Elliott Smith Either Or Full Album

[Melissa Alvarado]

DirectorGus Van Sant was highly impressed with the album, incorporating three of its songs; "Between the Bars", "Angeles" and "Say Yes" along with a new song, "Miss Misery", into the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. "Miss Misery" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1998 Academy Awards, and was performed at the televised ceremony in an abridged version by Smith, backed by the house orchestra, briefly propelling him into the international spotlight. In 2020, the album was ranked at 216 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

Smith wrote and recorded a song entitled "Either/Or" during the sessions for this album, but it was not included on the final release; however, the song was later included on New Moon, a posthumous compilation of previously unreleased material by Smith.

The album's title derives from the Sren Kierkegaard book of the same name, in which "either/or" refers to the contrast between aesthetic/subjective experience and ethical/objective being. This existential title is reflective of Smith's interest in philosophy, which he studied at Hampshire College in Massachusetts.[8]The lyrics contain many references to Portland such as the neighborhood of Alameda, Division Street and the Portland Rose Festival.

Smith would briefly be cast into the international spotlight early the following year when he performed his song, the 1997 standalone single "Miss Misery", at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, following the song's appearance in the major motion picture Good Will Hunting and its subsequent Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Following this appearance, Smith was signed to major label DreamWorks and started work on his fourth studio album, XO.

In its retrospective review, Tiny Mix Tapes opined: "Simply put, the songs on Either/Or are Elliott Smith's best".[9] Trouser Press called it "even more fully realized" than Elliott Smith.[31]

The album inspired Gus Van Sant to invite Smith to contribute to the soundtrack of the film Good Will Hunting. Three Either/Or tracks were incorporated into the soundtrack, as well as a new song, "Miss Misery." Smith was briefly pushed to the forefront of popular culture after performing "Miss Misery" from Good Will Hunting at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony. Van Sant later also used "Angeles" in his 2007 film Paranoid Park. The song was again featured in the 2020 series Normal People.

Listening to Elliott Smith is a bit like willing a soap bubble to drift away rather than explode, its delicate skin shimmering in the sunlight. Part of the beauty is the tension created by the desire that it last forever and the sorrow of its impermanence.

That pretty much sums up Elliott Smith, too, at least in retrospect. Like Nick Drake before him, listening to Smith's songs without his inevitable demise crossing one's mind borders on impossible. We know that beneath the shimmering surface of the delicate bubbles lies addiction, depression, childhood abuse and on Oct. 21, 2003, the artist's tragic death.

None of this was evident in September 1994 when Smith set up at friend Tony Lash's house and began recording what would become his second solo album. The two went all the way back to high school, where they played together in the band Stranger Than Fiction and later Heatmiser. It was the latter band with which Smith enjoyed his first success, particularly in Portland where they were the local band.

Moon's excitement was shared by most music fans who discovered Smith, either in small clubs on that tour or by happening upon Roman Candle. His initial business engagement with Smith wasn't to sign him to Kill Rock Stars, but rather to act as middleman between the young artist and K Records' founder Calvin Johnson. K Records was to the Pacific Northwest's indie scene what Dischord was to Washington, D.C. Putting out a record on K was the dream of many, including Kurt Cobain, and Smith was no exception.

"[Smith] mentioned that he was interested in being on K Records," Moon continued. "I knew Calvin, so over the next couple of months, I gave him a copy of the record, told him that Elliott was the real deal, and told him to come see him play. I never heard back from Calvin about that. To my knowledge, Elliott never heard from Calvin either. I talked to Elliott a while later and said, 'Would it be cool if Kill Rock Stars put out a 7"?'"

One single turned into an album. In addition to the session at Tony Lash's house, Smith recorded at Leslie Uppinghouse's place in January-February 1995. The result was 12 tracks of sorrow and addiction wrapped in a sleeve depicting two figures falling to their deaths, or maybe they're floating. That's the nature of Smith's work.

Record buyers didn't exactly flock to the album (Moon notes that it "didn't really sell that well"), and critics mostly ignored it, but Smith's fellow musicians picked up on what was happening. Label mate (and eventual collaborator) Mary Lou Lord was an early adopter, as were Fugazi, X's John Doe, the Beastie Boys and Sebadoh, who gave Smith the opening slot on their 1996 tour.

Smith remained invisible to the majority of the record buying public until 1998, when he stole the Oscar ceremony with his white-suited performance of "Miss Misery," which was nominated in the Best Original Song category due to its use in Good Will Hunting. Then Smith's major-label debut, X/O, was released and his previous records received greater exposure.

Good Will Hunting changed everything for Elliott Smith, but his eponymous second album stands as the high water mark in his tragically short career. Just be careful when you listen to it, else the delicate bubble may vanish without a trace.

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