The story of Elliott Smith is well known now: Shy and reclusive indie rocker soars to a Hollywood soundstage and major-label contract. His fans gasped in collective horror when he took a bow at the 1998 Oscars, his hand clasped by Celine Dion. He seemed far too fragile to survive among the sharks and vultures on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. But as his subsequent albums XO and now Figure 8 show, Smith has weathered the spotlight with great success and is moving in front with self-assured grace. The beauty of Figure 8 is that it encompasses Smith’s musical virtues, from the stark and wispy tunes of his lo-fi beginnings on Roman Candle to the orchestrated, Beatlesesque pomp and circumstance of later work to the intimate and on occasion painful nature of his live shows. Figure 8‘s opener, “Son of Sam,” is as good as anything Smith has ever crafted, it is soaring melody buoyed with lush instrumentation and a tin-pan-alley piano romp. “Happiness” is vintage Smith, it is lyrics belying the title. But best of all are “Everything Reminds Me of Her” and “Everything Means Nothing to Me,” which capture the dichotomies of Smith’s music. The basi is a lovely, delicate little tune–just Smith’s vacillating voice, a plucked guitar, and the plaintive lyrics of unabashed longing. The second is a layered soundscape, to a considerable degree produced, with washes of music covering a repeated lyrical line. One is direct, naked, and honest; the other is slippery, distant, and rational. These are the yin and yang of Smith’s music, and it’s the friction amidst the two–or, more accurately, the wreckage from one obdurate truth bashing up versus the other–that makes Figure 8 resonate with such desolating power. –Tod Nelson
Figure 8 Elliott Smith
(2-LP set) His second release for the Dreamworks label, and fifth overall, Figure 8 is a lush and beautifully melancholy collection of pop songs. Gone is the intimate lo-fi feel of his Kill Rock Stars albums, substituted by intricate arrangements and orchestration. One gets the sentiment that the sound of his earlier work was not by choice but by economic requisite and Smith was now, with a major label budget and backing, competent to establish himself as a pop craftsman on par with Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney. Deluxe 180 gram vinyl reissue.
Most helpful customer reviews
62 of 65 people found the following review helpful.
 Most underrated
By Kevin Bourrillion
A lot of fans like to dog this album. I have a theory for why this is.
It’s not that the album is bad, at all, but that it’s not the Elliott that THEY want Elliott to be. They fell in love with the man behind either/or, or the self-titled, or (gasp) the barely audible Roman Candle. They swoon for the quietness, the starkness, the nakedness, bitterness, intimacy. They think “hi-fi” is a four-letter word, not to mention “production”, and dare I even say it, “pop.”
They were willing to accept XO as a temporary stray from the purity of their vision for his career. In their forgiving state of mind, the music was able to seep into their brains and they saw its brilliance. Hence, XO = good. And, surely Elliott will get back on track next time.
Figure 8 comes along and dashes their hopes. Their beloved tortured soulmate actually knows his way around modern expensive studio technology – AND HE LIKES IT!!! Traitor!
Man, I love E.S. and E/O as much as anyone. Love em. Love em love em love em. But I’m one of those who believe that Elliott broke through into an altogether new plane of genius with XO. And Figure 8 is absolutely a worthy continuation of the path he was on.
Put it this way – if I’m taking ten to the desert island, XO is in the bag for sure. Figure 8 will be really, really hard to leave out. The others, I’ll miss a hell of a lot.
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
Beautiful, Swirling Agony
By Patrick Burnett
“Figure 8″ sounds like what would have happened if Nick Drake had been asked to join The Beatles after Paul died in that horrible car accident. Elliott Smith’s voice falls into the haunted, ethereal category currently helmed by Drake during his post-VW resurgence. And this album carries any number of Sgt. Pepper-like arabesques and musical pirouettes, all of which serve to nearly disguise the raw emotional content.
