Released August 25, 1998 Length 44:46 | Recorded 1997–1998 Release date 25 August 1998 | |
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Studio Sunset Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, CaliforniaThe Sound Factory, Los AngelesOcean Way Recording, Los AngelesSonora Studio, Los AngelesJackpot! Recording Studio, Portland, Oregon Producer Elliott SmithRob SchnapfTom Rothrock Similar Elliott Smith albums, Indie rock albums | ||
Elliott smith xo full album
XO is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was recorded from 1997 to 1998 and released on August 25, 1998 by record label DreamWorks; Smith's first solo album on a major record label. Two singles, "Waltz #2 (XO)" and "Baby Britain", were released.
Contents
Content
An early working title for the album was Grand Mal.
The title of the first track, "Sweet Adeline", was inspired by Smith’s recollections of his grandmother singing in her glee club, Sweet Adelines International. "Amity" is believed to be named after a friend who can be seen in photographs from Smith's 1997 tour.
Release
XO was released by DreamWorks Records on August 25, 1998. It was Smith's first solo record on a major record label, though he had previously released music on a major label with his band Heatmiser final album, Mic City Sons (1996).
Singles released from the album were "Waltz #2 (XO)" in the same year and "Baby Britain" the following year.
Reception
XO was well received by critics upon its release. Mark Richardson of Pitchfork Media wrote, "Smith's songwriting continues to improve, as each of [the album's] fourteen tracks displays his inarguable mastery of the pop song structure more clearly than ever." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a one-star honorable mention rating, indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like". His review described the album's music as "high tune, low affect," citing "Waltz #2 (XO)" and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" as highlights. XO placed at number five on The Village Voice's 1998 end-of-year Pazz & Jop poll.
In its retrospective review, BBC Music wrote, "the budget might have gone up, but Smith's masterful way with an understated melody and melancholic lyric remained firmly intact", calling XO "perhaps the greatest long-player Smith released; if not, it's certainly the equal of the preceding Either/Or. Repeat listens don't dull it in the slightest, every barbed one-liner and exhalation of despair perfectly preserved". Trouser Press called the record "a tastefully commercialized production (completely with horns and strings) that respects Smith's privacy and, in fact, does him a solid service. [...] If the songs are not the most profound or developed of Smith's catalogue, it's still a great record that proves how durable integrity can be."
Legacy
In 2010, Spin magazine placed XO at number 90 on its list of the 125 best albums in the magazine's lifetime. Pitchfork Media placed the album at number 68 in their list of the greatest albums of the 1990s.
Matthew LeMay has written a book about XO as part of the 33⅓ series of books on albums, released on April 6, 2009 by the Continuum International Publishing Group.
RJD2 sampled "I Didn't Understand" on the song "Ghostwriter" on his album Deadringer. Indie rock band Grandaddy performed "Oh Well, Okay" live in 2012 as a tribute to Smith.
Track listing
All tracks written by Elliott Smith.
Personnel
Additional personnel
Technical
Songs
1Sweet Adeline3:16
2Tomorrow Tomorrow3:07
3Waltz #2 (XO)4:39