The Smile - Wall of Eyes ALBUM REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- Listen: thesmile.bandcamp.com/album/w...
Rather than play things safe on Wall of Eyes, Jonny, Thom, and Tom turn the weaker aspects of their previous album into strengths.
More rock reviews: • Rock Reviews
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Team: Jeremy - Lead Edits / Anthony - Final Cuts / Austen - Proofing, Posting
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FAV TRACKS: TELEHARMONIC, READ THE ROOM, UNDER OUR PILLOWS, FRIEND OF A FRIEND, BENDING HECTIC, YOU KNOW ME!
LEAST FAV TRACK: WALL OF EYES
THE SMILE - WALL OF EYES / 2024 / XL / POST-ROCK, NEO-PSYCH, AMBIENT POP
8/10 www.theneedledrop.com/loved-l...
Y'all know this is just my opinion, right?
Another W for The Smile and another L for The Frown
Smiling Friends reference
That is the most terrifying thumbnail I’ve ever seen.
It's perfect
I think it's because the band is called The Smile
@@vinceeager8553 Nooo...that can't be it 😋
@@vinceeager8553 big if true
Pure nightmare fuel
So glad the guy from Atoms For Peace is getting a second chance at music!
I've known he had potential ever since he featured on that UNKLE song. I'm glad he's finally gotten some successes outside of that.
Dude probably has compromising photos of some record label executive.
im really happy the guy from creep is getting recognition
proof that not everyone should smile
Can we give props to the fact Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood are still putting out fantastic music well over 30 years since bursting into the music scene? These guys will be putting out fantastic music till the day they die I bet.
Fr, especially when so many of their contemporaries seem to have fallen off (cough cough Smashing Pumpkins)
I think that's partly because the decisions they take in regards to the direction of their sound have always been based on artistic reasons rather than what might sell more records, plus Thom Yorke has always been a forward-thinking musician too
I don’t know, can we? Is that something we could do? I tell you what, how about you just do it first?
@@scottishcheese13Billy Corgan has just ascended to a level of musical greatness that none of us can understand. Also, fellow Scot?
They’re zionists
Glad to see Bending Hectic grew on you since you reviewed it as a single. Truly a sonic peak for The Smile. Fucking awesome song.
fr dude when he said it was a meh before i was like wtf
I still don't understand how it's not a meh to everyone... Still hope it will grow on me
@@darr915 i thought it was meh til i listened again while reading the lyrics and it felt like a wave crashing over me
Loved it on first listen. Surprised there are people who don’t dig it. Hope they come around.
Took me several listens. Same with Friend of a Friend. What a gem of a tune. @@RealDemimondaine
The middle section of this album is brilliant : Read the Room - Under our Pillows - Friend of a Friend
alright, but the foregoing song, "Teleharmonic", is even more special and i'm completely obsessed with it
I can’t describe the feeling that the Read the Room guitar lick gives me it’s such a unique hard vibe. It’s like some late 90s Can type shit. The intense Krautrock influence marrying with Synth Rock and Jazz on this album is something to behold. The outro of Under Your Pillows is like if Chase the Tears by Portishead collided with W by Scott James and These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead.
@@acsone3546you should check out blonde redhead if you haven’t. The first half of Read The Room sounds like their earlier stuff.
Teleharmonic is absolutely otherworldly. And so is this album in general. Can't wait to see them live.
Saw them for the 2023 tour and hearing them live is really something else, they really seem to love it too. One of my favs for sure
my fav at the moment. I will see them live in August :))
I will see them the next month in Copenhagen! Cannot wait 🥺
anthony fix that thumbnail PLEASE
Steady Mobbin
👁️🗨️👄👁️🗨️
Wanna give him braces?, i think the teeth are straight enough
No keep it there.
Never back down, Tony F
anthony if you really have the best teeth in the game why’d you have to photoshop your thumbnail?
