Figure 8

生前発表された最後のアルバムを2枚組LPでリリース。前作 『XO』 に続くメジャー2枚目 (通算5枚目) よりもさらにタイトになったバンドサウンドに。切なさを湛えたエリオット節が光る 「Son Of Sam」 や 「Junk Bond Trader」、メロウな「Everything Reminds Me Of Her」や「Everything Means Nothing To Me」が特に秀逸。ポップな楽曲「LA」「Wouldn't Mama Be Proud ?」も素晴らしい。優しさに溢れた楽曲の数々に痺れる一枚。

Rolling Stone (1/4/01, p.116) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of 2000". Rolling Stone (4/27/00, p.69) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Exquisite purity and commitment...providing ruthless, sad-eyed insight swathed in melodies that the Beatles would not disown..." Spin (5/00, pp.153-4) - 7 out of 10 - "...he's a melody Jesus made flesh....What's powerful is how much artifice he spins to generate indie pathos here on his newer, larger stage....the open love songs are the sweetest moments..." Entertainment Weekly (4/21/00, pp.74-5) - "...Smith surrounds his pasty-skinned voice with saloon pianos, polite garage-band bashings, crisp jangles, and dark-castle chamber pop....straddling the line between fragility and triviality....[It] works as innocuous background music..." - Rating: B- Q (1/01, p.94) - Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000". Q (5/00, p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Downbeat, slightly skewed lyrical [perspectives] conveyed with the sweetest of melodies..." Alternative Press (5/00, p.103) - 3 out of 5 - "...Smith is a formidable songwriter, and nothing on FIGURE 8 diminishes the fact....He can transform an apartment into a mansion." Magnet (1-2/01, p.45) - Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2000". Magnet (6-7/00, p.94) - "...A bounty of increasingly complex melodies better suited to the orchestra pit than the coffee house....may be the geometric equivalent of retracing your steps, but it's also symbolic of the infinite future....endearing songs that will stand the test of time." CMJ (4/17/00, p.3) - "...Quiet, acoustic guitar- and solo piano-based tunes and expertly crafted rock songs slide along the lavish pop tracks...a diary of sharp introspection and biting personal reflection....Exquisite..." Melody Maker (4/18/00, p.48) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Delicate, sensitive, tune-toasted, almost 'British' pop music that straddles the divide between Teenage Fanclub, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and the theme from 'Cheers'....16 songs that unfurl choruses like flaming peacock tails..." No Depression (5-6/00, pp.115-6) - "...A moody pop visionary a la Brian Wilson....there's something here for fans of each stage of [his] career..." Mojo (Publisher) (5/00, p.105) - "...[A] relentlessly engaging album....Smith blends the elliptical and the direct, the ebullient and the winsome, with the touch of a master." NME (Magazine) (12/30/00, p.78) - Ranked #17 in NME's "Top 50 Albums Of The Year". NME (Magazine) (4/15/00, p.32) - 8 out of 10 - "...Smith's finest effort to date....[His] focus swells from the strictly personal to encompass more adventurous vistas..."