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SMILE
The Jayhawks
(SONY/COLUMBIA)
You can almost hear a record executive tell The Jayhawks: "Really, love what you've done, boys, but would it kill ya to give us something we could get on radio?"
So, the veteran Minneapolis country-rock band has hooked up with big-name rock producer Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Kiss, Pink Floyd) and recorded an album that makes a few reasonable concessions for mainstream ears.
Certainly, longtime fans will be taken aback by the funky drum loop on Somewhere in Ohio, or the fat rock guitar on Life Floats By, or the glossy pop sheen of Queen of the World and Life Floats By.
Not the best songs in the Jayhawks canon, but not meritless either.
What's left, however, is pretty sublime and quintessential. The stately title track recalls the lush, string-sweetened splendour of Blue; A Break in the Clouds is a plaintive country duet cast in the Gram Parsons-Emmylou Harris mould; Broken Harpoon and Better Days are beautiful, fragile ballads which tug at the heartstrings with every affecting chord change.
Considerably more inspiration than desperation, then.
Track Listing
01. Smile
02.I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
03.What Led Me To This Town
04.Somewhere In Ohio
05.A Break In The Clouds
06.Queen Of The World
07.Life Floats By
08.Broken Harpoon
09.Pretty Thing
10.Mr. Wilson
11.(In My) Wildest Dreams
12.Better Days
13.Baby, Baby, Baby