rock in top form
Love the lead singers voice, full, sensitive, forceful, satisfying. Super melodic rock music. Elbow is the most underrated and unknown Brit-rock band. . and one of these days they'll break out to the masses, they deserve it. their live show is fantastic if you can catch it!.
This music is addictive...
This is a cd where a song will get stuck in your head and you have to hear it 10 times before it goes away. . don't worry though, the other songs take their turn. Every song evokes different feelings. If you love music like I do, you will have this cd stuck in the cd changer for a good long while! .
Bloody solid...
Elbow, like many other English bands, creates beautifully atmospheric songs with clever hooks, walls of sound and sparse arrangements, all the while doing so with such poise and sincerity. We Yanks may have invented rock & roll, but the Brits have taken it to truly astonishing places. Guy Garvey's throaty, effortless vocals and visual lyrics add a depth to which other bands of comparable musical aplomb can only aspire.
I've only recently stumpled upon Elbow, but am endlessly glad I have. Elbow, honestly, is what Catherine Wheel could have been without the over-the-top production. Elbow really are one of the best finds for me in the last year or so and are finding daily play at work, at home or on walks with the iPod.
Leaders of the Free World
To me, the song sounded a bit like Doves, perhaps cause Guy Garvey sounds a bit like Doves frontman Jimi Goodwin. One of the first songs I ever heard by Elbow was the excellent "Forget Myself". And though Elbow gets various comparisons to Coldplay, Doves, Peter Gabriel and even Radiohead, I will say that Elbow is definitely their own band, and bring something fresh and new to this genre of music. As far as this album, I think its terrific. Pretty much every song is good, some of them being just brilliant. The album opens up with the excellent "Station Approach", that slowly builds up to epic form. The steady rhythm of "Picky Bugger" mixed with a high octave chorus is great. The next three tracks "Forget Myself", "The Stops", and "Leaders of the Free World" are, in my opinion, the album's strongest point. "Forget Myself" is just utter brilliance, while "The Stops" has one of the most beautiful choruses I've ever heard. The title track is very catchy, mid-tempo track with great lyrics ("I'm sick of working for a living, I'm just ticking off the days til I die. . " "But the Leaders of the World are just little boys throwing stones. . ")that sounds a bit like a song that a band like Starsailor would write. "An Imagined Affair" is a decent track, but its probably my least favorite from this album. Another standout track is the up-tempo "Mexican Standoff", again, great lyrics. Notice that the songs rhythm section sounds extremely similar to Radiohead's "National Anthem". Tracks like "My Very Best" and "Great Expectations" are beautifully crafted songs, slower paced songs, with wonderful choruses and melodies. The record finishes with the under 2 minute "Puncture Repair", which is also good, but would be much better if given the proper length. Overall, this is an excellent album. Definitely recommended for anyone of enjoys more slower-paced melodic songs with feeling to them.
Key tracks: "Forget Myself", "The Stops", "Leaders of the Free World", "Mexican Standoff" "Great Expectations".
They keep getting better!
Full, lush production. And what more can you ask from any band but this? This album has a wonderful acoustic sense about it. And Guy Garvey's voice has never sounded better (for those of you still unsure, imagine Peter Gabriel meets Seal. . . but put to more acoustic fair). Lyrically this is as strong as anything they've ever done. If I was to direct any critisism it would be that the final 4 songs are on the slower side with the best of the bunch "My Very Best" amongst them. However, this doesn't make for a perfect listening experience IMO simply because it seenms to deflate (ever so slightly) what had been building throughout the album. This is but a nitpick though and hardly worth mentioning. .
You can see a complete list of all Elbow discography, or go back to the Elbow tabs
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