Customer Reviews

Smile Empty Soul

5 star:		(165)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

Smile Empty Soul recorded one of the best albums of 2003 in my opinion. When I first heard their single "Bottom of a Bottle", I couldn't wait to hear the rest of their cd. And even though "Bottom of a Bottle" is probably the most overplayed rock song of 2003, it still rocks. This album starts off amazing, with the first 4 or 5 songs being top notch. It kind of loses some steam in the middle, picks back up for a couple songs, then loses more at the end. But overall, this album has it all. There's heavy songs, slow songs, everything you could want in an alternative rock album. If you like this album, I suggest also checking out a couple more new bands, Die Trying and Echo 7. If I had to compare Smile Empty Soul with someone, I'd say they remind me a lot of Hoobastank, Incubus, Audiovent, Die Trying, maybe even a little Three Days Grace. My favorite songs include: Bottom of a Bottle, Silhouettes, Nowhere Kids, and All My Problems.

01 - Bottom of a Bottle - 5/5
02 - Silhouettes - 5/5
03 - Nowhere Kids - 5/5
04 - This Is War - 5/5
05 - Therapy - 4/5
06 - For You - 4/5
07 - Your Way - 4/5
08 - The Other Side - 5/5
09 - Every Sunday - 3/5
10 - With This Knife - 5/5
11 - Radio In A Hole - 3/5
12 - All My Problems - 5/5
13 - I Want My Life - 4/5
14 - Eraser - 3/5

Very rarely comes along a CD that every track is listenable to. This CD is exactly that. You don't want to skip a single track, every song has an amazingly powerful message. Sean has a great relationship with his mother, and hes not talking about his parents in particular in most of the songs. Hes putting himself into other peoples situations and writing from THEIR perspective. Basically, hes making music that relates to peoples daily problems, from relationships to drug addiction to physical abuse.

Bottom of a Bottle: Good song the first 100 times you listen to it. Catchy chorus, and I've known people to cry the first time they hear this song because it relates to their lives.

Silhouette: A song about not wanting to grow up in his parents image because of all their flaws. Another good song, lots of emotion put into it, especially at the end when hes screaming.

Nowhere Kids: Pretty overplayed on the radio, but worth listening to. Its about kids whos parents spite them because they were "accidents" or "bastard children". Another catchy chorus, decent guitar work for an alternative band.

This is War: One of the best songs on this CD, whether you're pro or anti war in Iraq. The line "I'll blow your f##king head off for my country" is a really memorable one.

Therapy: Talks about the problems he sees with life to an incompetent therapist who can't help him. Not a catchy chorus, but worth singing along with.

For You: This songs about a person waiting for someone for a very long time, because they want to be with them again, but they won't love him back. Amazingly powerful song, I think we've all been in this situation.

Your Way: One of the best songs on this CD, talks about everyone trying to lead him down the wrong path when hes trying to find his own way instead.

The Other Side: The most powerful song, in my opinion, on the whole album. Its about how you think you're in a bad situation, and the grass looks greener in someone elses life until you actually live a day in that persons shoes and find out they have it much worse then you. The verse about boy being physically abused will really touch you, I can promise that.

Every Sunday: Decent track, catchy chorus that you'll be banging your head to. Its about all the hypocrites that go to church and pretend to be holy, then they go home and rape their children and have abortions.

With This Knife: Used to be my favorite song on the album when I was in a love-hate relationship. Basically hes talking about being in a very hurtful, pain-filled relationship, so he decides to "cut out the part" of him that "cares for her".

Radio in a Hole: Good mosh song, the guitar intro isn't that bad. Can't really decipher the lyrics, but its a good song for throwing up your hail metals.

All My Problems: Another one of my favorite tracks on this album, its about how hes got all these problems, and he KNOWS he has them, but its nobodies f'ng business but his own because they're not the ones that has to face the reprecussions when he slips up.

I Want my Life: Pretty good song about how crazy the world is and its dragging him down, and he wishes things would just be normal so he could live life peacefully.

Eraser: The only song on this album that I'm not particularly crazy about, but its still got a good message. Hes in a relationship that he knows is going to end soon, plus they're a total jerk, so he wants to erase them from his life.

If you pick up this album, be sure to download their 2 unreleased tracks "Finding Myself" and "Who I Am", which were on the Punisher and Spiderman 2 soundtracks.

