XO (album)

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XO
Studio album by Elliott Smith
Released	August 25, 1998
Recorded	1997-1998 at Sunset Sound, Sound Factory, Ocean Way, and Sonara in Los Angeles, California except for "Amity" recorded at jackpot! in Portland, Oregon
Genre	Indie rock
Length	44:46
Label	DreamWorks Records
Producer(s)	Tom Rothrock Rob Schnapf Elliott Smith
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Pitchfork (8.5/10) 1 Sep 98 Robert Christgau (hon mention *) link Rolling Stone 12 Aug 98
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.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Additional musicians 3 Outtakes, B-sides, non-album tracks 4 Other songs from this era 5 Miscellanea 6 External links

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Elliott Smith.

1. "Sweet Adeline" – 3:15
2. "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" – 3:07
3. "Waltz #2 (XO)" – 4:40
4. "Baby Britain" – 3:13
5. "Pitseleh" – 3:22
6. "Independence Day" – 3:04
7. "Bled White" – 3:22
8. "Waltz #1" – 3:22
9. "Amity" – 2:20
10. "Oh Well, Okay" – 2:33
11. "Bottle Up and Explode!" – 2:58
12. "A Question Mark" – 2:41
13. "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" – 4:25
14. "I Didn't Understand" – 2:17

[edit] Additional musicians

• 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!"
• Bruce Eskovitz - Bass saxophone, Baritone saxophone, and flute
• Ray Poper - Trumpet
• R. James Atkinson - French Horn

[edit] Outtakes, B-sides, non-album tracks

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

• "The Enemy is You" (Featured on the "Baby Britain" single)
• "How to Take a Fall" (Featured on the "Waltz #2 (XO)" single)
• "Our Thing" (Featured on the "Waltz #2 (XO)" single)

• "A Silver Chain"
• "Brand New Game"
• "Cecilia/Amanda"
• "First Timer" (later renamed and re-recorded as "From a Poison Well")
• "Taking a Fall"
• An instrumental, title unknown.

[edit] Other songs from this era

The following songs were played live, mentioned in interviews, or may have been worked on during this era:

• "Have You Seen Her?"
• "Tom's Start" (later renamed and rerecorded as "Happiness", which was included on Smith's next album, Figure 8)
• "Unlucky Charm"

[edit] Miscellanea

• 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 inspired by Smith's friend 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 Smith'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," along with a sample of Smith's vocalizing from the same song, 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.

[edit] External links

• Sweet Adeline: The Official Elliott Smith website
• The Official Elliott Smith online store
• XO on Amazon.com
• ElliottSmith.com
• Trash Treasury - Download hub and webforum; largest collection of live recordings on the web.