Trouble No More | ||||
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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 | ||||
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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]
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 |
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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 |