1. Day After Day, 2. Cold, 3. I Should Have Known, 4. How Many Times, 5. I Don't Wanna Know, 6. Crucified 7. Walls, 8. Believe, 9. Good To Be Lonely, 10. Kiss Beyond The Catcher, 11. And She Cries, 12. Photograph Smile, 13. Faithful, 14. Way To Your Heart
Julian Lennon's fifth album 'Photograph Smile', was released in 1998, seven years after his previous album 'Help Yourself' that yielded the hugely successful single 'Saltwater' although sales were relatively poor.
'Photograph Smile' contains an impressive collection of 14 songs with a generous running time of 64 minutes. It reveals a growing maturity in Julian's songwriting compared to the material on his previous album but unfortunately due to the length of some songs they do lose their initial impact.
'Photograph Smile' begins with the first single and one of the album's outstanding songs 'Day After Day', while other highlights include Walls, And She Cries, title track Photograph Smile and the finale Way To Your Heart. The excellent 'I Should Have Known Better' and 'Crucified' also stand out with their spine tingling instrumental phases.
One of the more upbeat songs on the album is 'I Don't Wanna Know' its been referred to in some reviews as an 'A Hard Day's Night' outtake and gloriously Julian plays on it with a black & white style promo, although it ends up more like a Rutles film outtake than the Beatles:-).
I sympathise with Julian Lennon in the fact that while other bands & artists blatantly copy the Beatles & John Lennon, receiving critical acclaim & healthy sales for their efforts, Julian seems to be chastised for the same thing, although on it's release reviews were more favourable for this album and deservedly so.
If you've never bought an album by Julian Lennon 'Photograph Smile' is a great place to start because this collection of songs deserves to be heard by a wider audience and yes, it will make you smile...
