His struggles with drugs and mental illness affected his life and work, and often appeared in his lyrics. Smith was a heavy drinker and drug user, and was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression. Smith rose to mainstream prominence when his song ' Miss Misery'-included in the soundtrack for the film Good Will Hunting(1997)-was nominated for the 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 1997, he signed a contract with DreamWorks Records, for which he recorded his final two albums. He had a distinctive vocal style, characterized by his 'whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery', and often used multi-tracking to create vocal layers, textures, and harmonies.Īfter playing in the rock band Heatmiser for several years, Smith began his solo career in 1994, with releases on the independent record labels Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars (KRS). Smith's primary instrument was the guitar, though he also played piano, clarinet, bass guitar, drums, and harmonica. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he gained popularity. Food for thought.Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. My copy of Roman Candle from around 2017 is every bit as phenomenal as this pressing.

There are too many variations and Kill Rockstars has always been an excellent steward of the Elliott Smith they own and what they release. Personally, unless the seller was able to convince me or show proof that what they have is before 2002 I would not seek these copies out.

This record has never really gone out of print and it looks like there are many variations but some of them have clues as to when they were pressed. My pressing sounds phenomenal all these years later, still looks glossy with faint scuff marks, no pops, clicks, surface noise, no wear on cover and I’ve played the holy hell out of it. Pretty sure I paid $12-$14 so I’ll be expecting a refund from the Record Exchange in Boise Idaho. S/T and Either Or are listed for $9 on the insert. It has canary yellow labels, doesn’t feel like 180g but close, has glossy black lyric sheet with white lettering, matches these matrix numbers, has 6808.2 lightly scratched out and an insert for Kill Rockstars 2000 releases and what they have planned for 2001.

Elliott smith either or youtube