Figure 8 (album)

Figure 8
Studio album by Elliott Smith
Released	April 18, 2000 (2000-04-18)
Recorded	1999–2000 at Sunset Sound, Capitol Studios, Sonora Studios and Abbey Road Studios
Genre	Indie pop, indie folk, indie rock
Length	52:06
Label	DreamWorks
Producer	Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf, Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith chronology
XO (1998) Figure 8 (2000) From a Basement on the Hill (2004)
Singles from Figure 8
"Happiness" Released: February 8, 2000 "Son of Sam" Released: April 11, 2000

Figure 8 is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, recorded from 1999 to 2000 at numerous studios and released on April 18, 2000 through DreamWorks Records. Preceded by the singles "Happiness" and "Son of Sam", Figure 8 was Smith's second release on a major label.

Background

Figure 8 was recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, Sonora Studios in Los Angeles, Capitol Studios in Hollywood and Abbey Road Studios in London.^[1]

The title is thought to be taken from a song by Schoolhouse Rock!;^[2] Smith covered this song, but it did not make the final track listing. Regarding the album's title, Smith said this in a May 11, 2000 article in Boston Herald:

I liked the idea of a self-contained, endless pursuit of perfection. But I have a problem with perfection. I don't think perfection is very artful. But there's something I liked about the image of a skater going in this endless twisted circle that doesn't have any real endpoint. So the object is not to stop or arrive anywhere; it's just to make this thing as beautiful as they can.^[3]

Smith described the songs on the album as "more fragmented and dreamlike".^[4]

Cover photo

The Figure 8 wall on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles

The wall Smith stands in front of in Autumn de Wilde's photograph on the cover of the album exists in Los Angeles, and since his death it has become a memorial to him. It is located at 4334 W. Sunset Boulevard, which is a store by the name of Solutions Audio-Video Repair, just south of the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Fountain Avenue. It has at some stages been covered with written messages containing lyrics and personal messages to Smith, as well as displaying a stencil of Smith in order to mimic the photo on the album cover.^[5] It is regularly graffiti-ed over, followed by regular restorations from fans.^[6]

Release

The album's first single, "Happiness", was released on February 8, 2000. CMJ New Music Report wrote, "While the tune's production recalls the shimmer of XO, it possesses curiously upbeat energy atypical for Smith".^[7] This was followed by the album's second and final single, "Son of Sam", on April 11. A music video was released for "Son of Sam", directed by Autumn de Wilde.^[8]

Figure 8 was released on April 18.^[9] It peaked at number 99 on the Billboard 200.^[10]

The Japanese release of this album included Smith's cover of The Beatles' song "Because" and "Figure 8", an abridged cover of a Schoolhouse Rock! song.^[11]

The promotional CD for Figure 8 featured cover artwork by Mike Mills, director of Thumbsucker.^[12] Smith contributed songs to the Thumbsucker soundtrack.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[13]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[14]
The A.V. Club	favorable[15]
Mojo	[13]
NME	8/10[16]
Pitchfork	6.9/10[17]
Q	[13]
Rolling Stone	[18]
Trouser Press	favorable[19]

Figure 8 was well-received by critics. NME called it "Smith's best effort to date".^[16] Spin wrote, "The record is not a disappointment, it's a progression."^[13] The A.V. Club wrote, "Figure 8 is even better [than previous records], a strong collection of lush, densely arranged power-pop [...] and inimitably intimate ballads".^[15] AllMusic was more critical, writing, "Even if it is a very impressive statement overall, Figure 8 isn't quite the masterpiece it wants to be".^[14] Pitchfork, too, opined, "Figure 8, ultimately, isn't as good a record as XO or Either/Or, though the man's not out of the picture yet."^[17]

Accolades

In 2009, Pitchfork placed Figure 8 at number 190 on its list of the 200 greatest albums of the 2000s, noting, "Not quite as intimate as his earliest records and not quite brash and bombastic like its immediate predecessor, Figure 8 marks a subtle refinement of Smith's songwriting skills" and calling it "one of Smith's most accessible and enjoyable records".^[20] Rolling Stone placed it at number 42 on their list of the 100 greatest albums of the decade, calling it Smith's "haunted high-water mark".^[21]

Legacy

The indie rock band BOAT parodied the album's cover art, among several others, on its 2011 release Dress Like Your Idols.

"Somebody That I Used to Know" was played in the end credits to the True Blood season 5 episode of the same name.

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

Further reading

• Nugent, Benjamin (2004). Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81447-1. 

References

External links

• Figure 8 at Discogs (list of releases)