All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Mojo

Smilers is a masterpiece from a songwriter who's quietly chronicling the blanched last days of a sunshine empire. [July 2008, p.112]

Prefix Magazine

Smilers proves Aimee Mann still has plenty to offer doing the same thing she's already been doing for the last fifteen years.

Read Full Review >

Entertainment Weekly

Her yarns prove just as lovely as they are doeful. [13 June 2008]

Paste Magazine

The result is simply a more keyboard-centric entry into her consistently excellent solo catalog.

Read Full Review >

Q Magazine

It isn't any different to where she's been before, it's simply that quality levels remain uniformly high. [Aug 2008, p.139]

Billboard

After 2005 concept album "The Forgotten Arm" was poorly received, Aimee Mann is back to writing stand-alone pop songs, and lo and behold, they comprise her most compelling album to date.

Read Full Review >

Boston Globe

As usual that pep is paired with tunes that seep into your brain with the stealth of Mann's own beguiling murmur and lyrics that range from poetic to narrative.

Read Full Review >

Hartford Courant

This time, the strong songwriting and astute musical arrangements combine to make Mann's latest her best album so far.

Read Full Review >

Spin

Another nuanced collection of mid-tempo '70s-pop-referencing tunes that document the lives of folks who manage only fleeting moments of happiness between protracted stretches of frustration.

Read Full Review >

All Music Guide

At its heart it's just a collection of songs, but it's that rare thing for a songwriter: it works as a piece of writing and a sterling pop album of its own.

Read Full Review >

Tiny Mix Tapes

@#%&*! Smilers walks its own path as a uniquely beautiful addition to Mann’s already impressive catalogue.

Read Full Review >

Blender

With its stories of faithless lovers, broken relationships and speed-dealing suburban doctors, @#%&*! Smilers almost seems to feed off the stagnation. [Aug 2008, p.88]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

@#%&*! Smilers offers craft and monotony in equal measure.

Read Full Review >

PopMatters

Mann’s new record is smooth, moody, and a bit undistinguished.

Read Full Review >

Slant Magazine

Her wise, bitter lyrics never let her listeners off the hook; it'd be nice to hear her challenge herself as well.

Read Full Review >

Uncut

Her decision to forgo electric guitars on @#%&*! Smilers results in the aural equivalent of watercolour washes, lovely and tasteful but lacking presence. [July 2008, p.102]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Holly gave it a10:
I have been a huge fan since the til tuesday days. I love the electric sounds of her earlier solo CD's and also the mellow tunes of her newer releases. I think her sound has moved from pop-sounding to almost folk-sounding...but don't get me wrong..I still love it. In this age of cookie-cutter "musicians", I have a great deal of respect for an artist who sings, writes, and performs their own music on their own terms. As long as she writes music, I will keep listening because she has a captivating voice and writes amazing lyrics.

James R. gave it a9:
Great job.

Jeff D. gave it a10:
Her best yet.

Lily gave it a10:
I agree this is her best since "Bachelor". Fabulous tunes that play in your head even after listening, smart, melancholic lyrics. This is pure Aimee, a quiet bursting of emotions. Love it.

Chad S. gave it a9:
The last truly great Aimee Mann song was "Red Vines" from 1999's "Bachelor No. 2(the last remains of the dodo)", but you have to go back further in the twentieth century, back to the "Magnolia" soundtrack for her last masterpiece, "Save Me", with its unforgettable, unshakable line, "if you could save me/from the ranks of the freaks/who suspect they could never love anyone." That was one for the ages. But Mann's good, is most female singer-songwriters' great, and that's good enough for me, or anybody, who's into literate-minded songcraft. Like "The Forgotten Arm", you hold "@#%&*! Smilers" like a book, if you want to peruse the words. Although Mann's lyrics are less quotable than they were in her "Everything's Different Now" to "I'm With Stupid" heyday, she remains the unquestioned leader of the pack. "I turned stranger into starman/in the Sunday New York Times/like Anne Sexton and her star rats/working backwards 'til it rhymes," from "Stranger into Starman", probably her most experimental song ever, is a couplet to die for. Meanwhile, "31 Today" and "True Believer" are great additions to her canon. "Freeway" isn't that far behind. It doesn't seem that long ago when Mann fronted "Til Tuesday. When she stood up in that crowded auditorium and lip-synched, "He said, "Shut up!/he said, "Shut up!"(from "Voices Carry"), while thrashing her arms around, it was love at first sight. You had to be a fan to buy her Christmas album. "@#%&*! Smilers" is for @#%&* everybody.

Philippe M. gave it an8:
Her best since Bachelor#2.

Jeff K. gave it a9:
Smoother conceptually, more interesting instrumental arrangements than "Arms." Not quite up to her very best, but certainly more consistent muscially than more recent years.

Music

Upcoming &Recent Releases

@#%&*! Smilers

Album Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases