Elbow’s first cd, ASLEEP IN THE BACK, is a masterpiece, a combination of exaggerated sensitivity, shuffling arrangements, moments of quiet desperation and expressions of loud emotion….Snatches of quiet beauty push into strange discordant guitar figures or funereal low energy dirges, Guy Garvey’s vocals (which remind me of a more soulful Peter Gabriel) are capable of low rumbling and soaring epic heights, scratchy instrumentation weirdness runs into pretty piano interludes.
The highlight of this record is Newborn, the longest song on the album at more than seven minutes it moves between all the contrasts I just mentioned….And the contrasts are really stunning especially in the long building plaintive middle section with voice and details and swirling keyboards that explode into the chorus one more time at the end.
CAST OF THOUSANDS, Elbow’s follow-up, was a disappointment….Most of the songs either failed to grab or had elements of commerciality (such as a full gospel choir) added to somewhat mediocre songs to begin with.
LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD was mostly a return to form….While not as startling musically as ASLEEP IN THE BACK, it did have a much stronger selection of songs than CAST OF THOUSANDS.
Which brings us to their fourth cd THE SELDOM SEEN KID, well it is better than CAST OF THOUSANDS but definitely not as good as ASLEEP IN THE BACK….However, I would also have to say it is not as good as LEADERS due to the fact that LEADERS had some diversity whereas there is a sameness to much of SELDOM SEEN KID….It’s a good sameness because Elbow is an excellent band with great vocals, arrangements, and songwriting as well as an original sound but some of the songs are a bit too much alike for my taste….
It’s very hard when your first release turns out to be perfect or near perfect….This seems to be the problem Elbow seems to have….Whether or not they can ever top their first release will be a fun question to watch them answer….ASLEEP IN THE BACK will always give me hope.
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