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 "desert island" disk Aug 17, 2009
While working my way backwards through the catalog of E. Smith, the scale of his talent reached out to me more and more. I was deeply in love with this album from the first and it is truly Timeless and Classic (for indie fans.)
p.s. "desert island" disks are those that you would bring if you had to move to a remote desert island, and you could only bring, say, 5 albums.
Great Album Mar 14, 2009
I picked this up after being in love with the song "Needle in the hay" since it was used in The Royal Tenenbaums. The rest of the album lives up to the promise of the opening track, even when the songs start out a little melancholy they pick up towards the end and have great moments.
This is Elliott Nov 21, 2008
I believe this album truely defines Elliott not only as a musician but, from what I understand, a person. This album is pure emotion. While it is fueled with anger and sadness, the songs fully explore these emotions. There is not a bad song on this album. I can see how someone, especially someone who is only listening to this album as background music, would hear a similar sound in each song. This is definitely an album that you need to sit and absorb. Listen to the lyrics and the instruments. Take breaks if you plan to listen to the album more than once though because you may start to absorb some of Elliott's feelings. Thanks Elliott for leaving us your music.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Elliott's suffering is our catharsis Nov 09, 2008
I usually loath introspective singer-songwriters who play acoustic guitar and sing depressing songs, but Smith's music penetrates my shields and makes me weep for this man who draws a great amount of empathy from unknown parts of my psyche.
I give this album 4/5 simply because I think his swan song, "From a Basement on a Hill" is musically superior, or at least more complex, and includes more anger, which is a relatively positive and more comfortable sentiment. For me, the raw emotion of his eponymous album is too much for frequent repeated listening.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Vintage Elliott Smith Apr 22, 2008
Emerging from the shadow of Kurt Cobain in the late 90's, Elliott Smith was perhaps the greatest singer songwriter of his generation. Smith's genius was his unabashedly honest, naked, poetic lyricism that was so beautifully complemented by his unpretentiousness acoustic guitar. Like none that came before him, Smith delivers note after note of haunted, sparkling melancholy. Far from gloomy, his songs radiate with incredible emotional intensity. Combining an unbridled punk rage within the guise of an acoustic folk song, his songs speak for themselves. Reflective and introspective, each song unfolds like a delicately wrapped package, revealing itself slowly. Smith's songs present themselves like late night thoughts that just won't go away. Concerning themselves with drug abuse, depression, and troubled relationships, Smith exorcises his inner demons and releases them in a beautiful, blinding, luminosity, albeit born from dark, painful emotional despair.
Elliott Smith returned with twelve brand new songs on his second self titled album a year after his debut on the Kill Rock Stars label. Sonically, ES is virtually indistinguishable from his debut Roman Candle, although the songwriting was becoming increasingly sophisticated and developed. There is also slightly more raw aggression in both his playing and vocal delivery. Smith has said himself that ES was recorded on his girlfriend's borrowed guitar, and that it was tuned down and he didn't realize it. Fortunately, it works to his favor. What works so well for Smith's sound is the intimacy that comes across, lyrically and instrumentally. Listening to this in a quiet, dark room, you can literally feel Smith breathing down your neck. Complementing his introspective lyrics, the delivery is no less than perfect. Sounding more and more haunting with each verse, Smith brings us deeper and deeper into his dark world of despair and desolation. Confronting drug abuse, depression, and alcoholism, Smith exorcises his demons in a beautiful, emotionally confessional arc of songwriting. The first half of the album leaves the listener breathless, Smith bares his soul, not looking back. Lyrically, there is not a "weak" song on the entire album. There is incredible cohesiveness and an intimacy bordering on uncomfortable. Slowly, it becomes apparent ES is a step forward from Roman Candle, each songs begins to immortalize itself into your consciousness with each repeated listen. His subtle melodic arrangements are so brilliantly crafted that they only begin to reveal themselves upon repeated listen. It is at this time that you realize his lyrics follow the exact same pattern. Again, so perfectly is his songwriting complemented by his paper thin deliver, that you can't imagine it being played by anyone else. On "Coming Up Roses" Smith begins to embellish his songs with drums and harmonica(used in RC). The effect positively gives his songs a more three dimensional feel. Stylistically, ES is perhaps the climax of his first three releases- catching him in his prime, between Roman Candle and Either/Or before he moved on to greater production and a richer more full bodied sound. Track 1 "Needle In The Hay" was featured in Wes Anderson's film The Royal Tenenbaums. Elliott Smith is perhaps the definitive work of arguably the greatest singer/ songwriter of his generation.
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