The Smile - Wall of Eyes ALBUM REVIEW 

That is the most terrifying thumbnail I’ve ever seen.

Another W for The Smile and another L for The Frown

So glad the guy from Atoms For Peace is getting a second chance at music!

proof that not everyone should smile

Can we give props to the fact Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood are still putting out fantastic music well over 30 years since bursting into the music scene? These guys will be putting out fantastic music till the day they die I bet.

The middle section of this album is brilliant : Read the Room - Under our Pillows - Friend of a Friend

Glad to see Bending Hectic grew on you since you reviewed it as a single. Truly a sonic peak for The Smile. Fucking awesome song.

Teleharmonic is absolutely otherworldly. And so is this album in general. Can't wait to see them live.

anthony fix that thumbnail PLEASE

anthony if you really have the best teeth in the game why’d you have to photoshop your thumbnail?

Bending Hectic is absolutely incredible, the most emotional any song has made me in a while.

"bro smile more you'll look better" bro's smile:

Read the Room is so sick, the kinda proggy vibe is just amazing

I’m glad that you appreciate ‘I Quit’ and ‘You Know Me!’ since I read and heard some reviews that called them boring and one-note. Obviously multi-phase tracks like Bending Hectic are great but I think songs can get overlooked if they’re repetitive and focused on a single idea. I think ‘You Know Me!’ is meditative and focused on one atmosphere as a background to the lyrics.

I really like Teleharmonic

we remember when you gave Bending Hectic a Meh in your weekly track roundup great you became based on that one again

not gonna sleep after seeing that thumbnail for sure

Saw them live last summer. It was the best show I’ve ever been to and it was so cool seeing them in a “smaller” venue.

The first album felt like Radiohead lite, this one feels like what The Smile is supposed to be. Much more consistent and very tasty

Despiiiiiite theeeeese slings deeeeespiiiiiite theeeeese aaaaaarrowsa

It's cool as well that the members of Radiohead have been really active creatively in recent years (despite no Radiohead album since 2016) and a lot of the material they've been coming out with has been great. As well as this and the debut from the Smile I also really enjoyed Thom's Anima album plus Phil Selway's Strange Dance (which he dropped last year). Sounds like by all accounts Ed O'Brien will be putting out another solo record soon and Colin Greenwood is rumoured to be on the next Nick Cave album

bro's in his analogue horror era

It must be discussed whether Thom Yorke is the Greatest Artist of all Time…don’t see a lot of artists giving great albums at age 55..

"The whole thing really lacks a fiery shordy of any sort." 🔥 - Anthony Fantano, 3:46

Anthony.. This video cured me of the frown. I am smiling. I am smiling forever and always. My face is stuck I can't stop smiling. Thank you.

Was about to go to sleep but that thumbnail is gonna keep me up for at least 6 hours

Their first album just didn't do it for me, but this album just clicked instantly for me. Read the Room, Friend of a Friend and Bending Hectic are my top 3

Imagine getting considerably older and **still** pulling out terrifyingly good shit that young ears like myself can still enjoy it a lot😳 Gotta give that to Thom and Jonny here, whether you like them or not😤👌

It’s full of sonic ear candy for both musicians and the layman listener. Great album

I was pretty worried to see the disappearance of Nigel Godrich from production, but the band and the producer for wall of eyes Sam Petts-Davies really pulled through. Loved the London Contemporary Orchestra bits too, Jonny Greenwood is such a great modern composer

I haven’t seen a single comment under this video mention under our pillows, which is one of the coolest and most structurally interesting thing I’ve heard from The Smile

I fucking loved Bending Hectic, absolutely incredible

It's amazing how Thom Yorke can still release such cool music after all these years. I would say that I like the latest albums of his bands more than the old ones

One thing no one seems to mention about this project is how true to the trio form The Smile is even on studio recordings. Outside of overdubs woven into the instrumentation we are basically getting the bare bones instruments that these guys will be playing live. Very odd especially for a time where every band plays to backing tracks and no one is committed to sticking with the band arrangement

Loving the album so far. I thought the debut had some amazing songs and a few good but not great tracks. It feels like each one on here was equally crafted. Really like the string arrangements and how songs evolve in a not so predictable manner.

Best Thom Yorke Ambient Texture of all time at the end of Under Your Pillows, just narrowly beating out the outro of Not the News and the end of Open Again IMO

One imagines Josh Homme hearing Read the Room and being deeply envious

Anthony, you can’t just dock 2 points from the album and say that they should build a wall around The Smile and make Thom Yorke pay for it

This thumbnail be invoking "Inland Empire" vibes and I applaud you Mr F.

