Smile
by The Jayhawks
eBay
Condition: Very Good
The Jayhawks bestography
Smile is ranked 5th best out of 17 albums by The Jayhawks on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by The Jayhawks is Tomorrow The Green Grass which is ranked number 1701 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,001.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Smile on YouTube
Smile track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Smile rankings
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Showing all 17 members who have this album in their collection
Smile ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 48 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/25/2026 16:57 |  covecove | 6,639 | 74/100 | |
| 05/04/2024 17:08 | asimpkins | 3,061 | 70/100 | |
| 02/17/2023 23:58 | craab | 672 | 79/100 | |
| 02/14/2023 05:07 |  NoisyBeast | 13,315 | 74/100 | |
| 02/12/2023 16:57 |  MW19704U | 6,989 | 59/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 25% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.4/100, a mean average of 73.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.0.
Smile comments
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Not a bad album, but not their best. It certainly is very listenable. However, my criticism is that I find it over produced, especially the title track. There are some sweet songs and for someone who has not heard "The Sound of Lies" it is a good introduction to The Jayhawks.
After the ambitious album "Sound of Lies", Louris, again without Olson, and his crew, release this album in which they tend towards a more pop sound. It's generally nice to hear but I prefer their previous and their next album.
Best tracks: What led me to this town, Better Days, Mr Wilson, Smile
drivebytornado 02/27/2013 13:41 | #66323
The 6th album by The Jayhawks, hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bob Ezrin produced this classic album, which proved clearly that Mark Olson was unnecessary and was not needed back.
When reviewing this album, the New York Times titled their review: "What if you made a classic and no one cared"? and I think that really encapsulates the Jayhawks career. Everyone I know that has heard them thinks they're amazing, but that's a select few individuals. What a shame.
paladisiac 01/03/2012 20:08 | #34324
"Smile" comes off more americana than country, but all the same, the album's replete with pop sensibilities which often puts a smile on this face. They're asking you to "smile when you're down and out" and keep your "chin up". then they're proclaiming their love glowingly from the tallest building in "i'm gonna make you love me" (singing "i'm gonna drown your tears / we're gonna stay together for a million years". The female backing harmonies are nice-to-lovely across most songs. But there is an undercurrent of despair, from the title track to "what led me to this town" ("Such a lazy afternoon / Eight shades of gray and I can taste the rain / Oh, how high the lovely have flown / What led me to this town ") and its simple-yet-catchy chorus to "broken harpoon" ("When it seemed no matter what you gave / (When) I took my secret to my grave"). But it's tough to stay down amidst singalongs like "somewhere in ohio" ("look out joe i think the sky is fallin' / seems like all the clouds have turned to stone"), "mr. wilson"'s guardian angel and "queen of the world" (chorus "take me to the place i never go / with scented kisses made of gold / I'll place a crown upon your curls / All hail the queen of the world"), and the songs that do sound lovelorn sound so in at least a semi-optimistic way, like "a break in the clouds" ("every time that i see your face / it's like cool, cool water running down my back") or "better days" (the way he sings "too late for hope / but a dream remembered" sounds romantic) and closing with a rocking "baby baby baby".
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