Posthumously released albums are always going to be a tricky business. You know that you are never going to get the product that the artist themselves would have delivered, and when things get to the Jeff Buckley/Tupac level where it seems that every note of music that they committed to tape has ended up being released in some form or other you have got to start wondering if they themselves would be happy about all these outtakes and songs, which they did not deem worthy of release in the first place, are now being sold to hungry fans, desperate for fuel to stoke the legend.
Elliott Smith’s tragic death in 2003 (we still to this day do not know what happened that day) now unfortunately puts his work in this category. Already one ‘proper’ album, ‘From a Basement on a Hill’ that he was working on at the time of his death has been released, and now that is followed by this double CD collection. In fairness to those involved the majority of songs on here are either B-sides or have been available on the internet for some time, and some of the proceeds will go to the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund, a charity which provides support for children who are the victims of abuse. The songs here have been culled from the period around the recording of his first 3 albums, ‘Roman Candle’, Elliott Smith’ and ‘Either/Or’.
Musically there are no real surprises here, anyone even vaguely familiar with his work will instantly recognise that achingly fragile double-tracked voice and smart but melancholy lyrics over the intricately finger-picked guitar present that are present on most of the tracks here. There was never any denying the influence of the Beatles and bands like the Beach Boys on his songwriting, and even the raw, stripped down demos here have painstakingly arranged harmonies, both vocal and instrumental, littered throughout. Indeed, although many of these songs are billed as rough demos with only voice and acoustic guitar it is hard to find flaws in their recording or indeed their overall quality. He always was a master of melody, and these songs are a glowing testament to that.
‘Going Nowhere’, ‘Georgia Georgia’ and the upbeat ‘New Monkey’ are all worth a mention as excellent tracks, but then again so could almost all of the 24 songs here. A live solo recording of Elliott covering ‘Thirteen’ by Big Star is a particular highlight, showcasing his superb guitar playing and with the innocence and hope in his voice perfectly matching the subject matter of the song. It is almost worth getting the album for this song alone.
Also included here is an early version of what was to become the Oscar nominated ‘Miss Misery’ (it was on the soundtrack to ‘Good Will Hunting’). The half sketched out lyrics and almost realised melody give a fantastic insight into how he wrote songs.
The liner notes here also contain a treasure trove of information for the fan. Jam packed with anecdotes from friends, notes about the origin of the CD and analysis of some of the songs, it is an excellent overall package.
Elliott left behind him what I regard as one of the most consistent and high quality back catalogues of this, or probably any genre of music and I hope he would agree that this is a worthy addition. In all honesty I would recommend that you get ‘Either/Or’ first, as I think that that album is as close to perfection as you can get. Although that is not to say that this collection of songs does not stand up as a great album on its own, it is just that perhaps the shear volume of songs on here may be a little overwhelming for a newcomer to his work.
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I'm not sure I really want to be collecting these CD's, because if the music is poorer than his proper albums, it ruins his legacy a little. I might download the songs you recommended, though..
Disc 1 Angel In The Snow Talking To Mary High Times New Monkey Looking Over My Shoulder ... more
Going Nowhere Riot Coming All Cleaned Out First Timer Go By Miss Misery Thirteen Disc 2 Georgia Georgia Whatever (Folk Song In C) Big Decision Placeholder New Disas...
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