Elliott Smith - your favourite album?

Basq

Yep.. another time for one of those favourite album of a particular artist thread. But this one is special for me.. cos it's my personal favourite EVER artist, the late great Elliott Smith.

Now.. this was always a toughie. I love everything he's ever done but if i had to choose one album to listen to for the rest of my days, it'd be 'XO'. Every song on it is amazing! And my favourite of all of his tracks ('Waltz #2') is on it.

So everyone.. coin in your own opinion!

Rollo Tamasi

i only have XO and figure 8. I voted for figure 8 as i knew of at least 3 songs on that album before i heard the album in its entirity so it kind of sticks in my head a bit more. I must listen to XO again when i have a chance.

ball ox

I only have figure of eight (just started listening to him) but I think it's amazing, gotta check out his other albums

Creamy Goodness

XO - hands down

Scratch Acid

My favourite is the self-titled but I love them all very much.

In order:
S/T
Either/Or
Roman Candle
XO
Figure 8
Basement

A couple of my favourite tracks are: Rose Parade, Punch and Judy, Christian Brothers, Single File, St. Ides Heaven, Don't Go Down, Condor Ave., No Name #4, Tomorrow Tomorrow and Bled White.

I likes my Elliott Smith.

koneko

Tie between self-titled and XO, though I haven't heard much of Figure 8 so I'm not sure where that'd be on my list.

Basq

Some excellent picks there ScratchAcid..

.. but you forgot the sublime 'Angeles' (speaking of which.. love this clip of him performing 'Angeles' back in 1997 and fu*king it up mid-way through)

But my personal favourite song of the moment (while studying for exams) is 'Memory Lane' from 'From A Basement On A Hill' - watch him perform it live back in 2003 here!

So much talent...!

dead air

i think xo is my personal favourite but it's like picking your favourite child, sometimes it's hard to choose

lordgoat

Figure 8 for me wins hands down and then his new album... I found that with each album there was such a huge progression from the first 2 albums while having some truly great lyrics don't have the developed feel of his later stuff. Just listen to kings crossing on his last album, everything fits together, the way he used the music to emphasise the lyrics and vice versa. I found that some of the songs on his last album were not the finished articles.

For me though Fig8 is just amazing somg after amazing song, and it's a shame that there will be no more new songs to listen to.

The leaving lover i still favour.

nlgbbbblth

For me

1 Either/Or
2 XO
3 From A Basement On The Hill
4 Elliott Smith
5 Figure 8
6 Roman Candle

What do you think of people who have never heard of Elliott Smith?

John

People like me? Well I've heard of Elliott Smith but I've never heard him. I'm keeping an eye on this thread to see what I should check out

nlgbbbblth

John2 wrote:

People like me? Well I've heard of Elliott Smith but I've never heard him. I'm keeping an eye on this thread to see what I should check out

Not people like you.

People who ask you what sort of music you're listening to / have just bought / like generally and when you say e.g. 'Elliott Smith'

respond

'Never heard of him / them'

and seem kinda proud of it.

Basq

nlgbbbblth wrote:

What do you think of people who have never heard of Elliott Smith?

Pity them!

No seriously.. anyone who hasn't heard of him, get a couple of his songs on iTunes. The following would be a playlist i'd make for a newbie to Elliott:

1. Needle In The Hay
2. Rose Parade
3. Angeles
4. Say Yes
5. Son Of Sam
6. Junk Bond Trader
7. Everything Reminds Me Of Her
8. Memory Lane
9. Waltz #2
10. Bottle Up And Explode
11. A Question Mark
12. Independence Day
13. Bled White
14. Trouble (Cat Stevens cover but magnificent!)
15. Miss Misery

John

nlgbbbblth wrote:

Not people like you.

Aw, I thought I was special for a minute

arbeitsscheuer

XO's the best album. IMO the self-titled one is pretty dire tbh, v mediocre. Not a lot of inspiration in that.

Love some of the tracks on XO though... Baby Britain's probably my fave, then Pitseleh, and Waltz #2 is pretty deadly as well.

nlgbbbblth

Nice mix Basquille.

Rollo Tamasi

basquille wrote:

1. Needle In The Hay
2. Rose Parade
3. Angeles
4. Say Yes
5. Son Of Sam
6. Junk Bond Trader
7. Everything Reminds Me Of Her
8. Memory Lane
9. Waltz #2
10. Bottle Up And Explode
11. A Question Mark
12. Independence Day
13. Bled White
14. Trouble (Cat Stevens cover but magnificent!)
15. Miss Misery

where is baby britian and happiness as well as everything means nothing to me and of course his live cover version of don't fear the repear! magic!
good list thou, its hard to keep everyone happy of course

Basq

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

where is baby britian and happiness as well as everything means nothing to me and of course his live cover version of don't fear the repear! magic!
good list thou, its hard to keep everyone happy of course

That's just the basic list for n00b's (i mean newbies.. i hate using Net Spk).

Tried essentially to get a good mix of the happy (Memory Lane, A Question Mark, Bled White) with the slightly less happy (Needle In The Hay, Trouble).

Believe me... i'd recommend his entire discography to everyone but if you wanna listen to just 15 songs to get a taster of what Elliott was about and capable of, that's be the mix on a CD i'd give.

Whoa whoa whoa... cover of "Don't Fear The Reaper"? Gotta find that!

Anton17

I like his cheerier songs and XO seems to have more of them, baby britain, bled white. Still way prefer Aimee Mann tho:)

lordgoat

Mmmm XO, that's a cheery song alright...

Scratch Acid

basquille wrote:

happy (Memory Lane)

That actually struck me as one of Elliott's bitterest songs.

Beastieboy

I got XO the other day after reading the thread (had never heard any Elliott Smith before), i haven't been able to get the songs out of my head, Waltz #2 is a personal favorite....

Basq

Beastieboy wrote:

I got XO the other day after reading the thread (had never heard any Elliott Smith before), i haven't been able to get the songs out of my head, Waltz #2 is a personal favorite....

Good to see another converted!

And yes, Waltz #2 is fantastic and definantly one of my personal favourite of his!