rank the elliott smith records

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either/or
elliott smith
roman candle
xo
from a basement on the hill
figure 8

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 12:46 (eighteen years ago)

romance candle
either/or
elliott smith
figure 8
xo
from a basement on the hill

― Nedpoleon (NedBeauman), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 12:50 (eighteen years ago)

either/or
xo
elliott smith
figure 8
from a basement on a hill
roman candle

― M Taylor (BlackIronPrison), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 13:19 (eighteen years ago)

X/O
Either/Or
Figure 8
From a Basement on a Hill
Roman Candle
Elliott Smith

― Jeff Reguil0n (Talent Explosion), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 14:34 (eighteen years ago)

Either/Or
Elliott Smith
Roman Candle
From a Basement on the Hill
X/O
Figure 8

I could see these in almost any order on a given day. What a loss.

― Billy Pilgrim (Billy Pilgrim), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 14:44 (eighteen years ago)

Either/Or
X/O
Roman Candle
Elliott Smith
Figure 8
From a Basement on a Hill

A theoretical singles and B-sides comp would probably be #3. As much as a bunch of people have tried, nobody's really picked up his mantle yet. Which is probably for the best, given how much of Smith's art was rooted in his sadness. But damn, he was good for the sad days.

― ozymandias G desiderata (othiym23), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 15:16 (eighteen years ago)

X/O
Either/Or
Figure 8
Elliott Smith
From a Basement on a Hill
Roman Candle

― Chris Grasinger (gman59), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 16:51 (eighteen years ago)

either / or
s/t
X/O
from a basement
roman candle
figure eight

basement II,if it counted, would come just below from a basement. and the difference in quality b/w all of them until figure eight is pretty small.

― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 18:38 (eighteen years ago)

some dude at my high school was convinced I look exactly like E. Smith

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 6 September 2006 18:43 (eighteen years ago)

either/or
s/t
roman candle
figure eight
xo
basement

― Godfrzej Ljang (godfrzej), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 19:55 (eighteen years ago)

Either / Or
Elliott Smith
From a Basement On The Hill
XO
Figure Eight
Roman Candle

― earinfections (Nick Twisp), Thursday, 7 September 2006 04:18 (eighteen years ago)

earinfections wins.

― Craig Smith (csbx), Thursday, 7 September 2006 13:08 (eighteen years ago)

Figure 8
XO
Either/Or
Elliot Smith
Roman Candle
From a Basement On The Hill

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 8 September 2006 00:11 (eighteen years ago)

XO
Either/Or
"Miss Misery"
From a Basement
Figure 8
"Let It Blurt"
The Queen is Dead
JT

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 8 September 2006 05:18 (eighteen years ago)

figure 8 has about 6 fantastic songs on it, but has the highest percentage of unmemorable tunes. then again, half of the records have 0% unmemorable material

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:49 (eighteen years ago)

Mic City Sons > is better than several of these

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 15:02 (eighteen years ago)

In order of listening regularity:

Figure 8
Basement
Either/Or
Elliott Smith
XO
Roman Candle

― Stephen Bush (Stephen B.), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 16:45 (eighteen years ago)

yeah smith's songs on mic city sons are excellent, up there with the best of his material.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 16:47 (eighteen years ago)

"Get Lucky" is so killer - did he ever do that one live & by himself? it's got yr classic lazy-no-wait-it's-not-lazy-it's-just-understated Smith strum pattern

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 17:51 (eighteen years ago)

no idea, but I did hear him do "half right" and "see you later" (I think)

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 19:06 (eighteen years ago)

I think my reason for preferring "Figure 8" is that it is the only one of his records that he managed to fulfill when it came to production. The rest all suffer from sparse production, even though the songs (and that's the most important thing) are great.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 20:39 (eighteen years ago)

You think "XO" is sparse?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 23:10 (eighteen years ago)

The only E.S. album I ever bought was Figure 8 and I thought it was horrible. Can that man not go one song without a voice doubler?

