XO (album)

Professional reviews
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
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.

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

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

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"

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.