From A Basement On The Hill
by Elliott Smith

Considering the posthumous nature of this release, this is an extremely cohesive piece of music. It is also a lot darker than most of his previous work and given the circumstances around his death, it could be expected. Although dark, it is comforting in its melancholic nature. It is not very defeatist in lyricism and the instrumentation has sporadic escapes from the general sombre tone. It also experiments a lot greater than previous work, diving into multiple different genres of music, which gives us a glimpse of potential future work we could have got if his life had not been cut tragically short. A great album and “A Fond Farewell” to one of the greatest singer songwriters.

His most painful album - and that says a lot.

Se trata de un album muy equilibrado entre baladas y electricidad. Magnífico cierre para la carrera de un genio.

From Sandrof1969 02/20/2018 21:41 | #209003

Può suonare strano che un album postumo sia il preferito tra quelli di un dato musicista ma per me, parlando di Elliott Smith, è proprio così. Non sapremo mai se "From a basement on the hill" sarebbe stato il primo disco di una nuova e più creativa fase della carriera di Elliott Smith se egli stesso non avesse deciso di interrompere la sua vita, ma sicuramente questo album postumo contiene delle canzoni con melodie più accattivanti rispetto a quelle dei dischi precedenti, i quali non sono mai riuscito a farmi piacere neanche lontanamente quanto questo.

I love this record, but it is a bit of a mess. The highs are great but the lows feel unfinished. If Smith had been able to oversee the completion of this record, it could have been one of his very best albums. As is, it's still quite good.

from a basement on the hill is possibly my all time favorite record. normally i don't play the favorites game with records (same kind of weird as 'best friend') but ever since i first fell in love with this album when I was 14 (i'm 27 now) and hundreds of listens later, it still holds up. I think there's something to say about the posthumous release as well. trying to imagine what he was feeling recording what would become his final tracks, sometimes it feels like he knew they would be. also seeing this come out after my two least favorite of his albums (x/o and figure 8 which both make me think of a line from sidewalk boss - "i'll be pumping out the product just a total waste). king's crossing hits on that feeling as well, and always makes me think of the rumor that he threatened to kill himself if his record company didn't release him after figure 8. This record feels like he was finally getting to make music he really enjoyed, without worrying about marketing himself or selling his feelings. Posthumous releases are so interesting partially because the artist never has to see it exist under the scrutiny of the public eye. i dunno. listen to it. Favorite tracks are passing feeling, fond farewell, coast to coast, twilight, king's crossing, last hour, shooting star, and little one. great b-side is stickman.

A posthumous release from Elliot Smith. Whether or not this was the intended album by Smith, it stills holds up well together, and although it's not his best record, it still shows that Smith has plenty of good material left in him, the best being, pretty(ugly before), one of Smith's greatest ever songs. A good swansong from an artist who still had a lot more to give.

From buzzdainer 06/22/2016 14:25 | #169461

I was late coming to the Elliott Smith party, and this posthumously released record was the first of his that I heard. It's still my favorite. There is a gritty, uncompromising urgency to these pop songs that elevates this album above its admittedly gloomy tone and subject matter. "Fond Farewell" probably best exemplifies this aesthetic, and it's all the more cruel to listen to it now, knowing the unrelieveable pain that Smith himself must have been in when he wrote and recorded it.

Released a year after his suicide, I remember a profound sadness on my first listen of this album. I like Elliott Smith’s previous work, all the way back to his days with the band Heatmiser, and I could see in this heavier, raw set a real breakthrough in his music. There is still debate as to what this record would have been if Smith hadn’t committed suicide before it was completed, and I tend to think that some of the lighter moments might have become a tad darker.

That being said, this is a window into Smith’s tortured mind. Several tracks take on more weight realizing that these would be his last, sometimes to haunting effect. When he sings in “King’s Crossing”, “Every wave is tidal if you hang around/You’re going to get wet/I can’t prepare for death/Any more than I already have” you have to think that he meant it.

For me, “Coast to Coast”, “King’s Crossing”, “A Passing Feeling”, “Shooting Star”, and especially the moving “A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free” are raw, heavy, and wonderful. As one of my favorite albums, they still show that Elliott Smith had even better in him.