Either/Or
by Elliott Smith

Either/Or by Elliott Smith
Year: 1997
Release date: 1997-02-25
Overall rank: 129th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
84/100 (from 1,173 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1997 (3rd)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1990s (26th)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (129th)

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Product Details
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Either/Or by Smith, Elliott (CD, 2015)
Condition: Brand New


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Elliott Smith - Either/or [New Vinyl LP] Digital Download
Condition: New


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Elliot Smith Either/Or (2017) 180g Vinyl LP KRS 269 Kill Rock Stars EX/EX
Condition: Used


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Elliott Smith bestography

Either/Or is ranked as the best album by Elliott Smith.

Elliott Smith album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (129th)
Either/Or
Lower ranked (435th) »
XO

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Either/Or track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Either/Or rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 129th | 1990s rank: 26th | 1997 rank: 3rd
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026LittleM1971Top 90 Music Albums of 19971/905
2026daCriticTop 34 Music Albums of 19978/344
2026LittleM1971Top 100 Greatest Music Albums15/10084
2026SUPERJEFF6100 Albums9/100 -
2026 AAL2014Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s61/1008
2026chavaloricardinTop 100 Greatest Music Albums93/1008
2026 arthurbittencourtTop 100 Greatest Music Albums38/10063
2026 MilhaudTop 50 Music Albums of 199724/503
2026FlapJackJoeyTop 100 Greatest Music Albums34/10067
2026 Graeme2Top 100 Greatest Music Albums70/10031
2026jdizzle123456Greatest Folk Albums of All Time19/50 -
2026lanadeleswiftTop 43 Music Albums of 199726/432
2026 arthur237Top 100 Greatest Music Albums17/10082
2026 RomanelliMy Overall Chart: 801-90086/100 -
2026 AAL2014Top 51 Music Albums of 199715/514
2026 paladisiacall-time fav arteests (pts) #196-290*74/95 -
2026saltysurpriseTop 41 Music Albums of 199710/414
2026 dubayawaltaTop 50 Greatest Music Albums42/5018
2026 Patman360Top 96 Music Albums of 19971/965
2026matterhornriderTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s71/1006
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 995
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 10,100
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Either/Or collection

Either/Or ratings

Average Rating: 
84/100 (from 1,173 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 1,173 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
4 days ago Liks_on_music  Ratings distribution  46481/100
 
95/100
 
04/09/2026 15:42 tim0505  Ratings distribution  4,36982/100
 
80/100
 
03/25/2026 23:43 Gedi  Ratings distribution  19484/100
 
80/100
 
03/25/2026 02:06 jtrizzle35  Ratings distribution  65280/100
 
100/100
 
03/22/2026 20:09 subnam  Ratings distribution  18428/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 84.1/100, a mean average of 82.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 84.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.3.

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Either/Or comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 70 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
45/100
From 02/09/2026 21:46 | #313079
Cupid's Trick and Say Yes are great songs. A few boring ones too but overall liked the mood and feel of the album. I think it will prove to be a grower for me after further listens.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 01/09/2026 16:34 | #312543
Is this the best Elliott Smith album? Probably, because it is the one I've come back to and resonated with the most. However, XO was such a fantastic follow up, and his whole 90s output set a tone for 2000s folk that was unparalleled. RIP, my good man.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/10/2023 11:31 | #295913
This is a fantastic singer songwriter album. Elliott Smith's voice is brilliant on here with his emotional style making the music feel so melancholic and sad. This helps to create a great atmosphere that is well maintained throughout the release. The guitar work is sensational as well with it feeling so personal and easily relatable. The song writing is mature and intelligent also and is well worth exploring whilst listening along. Overall, this is an elite Elliott Smith record that demonstrates his vocal and instrumental talents brilliantly.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 11/03/2022 23:45 | #291025
One of the best examples of singer-songwriting. This is an album I can consistently return to, and it only gets better.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/31/2022 03:47 | #289150
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/07/2022 17:38 | #283901
His voice is pitch perfect and fits so well with the musical style. A clear and rare spiritual descendant of Dylan.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/10/2022 06:28 | #282600
Great singer song-writing does always good things for your mind and body.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/03/2022 15:13 | #282199
Bitter, sad and beautiful.

I find this easier to listen to from start to finish than XO, though the latter might be more varied. Both great albums.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/03/2022 21:21 | #280606
One of the quintessential singer-songwriters.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 11/15/2021 20:12 | #276335
La verdad es que no esperaba encontrarme este pedazo de disco. Música tranquila, gran voz,... Muy buen disco
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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