Because he doesn't have the best lips in the game.
its not photoshop
anderson paak dethroned him unfortunately
asking the hard hitting questions
It's the same picture
Bending Hectic is absolutely incredible, the most emotional any song has made me in a while.
100%. It came out at such a perfect time in my life too, and was exactly what I needed. One of my favorites songs by anyone, ever.
@@LunaVictoria9commented 3 times lol
@@naturalurbex lol, my phone crashed and I spammed the post button, not knowing the results
Bread Song by Black Country, New Road, anyone? Huge vibes. Probably the free jazz drumming
@@jdg1251 love that song too!
"bro smile more you'll look better"
bro's smile:
Please try to communicate clearly with actual language. Your memes do nothing but expose your idiocy.
@@MrPotatoMind says someone named mrpotatomind
@@thatsanotherlevel7780 u got em there ngl
@@MrPotatoMindSlang and unformal lamguage has been a part of humanity essentially forever. Every generation has it, every generation gets angry at the next generation's batch. It's a natural part of our socialization. If there's anything that displays idiocy it's failing to understand that.
@@MrPotatoMind there's nothing wrong with using internet slang and online humor in a youtube video comment section, lol
Read the Room is so sick, the kinda proggy vibe is just amazing
Agreed! A modern Paranoid Android
I’m glad that you appreciate ‘I Quit’ and ‘You Know Me!’ since I read and heard some reviews that called them boring and one-note. Obviously multi-phase tracks like Bending Hectic are great but I think songs can get overlooked if they’re repetitive and focused on a single idea. I think ‘You Know Me!’ is meditative and focused on one atmosphere as a background to the lyrics.
I Quit is one of the best tracks and most sonically interesting, imo. The underlying beat is trancey so doesn’t make sense to have a lot of big changes in the arrangement. Listening back, I think there is plenty to keep the song moving forward with synth and string additions along the way until they lock it in at the end.
I really like Teleharmonic
Best on the album
It’s so good
not gonna sleep after seeing that thumbnail for sure
we remember when you gave Bending Hectic a Meh in your weekly track roundup
great you became based on that one again
Saw them live last summer. It was the best show I’ve ever been to and it was so cool seeing them in a “smaller” venue.
It must be discussed whether Thom Yorke is the Greatest Artist of all Time…don’t see a lot of artists giving great albums at age 55..
Yes seriously. Usually for directors and musicians the stuff they put out only gets worse with age, but Thom seems better and more refined than ever, his voice has barely aged.
Is he better than David Bowie?
@@space_1073 yes the only other artist I can think of Michael Gira…but Swans earlier discography isn’t as groundbreaking as their latter work
Whereas Thom’s work seems to be consistently great..
@@space_1073 What's perhaps crazy for me is how Thom is still capable of ushering his artistic strength by recognizing his own creative weakness. Like his aging vocal, for example. We know he's no longer able to get his vocal projection and sound on the same late 90s to mid 2000s Radiohead level, technically speaking. But in the context of the music he has made in the recent years, it doesn't matter at all because his current vocal style still managed to find the perfect space to grow within his artistic scope and it's quite a rare thing imho.
@@Zholobov1 Bowie's 80s and 90s albums were pretty poor tbh, Tonight and Never Let Me Down especially were both really lacking in originality and creativity
The first album felt like Radiohead lite, this one feels like what The Smile is supposed to be. Much more consistent and very tasty
Agreed, first album had too much In Rainbows in it. Played it to death because of that but love how this deviates from their other little project more.
bro's in his analogue horror era
Anthony.. This video cured me of the frown. I am smiling. I am smiling forever and always. My face is stuck I can't stop smiling. Thank you.
You cannot go back to Frownland
Was about to go to sleep but that thumbnail is gonna keep me up for at least 6 hours
It's cool as well that the members of Radiohead have been really active creatively in recent years (despite no Radiohead album since 2016) and a lot of the material they've been coming out with has been great. As well as this and the debut from the Smile I also really enjoyed Thom's Anima album plus Phil Selway's Strange Dance (which he dropped last year).
