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Track List
01) Roman Candle
02) Condor Ave.
03) No Name #1
04) No Name #2
05) No Name #3
06) Drive All Over Town
07) No Name #4
08) Last Call
09) Kiwi Maddog 20/20
01) Roman Candle
02) Condor Ave.
03) No Name #1
04) No Name #2
05) No Name #3
06) Drive All Over Town
07) No Name #4
08) Last Call
09) Kiwi Maddog 20/20
3:37
3:34
3:03
3:34
3:13
2:36
2:30
4:38
3:40
Data Complete
60%
Total Rating
60%Total Rating
(1 users)
Back Cover
CD Art
3D Case
3D Thumb
3D Flat
3D Face
3D Spine
First Released
1994
Acoustic
---
Rock/Pop
---
Slow
Album
0 copies
Album Description
Available in:
Roman Candle was Elliott Smith's debut album as a solo artist, released while he was still in Heatmiser. The album has a raw, homemade sound, with Smith playing each instrument and recording it on his four-track recorder.
The album was never intended for release, as Smith only expected to get a deal for a seven-inch record, however, after his manager played the album for Cavity Search Records, they immediately requested permission to release it in its entirety. Smith at first hesitated, and then allowed permission.
On April 6, 2010, Roman Candle was re released and remastered by Larry Crane, but the original mixes by Elliott Smith remained intact.
User Album Review
In a 1998 interview with Magnet Magazine, Elliott Smith posited the idea that “music is worth doing just because”. Admittedly taken out of context, these words nevertheless encapsulate almost everything the late singer stood for: the solace he found in creating and recording his songs, and the joy he derived from playing them.
Given the breadth and quality of his discography, it is easy to forget that Smith’s career as a solo artist was never a premeditated one. Rather, the nine songs that comprise debut album Roman Candle were presented to a small independent label as little more than a glorified demo, and even then only due to the goading of his girlfriend at the time. Recorded on a four-track machine in his basement and likely gestated for the most part while on the road with Heatmiser, they were never expressly intended for anyone’s ears other than Smith’s own – a factor certainly borne out in their deeply personal themes.
This reissue is the result of his friend and archivist Larry Crane performing an unobtrusive remastering of those original cuts with Roger Seibel of SAE Mastering, and you can’t help but feel that any ire aimed their way by some of the hardcore Smith contingent has been sorely misguided. The creak of fingers sliding down the fretboard, the sound of bum notes and hissing reels: all these things indelibly remain. To over-contemplate its reissue on purely technical terms would be a mistake, as well as a disservice.
Smith tangibly seethes as he delivers the title-track’s central lyric, painting a picture of domestic abuse that crops up throughout the remainder. It is a vivid, brave song with which to open an album (not least a career) and like many here, it’s rendered all the more poignant by his tragic, untimely demise. But alongside this bleakness lies compassion, and its central salvo of unnamed tracks illustrates his gift for marrying the clearest, most beautiful melodies to darker subtexts.
If music is worth doing “just because”, it is worth listening to because of musicians like Elliott Smith. Which isn’t to say that Roman Candle is his best or most defining work – although uniformly strong, he would go on to write better-realised songs and fuller, more satisfying albums. But this remains a searingly honest and decisive collection. As a genesis of exceptional talent it is flawless, and heartbreakingly so.
External Album Reviews
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User Comments
Available in:
Roman Candle was Elliott Smith's debut album as a solo artist, released while he was still in Heatmiser. The album has a raw, homemade sound, with Smith playing each instrument and recording it on his four-track recorder.
The album was never intended for release, as Smith only expected to get a deal for a seven-inch record, however, after his manager played the album for Cavity Search Records, they immediately requested permission to release it in its entirety. Smith at first hesitated, and then allowed permission.
On April 6, 2010, Roman Candle was re released and remastered by Larry Crane, but the original mixes by Elliott Smith remained intact.
User Album Review
In a 1998 interview with Magnet Magazine, Elliott Smith posited the idea that “music is worth doing just because”. Admittedly taken out of context, these words nevertheless encapsulate almost everything the late singer stood for: the solace he found in creating and recording his songs, and the joy he derived from playing them.
Given the breadth and quality of his discography, it is easy to forget that Smith’s career as a solo artist was never a premeditated one. Rather, the nine songs that comprise debut album Roman Candle were presented to a small independent label as little more than a glorified demo, and even then only due to the goading of his girlfriend at the time. Recorded on a four-track machine in his basement and likely gestated for the most part while on the road with Heatmiser, they were never expressly intended for anyone’s ears other than Smith’s own – a factor certainly borne out in their deeply personal themes.
This reissue is the result of his friend and archivist Larry Crane performing an unobtrusive remastering of those original cuts with Roger Seibel of SAE Mastering, and you can’t help but feel that any ire aimed their way by some of the hardcore Smith contingent has been sorely misguided. The creak of fingers sliding down the fretboard, the sound of bum notes and hissing reels: all these things indelibly remain. To over-contemplate its reissue on purely technical terms would be a mistake, as well as a disservice.
Smith tangibly seethes as he delivers the title-track’s central lyric, painting a picture of domestic abuse that crops up throughout the remainder. It is a vivid, brave song with which to open an album (not least a career) and like many here, it’s rendered all the more poignant by his tragic, untimely demise. But alongside this bleakness lies compassion, and its central salvo of unnamed tracks illustrates his gift for marrying the clearest, most beautiful melodies to darker subtexts.
If music is worth doing “just because”, it is worth listening to because of musicians like Elliott Smith. Which isn’t to say that Roman Candle is his best or most defining work – although uniformly strong, he would go on to write better-realised songs and fuller, more satisfying albums. But this remains a searingly honest and decisive collection. As a genesis of exceptional talent it is flawless, and heartbreakingly so.
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