Elliott Smith's XO (33 1/3 series)

I appreciated this book to the extent it got me back into this record and Elliott Smith's follow-up 'Figure 8'. Both records are simply staggering in terms of the sonics of the instrumentation and vocal arrangements. The disappointment (for lack of a better description) and bizarre circumstances of Elliott's death turned me away from his music until I recently noticed the existence of this book. Although the author spends an inordinate amount of time dissecting the lyrics and the public's perception of the artist, I would recommend re-visiting these records and others in his catalog and simply appreciating the construction of the songs and playing from an aural perspective rather than a line by line study of the words. I think of this in the same way I would listen to early R.E.M. records. Record-making with a lack of contrivance with the intention of simply being a great record. Use your own illusion. RIP Elliott and thanks.

This book reads like research paper. The format was awful. The author continues to repeat the same points. Also, the second section of this book is about how our understanding of an artist, whether it is accurate or not affects, our interpretation of their music and vice versa. That section was almost completely worthless and paints the media as evil.My main problem with this book is that the author uses fragments of lyrics to explain entire songs. In many cases I found what he said to contradict my interpretation of the song even after hearing the reasoning behind it. I just think if you are going to analyze a piece of writing you have to look at the entire complete piece before coming to a conclusion.Now the book did have some positives. I liked that lyrics that were later changed were included and showed the development of the songs. Also, Larry Crane's insight was worth while.All together I would suggest you skip the book and just read the lyrics yourself and come to your own conclusions.

This is one of the best books available on Elliot Smith. If you are a fan then you probably own the very excellent XO. ( My friend Emily who owns a Record Store calls it her favorite E.S. Record) The author discusses the circumstances surrounding the making of XO and also discusses each song from the album in a most intelligent, interesting, introspective, yet objective way. In addition, in Part Two of the book, LeMay delves into who the late Elliot Smith really was and exposes some of the common misconceptions surrounding the Artist. After reading this very well written book, I have gained a new appreciation for XO and am hearing it and enjoying it in a new and beautiful light.

Even though it never aimed to be his biography, it's probably the best one I've read or seen by deliberately focusing on this creative work rather than his personal history—his music and what it said independent of who he was. This is the guide to understanding the parts of him that made this incredible series of decisions as opposed to the final one we'll never understand. It's about a great musician at the top of his game.

I found this book in the series to be too zoomed-in..Everything is under the microscope with such a degreethat I found it a chore at times to read.Although I like the goals with which he sets to reachabout dispelling long-ago standardized preconvictions about ESand his stardom, the manner in which he goes about ultimatelyis not all that entertaining.I guess that's what you get when you hire a writer from Pitchfork media..

While I did enjoy this book, I didn't find it to be a very exciting of interesting book to read. I'm not sure if the author is an actual author, but this felt like a term paper, very factual and to the point. I've read other 33 1/3's that exposed interesting things about the recording process, or aspects of the songs that I never noticed, but this didn't really do that for me, and that's coming from an enormous Elliot fan. That being said, it is thorough and if you really are interested in Elliot Smith and his work, this certainly wouldn't hurt to read.

Larry Crane's approval should win this book your admiration, although it won mine on its own merits. It's wonderful--if a shock--to see so much of the "sad-sack" oversimplification with which Elliott was unfairly labelled dispelled. I hear and regard XO in a new light, and feel almost liberated to be able to value the songs as magnificently heartrending works of art as opposed to beautifully heartbreaking chronicles of Smith's personal pain. The volume is short and required reading for any listener of Smith's enlivening, meaningful work.

Enjoyed the book. Purchased in '08 and got mine signed at a book signing. I re-read it from time to time, and is still on my shelf today.