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 12 September 2006 23:28 (eighteen years ago)

no, i don't think he ever did

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 23:36 (eighteen years ago)

you punk techsters

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 00:04 (eighteen years ago)

suffer from sparse production
that's a contradiction, geir. good songs cannot become bad by sounding unproduced. only over-production can kill good music.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:33 (eighteen years ago)

btw i only know x/o and suspect that it would be my fave by him.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:35 (eighteen years ago)

the opportunity to step up the production was a mixed blessing for elliott. songs like 'waltz # 2', 'everybody cares, everybody understands', and 'la' profit significantly from production tweaking. conversely, production tends to take centre stage over songwriting on certain tracks on 'figure 8'

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:47 (eighteen years ago)

There is no such thing as overproduction. That word doesn't exist in my vocabulary. Btw. I am a huge fan of 10cc, ELO and Steely Dan.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 11:11 (eighteen years ago)

This is just untrue. The production on Xo is fully realized and lush. The production on Figure 8, however, is confused - it doesn't know when to stop adding things & give the song room to breathe. This is what's meant by "overproduced," and it's not the same as saying "it sounds too good": something's overproduced when the production gets in the way of the song...assuming that getting the song across is the point. On records whose whole ethos is the production, obviously a term like "overproduction" might mean something different, or nothing at all.

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:00 (eighteen years ago)

I think people usually get songs better across as long as what they are adding is details that, for istance, make the harmonies come through better. Background harmonies, mixed into max stereo and possibly given some kind of flanger, will always benefit the song.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:50 (eighteen years ago)

seven months pass...

Bump it...

in lieu of New Moon. I just got it today so I won't know how much my ranking will change (so far, it's looking like top three), but I'm sure others could place it accurately right now.

― earinfections, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:43 (eighteen years ago)

I saw New Moon today on sale, and didn't pick it up. How is it so far?

Without hearing that yet, I'd rank them

Elliott Smith
Either / Or
XO
Figure Eight
From a Basement On The Hill
Roman Candle

― Z S, Thursday, 10 May 2007 05:35 (eighteen years ago)

A theoretical singles and B-sides comp would probably be #3.

-- ozymandias G desiderata (othiym23), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 15:16 (8 months ago)
You got it.

I've listened to Disc One fairly thuroughly now and by itself I really like it. Still deliberating disc two.

― earinfections, Thursday, 10 May 2007 16:51 (eighteen years ago)

i am a ridiculously big elliott fan and haven't picked up 'new moon' yet. i don't know whether it's because i've got the majority of the songs on mp3 anyway or if it was because it was $40 aud. either way, i'm gonna fold for sure and have it by weekend's end.

good to be reminded there are other fans on here.

― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:10 (eighteen years ago)

new moon's really, really great.

― sean gramophone, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:30 (eighteen years ago)

he is a stupidly gifted songwriter. i don't quite understand how he was so good

― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:32 (eighteen years ago)

i like elliott smith lots, but i'm partial to his electric rockin' stuff (l.a., amity, etc.)...how much of new moon is that, and how much is solo acoustic?

― Lawrence the Looter, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:38 (eighteen years ago)

Most of it, as they are mostly eight-track/four-track demos. There's more instrumentation on the second disc though which I've only listened to once now.

― earinfections, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:55 (eighteen years ago)

"New Moon" is pretty much all acoustic, but it's really, really awesome. And to the guy who has them all on mp3 already, the mastering on it is unbelievable. No comparison to the leaks, and several songs have added touches to them, so I highly reccomend the purchase. I found it for 16 bucks at HMV, shockingly.

Anyway, I am a massive E.S. fan, ever since I bought "Figure 8" when it came out (which is why I have such an attachment to it). I also really love "Basement", as I was waiting for so long to hear it, and it makes me sad and happy whenever I listen to it.

It always bothers me when some indie "sticklers" complain about his later records not being just acoustic and vocals, which makes no sense to me, as he couldn't AFFORD to add production to his first 2 releases anyway. I have no doubt that they would have sounded very different had he had the dreamworks budget that he had on "XO" and "Figure 8".

