Smile At You Revisited
 

Maybe I'm an outlier here, but I much prefer the Mirage outtake of Smile At You to the Say You Will version. While the latter is more polished, it lacks the fire and energy of the outtake. However, the outtake is obviously incomplete - there were parts they hadn't filled out and figured out yet. Therefore to me neither version is ideal even though I prefer the older one.

In an attempt to 'fix' this, I created a 'single remix' that merges the best aspects of each - taking the basic track from the outtake and editing it down to be more like the Say You Will version, then adding the 'figured out' parts from the Say You Will version (mainly a bit of Lindsey's guitar, his vocals and the refrain') while keeping Christine's piano, the drums and bass, and adding some echo to Stevie's original vocal.

I agree and I bet most people on this board agree. They call the Mirage version the "angry" version. It just has more passion. It even sounds like the piano is angry. The band had such brilliant tracks that its sad this one ended up on the cutting room floor. Some say it might not have fit Mirage's "music box" theme. I say that was the reason to put it on the album. The album needed a raw moment here or there.
Stevie was at her vocal peak and we needed more!

I was so excited when I first saw the track listing for Smile at You on Say You Will. I nearly cried in pain when I heard it. It lost everything it had on Mirage. I was very disappointed.

Yes but finally it was put on an album and released. I still like the SYW version. Without SYW the song may have never seen the light of day.

Agreed. I like it too. Skip the weak songs (remember the album is 18 songs) and Say You Will is solid.

I'm certain that's what the producer was planning.

"Hey guys, they'll skip the sh*tty songs, so let's put out this bloated turd as it is".:lol:

As long as there was room for Silver Girl we are good.

And Come, and Murrow, and Illume.

I know. Lindsey's intense playing on those songs offends you.
Hold up your lighter to Landslide and sing along Mike.

I've always been bothered by hideous noise. Come, mass genocide, and your voice.

I'll follow you down to the sound of my voice will haunt you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0DK-0fIKCw

Well it's a little too late for that. That ship has sailed.:woohoo:

Stevie's angry vocals on the Mirage outtakes version of "Smile At You" was no match for John's unreal playing on SYW, complimented by Lindsey's more rhythmic playing.

I agree. The SYW version is much more polished. But the rawness and power vocal of the Mirage track makes me like it more. The piano is more simple compared to the SYW track. But that lends to the raw emotion of the song. Its still great that the song made it to an album. It should have been on Tango.

Indeed. I don't know whether it was social politics or what (though that didn't seem to stop them from reaching back to "That's Alright" for Mirage) but, instead of "Welcome To The Room...Sara" and "When I See You Again," the band should have found a diplomatic way to tell Stevie that she had other "more Mac-like" songs they'd prefer, such as "Smile At You" and perhaps "Destiny Rules" or "Running Through The Garden." Maybe they did and she insisted, but her stated policy was that the band had first dibs on her songs (maybe she'd changed that policy by this point, but she didn't use any of the above songs on her following three solo albums).