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Especially for You | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 1986 | |||
Recorded |
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Studio | The Record Plant, New York City | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 38:07 | |||
Label | Enigma | |||
Producer | Don Dixon | |||
The Smithereens chronology | ||||
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Singles from Especially for You | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau | B− [2] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Especially for You is the first full-length album from New Jersey-based rock band The Smithereens, released in July 1986 by Enigma Records. [4]
The album is notable for the hit "Blood and Roses", which has been featured in multiple movie and TV productions. Producer Don Dixon's co-production work on R.E.M.'s Murmur and Reckoning albums added attention to the record's initial release. Two of its songs became hits on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart: "Blood and Roses" reached No. 14, while "Behind the Wall of Sleep" peaked at No. 23. [5] The album reached No. 51 on the US Billboard 200 [6] as well as No. 5 on the UK Indie Chart. [7] It was certified platinum in the US for sales over 1,000,000 copies. [8] The album today is highly regarded by most critics, and was one of Kurt Cobain's favorite albums, as noted in his journal. [9]
On April 5, 1985, the Smithereens booked themselves into the Record Plant in New York City and recorded five songs: "Blood and Roses", "Behind the Wall of Sleep", "Cigarette", "Crazy Mixed-Up Kid" and "Alone at Midnight". "All in one evening", according to drummer Dennis Diken. [10] The plan was to shop the finished tapes to all the major and minor labels in the hope of securing a deal. Guitarist Jim Babjak: "After we completed the recordings, we submitted these songs to practically every label out there and were rejected by all except for a small label in California called Enigma." Don Dixon, who had co-produced the first two R.E.M. albums, was selected to produce the album. "We touched up the songs that were in the can and recorded another batch to fill out the album at the Record Plant", Babjak said. [11] Recording and mixing took about 10 days in December 1985, with everything wrapping up on New Year's Eve. Enigma released Especially for You in July 1986. [5] Lead vocalist Pat DiNizio: "This was like a greatest hits album from a band nobody’s heard of because we’d had those songs for five years." [4]
All tracks are written by Pat DiNizio except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Strangers When We Meet" | 3:46 | |
2. | "Listen to Me Girl" | 3:00 | |
3. | "Groovy Tuesday" | Pat DiNizio, Steve Forbert, Mark Johnson | 2:39 |
4. | "Cigarette" | 2:31 | |
5. | "I Don't Want to Lose You" | 3:21 | |
6. | "Time and Time Again" | 3:09 | |
7. | "Behind the Wall of Sleep" | 3:23 | |
8. | "In a Lonely Place" | 4:10 | |
9. | "Blood and Roses" | 3:35 | |
10. | "Crazy Mixed-Up Kid" | 2:06 | |
11. | "Hand of Glory" | Jimmy Silva | 2:45 |
12. | "Alone at Midnight" | 3:42 | |
Total length: | 38:07 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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13. | "White Castle Blues" | Jim Babjak, Robert Banta | 3:59 |
Total length: | 42:06 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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13. | "White Castle Blues" | Babjak, Banta | 3:59 |
14. | "Mr. Eliminator" (B-side to "Blood and Roses") | Dick Dale | 2:02 |
Total length: | 44:08 |
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [13]
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The Smithereens is an American rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak, Mike Mesaros, and Dennis Diken. This original lineup continued until 2006, when Mesaros left the band and Severo Jornacion took over on bass guitar until Mesaros' return in 2016. After DiNizio died in 2017, the band continued performing live shows as a trio with various guest vocalists.
Girls About Town is the debut EP by the American rock band The Smithereens. It was released on 31 October 1980 on the band's own D-Tone Records. The EP contains four songs with the word ‘girl‘ in the title, including "Girl Don't Tell Me," a song originally recorded by The Beach Boys.
11 is the third studio album by American rock band The Smithereens, released on October 24, 1989, by Capitol Records. It includes the Billboard Top 40 single "A Girl Like You". The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in June 1990.
Green Thoughts is the second studio album by the Smithereens, released March 22, 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.
A Date with the Smithereens is the fifth album by the New Jersey rock band The Smithereens, released in 1994. It is seen as a stylistically consistent with the melodic pop sensibilities of their earliest albums, along with the more rock-driven sound and production of their most commercially successful releases.
