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@#%&*! Smilers (Special Edition)

Aimee Mann - @#%&*! Smilers (Special Edition) Audio CD

A fair review of the Aimee Mann "@#%&*! Smilers (Special Edition)" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Aimee Mann reviews here, or go back to the Aimee Mann tabs.

Band: Aimee Mann
Title: @#%&*! Smilers (Special Edition)
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-06-03
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Freeway 2: Stranger Into Starman 3: Looking For Nothing 4: Phoenix 5: Borrowing Time 6: It's Over 7: Thirty One Today 8: Great Beyond 9: Medicine Wheel 10: Columbus Ave. 11: Little Tornado 12: True Believer 13: Ballantines

Great Packaging

I've never seen anything like this. I'm not a great music critic, so I'll let you rely on the other reviews for the music and simply comment on the packaging, which is what makes this special edition unique. It is the most adorable packaging I've seen for a CD! It is well worth the additional few bucks. It is very durable and very "green. " There's no plastic that I can see, rather it is of very strong cardboard or card stock. Those are steel rivets you see on the binding--nice touch! The lyrics appear on durable card stock, one song per sheet along with playful images, presented in a tabbed index similar to those address books we used to carry before our cell phones. The CD is held in a sleeve that is bound along with the lyrics to the extra thick cardboard cover.

This whimsical, earthy, environmentally-sound, and well constructed packaging well reflects the spirit of the music and that of the artist. You are lucky if you get to have this special edition, that is all I can say.

Exceeds expectations
I listen to rock, classic rock, some alternative, (real) hip-hop and some jazz. This is normally not my type of music. Aimee Mann always seemed too close to pop for me. I enjoyed some of her songs on the radio, but never enough to motivate me to purchase an album. However, I purchased Smilers after seeing her on Austin City Limits. I was hooked by the performance and am now hooked by this album!!! Catchy, mid tempo songs, interesting and bittersweet lyrics, a voice that i can enjoy for extended listening sessions. My toddler dances to it too! it is album that I often listen to from beginning to end, but if your looking for suggested tracks I recommend Freeway, Stranger into Starman, Looking for Nothing, and Phoenix. I am happy I ventured off the familar path to find this album.

Much Much Better Than Her Last Album (The Forgotten Arm)
I LOVE this album! Ok. . Admittedly I am an Aimee Mann junkie. . . But honestly, I did NOT like her last album (The Forgotten Arm). . . This one, however, I loved! I am not sure I would say it is her best but it is certainly a return to form. I just wanted to post this review in case there were others who did not like her last album and weren't sure whether to buy this one. . . If you liked her previous albums (before The Forgotten Arm), I think you will like this one. I sure did!.

4 1/2 Something's Missing?
With The Forgotten Arm, Lost in Space, Whateve and Bachelor #2 in mind (not thinking about the Christmas album), in mind. I own most of Aimee Mann's albums. . . I really didn't feel like this was her best album. Keep in mind that I'm more of a tune and production type person, so while I eventually may get around to paying a lot of attention to lyrics or some may catch my attention and drive me to understand the song better, I'm not rating based on lyrics. . . though when I do listen further to lyrics, I've always found Aimee Mann to be admireably good with them.
The real thing that traps me from giving the album a full five (though 4 1/2 is still great) is that this album doesn't seem to change up as much. I really felt like the songs had the same musical mood or sounded a lot like a song I'd heard from her in the past. . . with only maybe a couple of exceptions (Balantines is one of those I thought stood out because of Sean Hayes being featured_. . .

So, while I was relieved to hear this album after The Forgotten Arm (few awesome tracks, mostly "sleepers") and the Christmas album (which I honestly haven't listened to that much). . . I wasn't nearly as happy with this as Whatever and Bachelor #2. Lost in Space would have to be my favorite Aimee Mann album at this point, but ithis isn't bad.

@#%&*! get yourself a copy
Producing consistently good albums that are largely similar to one another is a double edged sword. Aimee Mann long time singer-songwriter with award winning music quality is back with another collection that is as well written, sung, and enjoyable as ever. Many Mann fans have said 'sounds about the same as the last one,' as if that is a problem. If she has produced an album with a very different feel (lets say she went pop in the vein of her cover of "Voices Carry," there would be just as many complains about how she had sold out.

In this reviewer's opinion, doing something really well, and repeating it, is extremely valuable. In sports, that is called super-stardom. In music, it is at times called 'boring,' or 'unoriginal. ' Those critiques are amazingly unfair.

@#%&*! SMILERS is a great album, and a return to Aimee's slower, more intimate style. I must say that I did miss the full instrumentation and faster tempo of some of her other albums, but even a less than perfect Aimee Mann album is rewarding.

The shortest song on the album "Stranger into Starman," might be this reviewer's favorite. Careful phrasing, intriguing lyrics, and a wistful piano combine to make a strangely fascinating song.

"The Great Beyond," with a beat that Fionna Apple would love, is another quality track. Subtle backup singers give it just enough layering to support the simple lyrics.

"True Believer" is classic Aimee Mann: slightly 'honky-tonk' piano, cynical lyrics, and Aimee's beautiful voice pulling it all together and making it more than the sum of its parts.

"Ballantines," a duet with a strange voiced male, is funky, quirky, and probably an acquired taste. It's odd and I'm not sure I like it, or that it's long enough, and yet there is something captivating about it.

Aimee Mann is a superstar. Don't knock her for being as good as she is as often as she is. There are about a million other singer/song writers out there who would kill to have her voice, musical skill, and success. If your an Aimee Mann fan, this is a must buy. 3. 5/5 stars.

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