| Roman Candle | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 14, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | Late 1993 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 30:28 | |||
| Label | Cavity Search | |||
| Producer | Elliott Smith | |||
| Elliott Smith chronology | ||||
| ||||
Roman Candle is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was recorded in late 1993 and released on July 14, 1994, by record label Cavity Search.
Roman Candle was recorded and released while Smith was still in Heatmiser. According to Benjamin Nugent's biography Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing , Smith recorded the album in the basement of the home of then-girlfriend and Heatmiser manager JJ Gonson.
The album was never intended for release, as Smith only expected to get a deal for a 7-inch single; however, after Gonson played the album for Cavity Search, they immediately requested permission to release it in its entirety. Smith at first hesitated, and then allowed permission. [1]
The album has a raw, homemade sound, with Smith playing each instrument and recording it on his four-track recorder. [2] Additionally, he used a Shure SM57 and an inexpensive RadioShack dynamic microphone to capture the sound.
The song Condor Ave may refer to an avenue of the same name in Homestead, Portland, Oregon.
The front cover features a photograph of Neil Gust (of Heatmiser) and friend Amy Dalsimer, taken by Gonson. Smith chose the image because he "liked the way the picture looked as a 'piece of art'". [1]
Roman Candle was released on July 14, 1994.
Roman Candle was reissued on April 6, 2010, by record label Kill Rock Stars. It was remastered by Larry Crane, with the original mixes by Smith remaining intact. On the official press release on Sweetadeline.net, Crane said of the remaster:
The intention that I had was to make the album more listenable. I felt that a lot of the guitar "squeaks" were jarring and very loud, and that many of the hard consonants and "s" sounds were jarring and scratchy sounding. I felt by reducing these noises that the music would become more inviting and the sound would serve the songs better. When I went to Roger Seibel's SAE Mastering, he proceeded to equalize the tracks a small amount and to make the volume slightly louder. We never tried to make this CD as loud as current, over-limited trends, but just to match the volume of the rest of Elliott's KRS catalog in a graceful way. Please note that none of this album is "remixed" from the master tapes – it is still composed of the mixes Elliott created himself. [3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| American Songwriter | [4] |
| Consequence of Sound | [5] |
| The Guardian | [6] |
| The Irish Times | [7] |
| NME | 6/10 [8] |
| Pitchfork | 7.8/10 [9] |
| Record Collector | [10] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [11] |
| Uncut | [12] |
According to Nugent, the initial response to Roman Candle was mixed, with some passing it off as being derivative of Simon & Garfunkel. [1] The Rocket wrote that "Smith conveys an all-too convincing anguish, noble, credible and alluring in its understatement." [13]
Roman Candle has since been well received by critics. In its retrospective review, BBC Music opined that the album "remains a searingly honest and decisive collection. As a genesis of exceptional talent it is flawless, and heartbreakingly so." [14] Consequence of Sound called the album "far from a genius effort, but nonetheless an important solo performance pointing towards where his many strengths and few weaknesses as a singer and songwriter were." [5] Pitchfork has described the album's musical style as "lo-fi folk". [15]
All tracks are written by Elliott Smith, except "No Name #1", written by Smith and JJ Gonson
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Roman Candle" | 3:37 |
| 2. | "Condor Ave" | 3:34 |
| 3. | "No Name #1" | 3:03 |
| 4. | "No Name #2" | 3:34 |
| 5. | "No Name #3" | 3:13 |
| 6. | "Drive All Over Town" | 2:36 |
| 7. | "No Name #4" | 2:30 |
| 8. | "Last Call" | 4:38 |
| 9. | "Kiwi Maddog 20/20" | 3:40 |
Steven Paul Smith, known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he gained popularity. Smith's primary instrument was the guitar, though he also played piano, clarinet, bass guitar, drums, and harmonica. He had a distinctive vocal style in his solo career after Heatmiser, characterized by his "whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery", and often used multi-tracking to create vocal layers, textures, and harmonies that were usually finger picked and recorded with tape.