Sounds like by all accounts Ed O'Brien will be putting out another solo record soon and Colin Greenwood is rumoured to be on the next Nick Cave album
Did you see that video about the guys theory on Moon Shaped Pool being the last Radiohead album? I think the channel was called middle 8. Been a minute since I’ve seen it.
@@wood4life I did yes, it is a very good video. Don't actually think it will be their last record though, have a strong feeling once the Smile have finished touring the current album they'll start making serious plans for a new Radiohead record
Did you get a chance to listen to Yorke's Susperia soundtrack? That's his best solo work since The Eraser for me
@@user-ps3qt8ci8i I like that live version of Unmade from the Suspiria album. It was the one at electric lady studio.
@@wood4life could I possibly trouble you for a link? I love that song but hadn't heard any of that album live
Despiiiiiite theeeeese slings deeeeespiiiiiite theeeeese aaaaaarrowsa
I’ll force myself to tUUUUUURRRn
"The whole thing really lacks a fiery shordy of any sort." 🔥
- Anthony Fantano, 3:46
tf does this mean
fantano lost his fiery shawty
This entire album was fire back and forth.
I haven’t seen a single comment under this video mention under our pillows, which is one of the coolest and most structurally interesting thing I’ve heard from The Smile
Best on the album besides bending hectic. Really this whole album is so much better and interesting than their first one.
Imagine getting considerably older and **still** pulling out terrifyingly good shit that young ears like myself can still enjoy it a lot😳 Gotta give that to Thom and Jonny here, whether you like them or not😤👌
It really is amazing how they stay so progressive and still write mind blowingly great songs. I was a telling a friend it would be like if for example if Led Zeppelin was still releasing mind blowing shit in the early 2000s. I considered zeppelin dinosaur rock even back in the late 90s
What is truly amazing is how consistently innovative they are, from the 90s till now. I am not the biggest Radiohead/The Smile fan, love some of their pieces but not a mega fan, yet I really respect Thom and Jonny musicianship and creativity, there are almost nobody else like them.
@@mistical1795 It's more like if Page and Plant got together and were still releasing great music in the late 90s. Oh wait ...
Their first album just didn't do it for me, but this album just clicked instantly for me. Read the Room, Friend of a Friend and Bending Hectic are my top 3
It’s full of sonic ear candy for both musicians and the layman listener. Great album
The music is like an inaccessible VIP room behind a red rope. I despise it myself
I was pretty worried to see the disappearance of Nigel Godrich from production, but the band and the producer for wall of eyes Sam Petts-Davies really pulled through. Loved the London Contemporary Orchestra bits too, Jonny Greenwood is such a great modern composer
I fucking loved Bending Hectic, absolutely incredible
Loving the album so far. I thought the debut had some amazing songs and a few good but not great tracks. It feels like each one on here was equally crafted. Really like the string arrangements and how songs evolve in a not so predictable manner.
0/10 didn’t play creep
5/10 didn't play 2+2=5
One imagines Josh Homme hearing Read the Room and being deeply envious
The guy did build a career on a Radiohead rip-off… 🙃
Best Thom Yorke Ambient Texture of all time at the end of Under Your Pillows, just narrowly beating out the outro of Not the News and the end of Open Again IMO
This thumbnail be invoking "Inland Empire" vibes and I applaud you Mr F.
Anthony, you can’t just dock 2 points from the album and say that they should build a wall around The Smile and make Thom Yorke pay for it
It's amazing how Thom Yorke can still release such cool music after all these years. I would say that I like the latest albums of his bands more than the old ones
This album wipes half of Radiohead’s catalog ngl, was really great
@@IolZ555 I also like their project with Epic Games Store
Friend of a Friend is unlike anything Thom has ever written IMO
Don't be silly now. Calm down. It's not as good as the first Smile album even. Not even close to Radiohead.
