Cruel Smile
Reviews
Guest DJ Account
Reviewed 2002-12-08
Reviewed 2002-12-08
This collection of alternate takes and live tracks is light-hearted and often fun though rarely essential. Many of the live tracks combine
Bacharach-influenced classic pop vocals with dub experiments. Occasionally the results are enjoyable (track 11), but often they are just weird. Other tracks are badly-conceived tape-loop experiments. Many tracks go on WAY TOO LONG. I would seriously recommend checking the length of the tracks before playing.
Highlights: 1,2,5,11,13
1. Classic pop song with vibes, sax, and goofy string orchestration 2. Bittersweet, scathing, reminiscent of Elvis's best 3. Harrowingly
spare with piano accomp 4. Horn-driven with lyrics, bouncy, buried ominous-sounding vocals, reminds me of TYM, too long 5. Catchy with
tape-loop sounding backing, goofy outro 6. creepy dub-flavored remix of "When I was Cruel", kinda annoying 7. Dominated by loops, buried vocals, tuneless 8. Tape-loopy, attempt to be funky, is Costello trying to rap? 9. Spare, acoustic, despairing. 10. Tape-loopy, features guitar with dubby effects, creepy, buried vocal, horns at end 11. WTD: ragged, noisy featuring distorted guitars and very campy organ, great dub-flavored instrumental solos; MFV: reverberant vocals are spare, affectless 12. same song as 10, garagey, dub ending follows wanky bridge, way too long 13. Tape-loopy, garagey, organ-dominated, catchy. More song-like than other experimental tracks 14. same as 1 but with just piano accomp 15. Hidden track: Soul for Hire, vocals and dub backing, particularly incongruous, too long
Eric K.
Bacharach-influenced classic pop vocals with dub experiments. Occasionally the results are enjoyable (track 11), but often they are just weird. Other tracks are badly-conceived tape-loop experiments. Many tracks go on WAY TOO LONG. I would seriously recommend checking the length of the tracks before playing.
Highlights: 1,2,5,11,13
1. Classic pop song with vibes, sax, and goofy string orchestration 2. Bittersweet, scathing, reminiscent of Elvis's best 3. Harrowingly
spare with piano accomp 4. Horn-driven with lyrics, bouncy, buried ominous-sounding vocals, reminds me of TYM, too long 5. Catchy with
tape-loop sounding backing, goofy outro 6. creepy dub-flavored remix of "When I was Cruel", kinda annoying 7. Dominated by loops, buried vocals, tuneless 8. Tape-loopy, attempt to be funky, is Costello trying to rap? 9. Spare, acoustic, despairing. 10. Tape-loopy, features guitar with dubby effects, creepy, buried vocal, horns at end 11. WTD: ragged, noisy featuring distorted guitars and very campy organ, great dub-flavored instrumental solos; MFV: reverberant vocals are spare, affectless 12. same song as 10, garagey, dub ending follows wanky bridge, way too long 13. Tape-loopy, garagey, organ-dominated, catchy. More song-like than other experimental tracks 14. same as 1 but with just piano accomp 15. Hidden track: Soul for Hire, vocals and dub backing, particularly incongruous, too long
Eric K.
Recent airplay
Uncomplicated
Input/Output — Feb 07, 2003
Watching the Detectives/My F
The Back Of The Class — Feb 03, 2003
When I Was Cruel
The Weekend Effect — Jan 26, 2003
When I Was Cruel
The Back Of The Class — Jan 20, 2003
Smile
Strange Attractors — Jan 15, 2003
Smile
In The Leaves — Jan 14, 2003
Charting
2002-12-30 — 2003-03-03
| Week Ending | Airplays |
|---|---|
| Feb 9 | 2 |
| Feb 2 | 1 |
| Jan 26 | 1 |
| Jan 19 | 3 |
| Jan 5 | 3 |
Track listing
| 1. | Smile | ||
| 2. | When I Was Cruel | ||
| 3. | Almost Blue | ||
| 4. | 15 Petals | ||
| 5. | Spooky Girlfriend | ||
| 6. | Honeyhouse | ||
| 7. | Revolution Doll | ||
| 8. | Peroxide Side | ||
| 9. | Oh Well | ||
| 10. | The Imposter Vs. the Floodte | ||
| 11. | Watching the Detectives/My F | ||
| 12. | Dust | ||
| 13. | Uncomplicated | ||
| 14. | Smile |