Elliott Smith Roman Candle CD

elliott smith played in a few great rock bands before becoming a well known artist in his own right- in the mid nineties. the most notable of those bands was portland, oregons' heatmiser.in 1993, after releasing a scortching hot heatmiser 7" single on cavity search, elliotts' then girlfriend delivered a gorgeously sparse and hushed acoustic record of elliotts' 4-track "kitchen table" recordings to cavity search records - and they talked him into releasing it as "roman candle" in 1994.after several critically acclaimed cds and a spotlight in gus van sants' award winning "good will hunting" movie/soundtrack - elliott smith has become a household name headed for legendary status even before his 30th birthday!the future looks bright and the fans are coming from all points on the globe!

Personnel includes: Elliott Smith (vocals); Pete Krebs (snare drum); Kid Tulsa (snare, cymbal).
Personnel: Elliott Smith (vocals); Kid Tulsa (snare drum, cymbals).
Audio Mixers: Elliott Smith; Tony Lash.
Elliott Smith began his career like most aspiring musicians in the Northwestern states: putting in the requisite hours in a grunge band. Being a team player, however, is not Smith's forte. After those buzzy shows in the bars of Portland, OR, he would retreat backstage with his acoustic guitar and whisper his own quiet songs to himself. This album is his first attempt to record those songs, and they capture that feeling perfectly: a loner retreating from the noisy tension of life with others, finding solace in musical solitude. Roman Candle was, in fact, recorded in solitude on a four-track in a basement. Smith played all the instruments himself. He has said that he's always surprised when people call his songs "sad," because playing them always made him happy. You can hear that reclusive joy in the light bounce of the melodies and hushed harmonies (which recall Simon & Garfunkel). But his lyrics are haunted by the downbeat, drug-addled life from which he was retreating. For all their cryptic cleverness, there is a restless unhappiness in his fragmented stories of alienated urbanites. After that description, a reference to the definitive folk loner, Nick Drake, is inevitable. Smith's whispery vocals and able fingerpicking deserve the comparison. The highlight of Roman Candle is the title track. The quietly driving acoustic guitars and threatening bass create a disturbing portrait of a human time bomb, barely containing a seething and simmering undercurrent of bitterness. The rest of the album, by comparison, is pure sunlight. ~ Darryl Cater
In a world full of self-pitying shoegazer troubadours celebrated for their own misery, Elliot Smith stands apart from the pack. At the time of this release, who could have guessed that this unassuming songpoet, with his hushed songs of alienation and turmoil, would receive national attention in a few scant years? The seeds of greatness that Elliot Smith would soon achieve are prominent on ROMAN CANDLE, his first full-length release. From the opening title track, it is apparent that Smith is not your average sadcore moper. He may shy away from the gaze of the crowd, but there is a fiery defiance inherent in his songs that transcends self-pity. The all-acoustic, Nick Drake-like format here would in due time be replaced by full-on, Brian Wilson-influenced production, making it all the more endearing in retrospect.

Uncut (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 - "In precise, poetically natural language, to the squeaks of finger-picked guitar, he presents love as a series of crime scenes, emotional murders to investigate."