney recorded a CD of DiNizio/Smithereens tunes?

(and Ringo can take a crack at "What Will I Do With My Heart" from Burnzy's Last Call, or Buzzed Meg's "It Was a Pretty Dream")

The Smithereens have always proudly worn their jangly British Invasion influences proudly on their sleeves, from the Beatlesque pop of their 1983 BEAUTY & SADNESS EP through 1994's cover of the Outsider's hit "Time Won't Let Me" (from the motion Picture "Time Cop"). So it should be no surprise that MEET THE SMITHEREENS (their first album in almost eight years) is a song-by-song tribute to the Beatles first American LP, MEET THE BEATLES.

However, if you're looking for new interpretations of old classics, this is not the case. In a recent "Goldmine" magazine interview, guitarist Pat DiNizio said, "If anyone was expecting reworked arrangments, they're not going to hear it with us. There's no way to improve on the original arrangments." So what they did was enter the studio and finished in a day. Yes, there were some additional overdubs, but they essentially completed the album in a single day--much the same as the Beatles themselves worked in the studio during the early days of their recording career.

To continue with the Beatles connection, The Smithereens released their album Jan. 20 to coincide with the Beatles original release date 43 years ago. They even got Beatles expert Bruce Spizer, and legendary promoter Sid Berstein to contribute to the liner notes.

While MEET THE SMITHEREENS doesn't improve on the original, it is a loving tribute to the touchstone of the British Invasion. As DiNozio said, "It's our way of paying homage to a record that blew the lid off rock 'n' roll." Enjoy. RECOMMENDED

If there is anybody in this world who can take these songs and make them sound 'new' again, it's The Smithereens!! What a GREAT album!!! Remember the excitement when you first heard these songs?? Perhaps some of you heard them back in '64 for the first time. Maybe you heard them later. Do you remember the feeling that you had, that jolt when these songs first entered your consciousness?? Rediscover that all over again on Meet The Smithereens! The Smithereens have done the impossible. They've taken songs that have been covered over and over, to the point of boredom, and they have put the THRILL back into them. Sure, you can put on Meet The Beatles. And why not? It has stood the test of time and always will. But this is Meet The Beatles for a new millennium. It's those songs with 43 years of love and electricity put back into them. Listen to Dennis Diken sing "I Wanna Be Your Man" and you FEEL and HEAR the power and sexuality of the song come through like never before. Listen to the band do "This Boy" and I defy you not to shed a tear. Pat Dinizio's vocal on the chorus brings out the heartbreak like never before. And Jim Babjak singing "Don't Bother Me" gives that song a whole new feel. All of this while retaining the faithful feel of the originals. I don't know how they did it....but they did. What balls!! What courage!! Take THESE songs and do them faithfully and yet put your own stamp on them. This album rocks!! I mean, just listen to "I Saw Her Standing There" and you can HEAR the band having fun!!

For old time Beatlemaniacs and Smithereens fans like me, I say, 'Welcome Back' to these songs and to The Smithereens!! For some in the younger generation who might think that these songs are from another era and 'stale', this album brings it to your front door and kicks it open.

I say, let it in and CRANK IT UP!!!!