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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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New Moon
by Elliott Smith
The twin-CD set 'New Moon' compiles two dozen rare tracks recorded by the late singer-songwriter from 1994-1997.
| LABEL: |
Kill Rock Stars |
| RELEASE DATE: |
08 May 2007 |
| DISCS: |
2 discs |
| GENRE(S): |
Indie, Rock |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
The Onion (A.V. Club)
New Moon is thankfully, wonderfully full.
100
Entertainment Weekly
Moon's two cohesive CDs prove as emotionally powerful as anything in his catalog. [1 Jun 2007, p.68]
100
Uncut
While what was lost with Smith is immeasurable, what he left was amazing, and New Moon is an appropriately spectacular monument. [Jun 2007, p.112]
94
Filter
New Moon is Smith at his musical best: quiet, humble, and most of all, honest. [#25, p.96]
87
Pitchfork
Phrases like "rare talent" are thrown around all the time these days, but this compilation makes painfully clear just how unique and valuable this music is.
85
Prefix Magazine
What makes New Moon succeed is something similar to what Shakespeare gets at in many of his sonnets: the ability of art to beat death.
85
cokemachineglow
The 24 songs... are characteristically and uniformly excellent.
83
Stylus Magazine
You’d hardly expect songs as strong as these to be in anyone’s wastebasket, but with only a few exceptions the material assembled here is just as, if not more, intimate and honest as anything on those proper albums.
80
Rolling Stone
As a whole, the collection is as indispensable as Either/Or. [31 May 2007, p.96]
80
All Music Guide
Though some of the songs here, especially the earlier ones, can be quite simple, even raw at times, there's a sad, clean sweetness that comes through despite the occasional bit of tape hiss, of tinny chords.
80
Dot Music
That every track here reinforces that memory of him makes it an unexpectedly fitting tribute.
80
The Guardian
The albums Smith released before his probable suicide in 2003 had a bruised, fragile quality, and these sparse songs... are no different.
80
Spin
The strongest [tracks]... get to Smith's best impulse: a willingness to find the innocence in life. [May 2007, p.94]
80
Boston Globe
Far from a compilation of rough mixes and rejects, any of the songs on this disc -- as spare in sound as they are elegant in form -- would have fit beautifully on a mid-'90s Elliott Smith album.
80
musicOMH.com
What we ultimately get with New Moon feels in part like a Best Of retrospective, but also in part a surreptitious and rather voyeuristic peek at Smith's innermost workings and thoughts.
80
PopMatters
Now it is also clear that Smith joins rank amongst the likes of Pavement or the Clash with a perfectionist ability to craft delightful “throw-away” tracks.
80
Under The Radar
As hope, there are revealing looks at Smith's developments as a writer. [#17, p.87]
80
Blender
New Moon sounds less like a pile of outtakes than an official album released in a parallel universe.
80
Observer Music Monthly
Smith's trademark combination of breathy - almost whispered - vocals, deceptively resilient acoustic melodies, and sombrely introspective lyrics, is shown off to sufficiently good advantage here to make New Moon a worthy companion piece to 1995's Elliott Smith and 1997's Either/Or.
80
New York Magazine
There is nothing tentative or unpolished about any of these songs.
80
Drowned In Sound
As fan-boy pleasing as this is, and as great as some of the songs are, it still feels a little like sneaking a peek at a director’s first draft, or rummaging through a scribbly, discarded diary.
78
Austin Chronicle
New Moon is a near yearbook, a simple reminder of the talent and fruition of Steven Paul Smith, friend, comedian, and one of the greatest songwriters of this generation.
75
Hot Press
Despite their disparate origins this is no hotchpotch of leftovers and out-takes.
75
Los Angeles Times
It does reveal how thoughtful and meticulously pretty his songwriting was, even on his most intimate recordings.
70
Billboard
There are some real gems here. [12 May 2007]
70
Dusted Magazine
The results, though rarely the caliber of the albums that bookended this era, are a consistent delight.
70
New Musical Express
What this collection of songs from his mid-'90s creative purple patch shows is that few people in recent times have done sadness so exquisitely.
60
Paste Magazine
For diehard Elliott Smith fans, New Moon is an absolute must... For remaining listeners, it's merely instructive, sublime in parts but not solid enough or surprising enough or interesting enough, musically, to merit multiple listens. [May 2007, p.58]
60
NOW Magazine
Too few of the two dozen half-developed tracks here do justice to Smith's talent as a songwriter.
60
Tiny Mix Tapes
You can hear him trying to figure things out, and that’s the most lasting and vital aspect of New Moon.
The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 40 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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