The Smiley Smile Message Board

My GF got me into them when we saw them live, met Fitz and they put on a heck of a show! Their album Picking up the Pieces was an amazing album! Their vintage Motown sound was pretty great to hear in "todays music". Their vocals are great, I love the evident flute/sax sound as well.


However, their new album came out- More than just a Dream and gears were changing. They're on a new label, have a different producer, and just kinda changed their sound for this album unfortunately! The prevalent sax and horn sound is lost somewhere in the mix! The producer they brought in was Tony Hoffer who has worked with Beck, Foster the People, M83, and Phoenix..…so I think that's where a current "today's pop" sound comes in.

Their genre on the first album is considered Soul/pop and the new Album is considered neo soul, Indy rock and Indy pop…there's just something different about the sound that doesn't do it for me. Some may say they "sold out" but I think perhaps they're just trying something new but one can only hope they return to their roots and not evolve too quickly.

There's something to be said about having a different producer;granted this is only their sophomorie offering. It makes me think about how folks feel about Spector producing the Let It Be album or Steve Levine doing the BB 85 album…they've both certainly got their fans but majority criticize the works.

A lighter note on bringing in another producer, I think Jeff Lyne did great with the Free as a Bird/Real Love material and the producer brought in for Macca'a Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (Nigel Godrich) did a tremendously great job! Granted, I like his work with Radiohead (which helps).