Meet The Smithereens! is the seventh studio album by Carteret, New Jersey-based rock band The Smithereens, released in stores on January 16, 2007. The album features the band covering The Beatles' 1964 American album, Meet the Beatles!.
God Save The Smithereens is the sixth studio album by The Smithereens, released on 19 October 1999 on Velvel/Koch Records. Produced by Don Fleming, it was originally intended to be a concept album based on the idea of the world ending as soon as the year 2000 started. It was the last studio album to feature bassist Mike Mesaros, who left the band in 2006, but returned ten years later for occasional live dates. "She's Got a Way" was released as a promo single.
Live in Concert! Greatest Hits and More is a live album by New Jersey rock band The Smithereens, released in 2008 by Koch Records.
Dennis Diken is an American drummer, DJ, author, music historian, and founding member of the band the Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak, and Mike Mesaros in Carteret, New Jersey. Besides playing with the Smithereens, Diken is a fill-in DJ on WFMU as well as a liner notes author and reissue project researcher. As a musician, Diken has recorded or toured with, among others, Ronnie Spector, Dave Davies, Nancy Sinatra, Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las and Ben E. King, and worked with musicians such as Dave Amels and R. Stevie Moore.
2011 is the eleventh studio album by American rock band The Smithereens, released on April 5, 2011 by eOne Music.
The Smithereens Play Tommy is the tenth studio album by Carteret, New Jersey-based rock band The Smithereens, released on 5 May 2009 by E1 Music. The album features the band covering highlights from The Who's 1969 concept album, Tommy, creating an abridged version of the original story. The Smithereens edited the original album's 24 selections down to 13 songs, with a total running time of 41 minutes, compared to the original's 75 minutes.
"Strangers When We Meet" is a song by the American alternative rock group The Smithereens, released as a European-only single in 1987. It is the fourth single released in support of their debut album Especially for You.
"Behind the Wall of Sleep" is a song by the American alternative rock group The Smithereens, released in 1986. It is the second single released in support of their debut album Especially for You.
B-Sides The Beatles is the ninth studio album by The Smithereens, released September 2, 2008 on Koch Records. The album features the band covering Beatles B-sides released in America in 1964 and early 1965.
Live is a live EP by the Smithereens, released in 1988 by Restless Records. It was the first release in the Restless Performance Series, which was initiated in January 1988, releasing CD-only live recordings. The EP contains six songs from a show recorded in October 1986 for MTV's "Live from The Ritz" concert series.
From Jersey It Came! The Smithereens Anthology is a two-disc, career-spanning compilation album by the Smithereens, released in 2004. It features most of the band's singles, as well as album and EP tracks, non-album B-sides and a handful of rarities.
Blown to Smithereens: Best of The Smithereens is the first compilation album by The Smithereens, released April 4, 1995 by Capitol Records. It features the band's best-known songs and radio hits from 1983's Beauty and Sadness EP to the 1994 album, A Date with The Smithereens. The album also includes a cover of The Outsiders 1966 hit, "Time Won't Let Me", recorded for the film Timecop and released as a single in August 1994.
Pat DiNizio is the third solo album by Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens, released in 2007 by East West Records. Following two solo albums that showed DiNizio moving away from the sound and style of The Smithereens to explore new musical directions, Pat DiNizio sees him return to 1960s-style pop with a big guitar sound. The album features Smithereens members Jim Babjak and Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion on guitar and bass respectively, as well as Kurt Reil of The Grip Weeds on drums, who also handles production duties.
Covers is a compilation album by The Smithereens, released in May 2018 by Sunset Blvd Records. It was originally released as a digital download on iTunes in May 2014. The album features 22 cover songs recorded by the band between 1980 and 2008. Most of the songs have previously been released as b-sides or on tribute albums and soundtracks.
The Lost Album is the twelfth studio album by American rock band the Smithereens, released on September 23, 2022, by Sunset Blvd Records. It comprises tracks recorded in 1993 for an abandoned album, and is the first album of previously unreleased original material in eleven years, since the release of 2011 in 2011.
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