@@MrPotatoMindno it's definitely better than their debut. Both are great though
I absolutely get lost in this album. It gets better with every listen and draws so many different emotions throughout each song. A brilliant work of art.
This thumbnail is legitimately so uncanny, it scared the shit out of me when it popped up on my feed holy fuck bro
An amazing album that gives more and more on each listen.
Bending Hectic, initially built around Johnny's string bends, Thomas sings about a bend in the road on an Italian mountainside, letting go of the wheel, then there is this intense section of strings sliding up (violins) and down (cellos) at the same time, then during the heavy rock music climax, Thom's voice slides (bends) upwards to his high note.
It's such great marrying between the lyrics and the musical elements.
I really like the efficiency of materials. In Kid A they used whatever sounds they could find: synths, keyboards, samples, instruments, to tell the stories. But on this album it's just the three band instruments (with Johnny on either guitar or piano), and a light (mostly two part) string arrangement.
It shows such a confidence in the songs: it's almost easier to just layer up parts to make songs sound bigger, but the way they are doing it here every part is chosen to do its job, and the overall sound is sparse but cohesive.
One thing no one seems to mention about this project is how true to the trio form The Smile is even on studio recordings. Outside of overdubs woven into the instrumentation we are basically getting the bare bones instruments that these guys will be playing live. Very odd especially for a time where every band plays to backing tracks and no one is committed to sticking with the band arrangement
That's only possible because Jonny plays the keyboard parts with the tip of his guitar while doing the string sections with his feet
@@ThePancaked1 dude is basically Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones at the same time.
I saw the smile live in St. Augustine last summer, I can say they were just as incredible to hear live. Best concert ive ever been to. Johnny did not disappoint.
I was @ the show as well 🤙
a pleasant surprise! I liked this a lot more than the first smile album
I FEEL THE 8/10 BRO. Was pretty happy how this album came out though fr since I wasn't really hyped tbh. W
Same for me. I didn't really into the song Wall of Eyes when it first came out. I thought it was meh. maybe now if i went through the album i might like it.
@@idle7240 It will definitely grow on you both. I was the same, now I love the singles.
Teleharmonic is goddamn transcendent.
This!
I sort of dug, this kinda of two album review.
Have you considered doing full discography review videos?
Might be an interesting idea.
Happy to see you also enjoyed You Know Me! Great closer to a tremendous album! Also, strong 8! Let’s go Anthony!
Teleharmonic is on repeat for two days now :D
Same here
Ah, finally, Mr. Yorke has broken out of the 7/10s that have pervaded every project he's done since anima. I'm also glad to see Bending hectic grew on you as you did with me. In context of the full album it fits so perfectly it's not even funny.
A Light for Attracting Attention felt like Radiohead-lite at times
This new one is amazing
Masterful album! Such a cool soundscape, reminescent of Kid A!
Love the big old smile “Anthony” “Fantano”. Glad to see you’re happy reviewing Radiohead 2. Still hyped for that there Jobe Mark II review.
i was scared shitless when i saw the thumbnail. man i need to sleep.
joeveno, e aí!
The Mandela catalogue would do wonders to your brain.😢
Spot on review. Thank you. I just keep going back to this album . A real grower. Love it.
Ese void de thumbnail, sin palabras 🚬
Thank you for the review! 👏😎🤗
Love this one much more than the previous Smile album as the tracks are much more appealing and consistent and progressively bloom over time as you come back to them
that thumbnail didn't have to be the very first thing i saw after waking up. thanks
That thumbnail legitimately unnerved me thank you
Not heard of this Thom guy since that Drugstore track 'El Presidente '
when they performed in México city last year, Read the Room was played and it was an EXPERIENCE!! 🔥
I want to clarify two things at the top:
1. I love Radiohead, and regardless of how I'd personally rank their albums, the truth is my favorite Radiohead is whatever Radiohead I'm listening to at the moment.
