Reviews (page 7 of 9)
Good!
nice listen
Ganske okay.
Eh
Definitely interesting album. Never heard of this band. Not bad and would def listen again
Lead singer sounds kind of like Sting. Some songs were fine, others were just kind of boring and slow and go on and on. Not horrible, just whatever. 6/10.
it's fine
3.5
I'd resisted the obvious charms of Guy Garvey and the lads as it was not quite my kind of thing but this is an undeniably lovely album and very listenable.
Fav tracks: Grounds for divorce and an audience with the pope. 7/10
Couldn't listen?
Pretty great walking album, overall very upbeat vibes.
Good study music and not too bland. "Some Riot" stood, but that's about it.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: Alec Baldwin killed that lady on the set of Rust.
What they do they do very well. It's just not my thing
Like a better version of Coldplay, but I don't like Coldplay.
One day like this & Grounds for divorce are tunes. The fix was quite nice as well. Overall, doesn't do much for me. Fine listening but won't be coming back, thanks x
Hieman erikoinen levy, enkä tiedä tasan tarkkaan mitä genreäkään. Mutta levyllä oli hyviä kappaleita ja hetkiä niin eiköhän tämä putoa kuiteskin luokkaan 3, voisin kuunnella uudestaan. Grounds for Divorce oli Dirt 2:ssa. Friend Of Ours hieno lopetus.
this was fine, i guess
This is quite pleasant and creative.. great music for a relaxing morning sipping on some coffee. Nothing really blowing my mind here from a musical or lyrical perspective, but there's definitely some catchy sections that i'm digging. Praise aside, there are some songs on this album that really droned and didn't have any sort of climax or interesting sections and I got pretty bored. This is dangerously close to the coldplay category for me, but still a step above.
I'm 15 seconds in and I already enjoy it. Half way through the album I began to lose interested, the guys voice was a bit lackluster for me.
It was pretty interesting. There was nothing that really wowed me but it was pleasant. I’d give it 7.5/10.
A really nice listen
Like it but wouldn’t search it out.
Mirrorball is AMAZING. Rest of the album is OK. Feels like pretty generic mellow rock. Might need another listen.
My first thought was “millennial Talk Talk.” After several songs, I felt like I was watching a trick commercial.
Started off really well, but the bit kinda wore thin by the middle of the album. The choruses are definitely catchy and the arrangements complicated, and I can definitely see myself giving this one another look down the road, but the middle of the album is entirely unmemorable to me. Standouts: The Bones of You, Mirrorball, Weather to Fly, One Day Like This
Somewhere between Guster and fun. with lyrics that I found mediocre most of the time. Great composition though.
An old friend - couple of serious hotspots, but also music made for people who look like me by people who look like me
Had a couple of bangers on there but whole album didn't grab me
I had not heard of this group and had not heard any of their music before. I like it. They are very skilled performers but what stood out more for me is their songs' compositional style. They do a nice job of avoiding the over-used rock and indie-rock traps; instead, there are some more unusual layers (one of many examples: the keys on 'An Audience With The Pope'). Nicely done.
You know it's not bad, in a kind of rainy Sunday afternoon slightly bored and melancholy way. Maybe a bit hungover, perhaps thinking about a work meeting Monday morning. This is the soundtrack to that bit of your life.
Album #100. Completely new to me. I like this at first pass. Atmospheric sound with moody chord progressions. I can't help but wonder if I'd get bored with it quickly, so I'm waffling on a rating. When in doubt, I go conservative. 1 = bad 2 = average 3 = good 4 = great 5 = outstanding
Free and floaty and definitely not as boring as I was expecting! Some interesting ideas, but still overall just a little too in the background.
Es un disco que plantea un ángulo diferente e interesante al rock de la década de 2000
Not bad
The dynamic range tricks work, and well. Tunes don't stick, but I have reason to pay attention to a band called Elbow now.
Always have a hard time finding the stuff that I like by these guys. Will need to listen to this again.
We love Elbow - this is not my fave album of theirs', but an enjoyable, laid back time. One Day Like This (an absolute all-timer) followed by Friend of Ours is a lovely little pair to end it off. Good times.
Fine
Definitely a few good songs, but some others were just not good enough to get this album 4 stars. 3 stars it is..
