Ride - Smile

While Ride's first studio album was called "Nowhere", their actual first full-length album was named Smile. Smile was a compilation of two EPs which had come out as the band was getting started - named Ride and Play.

I adore Nowhere, as well as Going Blank Again which came after it. Smile shows where the band was launching from. The sound is a bit more raw, a bit more bouncy energy and fizz. Yes, some of them, like Drive Blind, show the emergence of their droney feel that I love so much.

While to me this album doesn't rank over Nowhere or Going Blank Again, I still put it higher than the subsequent albums. So I definitely would say that a fan of Ride should track this down and see how the band began.

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