From a Basement on the Hill

Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill
Critic Score
Based on 22 reviews
2004 Ratings: #15 / 458
User Score
Based on 653 ratings
2004 Rank: #54
Liked by 132 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Tiny Mix Tapes
If you're not moved in some way, you don't move.
100
Alternative Press

Every track on Basement is a highlight.

100
The Guardian
You are drawn to the conclusion that these songs would be remarkable regardless of the circumstances in which they were written.
91
SPIN
Smith's intentions cry out from the album's every discordant corner--he clearly wanted to test himself, to unhinge parts of his sound.
91
Entertainment Weekly

The record is strong and radiant, if not always upbeat ... One of the best he ever made.

90
AllMusic

While it's likely that From a Basement is cleaner than what Smith and McConnell intended, it is much sparer than Figure 8, and it feels at once more adventurous, confident, and warmer than its predecessor.

90
NME
While this is clearly not the record Smith intended to make, it's still an immensely gripping and cohesive piece of work.
90
Under the Radar
There is a certain confidence inherent in these tracks, as if Smith had finally proven to himself that he didn't need to try to outdo The Beatles in his arrangements.
88
Coke Machine Glow

The album is, in short, phenomenal. It certainly doesn’t match the beauty and heartbreak of Either/Or (1997), but it manages to recapture the spirit of that record while properly articulating the orchestration that Elliott had been working with for Figure 8 and XO (1998).

80
Q Magazine
This is largely intense, liberated stuff.
80
Mojo
As ever, his chord changes and arrangements betray an inventiveness seemingly borne of brilliant instinct.
80
Uncut

From A Basement… returns us to the more unfiltered, denuded sound of his earlier Kill Rock Stars records.

80
Drowned in Sound

That makes From A Basement On The Hill the most fitting of testaments – a flawed, courageous, beautiful and intimately human portrait of the self. Simple, sweet, melodic songs about the heart. Where it hurts. And the hope that things will get better.

72
Pitchfork

The most disheartening thing about From a Basement on the Hill is its plainness-- it's neither a perfect record (and not one of Smith's best) nor the kind of colossal disaster that could be angrily pinned on money-hungry handlers and desperate fans.

70
Rolling Stone
This is an album about the seductions of oblivion, and a few of the more densely arranged songs mimic the characters in the lyrics, stumbling around without quite connecting.
70
No Ripcord
The good news is that there is no real filler on the album, but this uniformity of quality equates to an album where every song is good, but where few are really great.
70
Paste
A fitting farewell to a distinctive voice silenced too early.
mike_drop
60

Elliott Smith - 6/7

Although I definitely think that Elliott would've managed to round the project out nicely if he'd had the time to, I'm pestered by an unshakable feeling that "From a Basement on the Hill" would've still been a low point in his discography for me even if it weren't posthumously released.

Honestly, I just don't get nearly as much from this record as I do from the others. Save for a couple songs, I rarely connect with its lyrics the way I did so easily with ... read more

grave
69

~ELLIOTT SMITH DEEP DIVE 6/7~

Elliott’s most underwhelming record. This was a posthumous release, but that has really nothing to do with this record being his weakest. It mostly has to do with the production and writing.

First of all, the production feels kind of messy. A lot of the instrumentals on here don’t mix that well, with them kind of clashing in a weird way. And the whole thing sounds mucky and not that well polished. However it's not that much of a glaring issue if you ... read more

Doofy
89

Even disregarding the fact this album was posthumously released it’s hard to shake the feeling that ‘From a Basement on the Hill’ would always have come across as an outlier among Smith’s canon - prior to this the beauty of his music painted him as passive and contemplative, even if his words often betrayed his ugly feelings.

Here the lyrics are more straightforward in their cynicism and the sounds are starting to mirror his inner turmoil all too closely. We’re ... read more

Control1477
90

This album is a very good send-off to a fantastic and creative musician. This album has, in my opinion, some of his best works, like King's Crossing and Twilight. I love this album and everything on it.

mawkerry
100

fav

Zidcy
83

Goodnight, Elliott.

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