From A Basement On The Hill
by Elliott Smith

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.

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. (Edited)

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. (Edited)

This might come off as even denser than Figure 8, even more scattered than XO, and more inconsistent than Either/Or. And you know, maybe it is all of those things at once. Nevertheless, listening to this posthumous mammoth of an album is one of the most intense and complete Elliott Smith experiences even without the story of his death in mind. I can't quite explain why, but this is one of his best.
Favorites: “Twilight”, “King’s Crossing”, “A Fond Farewell”, “Pretty (Ugly Before)”, “Coast to Coast”, “Memory Lane”, “Let's Get Lost”, “A Passing Feeling”, “Shooting Star”, “Last Hour”, “A Distorted Reality is Now a Matter of Necessity”

From buzzdainer TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/22/2016 14:25 | #169461 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

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.