I really, really, really hate writing reviews for posthumous releases. Not only do you have to write from the perspective of knowing that the item in question will almost certainly be the last you hear from the artist in question, but if you're as vicious as you are with artists who are still in the realm of the living, you cop a load of abuse for being insensitive from the preachy self-righteous fans that almost certainly spring up like weeds whenever a reasonably popular musician meets their demise. Luckily, writing the review of "From A Basement On A Hill", the final release from American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith is easier than most assignments of this type, because it's actually rather good, standing on its own as an album, without having to reply on its morbid novelty value to claim fame.

Previous albums from Smith established him as a quality songwriter who could compose upbeat sounding songs with slightly downcast lyrics, and dress it up with enough pop appeal that he didn't sound whiny or self-righteous. For the most part, this album is more of the same, classic Elliott Smith stuff, and it shows that he wasn't planning any radical departures or changes in direction at the time of his death.

A few of the songs deserve a special mention though. Opening track Coast to Coast is quite crunchy and direct for an Elliott Smith song, eschewing the gorgeous, delicate instrumentation that he was best known for, for a heavier electric guitar which lurches from verse to verse as if intoxicated. It's an approach that Smith had experimented with before, but he'd never before gotten it to work as well as it does here. Pretty (Ugly Before) starts off with some warm feedback, before Smith's gorgeously harmonious enters, sounding all for the world like a modern-day John Lennon.

King's Crossing is another song that deserves some special attention. With an extended lead-in, which includes some distant humming, incomprehensible voices involved in conversation, and finally a gentle piano, it takes almost two minutes before the vocals begin. The vocals here are particularly poetic, culminating in Smith declaring to the listener, "Give me one good reason not to do it!", somewhat chilling, given the way that Smith met his end.

Speaking of which, those who enjoy overanalysing song lyrics will have a field day with this recording. Discussions of depression and suicide are nothing new in Smith's music, but they take on a particular relevance here. Even so, there's nothing which indicates that he was particularly unstable in the music here, songs like A Fond Farewell, even while they deal with death and heartbreak, show an artist who had a somewhat optimistic vision of the world and of the future.

The death of Elliott Smith was a tragedy, no doubt about it. However, this album is strong enough on its own, I would be giving this same recommendation to get a hold of it even if he were still alive. There's nothing here that you won't find in Smith's previous work, but if you want to hear well-written, intelligent rock music performed by one of the most important musicians of the past twenty years (and who doesn't), then this is more than worth a listen.