| Trouble No More | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1990 | |||
| Studio | Mad Dog, Burbank, California; Arlyn, Austin, Texas; De-Mix, London | |||
| Label | Columbia [1] | |||
| Producer | Pete Anderson, Martin Lascelles, Darden Smith | |||
| Darden Smith chronology | ||||
| ||||
Trouble No More is an album by the American musician Darden Smith, released in 1990. [2] [3] It was a commercial disappointment. [4] Smith promoted the album by touring with Marshall Crenshaw. [5]
The album was produced by Pete Anderson, Martin Lascelles, and Smith. [6] The sessions began in Los Angeles, with Anderson; Columbia Records and Smith decided to do more recording in Austin, with Lascelles. [7] Two of the album's songs were cowritten with Boo Hewerdine, with whom Smith had recorded an album that was released one year prior to Trouble No More. [8] [9] "Johnny Was a Lucky One" is about a Vietnam veteran. [10] Preston Hubbard, of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, played bass on "Fall Apart at the Seams" and "Frankie & Sue". [11]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
| Houston Chronicle |  [13] |
| Los Angeles Daily News | [10] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [6] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [14] |
| Windsor Star | B+ [15] |
Spin noted that "Smith's melodies ride a fine line between divinely catchy and John Mellencamp rejects." [16] The Chicago Reader called the album "questioning, calm, and likeable," writing that "he has an intimate, cozy way with a melody–the one on the shimmering '2,000 Years', for example, efficiently overwhelms the song's kinda dumb apocalyptic visions." [17] The Vancouver Sun praised the "lush melodies, sweeping acoustic guitar rhythms and richly topical lyrics." [18]
The Windsor Star thought that "this mainly acoustic set features good melodies, Smith's emotional vocals, and some great arrangements." [15] The Edmonton Journal determined that Trouble No More "goes to waste in a flurry of plagiarism... His 'Ashes to Ashes' sounds so like Mellencamp's 'Jack And Diane' it warrants a court order." [19] The Philadelphia Inquirer deemed "Fall Apart at the Seams" the album's best song, writing that Smith has "from his country roots toward a lean pop sound." [20]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music stated that Trouble No More was "possibly" Smith's best album. [12]
All tracks are written by Darden Smith; except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Midnight Train" | 3:47 | |
| 2. | "Frankie & Sue" | 3:01 | |
| 3. | "All the King's Horses" | 3:00 | |
| 4. | "2000 Years" | 3:30 | |
| 5. | "Ashes to Ashes" | 3:33 | |
| 6. | "Fall Apart at the Seams" | 3:32 | |
| 7. | "Trouble No More" | 2:54 | |
| 8. | "Long Way Home" | Smith, Boo Hewerdine | 3:32 |
| 9. | "Listen to My Own Voice" | 3:47 | |
| 10. | "Johnny Was a Lucky One" | 2:54 | |
| 11. | "Bottom of a Deep Well" | Smith, Hewerdine | 3:21 |
John J. Mellencamp, previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, followed by an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
Lisa Ruth Germano is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Indiana. Her album Geek the Girl (1994) was chosen as a top album of the 1990s by Spin magazine. She began her career as a violinist for John Mellencamp. As of 2018, she has released thirteen albums.
And the Horse They Rode In On is an album by the Minneapolis band Soul Asylum, released in 1990. The vinyl, cassette, and CD versions of the album have different, but related, cover art. The band supported the album with a North American tour. The first single was "Spinnin'".
Carlene Carter is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith.
Adventure is the first album by the New York City alternative rock band Furslide, released in 1998. It was produced by Nellee Hooper.
Human Wheels is the twelfth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp. Released on Mercury Records on September 7, 1993, it peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. The single "What If I Came Knocking" was Mellencamp's last No. 1 single on the Album Rock Tracks chart, staying atop for two weeks in the summer of 1993. The album has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of 1,000,000 copies.
"Wild Night" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the opening track on his fifth studio album Tupelo Honey. It was released as a single in 1971 and reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2022, the song peaked at #1 on the radio airplay chart in Canada.
David Grissom is an American guitarist who has played and toured with several of America's leading bands and recording artists. He is best known for his work with John Mellencamp. He has released four solo albums: Loud Music, 10,000 Feet, Way Down Deep, and How It Feels to Fly. Grissom uses a PRS guitar and has for most of his career.
Hard Line is the fourth album by the American roots rock band the Blasters, released in 1985. Dave Alvin quit the band shortly after the album's release. The album peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard 200.
On the Rural Route 7609 is a box set by rock singer/songwriter John Mellencamp that was released on June 15, 2010. The first part of the title refers to the song "Rural Route" from his 2007 album Freedom's Road and the fact that Mellencamp's music and lifestyle have always been very rural in nature, and 7609 references that the set spans Mellencamp's entire recording career from 1976 to 2009. Said Mellencamp in the set's liner notes: "I started making records in '76, and the most recent track on the collection was done in '09. So Rural Route 7609; it's like an address. I thought it sounded cool."
The Spin is an album by the American jazz band Yellowjackets, released in 1989. The album title refers to the Earth's rotation. The band supported the album with a North American tour.
The Blow-Up is a live album by the American band Television, released as The Blow Up on cassette in 1982. It was reissued in 1990 and again in 1999. The songs first appeared on a bootleg titled Arrow.
There Is Always One More Time is an album by the American musician B.B. King, released in 1991. It is dedicated to Doc Pomus, who cowrote the title song. The first single was "Back in L.A."
Darden Smith is an Austin-based singer-songwriter known for his lyrics and for weaving folk and Americana influences with rock, pop, and the musical roots of his home state. His debut album, "Native Soil," was released in 1986. His sixteenth album, Western Skies, was released March 25, 2022. Smith has published two books, The Habit of Noticing: Using Creativity to Make a Life (2018) and Western Skies (2022), a companion book for the album of the same name. Over the past two decades, Smith has developed two non-profit programs, The Be An Artist Program (2003) and SongwritingWith: Soldiers (2011). Both use collaborative songwriting to work with groups ranging from children in the classroom to military members returning home from combat. Smith established SongwritingWith:Soldiers as a separate non-profit organization in 2012.
"Breathe" is a song by American singer-songwriter Maria McKee, released in 1991 as the fourth and final single from her debut studio album, Maria McKee. It was written by McKee and Gregg Sutton, and produced by Mitchell Froom. "Breathe" reached No. 59 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for two weeks. The song's music video was filmed in Carlow, south-east Ireland, and directed by Angela Conway.
Volo Volo is an album by the American worldbeat band Poi Dog Pondering. It was released in 1992 via Columbia Records. The album title is allegedly Swahili for "revolver". Poi Dog Pondering supported the album with a North American tour.
Too Long in the Wasteland is the debut album by the American musician James McMurtry, released in 1989. Its first single was "Painted by Numbers". The album's title was inspired in part by his father's Texas ranch, which is named the Wasteland.
EEE is an album by the American musician Don Dixon, released in 1989.
Christmas Island is an album by the musician Leon Redbone. It was released in 1988, with a rerelease the following year.
Txai is an album by the Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento, released in 1990 in Brazil and in 1991 in the United States. It is dedicated to Aliança dos Povos da Floresta, a Brazilian environmental organization. The album title translates roughly to "comrade" in the Kashinawa language. Nascimento supported the album with a North American tour. Txai peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's World Albums chart. It was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best World Music Album" category.
