Elliott Smith - XO
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CD Details
Artist: Elliott SmithBrand: DreamWorks
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1998-08-25
Music Label: Dreamworks
Soundtracks:
- Sweet Adeline
- Tomorrow Tomorrow
- Waltz #2 (XO)
- Baby Britain
- Pitseleh
- Independence Day
- Bled White
- Waltz #1
- Amity
- Oh Well, Okay
- Bottle up and Explode!
- Question Mark
- Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands
- I Didn't Understand
Music reviews of XO
Music Review: The old Elliott in new surroundings
Rating: 5 Stars
Following his Academy Award-nomation for "Best Song" in GOOD WILL HUNTING, it was pretty inevitable that Elliott Smith would leave his days behind as an unknown, albeit praised singer-songwriter and move onto a major label studio. It would be inaccurate to claim that this move didn't affect his work, because while his three previous albums display obvious signs of a steadily aspiring talent, they all shared a minimalistic sound, whereas XO feels much more produced, and therefore the change in Smith's musical approach is more vital. Yet, despite its obvious differences, XO doesn't appear experimental. Smith never allows the new sound to interfere with the fundamental aspects of his music which, I gather, had made him so appealing to the public; irrelevant of whether his only company is a lonely guitar or an entire orchestra, the quiet vulnerability remains present.
It was this very album, XO that marked my introduction to Elliott Smith's work, for which I am grateful. As have been noted by other reviewers, Smith's previous work demands a lot on the part of the listener; you have to be prepared and patient to fully grasp the depth of an all-guitar album like ELLIOTT SMITH. With XO, however, Smith manages to become more accessible without, and this is the amazing part, depriving himself, and the listeners, of the depth that coined his earlier work. The use of a more orchestrial sound combined with Smith's amazing guitar-playing is fortunate not the least because it is then easier for the listener to grab the hook before eventually allowing Smith to truly sink in on you; indeed, it was the beauty of climaxing music as displayed in "Waltz #2" that first made me eager to seek out more of Smith's work. It was only after a while that the level of brilliance, and vulnerability, behind Smith's lyrics, his quiet voice, and his ability to wrap despair within an optimistic musical approach as much as frank melancholy, got into me. Songs like "Pitseleh," with its gradual rise from minimalistic guitar-playing into a brief, incredible tour of thunder at the piano, or the quiet "Waltz #1" with the piano now serving to do heavy raindrops, can be difficult for me to listen to at times; on certain days, it simply gets too challenging, and it seems pointless to hold back tears. Yet, I must listen.
Description of XO
Japanese version featuring a bonus track: "Miss Misery".Elliott Smith's fourth solo album and major-label debut, XO, brings narrative detail and a wide range of emotion to an indie meld of '60s-style rock and folk-pop. Whether in the broken stateliness of "Waltz #2 (XO)," the Sgt. Pepper tribute of "Baby Britain," or the explosions of "Amity" and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands," Smith's melodic and arrangement senses give his vulnerable vocals and brilliant wordcraft the maximum effectiveness. XO is a watershed in singer/songwriter rock. --Rickey Wright
On XO, Elliott Smith leaves the indie doldrums behind and takes wing to new, lush surroundings. By adding full instrumentation to his acoustic reveries, Smith has ascended to a new level of songwriting that shores up his gentle voice and country-tinged guitar playing with extra layers of vocal arrangements and charming piano vamps. Strains of classic rock filter into the Beatlesque "Baby Britain" and the Beach Boys-inspired "I Didn't Understand," but Smith succeeds in adapting them to his style rather than the other way around. A foot soldier in DreamWorks' war on standard-issue rock & roll, Smith joins new label mates Rufus Wainwright and Morphine as sophisticated interpreters of the new male psyche. XO is a stunning shadow print of a soul adrift in the music industry, a dark place indeed. --Lois Maffeo
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