Domino 3 Album Set - Roman Candle, Elliot Smith, Either/or - Elliott Smith

So this is what came out of the remains of Elliot Smith's previous punk band - Heatmiser - a mellow, accoustic, lyrically spectacular experience of an album. This is Smith's first solo album. His vocal style is unique in it's own way. The tracks include "Roman Candle" and the series of "No Name#" tracks.My favourite track has to be "Kiwi Maddog 20/20" which is a mainly instrumental song with a hint of lyrics toward the end. Elliot Smith's accoustic steel-string guitar style is very appealing to me and this is one of the main reasons, along with his vocal sound, that I particularly like the album. If ...  Read the complete review

'Either/Or' brought Elliot Smith to the attention of the public in Britain, it was his first (relatively) major relaease over her and accumulated massive critical acclaim and ended up in NME's Top 10 albums of the year. This album was recorder in Simth's bedroom and this is part of its charm, quiet fingerpicked guitar, and skeletal snare drums accompany Elliot's frail voice which documents his agonies and covers them in beautiful melodies. The Beatles are a very obvious reference point for Elliot Smith, he is a self-proclaimed fan and recorded last year's Figure 8 album at Abbey Road. However, 'Either/ Or' lacks any such orchestration ans ...  Read the complete review

His first album, but you wouldn't know it from the quality of the songwriting. Okay, so he was in Heatmiser, some sort of hardcore punk band for a while, but this is how he's really made his mark, crafting beautiful, intricate acoustic lo-fi tracks. His style seems, in it's kinda folkiness, to owe something to the skewed vision of Nick Drake. You can hear the doomed '70's star on this album and the next release, 'Elliott Smith'. But the lyrics are a whole other thing... Smith's are worldly, pragmatic, skilful and darkly prosaic where Drake's where often naïve and unworldly. The best song here has to be the ...  Read the complete review