An amazing album that gives more and more on each listen. Bending Hectic, initially built around Johnny's string bends, Thomas sings about a bend in the road on an Italian mountainside, letting go of the wheel, then there is this intense section of strings sliding up (violins) and down (cellos) at the same time, then during the heavy rock music climax, Thom's voice slides (bends) upwards to his high note. It's such great marrying between the lyrics and the musical elements. I really like the efficiency of materials. In Kid A they used whatever sounds they could find: synths, keyboards, samples, instruments, to tell the stories. But on this album it's just the three band instruments (with Johnny on either guitar or piano), and a light (mostly two part) string arrangement. It shows such a confidence in the songs: it's almost easier to just layer up parts to make songs sound bigger, but the way they are doing it here every part is chosen to do its job, and the overall sound is sparse but cohesive.

I saw the smile live in St. Augustine last summer, I can say they were just as incredible to hear live. Best concert ive ever been to. Johnny did not disappoint.

I absolutely get lost in this album. It gets better with every listen and draws so many different emotions throughout each song. A brilliant work of art.

Teleharmonic is goddamn transcendent.

This thumbnail is legitimately so uncanny, it scared the shit out of me when it popped up on my feed holy fuck bro

I FEEL THE 8/10 BRO. Was pretty happy how this album came out though fr since I wasn't really hyped tbh. W

I want to clarify two things at the top: 1. I love Radiohead, and regardless of how I'd personally rank their albums, the truth is my favorite Radiohead is whatever Radiohead I'm listening to at the moment. 2. I think the first The Smile album is at least on-par with mid-tier Radiohead albums. Wall of Eyes has not really captured my attention yet. The first Smile hooked me right off the bat such that I was able to roll with some of the speed bumps later in the album. This one lacks that immediate draw. I find myself waiting for that single-styled banger and there just isn't one. That doesn't make Wall of Eyes bad, but it does mean it's an album that will require me to put in the legwork to appreciate. It's one of those albums I'll have to let wash over me where I'm focused on the nuance and details and the way tracks evolve over their runtime. That's not the sort of thing you can notice when you're driving to work or using the album as video game background noise. But the thing is, even if it doesn't click with me from a focused listen, Radiohead released some albums I didn't connect with on release, but then after returning to it a few years later I would fall in love with. So I don't even have doubts that I'll love this someday.

a pleasant surprise! I liked this a lot more than the first smile album

A Light for Attracting Attention felt like Radiohead-lite at times This new one is amazing

Happy to see you also enjoyed You Know Me! Great closer to a tremendous album! Also, strong 8! Let’s go Anthony!

Ah, finally, Mr. Yorke has broken out of the 7/10s that have pervaded every project he's done since anima. I'm also glad to see Bending hectic grew on you as you did with me. In context of the full album it fits so perfectly it's not even funny.

For me this is definitely the best Radiohead adjacent project since in rainbows

Teleharmonic is on repeat for two days now :D

i was scared shitless when i saw the thumbnail. man i need to sleep.

Masterful album! Such a cool soundscape, reminescent of Kid A!

Love the big old smile “Anthony” “Fantano”. Glad to see you’re happy reviewing Radiohead 2. Still hyped for that there Jobe Mark II review.

I sort of dug, this kinda of two album review. Have you considered doing full discography review videos? Might be an interesting idea.

I hear lots of people saying The Smile exists to remove pressure, have creative space, be experimental. One thing I don’t hear commenters observe is how natural, organic and live The Smile’s recordings are. It strikes me that the various solo projects and spin offs all have their own space and The Smile sound like a few friends loving playing their instruments. It reminds me of the videos you can find of Jonny and Thom playing Present Tense and The Rip, just the two of them enjoying playing guitar.

Thank you for the review! 👏😎🤗 Love this one much more than the previous Smile album as the tracks are much more appealing and consistent and progressively bloom over time as you come back to them

0/10 didn’t play creep

The "Bending Hectic" bends are worth the price of admission. Well, love the Smile projects but please OH please let it be part of the journey to Radiohead LP10, I'd expect the final gift to us all - they like 10 a lot (and 15 but I doubt we'll get 6 more) - but the whole OKC and In Rainbows alt binary album, and I'd be ok with them bringing Tm Skinner and the Portishead drummer into the band (and Nigel who did not do this new Smile album) Stanley plaster London with guerilla art for a month before the release which they speak nothing about, and this time they actually PAY US to buy the album! Ed got his solo. Phil has plenty of output, Colin is the only one who seems to just chill but I don't blame him as his bass work is enough to take every ounce of mental energy out of anyone. They've all been working towards exploring what they need to, and I feel #10 on its way. Maybe it will be all within a Virtual Reality world created by Stanley, Thom, and Paul Thomas Anderson. My only selfish request is they include a nearly unchanged finished of "Wake Me, Before They Come" which now that "Follow Me Around" has been officially recorded is my ultimate hidden treasure .... I guess part of fandom is to have these internet artifacts but this one is just too good. 1's and 0's boys, we need LP10. The Smile has been an awesome addition....EOB....Amok...but lets bring it all together one more time, get it into the basement, and then whatever happens after I just wish you all great joy in your lives that which you've given me.