I decided to purchase this CD after watching the video clip of the song 'Nowhere Kids' and this song touched me. 'Smile Empty Soul' is a band of 3 young men who share music with soul, passion and compassion. This CD begins with the front 6 songs that are quite easily hits. And infact the songs 'Nowhere Kids', 'Silhouettes', 'This Is War', 'For You' and 'With This Knife' are simply special in their own right. All the songs have meaningful lyrics that are moving and amazingly touching. The first song is truly emotional dealing with a parent who is a alcoholic. Many kids unfortunately deal with this situation in their early lives, parents who are alcoholics. I can relate, my father died of alcoholism. But the most poignant song was 'Nowhere Kids', third song in that deals with Abuse of kids within a family environment. 'This Is War' deals with the lead singer's thoughts on war and its consequences on individualism. 'For You' is a more of a serenade than a song that deals with unrequeated love. Many of us have faced that gambit.
'Smile Empty Soul' has simply packed their debut album with songs that mean something to them and it is unique that all three band members wrote the songs in this album release. They wanted to reach out musically to all who are effected with these issues and tell them their is hope. All the songs are done with a heavy rock setting and the music sound melds perfectly with the lyrics.
Excellent CD and I would promote this CD to one and all.

Smile Empty Soul's self-titled debut album is a refreshing sound to all the familiar pop sounds that are heard today. They have the perfect combination of hard rock and melodic tracks for an album that's worth listening to from start to finish.
Their lyrics are probably what stands out the most. They are very raw and passionate and have a sense of vulnerability to them. They speak about life and growing up. "And what did you expect a perfect child raised by TV sets" are some lyrics from "Nowhere Kids", a song that reaches out to a young generation who doesn't have a place. And the songs "Therapy" and "Silhouettes", among others, describing parents who force to much on their children. To the chilling "This is War"; not too many rock bands out there nowadays write about their political views and what's going on in the world, so it's nice to hear what some of the younger people feel about what's going on.
To go along with the bands hard, honest lyrics is an exceptional instrumental sound. Throughout the album their sound is very strong and unique. Especially apparent in songs like "Every Sunday" and "All My Problems".
Overall this is a great album to have and is definitely one of the best so far in 2003.

Smile Empty Soul is a Nirvana/Grunge trio whose focus is of the "Mom And Dad, you suck and you made me feel like dirt" type. Indeed, all the hallmarks of this "pathology" are represented here:

· Troubled youth finding a refuge from a grim life in chemicals: ("Bottom Of The Bottle).
· Wanting not to be like one's own parents and take up the chains of their existence ("Silhouettes).
· Hurting because parents and society will not accept the children they got as they are instead of the children they hoped ("Nowhere Kids").
· Resentment and anger at having to fight wars society picked for them to fight ("This Is War").
· Anger at being subjected to psychotherapy ("Therapy").
· Humiliation in trying to fit in ("For You").
· Refusal to conform to the prison life adults have prepared for them ("Your Way").
· The sad and dreadful certainty that every family is "f**ked up" in its own way ("The Other Side").
· Bitterness at the hypocrisy of religion ("Every Sunday" and "I Want My Life").
· Putting away the love one has for his parents so they can't hurt you anymore ("With This Knife").
· Find the love you needed but never got from your parents in another "nowhere kid" like you ("Radio In A Hole").
· Telling society they can take all their advice and criticism and shove it (" My Problems").
· And the pain and anger one feels toward his parents when they feel ashamed of you ("Eraser").

Having come from a family that was "toxic" in many respects, I can sympathize with our singer's point of view. Actually, my family was far more "toxic" than most-far more than I ever have let my children know about. But after all these years, I can look back and note a confusion of effects. Two separate problems tend to get fused as one. On the one hand, there are the genuine issues we may have with our families. On the other is the ominous burden of taking on the expectations of adulthood. As teenagers, we tend to vent our frustration and anger at our families as if they alone were placing the weight of growing up on us all by themselves. It is only in retrospect we come to understand that much of our anger was misplaced. Now that I have raised three children myself and have been at the other end of the stick, I have become more forgiving toward those who came before me. Watching my own parent grow older and frailer, I have come to the startling realization that they were only human beings after all. They were never as "large" as I thought they were. Even if they had done everything right, growing up would still have been hard and painful.

So why buy this record? Isn't the subject matter rather ugly? Hasn't this all been done before?

