From A Basement On The Hill [Digipak] - Elliott Smith

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	leaves us with some of his best work
Disadvantages:	some songs are not what he would have finished with

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The term singer songwriter is banded about so much that seemingly anyone singing on their lonesome is catergorised in the same field but for every Jeff Buckley there is James Blunt, for every Dylan there is Mika. Now, Elliott Smith is a singer songwriter in the technical sense but really he should be catergorised in the "seriously talented" side of these artists.

"From the basement on the hill" was the album he was working on until his untimely death, which by all accounts still isn't conclusive as to the cause, either suicide or other means. Whatever it was this album is certainally thought provoking with some spooky, almost ironic references to meeting the maker in a couple of songs.

I'll admit that I only first heard of Smith when his death was announced on NME.com detailing a brief description of his work and with it a mention to the track "Waltz #2", which I immediately dug round for and was hooked almost from that moment forward.

I have chosen to review this particular album as I believe it to be arguably his best work which makes the situation such a shame that he isn't around to receive its plaudits. The fact that the album wasn't finished and several songs would have had further work on it does not deter its quality.

Having had a commercially viable album in 'Figure 8' have limited success Elliott Smith tries on this album to go the total opposite and make the album that he wants to. It is clear from the distorted electric guitars in "Coast to Coast" that this is a signal of intent. "Let's get lost" follows and reminds us all of his biggest strength, the rawness of his voice, lyrics with a beautifully figure picking acoustic guitar.

The album really takes off with "Pretty Ugly Before", an electric strum along with demonstrates his love for Beatles esque melodies. Often touted as the albums biggest triumph I think this grossly under estimates how many decent tracks are on this album.

The album shows the extremes of his style. "Twilight" is a sad, ballad in the same vain as "Let's get lost" only the acoustic is strum and it feels like your listening to a man that is on the edge emotionally. Similarly "Memory Lane" details the story of rehab, isolation etc and the almost corniness of it all. Perhaps there are deeper issues with some of his lyrics but there is a certain uplifting smile to be raised when hearing "do what people say and lie in bed all day, absolutely horrified, I hope your satisfied".

The other extreme is the obvious need for Smith to make an album that has songs that at first appear disjointed but then after a number of listens things just fit together. "Shooting Star" is the best example with the guitars made to sound like something is falling apart, perhaps an underlying factor of events. I always think that with any album that is loved in my collection they have grown on me over time, the more listens the better. Whereas liking something straight away and then getting bored has the opposite effect. I can definately say that basement on the hill is a prime example of an album that is a grower!

The album finishes with one of the standouts. Not only is "A distorted reality is now a necessity to be free" a cracking name for a song it is one of the highlights of what is an under rated album. Starting with an acoustic guitar once more, the differences here are that it builds up to become musically one of the best things Elliott Smith has ever written. The cruscendo of drum symbols crashing give it that foundation for the song to realise its full potential. The best songs on this record, such as this, are the undoutedly the ones you are left thinking 'surely he wouldn't have changed any of this? And on that thought its with great sadness that you are left wanting more. Unlike Jeff Buckley, Smith has made six albums in total but this would have become his biggest success, if not commercially then definately critically!.

For any people unsure if they would like his music it would be worth while looking up the following tracks either by download or youtube which has plenty of live footage: -
Son of Sam (Figure 8)
Waltz #2 (X/O)
Bllad of Big Nothing (Either/Or)

Elliott Smith is a must for any singer songwriter fans!