Smeared

Sloan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 9, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Koch Records
• ASIN: B0009YNRW0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #787,217 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At the start of Smeared, their 1992 debut album, Canadian power-poppers Sloan parody the confessional: "She was underwhelmed, if that's a word / I know it's not 'cause I looked it up / It's one of those skills I learned in my school / I was overwhelmed / I'm sure of that one 'cause I learned it back in grade school." The knowing wit and bite hardly let up on the rest of the disc, which further upends the expected niceness quotient with titles like "I Am the Cancer" and guitars that rip as much as they shimmer. Posies fans, take note. --Rickey Wright

Product Description

The Canadian indie rock/power pop act's cheerful 1993 debut album. Murder Records. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They Weren't Just R's, August 14, 2008

By 

Evan A Genest (Hsinchu Taiwan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Smeared (Audio CD)

I'm going on record as being astounded that Sloan's debut has only been reviewed three times. This is a runner up for my list of discs to take to a desert island! You may not love it as much as me but know this: I played it to death and every subsequent Sloan release, for me, is not the same. [First Frank Black solo did the same thing, so maybe it is just me.]

You should start with Take It In or Sugartune, great all-time power-pop.

Finally, in a clarification of good lyrics, can I be the first on the entire Internet [I've checked, even at Sloan dot com] to note the great play on words of the first song, "Overwhelmed", an all time jilted-nerd peon, which glorified rejection, way before Dashboard Confessional, though closer to Wonder Years in sitcomishness?

The line is

"She rolled her eyes, her beautiful eyes"

which later reappears, kind of like Shakespeare:

"She rolled her R's, her beautiful arse"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for its time, very good now, August 10, 2004

By 

Steve Edge "edge the steve" (Morganton, NC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Smeared (Audio CD)

First of all, if you are a Sloan fan, you need to hear this one if only to see what kind of work Sloan did in the early 90s. A friend of mine introduced me to this band with this CD in the summer of 1994. It stood head and shoulders above other bands I was into at the time with the clever, well written lyrics and anticipation in songs such as Underwhelmed and most importantly 500 Up. A special nod goes to "The Distortion Song", my name for "I Am The Cancer" before I knew what it was really called; memories of summer '94 wouldn't be the same without this song on the soundtrack. I can't agree with those who say this is not the true Sloan. Ten years ago it was, and what an accomplishment for a young band. 4.5 Stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not their best, December 28, 2003

By 

Derek V. (Vancouver, BC, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smeared (Audio CD)

Even the members of Sloan would acknowledge that this is not their best album. Their original sound is all but lost under heavy overproduction that turned their song into something geared towards the popularity of early 90s Grunge. The end result is fairly dissatisfying, with the exception of a few tracks where true Sloan sound manages to shine through the grime. If you're new to Sloan and are looking for good early albums, I'd stay away from this one. Instead, look for Twice Removed, or One Chord to Another, which are all-time favorites of mine.