Heatmiser was an American rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in October 1991. Consisting of Elliott Smith, Neil Gust, Brandt Peterson and Tony Lash (drums), they were known for their well-crafted lyrics and songs often featuring the juxtaposition of melancholic and cheery words and melodies. The pop-oriented songs of Elliott Smith were a contrast to the darker songs of Neil Gust, while both Smith's and Gust's songs touched on subjects such as anger, alienation, loneliness and despair.
Either/Or is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Either/Or was recorded in several locations, mostly in Portland, Oregon – while Smith was still a member of Heatmiser – and was produced by Smith, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. Either/Or was released on February 25, 1997, on the Kill Rock Stars record label, following Heatmiser's dissolution. Book-ended by its two singles, "Speed Trials" and "Ballad of Big Nothing", Either/Or did not chart in the US, but was acclaimed by critics.
XO is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was recorded from 1997 to 1998 and released on August 25, 1998, by record label DreamWorks; Smith's first solo album on a major record label. Two singles, "Waltz #2 (XO)" and "Baby Britain", were released.
Elliott Smith is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was recorded from late 1994 to early 1995, and released on July 21, 1995, through Kill Rock Stars, his first album on the label. It was preceded by the single "Needle in the Hay", released in early January 1995.
From a Basement on the Hill is the sixth and final studio album by the American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Recorded from 2000 to 2003, and faced with multiple delays due to Smith's personal problems that resulted in his death, it was released posthumously in the UK and Europe on Domino on October 18, 2004, and in the US the following day on October 19, 2004, through record label Anti-, almost a year after his death.
Figure 8 is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, and the final studio album released during his lifetime. It was recorded from 1998 to 2000 at numerous studios and released on April 18, 2000, through DreamWorks Records. Preceded by the singles "Happiness" and "Son of Sam", Figure 8 was Smith's second release on a major label.
Samuel J. Coomes is an American musician, and one half of the indie band Quasi, along with his ex-wife, drummer Janet Weiss. Coomes was also a member of the mid-1980s underground pop band The Donner Party and replaced Brandt Peterson as the bassist for the 1990s Portland indie rock band Heatmiser, playing on their final studio album, Mic City Sons.
"Pretty (Ugly Before)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was released as a limited-edition 7" vinyl single in 2003 by record label Suicide Squeeze, Smith's final single released during his lifetime. It was later re-released by Domino in 2004, and appeared on Smith's posthumous final album, From a Basement on the Hill.
Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. He was the co-producer of Elliott Smith's albums Either/Or, XO, Figure 8 and From a Basement on the Hill, for which he was recruited by Smith's family to complete after Smith's death.
Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing is a biography of musician Elliott Smith by Benjamin Nugent. It was published by Da Capo Press on October 30, 2004, just past the one-year anniversary of Smith's death. The book contains interviews with two of the musician's producers, Rob Schnapf and David McConnell, and friends such as Pete Krebs, and Bill Santen, but does not contain any original interviews with Smith, his family or his close friends.
Cop and Speeder is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Heatmiser, released in 1994 by record label Frontier.
The discography of Elliott Smith, an American singer-songwriter, consists of six studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums and eleven singles.
Dead Air is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Heatmiser. It was released in 1993 on Frontier Records.
Yellow No. 5 is an EP by American alternative rock band Heatmiser, released in 1994 by record label Frontier between the albums Dead Air (1993) and Cop and Speeder (1994).
No. 2 is an American indie rock band that originated in Portland, Oregon in 1996 and consisting of Neil Gust, Gilly Ann Hanner and Paul Pulvirenti (drums).
No Memory is the debut studio album by American indie rock band No. 2, released in 1999 by record label Chainsaw.
New Moon is a posthumous compilation album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, released on May 8, 2007 by Kill Rock Stars. It contains twenty-four previously unreleased songs, most recorded between 1994 and 1997 during the sessions for Smith's albums Elliott Smith and Either/Or.
Jessica Lea Mayfield is an American singer-songwriter from Kent, Ohio, United States. She is known for her ominous song writing, with a plaintive minimalist style that draws on both country and rock music.
Suffer This: A Compilation of Boston's Backwash was a collaboration of five Boston punk\post punk\noise rock bands in the late 1980s. The five bands include The Five, Hullabaloo, Slaughter Shack, Hectic Heyday and Feeding Frenzy.
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.
