I got an email from Amazon.com announcing the release of an Elliott Smith "greatest hits" collection of sorts being put out by Kill Rock Stars. From about age 19 to 22, I was pretty much obsessed with Elliott Smith. Then he died. I guess I'd still consider him my favorite musician of all time if you forced me to pick one.
So here's their track list:
01 Ballad of a Big Nothing
02 Waltz #2
03 Pictures of Me
04 The Biggest Lie
05 Alameda
06 Between The Bars
07 Needle In The Hay
08 Last Call
09 Angeles
10 Twilight
11 Pretty (Ugly Before)
12 Angel In The Snow
13 Miss Misery
14 Happiness
And here are my picks:
01 Last Call (from Roman Candle)
02 Needle in the Hay (from self-titled)
03 The Biggest Lie (from self-titled)
04 Between the Bars (from Either/Or)
05 Angeles (from Either/Or)
06 Say Yes (from Either/Or)
07 Miss Misery (BIG HIT from Good Will Hunting)
08 Waltz #2 (from XO)
09 Son of Sam (from Figure 8)
10 Everything Means Nothing to Me (from Figure 8)
11 Happiness (From Figure 8)
12 Pretty -Ugly Before- (from Basement on the Hill)
13 A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free (from Basement on the Hill)
They didn't do bad. But not including Say Yes—my all-time favorite of ever? Big mistake. Huge. And also, I never realized how '90s he looked. Love you, Elliott, seven years later.
4 comments:
I adore Elliott Smith, but I would choose the albums over a compilation. Any day.
Their greatest hits is kind of weak. I like yours better.
And A+ for including "Everything Means Nothing To Me", one of his most beautiful (and Beatles-esque) songs!
(I lived in Olympia when Elliott was around and playing shows a lot but I was just a tad too young, OF COURSE. By the time I had discovered him and was sort of obsessed, he had moved to either Portland or LA. Le sigh)
Agreed -- nothing can replace the albums themselves. Dude couldn't write a bad song. (There's only one that I don't like: "Punch and Judy" from Either/Or, for some reason.) Admittedly, KRS does call the collection "an introduction" and not, like, "The Ultimate Elliott Smith Collection."
Isn't "Everything Means Nothing to Me" so great? And I totally envy the people who got to see him play when he was just kind of doing shows around town. I went to see him twice, but that wasn't until the later years of his career.
OMG! I love Elliot Smith. I think the movie Good Will Hunting introduced me to him. My husband loves him as well. When we were dating he actually went to see him live. I had exams and couldn't go. Now I'll never be able to see him live.
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