One of the most subtly interesting things about his thoroughly fascinating career was how Elliott Smith gradually built up his sound from album to album. From the bare-bones guitars of Roman Candle to his additional embellishments of drums and bass on a few tracks of his eponymous sophomore album to the more consistent use of such band-like arrangements on Either/Or to the full-blown Revolver's-been-turned-over sound carnival of his masterpiece and Dream Works debut, XO.
Smith's second album for Dream Works was even bigger and more polished than XO. Yet, as extroverted as it sounded, Figure 8 continued to express the inner life of a troubled and deeply introverted artist. That push-and-pull is what makes Smith's "big-production" period so appealing. Many artists make deliciously enjoyable music and many plumb the depths of their souls and dredge up dark stuff. Very, very few are capable of or willing to do both simultaneously.
So, even more so than XO, Figure 8 is a record that's just as appropriate to blast at a barbecue as it is to meditate on through headphones by candlelight. And though the nearly hour-long album feels a bit like it should have been trimmed down, there's not too much any reasonable editor could justifiably cut. Even something as seemingly slight as "Everything Means Nothing to Me" is sweeping and grand and overwhelmingly moving (and it's my personal favorite track on the album).
Not surprisingly, Figure 8 was Elliott Smith's biggest album, and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the late artist's milestone, UMe has issued a 3-LP expanded edition. This collection had actually been released digitally back in 2019 to coincide with what would have been Smith's fiftieth birthday. This is the first time it appears on vinyl (multi-colored vinyl, that is), and the music sounds unbelievably good. The clarity is superb, the sound stage bottomless, and the presence of each instrument uncannily up front. This is beautiful, 3-D audio spinning at 45rpm. The vinyl is flat, though cut slightly off-center, but not far enough to affect the sound at all. I did hear quite a few ticks across Side B, although it's most likely that I just received a slightly damaged copy. However, according to some other reviews I've read, the mild static on bonus track "Figure 8" is not exclusive to my copy, but aside from these few issues I've mentioned, the vinyl is otherwise pretty clean and quiet.
The seven bonus tracks include stripped-down versions of three of the album's tracks (including a take on "Pretty Mary K" even prettier than the album version) and two superb exclusive Smith originals: the Meet-the-Beatles-channeling B-side "Living Will" and the Magical-Mystery-Tour-channeling "I Can't Answer You Anymore", apparently only released as a promo single in France. There are also two covers: the gorgeous half-a cappella version of The Beatles' "Because" heard over the closing credits of American Beauty and the eerie version of the delicate Schoolhouse Rock tune "Figure 8" that apparently inspired the title of his album. Unfortunately there are no liner notes to clarify some of this, but as far as the music is concerned, it likely has never sounded better.
