Elliott Smith: Figure 8 (2LP)

Figure 8 is the last album Elliott Smith completed in his lifetime. It shows how the former lo-fi songwriter turned to pop - and to stunning effect. "I liked the idea of a self-contained, endless pursuit of perfection," Elliott Smith told the Boston Herald in May 2000, a month after the release of Figure 8. "But I have a problem with perfection," he added. "I don't think perfection is very artful." Not that that stopped him from pursuing it. Smith began his solo career in a basement, where he recorded the demo tape that eventually became his debut album, Roman Candle; from then on, each new album of his sounded more polished and artful than the last. With XO - his fourth album and first on a major label - he struck a delicate balance between understated simplicity and studio splendor. And then he took another step toward studio splendor. Figure 8 was released on April 18, 2000, Smith's fifth album and the last he completed in his lifetime. It marked the moment when he fully exploited the possibilities of a proper studio and a major label budget in his quest for the perfect pop record. Depending on how you look at it, it's either his creative peak or the outlier in his discography. The acoustic framework of his songs, which would have stood on their own on an album like Elliott Smith or Either/Or, has now been beefed up with electric guitars, pianos and strings. Except for the strings and a few drum and bass parts, Smith recorded everything on the album himself.