XO (Elliott Smith album)

XO
Studio album by Elliott Smith
Released	August 25, 1998
Recorded	1997–1998
Studio	Sunset Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, California The Sound Factory, Los Angeles Ocean Way Recording, Los Angeles Sonora Studio, Los Angeles Jackpot! Recording Studio, Portland, Oregon[1]
Genre	Indie folk[2] art pop[3] baroque pop[4]
Length	44:46
Label	DreamWorks
Producer	Elliott Smith Rob Schnapf Tom Rothrock
Elliott Smith chronology
Either/Or (1997) XO (1998) Figure 8 (2000)
Singles from XO
"Waltz #2 (XO)" Released: September 21, 1998[5] "Baby Britain" Released: April 19, 1999[6]

XO is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was recorded from 1997 to 1998 and released on August 25, 1998 by record label DreamWorks; Smith's first solo album on a major record label. Two singles, "Waltz #2 (XO)" and "Baby Britain", were released.

Recording[]

Early sessions for the album began at Larry Crane's Jackpot Recording Studio after the release of Either/Or in 1997. These sessions would yield early demos of several album tracks, as well as outtakes later released posthumously on New Moon. Work began in earnest on the album in early 1998, after Smith traveled to Los Angeles to work with producers Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock. An early working title for the album was Grand Mal.^[7]

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.^[8] "Amity" is believed to be named after a friend who can be seen in photographs from Smith's 1997 tour.^[9] "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" is based on a true story of an intervention that saw Smith check into a rehab facility in Arizona. Smith's original lyrics bear this out further, with references to 'the desert', a 'dream-killing doctor', and a 'twelve-stepping cop'.

Release[]

XO was released by DreamWorks Records on August 25, 1998. It was Smith's first solo record on a major record label, though he had previously released music on a major label with his band Heatmiser's final album, Mic City Sons (1996).

Singles released from the album were "Waltz #2 (XO)" in the same year^[10] and "Baby Britain" the following year.^[11]

Reception[]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
The Baltimore Sun	[13]
Entertainment Weekly	B[14]
Houston Chronicle	[15]
Los Angeles Times	[16]
NME	7/10[17]
Pitchfork	8.5/10[18]
Rolling Stone	[19]
Select	4/5[20]
Spin	8/10[21]

XO was well received by critics upon its release. Mark Richardson of Pitchfork wrote, "Smith's songwriting continues to improve, as each of [the album's] fourteen tracks displays his inarguable mastery of the pop song structure more clearly than ever."^[18] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a one-star honorable mention rating, indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like". His review described the album's music as "high tune, low affect," citing "Waltz #2 (XO)" and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" as highlights.^[22] XO placed at number five on The Village Voice's 1998 end-of-year Pazz & Jop poll.^[23]

In its retrospective review, BBC Music wrote, "the budget might have gone up, but Smith's masterful way with an understated melody and melancholic lyric remained firmly intact", calling XO "perhaps the greatest long-player Smith released; if not, it's certainly the equal of the preceding Either/Or. Repeat listens don't dull it in the slightest, every barbed one-liner and exhalation of despair perfectly preserved".^[24] Trouser Press called the record "a tastefully commercialized production (completely with horns and strings) that respects Smith's privacy and, in fact, does him a solid service. [...] If the songs are not the most profound or developed of Smith's catalogue, it's still a great record that proves how durable integrity can be."^[25]

Legacy[]

In 2010, Spin magazine placed XO at number 90 on its list of the 125 best albums in the magazine's lifetime.^[26] Pitchfork Media placed the album at number 68 in their list of the greatest albums of the 1990s.^[27]

Matthew LeMay has written a book about XO as part of the 33⅓ series of books on albums, released on April 6, 2009 by the Continuum International Publishing Group.

RJD2 sampled "I Didn't Understand" on the song "Ghostwriter" on his album Deadringer. Indie rock band Grandaddy performed "Oh Well, Okay" live in 2012 as a tribute to Smith.^[28]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Elliott Smith.

No.	Title	Length
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

Japanese CD edition bonus track^[29]

No.	Title	Length
15.	"Miss Misery"	3:09

French CD edition bonus tracks^[30]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Our Thing"	3:00
2.	"How to Take a Fall"	2:52
3.	"Some Song"	2:09

Personnel[]

• Elliott Smith – guitar, vocals, piano, bass guitar, drums, organ, mandolin, electric piano, melodica, percussion, string and horn arrangements, record producer, recording (all tracks except 4 and 9)

Additional personnel

Technical

Charts[]

Album[]

Chart (1998)	Peak position
Swedish Albums Chart	41[31]
US Billboard 200	104[32]
Chart (1999)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Charts	46[33]

Singles[]

Year	Single	Peak positions
		UK
1998	"Waltz #2 (XO)"	52[11]
1999	"Baby Britain"	55[11]

Certifications[]

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[34]	Silver	60,000*
United States (RIAA)[36]	none	400,000[35]
* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References[]

Further reading[]

• LeMay, Matthew (2009). Elliott Smith's XO. 33⅓. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 0826429009.

External links[]

• XO at Discogs (list of releases)