YMMV / Sam Smith

• Awesome Music: The album version of "Lay Me Down". The entire thing is just amazing, but the part where in 3 minutes in it suddenly grows even more tense and string and drum-filled is nothing short of breathtaking.
• Broken Base: Though their own fanbase largely seem okay with it, their theme for Spectre seems to have somewhat divided opinions amongst general audiences and James Bond fans, as noted within hours of being first revealed. Even it netting the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Original Song hasn't done much to sway the opinions of those who dislike it.
• Heartwarming Moments: Their acceptance speech at the 2014 American Music Awards from their gratitude to their ending statement.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Sam's voice is beyond beautiful.
• Signature Song:
  • "Stay with Me" for their solo output (at least in the U.S.; "Money on My Mind" is also a contender in the UK) although "I'm Not The Only One" is also making a play for this.^note To compare, as of March 2019, the music video for INTOO has over 1 billion views while SWM only has 960 million.
  • For featured works, Disclosure's "Latch" in North America and Naughty Boy's "La La La" elsewhere.
  • A case could also be made for "Writing's on the Wall" given its status as an Oscar-winning James Bond theme. It may not have sold as many copies as some of their other records, but it's probably their most recognisable song to some audiences because of its prominent usage in Spectre.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: Some thought "Stay With Me" sounded a lot like Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down". Sam said this was a complete coincidence and that they’d never heard the latter song before, but Petty and Jeff Lynne were awarded co-writer status a few months after it was released as a single.
• Tear Jerker:
  • "Not in That Way". What makes it truly effective is that the song is not accompanied by anything else other than Sam's voice and a guitar.
  • "I'm Not the Only One" has the singer being heartbroken over the infidelity of their lover. The music video makes the song even sadder by featuring a wife who discovered that her husband cheated on her and she then releases her anger and sadness when he leaves home the next day. The worst part is that this scenario is common.
  • Most of In the Lonely Hour, especially because it was inspired by heartbreaking experiences that Sam had faced. When listening to the songs, you can feel their pained vocals as they sing. Word of God says that "Good Thing" is the most personal song in the album.
  • "Writing's On the Wall", Sam Smith's theme to the James Bond movie Spectre, is pretty moody and downbeat for a James Bond song. Near the end of the music video, they can actually be seen crying.
• The Woobie: The wife in the "I'm Not the Only One" music video. She is clearly heartbroken after finding out her husband was unfaithful.