Green Thoughts
Green Thoughts is the second studio album by The Smithereens, released in March 1988 by Enigma/Capitol Records. The single, "Only a Memory", reached No. 92 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and topped the Album Rock Tracks chart in 1988. Background. The Smithereens had toured from May 1986 to September 1987 in support of their debut album, 1986's "Especially for You". During the tour songwriter Pat DiNizio had been working on new song ideas for what was to become the "Green Thoughts" album. Drummer Dennis Diken: "I remember being in the van during the last leg of  the EFY ["Especially for You"] tour seeing Pat sitting in the last set of seats with a recording Walkman, singing riff ideas into a microphone. I know he was very concerned about and consumed by the prospect of coming up with the material for our second album and avoiding a sophomore slump. Pat had the makings of the songs in dribs and drabs and as he put it at the time, ‘I just needed to get organized’." After returning to the US, the band began work on "Green Thoughts". Pat DiNizio: ""Green Thoughts" was written intuitively, from the gut. I  found myself in a situation where I had to come up with virtually all the songs in a very short period of time. I had to lock myself in my apartment in New York City, take the phone off the hook, distance myself from every relationship I had, and set about the business of putting together bits of melodies, bits of lyrics and song titles into album form. Four weeks later I emerged from the apartment slightly crazed, but I did have an album under my belt." The band then convened in their rehearsal studio and spent two weeks working  on song arrangements. The band chose to record in Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, and Don Dixon, who had produced their debut album, was again enlisted to produce. The album, including B-sides, was recorded and mixed in sixteen days. The first two days of the sessions were dedicated to recording the basic tracks for the entire album and concentrating on keeper takes for the bass and drums. The guitars and vocals were rerecorded later with the proper amps and microphones. The band preferred to take an intuitive and spontaneous approach to recording, according to DiNizio, "get virtually everything onto  the album by the first or second take. If it's not happening then, it usually doesn't happen." Going for a tougher sound than on their previous album, the Smithereens managed to recreate the guitar power of their live shows on "Green Thoughts". "That's partly because they were able to buy Marshalls between albums", Don Dixon explained. Lyrically, the album contains what Dave Simons, writing for "Songwriter101.com", describes as "angst-filled odes to failed romance". DiNizio: "I was always interested lyrically in the darker side of relationships. The lyrics on "Green Thoughts", however, are not necessarily reflective of  an unhappy state of mind in terms of my personal relationships while I was writing the album. ... If I were as troubled as a lot of the lyric imagery conveys, I'd be in a terrible mess personally." Talking to Terry Gross on "Fresh Air" about songwriting, DiNizio said: "I've never really been into wordplay or being clever lyrically for the sake of being clever. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I need the lyrics to have some sort of meaning that I can relate to on some sort of emotional level." Among the songs recorded  during the album sessions were cover versions of "Lust for Life", "Ruler of My Heart", "One After 909" and "Something Stupid". They were all used as B-sides for future singles. "Green Thoughts" was released 22 March 1988. It reached No. 60 on "Billboard" 200 and No. 17 on the UK Indie Chart. Reception. David Browne, writing for "Rolling Stone", gave the album 4 stars out of 5, noting that despite Pat DiNizio's "gloomy" lyrical outlook, the three other musicians are in a "much feistier mood". Apart from a couple of songs with "pseudo-Merseybeat touches", the Smithereens turn  other songs into "utterly contemporary wall-of-guitar onslaughts". He added that "even if Pat DiNizio isn't the type of guy you'd invite to your party, "Green Thoughts" is the kind of album you'll want to bring along." Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a C+ rating, commenting: "I know Pat DiNizio is Beatlesque, but is that why he writes cheerful-sounding love songs that turn out to be kind of mean when you pay attention?" Retrospective reviews were generally positive. AllMusic's Jason Ankeny gave the album 4½ stars out of 5, calling it an "impressive  batch of superbly constructed pop gems", singling out "Only a Memory", "House We Used to Live In" and "Drown in My Own Tears" as "immediately ingratiating". Ankeny also highlighted the album's "curveballs": "the countryish "Something New," the lovely ballad "Especially for You," and the dark, atmospheric "Deep Black," all of which deliver intriguing variations on the Smithereens' basic power pop formula." Terry Staunton of "Record Collector" gave it 4 stars out of 5, writing that the band had been "broadening their palette" since their first album, delivering "a veritable jukebox of radiofriendly styles." He added: "It's all great  fun, performed with delicacy and an innate understanding of what makes an eminently hummable tune." "Goldmine" magazine gave it 4 stars out of 5, calling it "a solid, consistent effort" and one of the Smithereens' "most enduring records."