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XO
Elliott Smith
Retail Price (not our price): $13.98
Release Date: 1998-08-25
Manufacturer: Dreamworks
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com's Best of 1998
Elliott Smith's fourth solo album and major-label debut, XO, brings narrative detail and a wide range of emotion to an indie meld of '60s-style rock and folk-pop. Whether in the broken stateliness of "Waltz #2 (XO)," the Sgt. Pepper tribute of "Baby Britain," or the explosions of "Amity" and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands," Smith's melodic and arrangement senses give his vulnerable vocals and brilliant wordcraft the maximum effectiveness. XO is a watershed in singer/songwriter rock. --Rickey Wright

2) Amazon.com essential recording
On XO, Elliott Smith leaves the indie doldrums behind and takes wing to new, lush surroundings. By adding full instrumentation to his acoustic reveries, Smith has ascended to a new level of songwriting that shores up his gentle voice and country-tinged guitar playing with extra layers of vocal arrangements and charming piano vamps. Strains of classic rock filter into the Beatlesque "Baby Britain" and the Beach Boys-inspired "I Didn't Understand," but Smith succeeds in adapting them to his style rather than the other way around. A foot soldier in DreamWorks' war on standard-issue rock & roll, Smith joins new label mates Rufus Wainwright and Morphine as sophisticated interpreters of the new male psyche. XO is a stunning shadow print of a soul adrift in the music industry, a dark place indeed. --Lois Maffeo

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

1) Outstanding Album   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Elliott Smith rarely recorded anything less than great, but XO is one of his strongest albums. In a discography of great work this album is outstanding and deserves praise.

2) Arguably the best Elliott Smith Album   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This has always been my favorite album by Elliott Smith. The more I listen to Either/Or the more I find it hard to decide between the two, but I still think that in the "desert island" situation I'd go with XO. I thought about reviewing each song but I just don't think it's necessary, everyone should own this album. I have bought it as gifts for several of my family members that don't know who Elliott Smith was. Give the gift of music, give XO! Somehow he makes the f word sound pretty. That's gotta count for something.

3) 5 star   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I am gonna keep it simple. If you like good music and you havent listened to any of Smith's work do not hesitate to buy this album. I started with his first album and worked my way onward to the last one released. I recomend all of his work.

4) Elliott's legacy   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Elliott Smith is good at making music that deceptively seems cathartic, uplifting and even joyous, but then reveal themselves through lyrical inspection and replays as alternately melancholy, bilious and disturbed. What we know of the man now (particularly his death) is sort of like the retrospective of when people were "shocked" that Freddie Mercury was gay--Elliott Smith was suicidally depressed!? But his legacy is cemented by XO, not only his best album, but one of the stronger albums of all of the 90s. From time to time, he creates a richer and fuller sound with pop-friendly songs like "A Question Mark" and "Baby Britain," but this is mostly a spare and quiet affair, as if recorded by someone alone in the dark after escaping from a spotlight (which was, of course, close to the truth). Even if some songs fail to leave a lasting impact or find a hook that you can grab on to, this is a track first-to-last sort of album where the whole dominates any individual moment. Best cuts: "Waltz #2 (XO)," "Independence Day," "Bled White," "A Question Mark," "Bottle Up and Explode!" "Sweet Adeline," "Baby Britain," "Waltz #1," "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands," "Pitseleh," "I Didn't Understand"

5) XO, Elliot Smith masterpiece   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Elliot Smith was one of the greatest writers/artists since the Beatles and this is my favorite of his albums. The songs are brilliant, the production is perfect and the performance is inspired.