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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]

Trouble No More
Studio album by Darden Smith
Released	1990
Studio	Mad Dog Studios, Burbank, California; Arlyn Studios, Austin, Texas; De-Mix Studios, London
Label	Columbia[1]
Producer	Pete Anderson, Martin Lascelles, Darden Smith
Darden Smith chronology
Darden Smith (1988) Trouble No More (1990) Little Victories (1993)

Smith promoted the album by touring with Marshall Crenshaw.[5]

Production

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]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

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]

Track listing

References

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