Compared to Nick Drake this guy just seems like a hack, especially when listening to his lyrics.
Is XO really his best work?
Compared to Nick Drake this guy just seems like a hack, especially when listening to his lyrics
Nathan Anderson
Ayden Gray
I always thought exactly the same thing but would never say it in public.
Cameron Robinson
not if you have any sense of melody like at all lol
youtu.be
Blake Brown
No hes best work is Either/Or.
Isaiah Watson
Nick Drake was a British public school and Cambridge-educated former rugby player who happened to suffer from depression. He was an ultra-chad from an established solid middle class English family. Elliott Smith was also a depressive chad, but he didn't come from such good stock and overall culture. It's as simple as that.
Justin Gomez
>5'9
>ugly
fucking kek, Elliot is a great musician but he's no Chad.
Andrew Gray
Roman Candle is his best album.
I don't really think Nick Drake is a great comparison. If anything he's more similar to James Taylor, but Elliott's voice was never as pleasing and his music rarely as catchy, if ever.
And let's be honest, his albums suffer from bloat. He really should have condensed his ideas better into fewer songs.
Wyatt Collins
>James Taylor
Is he worth getting into? I recently finished almost all of Nick Drakes songs and I need a new guitarist to worship/study for a while. Elliot just isn't doing it for me.
Asher Russell
>XO
Nah. Most peeps say it's Either/Or, then some say s/t, then a minor group says Roman Candle.
Smith's guitar playing isn't on the level of Drake's, but he makes up for it with lyrics that are more direct than abstract, a more melodic/unique approach to vocals, and having more than one record with varying arrangements.
That being said, I don't really listen to either these days. Smith sounds too indie for me and I just about sick of the laidback indie sound, while Drake doesn't scratch the itch for guitarwork the way classical and jazz guitar does for me these days.
Jeremiah Gomez
Any guitarist recs?
Colton Bailey
Post GOAT Elliott songs
youtube.com
youtube.com
Bentley Jones
>I need a new guitarist to worship/study for a while
I'm not sure JT is your guy, although you should definitely hear the Sweet Baby James album at least a couple times. He's a proficient, high-fidelity folk guitarist but you may not learn a shitload from him. In the long run you may be better off diving into Neil Young and Van Morrison.
Michael Turner
I really like Elliots lyrics. His words and patterns express feelings in a song that would be more difficult or uncomfortable to say in a plainer fashion. The melody feels integral to the lyrics, and imo that's formula for great pop music.
Roman Candle is his second best. Either/or I could listen to forever.
Well put, but I hope you can come back to both of those artists sometime in the future. I've had phases were I got tired of them but I always come back
Easton Gonzalez
American Football might be a meme around here but Mike Kinsella is a great guitar player
check out Owen (even though he isn't the best vocally)
Ethan Watson
>american football tuning and tapping
Fuck I totally forgot about that, maybe I should get into this next. Not too much into emo though
John Rogers
Luke Johnson
>classical
John Williams (recommend obviously starting with the piece Asturias, then afterward start getting into interpretations of Bach's stuff by any guitarist since classical requires just technical chops from performer not unique style)
>jazz
Grant Green (recommend starting with Idle Moments)
Dennis Sandole (recommend starting with Modern Music From Philadelphia it's kinda tough to find but there's a link in the archives)
Sonny Sharrock (recommend starting with either Ask The Ages or the OST to Space Ghost Coast To Coast)
Derek Bailey (recommend starting with Iskra 1903)
>folk?
John Fahey (recommend starting with America particularly the track Mark 1:15)
>noisy minimalism stuff
Glenn Branca (recommend starting with The Ascension; helps to listen to music at highest possible volume and knowing how overtones work)
Jack Murphy
Thank you so much man
Ryder Cooper
I think part of the problem is you're looking at it from a more technical standpoint, and Elliott Smith's gift was his really organic style and blunt/simple lyrics that carried a whole lot of meaning.
And desu, it's a trope, but his drug abuse makes a lot of the stuff he's singing about really relatable to some people.
Adam Lewis
agreed
Kevin Russell
youtube.com
His S/T is his best imo. But there's something for everyone.
David Rivera
No, he doesn't. They both have unique combinations of strengths and they're both great artists.
Elliott Smith is less unique than Nick Drake, but that's because Nick Drake is one of the most unique artists who has ever existed. In my opinion, uniqueness and the profundity of what is being expressed is not part of the same domain as technical ability. If you agree with that, then Elliott was, on a technical level, a better musician, lyricist, and composer on every level, and he's still quite unique.