In this review, various aspects of angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) as applied to solid state- and surface chemical-studies are discussed. Special requirements for instrumentation are first considered. The use of grazing-emission angles to enhance surface sensitivity and study surface concentration profiles of various types is then discussed. Various effects that may limit the accuracy of such measurements, such as surface roughness, electron refraction, and elastic scattering, are considered. Several examples of surface-specific electronic structure changes as studied by grazing-emission ARXPS (e. g. , valence-band narrowing and core-level shifts) are also reviewed.