Elliott Smith’s ‘Figure 8’ Deluxe Edition Arrives on Vinyl
The 3LP set presents the album at 45 RPM, with seven bonus tracks on its third disc.
A 25th anniversary deluxe edition of Elliott Smith’s Figure 8 is available on vinyl for the first time. The 3LP black vinyl set runs at 45 RPM, with the album’s original 16 tracks across the first two discs and seven bonus tracks on the third. Ryan Smith cut the lacquers at Sterling Sound.
The bonus disc collects songs and alternate versions previously issued on singles, promotional releases and international editions. It includes Smith’s cover of the “Schoolhouse Rock!” theme “Figure 8,” the B-side “A Living Will,” and three songs from the rare French promo 3 Titres Inédits: “I Can’t Answer You Anymore,” “Pretty Mary K (Alternate Version)” and “Happiness (Acoustic).” The disc also features an acoustic version of “Son of Sam” and Smith’s cover of The Beatles’ “Because,” which appeared in American Beauty and on the film’s soundtrack.
The vinyl set expands the digital deluxe edition released in 2019 to mark what would have been Smith’s 50th birthday. That edition gathered B-sides and other tracks from the Figure 8 era. The album itself arrived on April 18, 2000, through DreamWorks, following the success of XO. Smith again worked with producers Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock, recording at studios in Los Angeles and London, including Abbey Road. There, he played a piano associated with The Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill.”
On Figure 8, Smith carried forward the layered arrangements of XO while extending them across songs such as “Son of Sam” and “Junk Bond Trader,” alongside more stripped-back performances including “Somebody That I Used to Know” and “I Better Be Quiet Now.” The album was Smith’s fifth studio release and the last issued during his lifetime. He died in 2003, aged 34.
