vocals makes for a compelling tension; here, he alights upon an approach that would have gone on to serve him admirably well." NME observed that the opening track "Coast to Coast" "sets out the themes which run through the whole album: chronic self-doubt, poisonous sarcasm, a prevailing sense of having had enough of trying to fulfil other people's expectations", and went on to state that "while this is clearly not the record Smith intended to make, it's still an immensely gripping and cohesive piece of work. For all his experiments with grungier rock and spectral acoustics, From a Basement... holds together convincingly. It sounds like a completely finished album, and one which, remarkably, is a match for the very best in Smith's catalogue." Track listing Personnel Elliott Smith – all instruments not listed below, production, recording, front cover handwriting Additional personnel Steven Drozd – drums on "Coast to Coast" Aaron Sperske – drums on "Coast to Coast" Nelson Gary – poetry reading on "Coast to Coast" Sam Coomes – bass guitar and backing vocals on "Pretty (Ugly Before)" Aaron Embry – keyboards on "Pretty (Ugly Before)" Scott McPherson – drums on "Pretty (Ugly Before)" Fritz Michaud – drums on "King's Crossing" Technical Autumn DeWilde – sleeve typography Joanna Bolme – mixing Rob Schnapf – mixing Scott Wiley – engineering assistance Ted Jensen – mastering Andrew Beckman – recording (additional) Chris Chandler – recording (additional) David McConnell – recording (additional) Dee Robb – recording (additional) Fritz Michaud – recording (additional) Jon Brion – recording (additional) Matthew Ellard – recording (additional) Pete Magdaleno – recording (additional) Ryan Castle – recording (additional) Tom Biller – recording (additional) Valente Torres – recording (additional) Nick Pritchard – sleeve design Renaud Monfourny – front cover photograph Ashley Welch – sleeve photography Dominic DiSaia – sleeve photography Paul Heartfield – sleeve photography Chart positions References External links 2004 albums Elliott Smith albums Anti- (record label) albums Domino Recording Company albums Albums published posthumously Albums produced by Rob Schnapf