Drummer Dennis Diken: "I remember being in the van during the last leg of the EFY [Especially for You] tour seeing Pat sitting in the last set of seats with a recording Walkman, singing riff ideas into a microphone.

DiNizio explained contemporaneously that the title would serve as both an inside-joke and an expression of his love for the songwriting style of British Invasion groups: "I like concise songs, classic structures, with a hard edge.

"[11] Going for a tougher sound than on their previous album,[9] the Smithereens managed to recreate the guitar power of their live shows on Green Thoughts.

The lyrics on Green Thoughts, however, are not necessarily reflective of an unhappy state of mind in terms of my personal relationships while I was writing the album.

[17] David Browne, writing for Rolling Stone, gave the album 4 stars out of 5, noting that despite Pat DiNizio's "gloomy" lyrical outlook, the three other musicians are in a "much feistier mood".

He added that "even if Pat DiNizio isn't the type of guy you'd invite to your party, Green Thoughts is the kind of album you'll want to bring along.

"[2] Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a C+ rating, commenting: "I know Pat DiNizio is Beatlesque, but is that why he writes cheerful-sounding love songs that turn out to be kind of mean when you pay attention?

AllMusic's Jason Ankeny gave the album 4½ stars out of 5, calling it an "impressive batch of superbly constructed pop gems", singling out "Only a Memory", "House We Used to Live In" and "Drown in My Own Tears" as "immediately ingratiating".

Ankeny also highlighted the album's "curveballs": "the countryish "Something New," the lovely ballad "Especially for You," and the dark, atmospheric "Deep Black," all of which deliver intriguing variations on the Smithereens' basic power pop formula.

"[1] Terry Staunton of Record Collector gave it 4 stars out of 5, writing that the band had been "broadening their palette" since their first album, delivering "a veritable jukebox of radiofriendly styles."