Figure 8
by Elliott Smith

His best IMO

I prefered Either/or but still every song were very good with nice instruments.

From Brad1770 09/02/2021 12:15 | #273206 | TOP COMMENT

Sadly this would be ES’s swan song, within 3 years he’d be gone forever

‘XO’ will always hold a special place in my heart but time has been kind to ‘Figure 8’ which seemingly simply gets better with age as a Beatles-esque love letter to his favourite band

I still find it spooky that the final song on Elliott’s last official album is a track titled “Bye”

IMO the best Elliott Smith album, yes it does take a long time to really appreciate it which is why some of the reviewers score low, my advice is keep plugging away and it will draw you in and be with you forever.

Favorite Tracks:Somebody That I Used To Know, Junk Bond Trader, Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?, Color Bars, I Better Be Quiet Now, Bye

The longest Elliott Smith album to this point, almost ten minutes longer than its predecessor and an entire 22 minutes longer than his debut, Roman Candle. Normally this would mean that an artist is on an unstoppable songwriting streak and/or there's a long list of sounds they want to explore. For Smith on Figure 8, I'm not sure which was the point. I think I read somewhere that he was going for something dense and difficult to completely crack, and it looks like he just about accomplished that. There's a deceiving quality of simplicity surrounding some of his most avant-garde and warm pop music, and I might need a few more listens to know exactly what's going on.
Favorites: “Somebody That I Used to Know”, “Son of Sam”, “Happiness/The Gondola Man”, ”Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?”, “Couldn't Make a Sound“, “Junk Bond Trader”, “Stupidity Tries”, “Pretty Mary K”

From Sandrof1969 02/21/2018 18:49 | #209099

Canzoni belle ma quasi mai proprio memorabili, con un non so chè di irrisolto.

I'm a huge Elliott Smith fan and I love this record. However, this is certainly not his best work. There are a lot of excellent songs but there is also a bit of filler, which simply doesn't exist on his earlier albums. The sound is bigger and takes away a bit of the intimacy but it works really well at points. This is still of super album, Elliott Smith has one of the best discographies out there, so give it a listen.

From Brad1770 12/15/2017 23:23 | #203201

Loving XO I checked this out and unfortunately it just didn’t have the magic of the affor mentioned album. Figure 8 clocks in at 52 minutes and by the 30 minute mark I’d lost interest. However I stuck with it and found the best track here second to last in “ CANT MAKE A SOUND “ which is quite the cracking song.

The last completed Elliott Smith album before his death is really a companion LP to it's predecessor, Xo. It has the same slick, sound, although I do think that, Xo, is the better record. Still, it is a fine album with tracks such as, son of Sam, everything means nothing to me, and, wouldn't mama be proud. Figure 8, is a very good record, although not his best in my opinion.