"Rose Parade" simultaneously satirizes actual parades and the so-called parade of life while still maintaining a sweetness along with its edge. Smith is a master at melding an "I don't care" attitude with a real yearning for being inside, warm, and close to someone. That dual sensibility shines through here.

On "No Name No. 5," Smith addresses the power of life to continue no matter what heartbreak any individual might be enduring:

" . . . Everybody's gone at last
And you don't get upset about it
No, not anymore
There's nothing wrong
That wasn't wrong before . . . "

There's no getting around the Simon & Garfunkel ghosts hovering around the guitar work on this album, and that's fine--but Smith never sounds imitative or slavish. On "Angeles" and "2:45 AM" especially, Smith seems very nearly to be channeling S&G (remember "Wednesday Morning, 3:00 AM"?) and that's not a bad thing. This is a very fine effort by a thoughtful and frighteningly talented singer/songwriter.

Who is this guy? I should have known this name earlier.
I asked for this album because a friend of mine so kindly told me that I was silly for loving "Figure 8" when "Either/Or" was so much better... and I have to thank him for this addition to my collection. This album is actually the kind of stuff I like a bit more than the stuff on Figure 8... Figure 8 was a bit too reviewer friendly it offered up the correct dosage of pop-driven tunes... where as Either/Or offers the same quality of music but none of it seems forced as the other album did. This album starts out strong, track two and four becoming my favorite songs quickly, and ends on the same level of quality.

The thing I like about Elliott Smith is that he has beautiful music... I know nothing about music for the amount of music that I own. I can play no musically instruments, I can not keep a key while singing, and I am so off-tune that I look like a fool dancing along to the songs that I do enjoy. But one thing I like is beauty in music, the nice dreamy beauty that people like Donovan gave us to begin with. Elliott Smith plays like he has been playing for years... like he played with the likes of Nick Drake or Lou Reed. He is amazing... and this album has taken over my opinion of him.

The reason that I enjoy this album so much is mainly because of track four, "Between the Bars", I was in love the moment I heard that one. I saw it in my head, like it was footage from a old 8mm camera... some stupid college film class movie of urban love... like some beautiful painting from the likes of Tamara De Lempicka with her brilliant red lipped beauties that look just a bit sloshed and under the complete influence of their lover... it reminds me of how much energy eyes emit (how eyes can tell the story of your past) and how this man was singing to his lover that has tried to escape reality.

This is an excellent addition to any collection.

Hauntingly Beautiful
Elliott Smith's music is so sincere and brutally honest that just him and his acoustic beat all those mainstream fishooks out there today. The acoustic fingerstyle does conjure up the ghost of Nick Drake. The album has great dual layered vocals on songs like Angeles and Between the Bars which are reminiscent of the best harmonies from Simon and Garfunkel. This truely is the work of a fine musician and will make a nice addition to your collection.

love, love, love this record.
i highly recommend this album if you like the honesty and passion of artists like john lennon, kurt cobain, or leonard cohen. you know what i'm talking about. elliot smith is one of the few that can touch me on such a deep level. this record has a sound of its own and it's truly haunting - even more so now that elliot is gone.

Own this now
I love this cd and have listened to it at least once every day since I bought it. One of those great albums you never forget. Everyone needs to own a copy of this. I dont think I oculd find one person who can honestly say they dont like it (people that do are just lying).
Blessed with the voice of a wispy angel, Elliott Smith creates sad little pop songs, which, like the work of Nick Drake (to whom he's been compared) threaten to disappear into the night air. Several of the tracks here were featured in Gus Van Zant's movie Good Will Hunting, and they're among the album's best (though "Miss Misery," nominated for an Academy Award is only available on the soundtrack album). "Angeles" and "Say Yes" are bittersweet laments that feature Smith's idiosyncratic guitar picking, which is well served by the album's decidedly low-fi production. --Rob O'Connor