When i first listened I dismissed as it been hyped up and biscuit though it was boring. On a register I up grade it yo 'nice' . Nice music for folk
Not sure why I'd avoided Elbow, putting them down as pretentious wank, some kind of a cross between Coldplay and Radiohead. Turns out I was surprised, still a bit wanky, but in a pleasant way. "Grounds for Divorce" is the standout track for me.
This was great! Not sure if I had heard it before, sounds a bit familiar. I liked it.
Ok album, sounds like a lot of the basic experimental rock that came out around the time. A few good songs on this album but it definitely would've been better if a few songs were removed and the album was cut down to 40 minutes.
It reminded me Peter Gabriel. Didnt have to skip tracks, so to me it was ok
I don’t hate this, just not exactly my cup a tea, I like to first album Has some alright tunes just doesn’t get going for me
Went in blind--never heard of these folks, never heard any of these songs. Loved the opening track. By Grounds for Divorce I thought, "Oh god. Am I old? I really like this album." Giving it a light four stars--I like this, but something I can't articulate right now about it makes me think I'll feel like a chump for rating it so highly. Giving me "over-rated white artist" vibes. And yet... it's hitting my moody mellowness. Okay, talked my self out of it. 3.5 stars, rounding down because I'm so conflicted.
'Grounds for Divorce' and 'One Day Like This' are great but I'm not sure they're enough to carry the album. One night at Big Hands in Manchester a guitarist from The Fall came up to me while I was stood at the bar and talked at me for about 5 minutes before saying "You're not Guy Garvey are you?" I told him that I wasn't and that I didn't look like Guy Garvey. He walked away.
Very Radioheadish. Literally never heard of this band.
This was quite nice, with a rich sound and elegant arrangements. Nice diverse range of styles from song to song. This really does sound a bit like some lost Peter Gabriel album, doesn't it? Fave Songs: An Audience with the Pope, One Day Like This, Weather to Fly, Some Riot, The Fix, The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
This is another one of those albums that I think is totally fine, but I have no idea why its on this list. Like, if you played me this album blind and told me it was a Coldplay album or even a Sting solo album, I would believe you because it has a very generic sound. It's pleasant enough and I like it in the abstract, but I don't get what's special about it. I should not feel this bored 3 songs into my analysis of an album 3/5
ok. its elbow
This was a new band for me. Reminds me a bit of coldplay but a little more rockish and not so much pop. I enjoyed a couple songs but nothing too crazy to write home about.
For a band that apparently makes indie rock, this feels like the most calculated, by-the-books art rock album you could make. It's like they went on Youtube and watched a 30 minute tutorial on "How to make an art rock album (not clickbait)". It's all very safe and I didn't hear any new, cool ideas that would warrant putting this on the list. I really liked "One Day Like This", even despite them unironically using the phrase "Holy cow" in an otherwise emotional song. Imagine that your lover makes a song about you and includes the lyric "Gadzooks! I am enchanted by your looks!"
Not terrible but not what I consider essential
3.4/5 it's ok just generic pop rock
Did not expect this! Really enjoyed this album. Very chill, not offensive to the ears. Would listen again.
I always thought I didn't like Elbow, they were too far to along the way to soppy soft rock for my tastes. Despite being familiar with the single releases on this album, I hadn't listened to it in entirety. Something obviously moved me because I went back for a second listen. The more electric, heavy tracks are pretty good but maybe there's something about Guy Garvey's voice that holds me back from really enjoying it.
A modest effort from a band on the way towards greatness. Despite teetering off towards the end, The Seldom Seen Kid has plenty of gems throughout. Kind of front loaded with memorable songs but those songs are worthwhile. Seek this one out when you can. Favorites: Starlings, The Bones of You, Mirrorball, Grounds for Divorce, Weather to Fly, The Fix, One Day Like This.
Was chill
Decent stuff.
