Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 11, 2000 | |||
Genre | Pop,[1] rock[2] | |||
Length | 45:18 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Art Alexakis, Lars Fox, Neal Avron | |||
Everclear chronology | ||||
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Singles from Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile | ||||
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 57/100[6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Alternative Press | 4/5[7] |
Entertainment Weekly | B−[8] |
Los Angeles Times | [9] |
Melody Maker | [10] |
NME | 4/10[11] |
Q | [12] |
Rolling Stone | [13] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [14] |
The Village Voice | A−[1] |
Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Everclear, released on July 11, 2000. The album (along with its sequel, Songs from an American Movie Vol. Two: Good Time for a Bad Attitude) is a loose concept album inspired by lead singer Art Alexakis's second divorce. The first album is much more influenced by American pop music, especially from the 1970s, as well as being more "loving" in tone than the hard rock Good Time for a Bad Attitude. The album is dedicated to David Ridderhof and Louis Montoya.
Learning How to Smile is the band's second highest selling album ever with 1.28 million copies sold and a Platinum certification by the RIAA.[15] It is also the band's only album to debut in the top ten on the Billboard 200, where it peaked at number nine, and the last album by Everclear to sell over 500,000 copies.
All lyrics written by Art Alexakis, all music composed by Alexakis, Craig Montoya and Greg Eklund, unless otherwise noted.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Song from an American Movie, Pt. 1" | 1:39 |
2. | "Here We Go Again" (samples "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy) | 4:10 |
3. | "AM Radio" (samples "Mr. Big Stuff" by Jean Knight) | 3:56 |
4. | "Brown Eyed Girl" (Van Morrison cover) | 4:21 |
5. | "Learning How to Smile" | 3:50 |
6. | "The Honeymoon Song" (Eklund/Everclear) | 3:38 |
7. | "Now That It's Over" | 3:49 |
8. | "Thrift Store Chair" | 2:08 |
9. | "Otis Redding" | 3:56 |
10. | "Unemployed Boyfriend" | 4:15 |
11. | "Wonderful" | 5:01 |
12. | "Annabella's Song" | 4:55 |
On the original 2000 release of the album, the divide between tracks 11 and 12 was in the middle of "Annabella's Song." A reissue in 2001 corrected this error, as well as replacing the album version of "AM Radio" with the single mix and adding two bonus tracks: "Out of My Depth (single mix)" and "Rock Star."
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.