Following the success and acclaim of his two releases on the Kill Rock Stars label, as well an Oscar nomination for the use of his song "Miss Misery" in the film Good Will Hunting, the late Elliott Smith signed with Dreamworks for the 1998 release of XO. With a major label budget for this, his fourth full length album, Smith was able to craft a fully realized pop masterpiece, fulfilling the promise of previous releases. Though firmly in the McCartney/Lennon/Rundgren/Davies school of songwriting, Smith was nothing if not an original.