soared after he took his bow at the Oscars with Celine Dion and Trisha Yearwood. Ironically, "Angeles" was included on the Good Will Hunting soundtrack, which won Smith the acclaim of Hollywood's biggest, brightest, and best connected voting body, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. The lyrics are a darkly biting rejection of the hypercapitalist dream machinery of Los Angeles (it would make a great theme song for Smith's label, Kill Rock Stars). "Angeles" is equally ethereal - Smith's acoustic fingerpicking spins out notes which briskly move around a single atmospheric keyboard chord, like aural minnows swimming toward a solitary light at the surface of the water. The 2xLP reissue comes housed in a coffee table book featuring photography from JJ Gonson.
#Elliott smith either or remaster plus#
The reissue includes the remastered studio album, plus the previously unreleased Live at Umbra Penumbra live album from 1994. He sings, in his endearingly limited whisper, of late-night drinking and introspection, and his subdued strumming creates a minor-key mood befitting the mysteries of self. Elliott Smith‘s self-titled second album turns 25 this year, and Kill Rock Stars is releasing a deluxe expanded reissue for the occasion. "Between the Bars," for example, plays Smith's strengths perfectly. The humbler arrangements are better suited to the sparse equipment. While the full-band songs are catchy and smart, Smith's recording equipment isn't quite up to the standards set by the Beatles and the Beach Boys. The most alluring numbers, however, are still his quietly melancholy acoustic ones.
Several of the songs mimic the melody mastery of pop bands from 1960s. While he still plays all the instruments himself, he plays more of them. Just don’t expect to get much mileage out of the bonus features here.Elliott Smith's third album sees his one-man show getting a little more ambitious. If you already own a copy of it, consider going for a double-dip on the strength of the remaster, particularly if you’re a stickler for fidelity. This is the best way to experience this classic album. If you’ve never heard Either/Or before, ignore the “low” score above and get this version of the album. I suppose this is the best excuse to get this material out there-I doubt XO will get its own reissue-but if you’re a bigger fan of Either/Or than you are of the man who made it, you won’t get much out of the extra stuff here. Also, the demos and alternate takes are only of songs from albums that predate and follow Either/Or.
Only two of the five live cuts here consist of songs from the album of which this release marks the twentieth anniversary of. These aren’t bad cuts but they’re here to please Elliott Smith devotees more than they’re here to decode Either/Or. What’s less worthwhile are the included live tracks and alternate versions of songs. While recording Either/Or, Elliott was highly influenced by the pop sounds of the Beatles, and he reportedly listened to their 1967 album Magical Mystery Tour daily. “Speed Trials” sounds even more sinister with its cleaned-up multi-tracking, and that’s just the first track. Put simply, the album has never sounded better, in the best sense of the term. But whatever concerns that a cleaned-up version of Either/Or would consist of a glossy sheen on a masterwork should be discarded. This edition offers both remastered versions of the whole album as well as a smattering of live songs and alternate versions.Įither/Or is a rather intimate album, one whose bit of roughness could be considered part of its appeal. For some, Smith is the singer and songwriter who contributed a handful of heart-rending songs to the soundtrack of the film Good Will Hunting, including the Oscar-nominated number Miss Misery. Either you are an Elliott Smith fan, or you are not. Crucially, though, this isn’t a review of Either/Or but its expanded anniversary edition. Elliott Smith Either/ Or: Expanded Edition (Kill Rock Stars) Release date: 3/10/17. Twenty years later, Either/Or is as alive as when it was new. A testament to Smith’s ear for music and lyrical pen. It is all at once breathtaking, intimate, thrilling, somber, and uplifting. This is the best album from one of the best singer-songwriters of our time. There’s almost nothing to add to the conversation about Either/Or‘s merits. However, I can’t begrudge anyone who says this is their favorite album of its year, its decade, or of all time. Mainly because OK Computer was the best of the lot. I can’t go as far as to call Either/Or the best of the lot. And of course, Bjork’s Homogenic and Radiohead’s OK Computer.
Oh, and also Modest Mouse’s The Lonesome Crowded West and Ben Folds Five’s Forever and Ever Amen. 1997 was the year of Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, Mogwai’s Young Team, and Erykah Badu’s Baduizm. That might sound like oddly specific praise, even mitigation, but 1997 was a stacked year for quality work. Kill Rock Stars,Įither/Or is an acceptable pick for the best album of 1997. Elliott Smith's most celebrated album has been reissued, remastered, and expanded.
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