This is my introduction to Elliott Smith so I have no background in his earlier, less-lush work, and maybe I’m the better for it. … since I have no basis of comparison, I’m prefectly free to get lost in the spider web of sound spun on “Figure 8″. And, perhaps because I’ve recently had my heart broken, all the lyrics make sense instead of being maudlin or overwrought. I will, of course, reexamine this in a year or so when I feel better, but I have a feeling that this record will stand the test of time.
Standout tracks are the opener, “Son of Sam”, a deceptively-jaunty song that sounds almost like Klaatu at a high-school carnival. “Everything Reminds me of Her” and “Everything Means Nothing to Me” are fraternal twins, each with a different sound, but inseperable – they should be played hand in hand in perpetuity. “Somebody that I used to Know” is heartbreakingly simple, deceptively upbeat and captures perfectly the sound of a man on the edge of regaining himself. The rest of the album is wonderful, but these are the tracks that pierced me.
I am grateful to the friend who introduced me to Elliott Smith and I can only hope that, if you buy “Figure 8″ after reading this review, you will be grateful, too.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
Elliott continues to progress towards his masterwork.
By Stan
I truly believe that Elliott Smith will, in the next few years, release a record that will transcend genre and taste and be universally recognized, like “Revolver” or “Pet Sounds”, as one of the greatest pop recordings ever issued. Yes, even greater than “Either/Or”, which I still consider Elliott’s greatest accomplishment to this point. “Figure 8″ is not the future magnum opus of which I speak, but by any standard, even as a holding pattern it is a masterful record. “Figure 8″ reconciles and has elements of the three stages of Elliott’s career to this point: 1. the indie rock of his first band, Heatmiser; 2. the hushed, fragile, minimalist 4-track recordings that made his reputation; 3. the semi-famous pop troubadour making big-sounding records for a corporate record label. Elliott sounds much more comfortable in the big studio element than on “XO,” and if “Figure 8″ isn’t as passionate and desperate as his earlier recordings, its comfortable feel enables the listener to simply sit back and enjoy Elliott’s abilities as a songwriter, singer, and musician (he is an extremely underrated guitarist and piano player). The least compelling moments of “Figure 8″ (in my opinion, “LA” and “I Better Be Quiet”) still run rings around 98% of major-label rock. The best songs on “Figure 8″ are jaw-dropping in their low-key excellence and sincerity. Some of the highlights: “Son of Sam”: A stunner. It starts off quiet, then builds slowly on a solid backbeat and some glorious background “a-hhhhhha”s. And then the electric guitars kick in, and the song really takes off. Musically, it’s truly inspiring. It’s up there with “Speed Trials” as Elliott’s best album opener. “Everything Means Nothing to Me”: Just a slip of a song, kind of reminds me of “Waltz #1″ from “XO”, but much better. Love the piano, angelic harmonies and the wonderful, sadly ascending (unusual) melody. And when the far-off drums and strings kick in…wow. Beautiful. “In the Lost and Found (Honky Bach)”: This song shows a real growth in Elliott’s songwriting and musical chops. It’s based on a rolling, tack piano (think 1880s saloon) part that has a little bit of classical in it. This is a very cinematic piece of music, one of my favorites. “Happiness”: Very George Harrison. In fact, this whole album seems to be the heir to G.H.’s “All Things Must Pass” in spirit, if not in sheer volume of tuneage. What can I say? “All I want now is happiness for you and me” is “Figure 8″‘s version of “I’m never gonna know you now, but I’m gonna love you anyhow.” More insanely good pop music, with a long, anthemic ending reminiscent of “Hey Jude” (though the song is only 5 mins. long). This is probably the most memorable (if not complex) melody on the whole album. “Can’t Make a Sound”: It starts off pretty low-key and downcast, but by the end, like “Stupidity Tries,” has built into a gigantic, crashing, monolithic piece of music. This fills the role of “XO”‘s “Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands” – the BIG, dramatic song right before the quiet ending. But I think “Can’t Make a Sound” is a much better song. I’ve gone on long enough. Buy “Figure 8″, love it, and wait for Elliott’s masterwork — it’s coming sometime soon.
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Figure 8 Elliott Smith Picture
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Figure 8 Elliott Smith Picture
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