Anyway, I'd rank them somewhere around here -

Figure 8
From a Basement on the Hill
XO
New Moon
Either/Or
Elliott Smith
Roman Candle

It changes all the time, of course, but I truly think he was one of the closest modern artists (melodically) to the Beatles, and his increasing experimentation really excited me for where he would have gone next. Supposedly "Basement" was supposed to be a double album with the second disc being instrumental experiments. Maaaaaaaaan would I have loved to hear that.

― Erock Zombie, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:59 (eighteen years ago)

basement is the least pretty of the lot, and i generally find myself skipping past a couple of tracks ('fond farewell', 'shooting star', 'the last hour'), but it's so rich! there's so much variety and depth of sentiment, and some of the songs truly resonate and send chills ('twilight', 'pretty (ugly before)', 'strung out again')

― Charlie Howard, Friday, 11 May 2007 08:23 (eighteen years ago)

And to the guy who has them all on mp3 already, the mastering on it is unbelievable. No comparison to the leaks

I'm glad someone mentioned this. I have some of the leaks too and they were never really worth listening to because of the poor quality. This collection is really clean without going overboard as to being "bright and shiny, squeaky fucking clean." It's very much an Elliott Smith sounding album.

― earinfections, Friday, 11 May 2007 14:28 (eighteen years ago)

i'm glad it was clarified too.

if all goes according to plan, i'll have this by tomorrow afternoon. i'm actually started to feel uneasy and anxious knowing it's out there and available :/

― Charlie Howard, Friday, 11 May 2007 15:28 (eighteen years ago)

It always bothers me when some indie "sticklers" complain about his later records not being just acoustic and vocals, which makes no sense to me, as he couldn't AFFORD to add production to his first 2 releases anyway. I have no doubt that they would have sounded very different had he had the dreamworks budget that he had on "XO" and "Figure 8".

part of figure 8 was recorded at abbey road, so yeah, no chance of that prior to his dreamworks deal.

and is it just me, or was smith a way underrated drummer?

― Lawrence the Looter, Friday, 11 May 2007 15:29 (eighteen years ago)

Hmm. I don't know if "underrated" is exactly the right word. Conspicously adequate perhaps. Thereagain, I don't know much about how he conceptualized songs within the arrangement of a full band.

― earinfections, Saturday, 12 May 2007 06:03 (eighteen years ago)

there's some pretty compotent drumming on either/or

― Charlie Howard, Saturday, 12 May 2007 06:39 (eighteen years ago)

Elliott Smith
Figure 8
Either/Or
From a Basement on the Hill
XO
Roman Candle

― dfkl, Saturday, 12 May 2007 09:19 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

Either/Or
From a Basement on the Hill
XO
New Moon
Elliott Smith
Roman Candle
Figure 8

Yeah, Figure 8 doesn't do much for me...

― lolmatts (iamkfcsnacker!), Monday, 18 May 2009 22:25 (sixteen years ago)

roman candle isn't getting nearly enough love. it's got "last call" on it fercrissakes! i listen to that album way more than either/or. the laurels heaped on that album mystify me. i mean, it's got some amazing songs, but it doesn't compel me like his other albums do. it's not as musically colorful as xo or figure 8, and it doesn't have the venom of roman candle or the self-titled.

― macaulay culkin's bukkake shocker (bug), Monday, 18 May 2009 22:57 (sixteen years ago)

XO
New Moon
From a Basement on a Hill
Either/Or
Roman Candle
Elliott Smith
Figure 8

Figure 8 is the least on for me as well, but it's the least great one. No doubt.

― Gerard (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 18 May 2009 23:10 (sixteen years ago)

New Moon really grew on me the last couple of years. It's a stand-out album, a primer of all things I heart Elliott Smith of.