2. I think the first The Smile album is at least on-par with mid-tier Radiohead albums.
Wall of Eyes has not really captured my attention yet. The first Smile hooked me right off the bat such that I was able to roll with some of the speed bumps later in the album. This one lacks that immediate draw. I find myself waiting for that single-styled banger and there just isn't one. That doesn't make Wall of Eyes bad, but it does mean it's an album that will require me to put in the legwork to appreciate. It's one of those albums I'll have to let wash over me where I'm focused on the nuance and details and the way tracks evolve over their runtime. That's not the sort of thing you can notice when you're driving to work or using the album as video game background noise.
But the thing is, even if it doesn't click with me from a focused listen, Radiohead released some albums I didn't connect with on release, but then after returning to it a few years later I would fall in love with. So I don't even have doubts that I'll love this someday.
I think that WoE is "better" than ALFAA when it comes to the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. There's some absolute instant bangers on ALFAA that's unfortunately surrounded by a few mid tunes. Outside of Bending Hectic and playing Read the Room on repeat (actually pretty fun to listen to as the ambience cuts back to the beginning), it's pretty hard to identify an "instant classic" on WoE. But god, the sonic/krautrock sound was something I was totally not expecting, much less even like, but it all...in Todd Howard's famous words, just **works.** Brilliant album. Not one filler of a song while still hitting that perfect ~45min. album track length.
It definitely starts too slow.
Ain’t nobody readin’ all dat shit
Wall of Eyes is way better than ALFAA
Agreed. AMSP took a loong rime for me to love
Fantano, just because The Smile's vocalist sounds the same as Radiohead's vocalist doesn't mean you should give them a high score!!!
true, he should have givn the smile a 10
Wow! I thought you had it in for Thom and Jonny, but I’m glad you proved me wrong!
I didn’t realize the Fantano lore and Mandela Catalogue lore would intertwine in that thumbnail but I digress
Thanks for giving my sleep paralysis demon a new form to haunt me in with that thumbnail melon!
bending hectic is the most beautiful chord ever
Terryifying thumbnail; never change it.
'Johnny Thom and Tom' could have been a great name for this band.
Johnny Two Toms sounds like a mob killer
I hear lots of people saying The Smile exists to remove pressure, have creative space, be experimental.
One thing I don’t hear commenters observe is how natural, organic and live The Smile’s recordings are.
It strikes me that the various solo projects and spin offs all have their own space and The Smile sound like a few friends loving playing their instruments. It reminds me of the videos you can find of Jonny and Thom playing Present Tense and The Rip, just the two of them enjoying playing guitar.
Great review today Anthony!
Thumbnail confirms a future Joker in the making
The "Bending Hectic" bends are worth the price of admission. Well, love the Smile projects but please OH please let it be part of the journey to Radiohead LP10, I'd expect the final gift to us all - they like 10 a lot (and 15 but I doubt we'll get 6 more) - but the whole OKC and In Rainbows alt binary album, and I'd be ok with them bringing Tm Skinner and the Portishead drummer into the band (and Nigel who did not do this new Smile album) Stanley plaster London with guerilla art for a month before the release which they speak nothing about, and this time they actually PAY US to buy the album! Ed got his solo. Phil has plenty of output, Colin is the only one who seems to just chill but I don't blame him as his bass work is enough to take every ounce of mental energy out of anyone. They've all been working towards exploring what they need to, and I feel #10 on its way. Maybe it will be all within a Virtual Reality world created by Stanley, Thom, and Paul Thomas Anderson. My only selfish request is they include a nearly unchanged finished of "Wake Me, Before They Come" which now that "Follow Me Around" has been officially recorded is my ultimate hidden treasure .... I guess part of fandom is to have these internet artifacts but this one is just too good. 1's and 0's boys, we need LP10. The Smile has been an awesome addition....EOB....Amok...but lets bring it all together one more time, get it into the basement, and then whatever happens after I just wish you all great joy in your lives that which you've given me.