Spot on review. Thank you. I just keep going back to this album . A real grower. Love it.

Not heard of this Thom guy since that Drugstore track 'El Presidente '

'Johnny Thom and Tom' could have been a great name for this band.

If it was called "Wall of Eyes" you would’ve given it an 8/10.

Fantano, just because The Smile's vocalist sounds the same as Radiohead's vocalist doesn't mean you should give them a high score!!!

bending hectic is so weird i love the vibe it creates. it feels very mentally ill but very warm and inviting yah know. I would give this album a 9. Very solid and very vibey

that thumbnail didn't have to be the very first thing i saw after waking up. thanks

when they performed in México city last year, Read the Room was played and it was an EXPERIENCE!! 🔥

Thanks for giving my sleep paralysis demon a new form to haunt me in with that thumbnail melon!

It's the nature of the beast for everyone to rush to review new music. But this album is another grower from them. I've been a fan since The Bends, and this to me is the most interesting music they've put out since In Rainbows. I got choked up on the 3rd listen thinking about how they still manage to push themselves creatively at this age. I'm trying to think of a better record put out by 55 year olds, and I can't. 9/10 for me only because Just Eyes and a Mouth wasn't on it.

That thumbnail legitimately unnerved me thank you

I didn’t realize the Fantano lore and Mandela Catalogue lore would intertwine in that thumbnail but I digress

Wow! I thought you had it in for Thom and Jonny, but I’m glad you proved me wrong!

I have been highly anticipating this album since I first saw The Smile on tour in 2022. Blew me away so much I had to double dip and catch two shows that year. The following summer I did an absolute first for me; I followed the band to 3 shows up the east coast. Met some absolutely wonderful people and got to meet the band after every show I saw. Thom even told me he saw me dancing after one of them, which might just remain the most amazing moment of my entire life until I have my first child lol. My experience with The Smile left me two tattoos richer (thom signature from 2022, and I had him draw a bear in 2023 :3) and positively wealthy in happy, life changing memories. Oh, and left me completely down bad for this new album. I gotta say, I was anything but disappointed with this release. They did a fantastic job with every single one of those studio recordings. Been listening to it like crazy the past few days! I just hope I get to catch the band one last time before Radiohead makes its grand return back to the forefront ❤

bending hectic is the most beautiful chord ever

Ese void de thumbnail, sin palabras 🚬

Aphex Twin style thumbnail.

Did you listen to the new Bill Ryder-Jones album? I think it is really beautiful, and definitely one of my favs so far (even tho it’s literally January).

I’m really loving this record so far. It does lack the serious punch of You’ll Never Work In TV Again, but overall it’s a bit more graceful and “pretty” - if that’s a word anyone would dare use for Radiohead-esc sound. But yeah loving it

Finally I can enjoy an album that I actually enjoyed

I would rate it a solid 9; however, the review itself was flawless. Anthony Fantano is the Thom Yorke of the music nerds. Still on the top of his game after all these years.

You can't simply listen to the Smile. You experience it through your soul.

Johny, Tom and Tom sounds like new country band in town.

Another brilliant piece of work that feels like it was made for my ears specifically. But enough ahout Anthony's review

Thumbnail confirms a future Joker in the making

Great review today Anthony!

Only real disagreement I have is Teleharmonic being a favourite, and Wall of Eyes being least favourite. Direct swap for me

Terryifying thumbnail; never change it.

Anthony has a beautiful smile, as showcased by the thumbnail.

holy shit we're so back

Anthony reminding yall he's got the best teeth in the whole game with that tumbnail

Seeing them live this year and can't f'ing wait

So glad I'm seeing that thumbnail 12 hours late, I would not have slept last night tf

I love Read The Room. The first half riffage reminds me of Blonde Redhead

I still remember seeing the thumbnail on Halloween.

Classic and common Thom Yorke W

I'd love to see you review Objects Without Pain by Great Falls.

Thumbnail is what you see right before you die

Therapist: Mouth Fantano can't hurt you Mouth Fantano:

Nice review - I personally loved the track wall of eyes