Customer Reviews

Smitten

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm disappointed by the negative reactions I've read to this wonderful album, which sadly turned out to be the group's swansong. Having seen them live back in 1996, when they were loud, tight and terrific, I saw the scope for stretching out that was fulfilled in their subsequent albums. "Smitten" shows a new depth in their songwriting (albeit tinged with melancholy) and Bill Janovitz has seldom been in finer voice, especially on "Postcard" and "Scottish Windows". The band's rockier side is not neglected; witness "White Paint Morning" and the broody "Knot In It", and Chris Colbourn chips in with some typical irony in "Rachael" and "The Bible".
Like all Buffalo Tom's work, repeated listening is rewarded. They remain one of the great underrated groups of the 1990s and I miss them sorely.

and I enjoy it. The first two tracks "Racheal" and "Postcard" remind me a good deal of the Wallflowers...the other songs are good, but not great. I like this CD, but then again, I got it for 6 bucks used, so I don't know if I would pay full retail price...

Yet another amazing piece of work from the most consistantly brilliant band of the 90s. A sharp step forward from Sleepy Eyed (which was also a terrific record) that is a great sounding and wonderfully creative work. Buffalo Tom continue to create amzing songs that work in the pop and rock world. Best cuts: "Racheal" "Knot in It" "Wiser" "See to Me" "Do You In" and "Walking Wounded"

Those are the best cuts...but the record is solid!

This CD is great from beginning to end.Very rare in today's music world when something like that happens.So many bands have one or two good tracks and that is it. The band has progressed over the years and just needs that "push" from FM radio. Hopefully the same thing will happen to them that happened to Semisonic.

Latest CD, Smitten by Buffalo Tom provides a vast improvement over their prior CDs. Music arrangements tighter than in the past, mainly due to the adroit musical accompaniment of the keyboards.

Buffulo Tom's move away from inspired, driving pop-punk rock to a more mature, straight-forward pop sound is a bit of a disappointment for me. It's good to add other instruments to create new textures to their music, because you can't keep doing the same thing over and over, but they sacraficed too much of their harder edge and created a softer, more bland sound. None of these songs are horrible, but they don't do anything for me either. It's pleasant background music, nothing more.

This album is great. My faovrite cuts are Wiser, Register Side, Scottish Windows and White Paint Morning. It's kind of different from Sleepy Eyed in that they are more sentimental on this record. Although we still feel the emotion from 20 Points on Sleepy Eyed. Overall Smitten ranks at the top of thier records. At least one of thier best two. I like it alot. It's great. I recommend it to any Buffalo Tom fan or anyone who just wants some good music.

I love this record. It's one of thier best ones. My favorite songs on Smittem would have to be Wiser, Register Side, Scottish Windows and White Paint Morning. But my favorite B. T. song of all time is Late At Night. Getting back to Smitten though....it's really good.

Before the purchase of this CD I had heard Buffalo Tom fleetingly, on the '95 Fort Apache Album. So I did not know what to expect from the band in a broader sense. My first impressions were good, the uncompicated songs are very well blended for what they are and that as an album it is scencerely well planned out. (Although maybe 'the bible' would have served as a more enticing opener) As time progressed I caught myself humming lines to many of the tracks, as the catchy tunes grew on me and lodged themselves into my brain. I have to admit they've stayed there ever since and I rate this as one of my favourite albums released in '98, if not the 90's as a whole. Songs are sung with passion and you get a real sense that the band believe what they're telling you within each track. The level of the songs does not at all deteriorate throughout the Album and hence it is difficult to pick stand out tracks. The gentle guitar of 'postcard', 'the bible' and 'scottish windows', the poinient 'register side' and 'see to me' along with the magnificently distorted 'knot in it' all noteworthy. It is also good to see the band branching into (retrospective: since purchasing this album I've run up a veritable Buffalo Tom back cataloge) lyrics that question truths and tackle life issues. I've used this album recently to convert people who say "Buffalo Tom, arn't they that band that murdered 'going underground'?" into genuine fans of the band, and it could do the same for you. Purchase this album and listen to the music on it, then you'll see what I mean. You will not be dissapointed, and in my opinion, it's their best album so far. If you have older songs and like them, I'm telling you, these are better. Better written, better played and, well, you fill in the rest. This album bears similarities in style to their past albums but with an extra final coat that pushes it beyond them and any similar effort I'm aware of. In it's genre this is definately the one to take with you to an island. Not that I'm planning to do anything this ceremonial, demonstrative or drastic, but just in case you are... I can't wait to see where the next album takes us. Smitten is a modern classic from an understated band that, no doubt, time will cruelly neglect.

Before the purchase of this CD I had heard Buffalo Tom fleetingly, on the '95 Fort Apache Album. So I did not know what to expect from the band in a broader sense. My first impressions were good, the uncompicated songs are very well blended for what they were and that as an album it was scencerely well planned out. (Although maybe 'the bible' would have served as a more enticing opener) As time progressed I caught myself humming lines to many of the tracks, as the catchy tunes grew on me and lodged themselves into my brain. I have to admit they've stayed there ever since and I rate this as one of my favourite albums released in '98, if not the 90's as a whole. Songs are sung with passion and you get a real sense that the band believe what they're telling you within each track. The level of the songs does not at all deteriorate throughout the Album and hence it is difficult to pick stand out tracks. The gentle guitar of 'postcard', 'the bible' and 'scottish windows', the poinient 'register side' and 'see to me' along with the magnificently distorted 'knot in it' all noteworthy. It is also good to see the band branching into (retrospective: since purchasing this album I've run up a veritable Buffalo Tom back cataloge) lyrics that question truths and tackle life issues. I've used this album recently to convert people who say "Buffalo Tom, arn't they that band that murdered 'going underground'?" into genuine fans of the band, and it could do the same for you. Purchase this album and listen to the music on it, then you'll see what I mean. You will not be dissapointed, and in my opinion, it's their best album so far. If you have older songs and like them, I'm telling you, these are better. Better written, better played and, well, you fill in the rest. This album bears similarities in style to their past albums but with an extra final coat that pushes it beyond them and any similar effort I'm aware of. In it's genre this is definately the one to take with you to an island. Not that I'm planning to do anything this ceremonial, demonstrative or drastic, but just in case you are... I can't wait to see where the next album takes us. Smitten is a modern classic from an understated band that, no doubt, time will cruelly neglect.