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Coming off of two successful college radio-hit albums (Especially for You and Green Thoughts), New Jersey’s own The Smithereens brought in Ed Stasium to produce their third release. Stasium had worked with The Ramones and Living Colour and brought a bit more of a rock edge to the band.
Their power pop, 60s influenced sound was still there (The Left Banke, The Kinks), just with a harder edge. The result is 11 (which takes its title inspiration from the movie Ocean’s 11 with a nod to Spinal Tap’s famous line - “This one goes to 11”) and it’s today’s feature on I Own That CD!
We open with their biggest hit song, the fantastic “A Girl Like You”. Originally written on assignment from Cameron Crowe for his movie Say Anything, lead singer/songwriter Pat DiNizio based the lyrics on bits of dialogue in the screenplay. Madonna was also enlisted to sing back-up on the song, but failed to show. Eventually the song was dropped from the movie.
The Smithereens always proudly addressed their influences, particularly the Beach Boys, the Kinks, the Beatles and the Who. Strains of these artists continually came up in the band’s material, especially on 11.
There is great emotion that runs throughout the songs - DiNizio was so great about creating love/heartbreaking songs. “Blue Period” (with backing vocals from Belinda Carlisle), with its beautiful string arrangement and sweet harmonies tug at your heartstrings for just under three minutes.
Other favorites include “Yesterday Girl” which shines and shimmers despite the kiss-off lyrics and one of the most underrated Smithereens tracks, “Maria Elena” a tribute to Buddy Holly’s wife.
11 found balance between their early Beatle-esque sounding work and the heavier rock sound that they incorporated into the new direction they were heading. It remains one of their best releases.
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