For me this is definitely the best Radiohead adjacent project since in rainbows
moon shaped pool?
They said ‘Radiohead adjacent.’ ANIMA and Greenwood soundtracks also pretty good
@@matthewstedman5487yet they mention In Rainbows, imo AMSP is better than Wall Of Eyes, but Wall Of Eyes is definitely good
@@ButterGames6The Eraser came out before In Rainbows, so they might be trying to not include that
@@DeclanVH couldn’t they then just have said ‘since The Eraser’?
I have been highly anticipating this album since I first saw The Smile on tour in 2022. Blew me away so much I had to double dip and catch two shows that year. The following summer I did an absolute first for me; I followed the band to 3 shows up the east coast. Met some absolutely wonderful people and got to meet the band after every show I saw. Thom even told me he saw me dancing after one of them, which might just remain the most amazing moment of my entire life until I have my first child lol. My experience with The Smile left me two tattoos richer (thom signature from 2022, and I had him draw a bear in 2023 :3) and positively wealthy in happy, life changing memories. Oh, and left me completely down bad for this new album. I gotta say, I was anything but disappointed with this release. They did a fantastic job with every single one of those studio recordings. Been listening to it like crazy the past few days! I just hope I get to catch the band one last time before Radiohead makes its grand return back to the forefront ❤
I’m so jealous, I had to leave before I could meet them, only seen them once but if I could see them multiple times on a single tour I wholeheartedly would do the same
im so jealous too wtf
bending hectic is so weird i love the vibe it creates. it feels very mentally ill but very warm and inviting yah know. I would give this album a 9. Very solid and very vibey
Another brilliant piece of work that feels like it was made for my ears specifically. But enough ahout Anthony's review
If it was called "Wall of Eyes" you would’ve given it an 8/10.
If it was called "hoods hotest eyes" he would've given it a 8
if it was called barrier of corneas it would’ve been a 10/8
Wall of How to Pimp a Butterfly eyes*
Seeing them live this year and can't f'ing wait
It's the nature of the beast for everyone to rush to review new music. But this album is another grower from them. I've been a fan since The Bends, and this to me is the most interesting music they've put out since In Rainbows. I got choked up on the 3rd listen thinking about how they still manage to push themselves creatively at this age. I'm trying to think of a better record put out by 55 year olds, and I can't. 9/10 for me only because Just Eyes and a Mouth wasn't on it.
Aphex Twin style thumbnail.
Did you listen to the new Bill Ryder-Jones album? I think it is really beautiful, and definitely one of my favs so far (even tho it’s literally January).
Anthony has a beautiful smile, as showcased by the thumbnail.
I still remember seeing the thumbnail on Halloween.
Nice review - I personally loved the track wall of eyes
Finally I can enjoy an album that I actually enjoyed
I really like the album excited to see what they do next👍🏻
Johny, Tom and Tom sounds like new country band in town.
I’m really loving this record so far. It does lack the serious punch of You’ll Never Work In TV Again, but overall it’s a bit more graceful and “pretty” - if that’s a word anyone would dare use for Radiohead-esc sound. But yeah loving it
holy shit we're so back
Anthony reminding yall he's got the best teeth in the whole game with that tumbnail
You can't simply listen to the Smile. You experience it through your soul.
The drums in this record are transcendental
So glad I'm seeing that thumbnail 12 hours late, I would not have slept last night tf
Anthony channeling his inner Aphex Twin with that thumbnail
I'd love to see you review Objects Without Pain by Great Falls.
Thumbnail scared the shit outta me
Never thought I'd get jumpscared in my feed by Anthony of all people.
I love Read The Room. The first half riffage reminds me of Blonde Redhead