Elliott Smith was a musician and songwriter everyone who loves music should listen to. If you’ve never heard his music before, rather than recommend entire albums, have a listen to the following songs: “Miss Misery”, “Say Yes”, “I Figured You Out”, “Needle in the Hay”, “Between the Bars” and “Angeles” – incredible, right? And if you’re already familiar with his music, you’ll know how unique he was as a talent. Unfortunately Smith killed himself in 2003 at the age of 34 after a lifetime of depression and numerous problems with addiction. His legacy of music will live on forever though, especially his 1998 album, XO.Rather than focus on the gossipy side of Smith’s life like his drug/alcohol problems and his preoccupation with suicide, Matthew LeMay has chosen, very commendably, to focus on the art itself. Addiction in itself isn’t that interesting, especially in comparison to great art, and Smith himself wasn’t interested in expressing it in his music, looking upon the kind of self-pitying naval-gazing such song-writing celebrates as repulsively shallow.This is the third 33 1/3 book I’ve read, the series which looks at and discusses seminal albums in bite-sized, dinky paperbacks. In The Pixies’ Doolittle, we see one of the most influential rock bands ever creating their best album and catch up with the band 20+ years later to discuss what the album meant and means to them. In The Beatles’ Let It be, we see the greatest band of all time in their last days but still producing amazing music, with that entire time period providing a fascinating story filled with many strong characters.XO has no such compelling story. Smith was out of rehab (not for the last time) and was clean, throwing himself into his work, producing some of the finest music of his life. The recording went smoothly and everyone involved recollects their time in the studio fondly. And that’s it. Because of LeMay’s refusal to discuss Smith’s private life, most of the book focuses on his interpretations of the songs on the album, writing about them track by track, sprinkling them with details of Smith’s creative process and some technical details but essentially giving us his version of what each song is about and what they mean. Unfortunately, it’s not that gripping to read.The book does highlight Smith’s talent as a lyricist, allowing for multiple interpretations and giving LeMay plenty of fodder to discuss the poetry of his words at length. And it is poetry, those lyrics are so unlike any you come across in any genre of songwriting - you can appreciate his work minus the music, just by reading the lyrics they’re that good. It also shows how much Smith cared about his art, spending years crafting songs, tweaking them year after year before committing them to record.It was fascinating to see how “Waltz #2”, arguably XO’s best song, went from being a seemingly autobiographical story about his parents to a story that could be about anyone with some interesting dramatic characters. Conversely, it informed me how some songs on the record were written on the fly, with a song like Pitseleh being knocked out more or less in the studio. Pitseleh in particular is a song I’ve never really liked and the haste in which it was assembled partly explains my reaction to it as I feel it wasn’t as accomplished as other songs on the album. Smith also never played it live, probably believing it was unfinished or too incomplete a song and embarrassed to remind himself of it.More than anything though is that the book emphasises how generally upbeat Smith’s music is, despite the tone of many songs. His whispered, seemingly personal lyrics about despondent characters, drug imagery, and assorted other connotations that most would interpret as the hallmarks of the depressed artist producing depressing work, are all misleading. Many of his songs aren’t necessarily uplifting but aren’t nearly as sad as some would say. LeMay tries to remove the shadow of Smith’s suicide from the music itself, saying that whatever Smith’s personal problems were, he consciously left them out of his work, and I think that’s a very true statement. There’s the art and then there’s the artist.If you’re looking for a book full of stories of drug hazes and fights, you won’t find it here – instead you’ll find a thoughtful, though very dry, study of Smith’s album XO. While it’s not the most fascinating read, it underlines something about Smith I didn’t realise until I read this and that is that a satisfying, warts’n’all bio about him is likely to never appear. Partly because his family and friends won’t speak about him to anyone, but because, as LeMay asserts throughout, the most interesting thing about Elliott Smith by far was his music - nothing in his life quite compared to his art. So if you want to find out the kind of man he was, listen to XO, and Either/Or, and From A Basement On A Hill, or any of his albums – everything he was is in his songs, never to be caught in the pages of a book.

Hard to review a book. It's all most likely going to be down to whether you liked it or not.I presonally thought it was OK. Wasn't a fan of the way he wrote BUT at the same time i could feel his passion come through. Writing about one album from a point in one mans life can't be too easy.I thought he did ok like i say the passion was evident and that's enough for me to give it a 3.