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Elliott Smith : Either/Or
© Kill Rock Stars 1997
Either/Or, released on Kill Rock Stars label, came out in 1997 to favorable reviews. The album found Smith venturing even further into full instrumentation, with several songs containing bass, drums, keyboards and electric guitars, all of which were played by Smith. Most consider this album to be his last purely "indie" release.
Smith's backing band during this period was the Portland-based group Quasi, consisting of former bandmate Sam Coomes on bass guitar and his then-wife, Janet Weiss (of Sleater-Kinney fame), on drums.
The title of the record is derived from the two-volume book of the same name, written by Danish author Søren Kierkegaard. It deals with such themes as despair, dread, death, and God. His decision to borrow the book's title reflected Smith's interest in philosophy, a subject he studied intensely during his college years.
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Elliott Smith : XO
Rock / Folk / Alternative
In 1998, after the success of Either/Or and "Miss Misery", Smith signed to DreamWorks Records. Smith's first release for the label was later that year. Titled XO, it would become the top-selling album of his career. Produced by the team of Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock, it also contained some instrumentation from well-known Los Angeles musicians Joey Waronker and Jon Brion.