Blown to Smithereens: Best of the Smithereens
Original release date: April 4, 1995
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Beauty & Sadness
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Strangers When We Meet
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Blood & Roses
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In A Lonely Place
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Behind The Wall Of Sleep
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Only A Memory
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House We Used To Live in
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Drown In My Own Tears
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A Girl Like You
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Blue Period
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Blues Before & After
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Yesterday Girl
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Top Of The Pops
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Too Much Passion
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Miles From Nowhere
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Time Won’t Let Me
Led by singer-songwriter Pat DiNizio, The Smithereens stormed out of New Jersey with a neo-psychedelic pop sound that transcended mere homage. DiNizio, guitarist Jim Babjak, bassist Mike Mesaros and drummer Dennis Diken didn’t just replicate the gloriously melodic sound of the Sixties, they improved on it by adding a Beat-era aesthetic that permeated their lyrics and album covers. The result was a fully realized hybrid of British and American pop sensibilities.
The greatest hits package, Blown To Smithereens charts the band’s progress from its 1983 debut EP to their triumphant 1994 album, “A Date With The Smithereens.” In typical Smithereens fashion the anthology boasts an aesthetic nod to the recordings of the 1960s with extensive liner notes by music journalist Brett Milano.
With its perfect mix of rockers and ballads, Blown To Smithereens chronicles the remarkable growth of a unique American band. As Ira Robbins so accurately states in the Trouser Press Record Guide: “Singer-guitarist Pat DiNizio knows exactly what it takes to write great pop songs, and his three bandmates prove they know what to do with ’em.”
