XO (album)

Professional reviews
XO

Studio album by Elliott Smith
Released	August 25, 1998
Recorded	???
Genre	Indie rock
Length	44:46
Label	DreamWorks Records
Producer(s)	Tom Rothrock Rob Schnapf Elliott Smith
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media (8.5/10) Sept 1998 Sputnik Music link
Elliott Smith chronology
Either/Or (1997)	XO (1998)	Figure 8 (2000)

XO is the name of the fourth album recorded by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith.

The album was released on DreamWorks Records on 25 August 1998 on Compact Disc; Bong Load Custom Records released it on vinyl LP (no longer in print). It is also available as Digital Download. It was Smith's first release on a major label.

[edit] Track listing

(All songs written by Elliott Smith)

Jon Brion - chamberlin and vibraphone on "Waltz #1", "Bottle Up and Explode!", and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands".
Tom Rothrock - drum loop on "Independence Day"
Rob Schnapf - guitar on "Baby Britain"
Joey Waronker - drummer on "Bled White" and "Bottle Up and Explode!"

The following tracks were recorded during the XO sessions but ultimately did not make the album:

"Seen How Things Are Hard"
"Georgia"
"How to Take a Fall" (released as the B-side on the "Waltz #2 (XO)" single)
"The Enemy is You" (released as the B-side on the "Baby Britain" single)
"Cecilia/Amanda"
"A Silver Chain"
"Going Nowhere"
"Taking a Fall"
"Tom's Start" (later renamed and rerecorded as "Happiness", which was included on Smith's next album, Figure 8)

The title of the first track, "Sweet Adeline", was inspired by Smith's recollections of his grandmother singing in her glee club, Sweet Adelines International. [1]
"Amity", or at least the title, was most likely inspired by Smith's girlfriend of the same name.^{[citation needed]}
Smith performed "Waltz #2" October 17, 1998 on Saturday Night Live.
"Waltz #2" was inspired about a specific memory from Elliott's childhood watching his mother and stepfather at a karaoke bar in Texas. The first draft of the song contained the nakedly personal lyrics "I love you, mom."^{[citation needed]}
A sampling of the opening "Ahhhhhhh" of "I Didn't Understand" is prominently featured in RJD2's song "Ghostwriter" from the album Deadringer.
"Miss Misery," written by Smith for the soundtrack to fellow Portlander Gus Van Sant's film Good Will Hunting, appears as track 15 on Japanese pressings.
The title of the fifth track, "Pitseleh," means "little one" in Yiddish.