Songs are quite a bit more than their lyrics and Smile Empty Soul play with a great deal of aggression and appeal for anyone who loves the siren call of hard rock. More inventive and fresh than most, this band just rocks. There is always a time for these kinds of sentiments in everyone's life. Even as a fully certified "adult", every once in a while it is quite satisfying to flip the "bird" to it all.

I really enjoyed this CD. It was quite meaningful.

1. BOTTOM OF A BOTTLE: 4/5. Good song, very catchy, but I've just heard it so many times :)
2. SILHOUETTES: Love! 5/5.
3. NOWHERE KIDS: Powerful lyrics. 4/5
4. THIS IS WAR: 3/5. I think that this song is very pretty, but I've got issues with some of the lyrics.
5. THERAPY: 5/5. Probably my favorite song on here.
6. FOR YOU: 5/5. Another awesome song.
7. YOUR WAY: 4/5. Good.
8. THE OTHER SIDE: 5/5. Extremely powerful lyrics. One of the better songs on here.
9. EVERY SUNDAY: I also love this one! 5/5.
10. WITH THIS KNIFE: Pretty. 4/5.
11. RADIO IN A HOLE: Mm..not one of my favorites. 3/5.
12. ALL MY PROBLEMS: Kick arse. 5/5.
13. I WANT MY LIFE: Pretty, but it gets a little old. 3.5/5.
14. ERASER: Good. 4/5.

And this concludes my review of Smile Empty Soul's self-titled album!

I have loved the self-titled debut release from Smile Empty Soul from the moment I first heard it. It's easily one of the top albums of the year 2003. I especially like the lyrical aspect of this album from the young new rockers. Every song is filled with emotion that lets the listener in on what they have been through in their lives. Rather than writing about things that have no relevance, every song is meaningful and the message is sent out using their unique style of rock. I couldn't find any song on the album that I didn't like, but a few of the tracks that grabbed me were "Silhouettes" (track 2) and "Nowhere Kids" (track 3). I think this album is going to stay in my cd player for a long time to come and I highly reccomend it to virtually all rock fans.

This is an amazing album. Whereas so many bands in today's modern rock scene have stuck to predictable formulas; i.e. the I-hate-my-mom-dad-girlfriend-and-life-in-general formula, Smile Empty Soul are a breath of fresh air, lyrically and musically. Additionally, instead of plaguing the entire album with montonous political rhetoric like a lot of bands are trying to do yet failing miserably,there is only one track on this disc that smacks of anything even remotely political; that track is "This Is War", but it's not, by any means, a lyrical assault on the Bush administration/America; rather, it is an insightful perspective on the horrors of war. This album is chock full of hard yet at the same time melodic rock music, which is angry at points, but for all the right reasons. If you heard "Bottom Of A Bottle" on the radio, and perhaps saw the corresponding video, and liked what you saw and heard, I can almost guarantee you will like the rest of this album. And with these guys being a fairly new band, you will find this CD relatively underpriced in most stores; I found my copy at a local [store], and it was well worth it.

Also, check out another great band called Ra, and their debut release "From One"...another stunning piece of musical work.

i love this cd i bought it knowing bottom of the bottle but then i listened to the other songs and they were better! i listen to this cd all the time and it reall helps you get over hard times cuz the lyrics are ones most teens - young adults can relate to and it has a good beat and the lyrics are just amazing ...i totally recommend buying it!

Smile Empty Soul came out of nowhere last summer with their hit "Bottom of a Bottle" and have had us scratching our heads ever since wondering where they came from in the first place. Let me just say, finding the answer to that question is a lot harder than getting a grip on the music. The songs presented on SES's debut are somewhat simple in form and deal with everyday issues very bluntly (i.e. Abuse, addiction, war, depression). Sure, they rehash just about every nu-metal cliche, but this album is still a worthy listen. The album reminds me a lot of Papa Roach's 'Infest,' in the way that it is very obvious what the singer is writing about and the band is often sloppy in a way that has them labeling themselves "punk rock." Regardless, if you like the whole nu-metal scene, you can find something you like on here. "Nowhere Kids" is a powerhouse of an anthem, "Silhouettes" has some decent writing and "The Other Side" has interesting subject matter (about thinking that someone else has a wonderful life and realizing it's just as bad as anyone else's). Overall, a very bleak, cliched, but still somewhat strong listen. I'm seeing these guys perform on the SnoCore tour this Saturday (3/13) and it will be interesting to see how they hold up.