― Gerard (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 18 May 2009 23:11 (sixteen years ago)

three months pass...

the first CD of 'new moon' is phenomenal - a stunning succession of songs to match virtually anything in his oeuvre. can't quite explain why so many of these tunes tug at my heartstrings so.

― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 10:22 (fifteen years ago)

and yeah, 'roman candle' is astoundingly good. i agree that 'last call' is elliott at his harrowing best.

that said, 'either/or' is the sentimental favourite for me and i'll happily reserve a place for it in my top 5 records of all time. it's an album that at one point i used to express myself through.

― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 11:26 (fifteen years ago)

i still have a really hard time listening to any of these now.

― akm, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:08 (fifteen years ago)

when i listen to the records i feel sad about elliott, but i don't find the music itself depressing at all.

― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 24 September 2009 07:26 (fifteen years ago)

i only really know the peak period albums, but i would rank them:

either/or > xo > s/t > figure 8

― electric sound of jim (original version) (electricsound), Thursday, 24 September 2009 07:29 (fifteen years ago)

I think my ranking is pretty much reverse-chronological, but its a close call between XO and Figure 8:-

From a basement > Figure 8 > XO > Either/Or > New Moon > Elliot Smith > Roman Candle

― tomofthenest, Thursday, 24 September 2009 08:39 (fifteen years ago)

six years pass...

From a Basement on the Hill
XO
Either/Or
Figure 8
New Moon
Elliott Smith
Roman Candle

― flappy bird, Monday, 20 June 2016 04:38 (nine years ago)

either/or
s/t
basement
rc
xo
new moon
figure 8

― blazed carrot (rip van wanko), Monday, 20 June 2016 05:50 (nine years ago)

^^^ Yep. Precisely. Trying to convince imago that FaBotH is the best album of 2004.

― It certainly is punk of the Church of England to think that way (tangenttangent), Thursday, 30 June 2016 22:56 (nine years ago)

it's blueberry boat obviously

― imago, Thursday, 30 June 2016 22:57 (nine years ago)

but this is nice too yeah sure fine we're both drunk btw

― imago, Thursday, 30 June 2016 22:57 (nine years ago)

I have no idea why but the experience of listening to Elliott Smith for me is almost identical to that of reading a great graphic novel. They hit the same brain.

― It certainly is punk of the Church of England to think that way (tangenttangent), Thursday, 30 June 2016 23:03 (nine years ago)

Actually no, I would switch Either/Or and XO.

― It certainly is punk of the Church of England to think that way (tangenttangent), Thursday, 30 June 2016 23:10 (nine years ago)

i still think the oral history that p4k put up on the 10th anniversary of his death (Keep the Things You Forgot) is one of the best things they've ever published. that's what kicked off my obsession. i heard Either/Or years earlier but it didn't click. I have all the records and dozens of live bootlegs but his songs can be a bit homogenous. then all of a sudden a song that passed by you before hits you right in the gut. I'm still discovering and becoming obsessed with new songs three years after getting into his music. recently it's been "I Better Be Quiet Now" and especially "King's Crossing." Usually for me it's live performances that hook me - this performance from June 2003 is so harrowing, now I understand why his biographer considers this the quintessential Elliott Smith song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX6etUAIbRU

― flappy bird, Friday, 1 July 2016 18:13 (nine years ago)

I think I've discovered about 647 excellent non album tracks since he died, it's incredible

― skateboard of education (rip van wanko), Friday, 1 July 2016 18:16 (nine years ago)

oh my god, i just came across this a couple weeks ago - "Everything's OK"! "Place Pigalle"! "Grand Mal"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MIRLLWb6Lc

― flappy bird, Friday, 1 July 2016 18:19 (nine years ago)

Wow, this looks great. Ty for posting, will soak it in over the weekend. The article too!

― It certainly is punk of the Church of England to think that way (tangenttangent), Friday, 1 July 2016 19:17 (nine years ago)

five years pass...

Never listened to the s/t that much but today it's totally hitting the spot.

― Eric B. Mash Up the Resident (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 26 April 2022 15:21 (three years ago)

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