Wears middle age like a comfortable pair of slippers.
dadrock done right
A few tracks on here were bangers. Others didn't do much of anything for me. Definitely one of those albums that feels like the spiritual equivalent of a Hugh Grant rom com: worth the experience but a rare revisit. Fave track: Grounds for Divorce
The singer's voice is a pleasant mix of Peter Gabriel and Sting. Really digging this one
elbow parece ser uma banda divertida. um pop quase eletronico. 3/5
Rarely have I been so undecided about an album. On paper, I should at least *like* this thing, but it seems like many things in these songs are rubbing me the wrong way. Yes, a lot of the arrangements are lush and carefully constructed, and some of the lyrics are fantastic. BUT, and this even after several repeats, I can't manage really *caring* for these tunes. Maybe it's the torpid, sluggish, borderline-bland aspect of the rhythm section, not lively enough for alt-pop-rock, but not slow and expansive enough for post-rock either (I never *first* turn my attention to the rhythm section for indie-pop... But here, I feel like I want to kick the asses of that drummer and that bass player--get things going, please!). Maybe it's also the all-too-polished and overtly polite production, with all those late naughts trademarks that didn't age that well in that genre, up to the point where I start to stifle a little when listening to this stuff. For too many moments, *The Seldom Seen Kid* makes me feel like an elephant in a china shop being asked to wear slippers on. I'm gonna break something, I'm pretty sure of it now... Can I breathe a little, at least? Or maybe it's the peculiarities of the band's singer, a little expressive sometimes, but not too much either, and a very chatty vocalist at times, like he barely has room to cram all his lyrics ideas in within his tunes (even some of the very slow ones). As a result, some of the vocal lines sound a little too affected to my ears. Too bad, since the lyrics are generally very good, as I said before... Who knows, maybe this one will be a "slow-grower" for me? Yet after several spins, I'm starting to have my doubts about this ever happening... But maybe it's me. Maybe I've listened to too much stuff lately, and I feel *a little* burnt out. I don't know... To me, the very nature of this record is encapsulated in one of its minor songs in the middle, the one about the loneliness of a crane driver as a metaphor for a break-up. For once the lyrics are short, and yet nicely evocative. And the music sort of drones on in the background, giving you the impression of watching a set of cranes from afar, slowly moving on the horizon. If conveying that image was the intent of the band, it's an unmitigated success. But the thing is, is that sort of mundane urban landscape, slightly grating to the eye, the type of landscape I want to dive my mind into? Not really. Or, at least, not as often as to suddenly have the immediate urge to return to this record one day. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 841 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 86 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 39 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 33 - it's not a bad record, objectively. But I feel like in the last twenty years, there's been dozens of other ones Dimery's list is still ignoring, even if they were yet ten times more striking to me. And I need room for them on my own list. Sorry, Elbow fans :)
Singer's voice has a Sting/Peter Gabriel vibe. I like Grounds For Divorce, it is a little bit different than the usual. I might listen again.
Mellow kind of dreamy, British rock. Not abrasive or challenging in any way but not so vapid and bland as contemporaries like Cold Play. Started stronger than it finished but overall, not bad...
J'ai trouvé cet album très agréable. Le seul petit bémol pour moi est cette soirée lors de laquelle eltrapeze avait invité Elbow dans un bar à bières à l'occasion de son anniversaire. L'artiste n'avait pas osé parler aux autres personnes conviées et a finalement décidé de partir avant même que le gâteau d'anniversaire n'arrive sur la table. Bien dommage.
Need to revisit,
It was fine. Definitely heard better
11th July 2022 Listened while working from home. Picked up bedside tables, painted our bedroom in the evening. Bit middle of the road for me with admittedly a moment of euphoria with one day like this.
Ett bra album
weird and wonderful.
This album was pretty good until I started listening to it while watching the movie "Pig" starring Nicolas Cage. I realize that syncing this album to any Nicolas Cage film was not part of the assignment, but maybe it should have been. It made me realize the lead singer of Elbow sounds a lot like Seal. But kids, watching Nic Cage go to Portland in search of some stolen pet pig with Elbow playing in your earbuds (starting with track 5) puts this album in a whole new light. And that this album is, like Nicolas Cage, a tad overrated. Spoiler alert: The pig was dead before Cage even got to Portland, but uou can see that plot twist coming a mile away. Just like the aforementioned seldom seen kid. Don't @ me.
Litt kjedelig utenom Mirrorball
Quite airy, and dreamy, a bit of Pink Floyd in there, and some Radiohead, and some...other things. Very pleasant.
Weird indie rock. Great moments here and there but it does not really capture me over the whole album
This is another example of early 2000s indie-style that passed me by. It's not as bad as indie filler, but still doesn't really set my world aflame. A few good tunes (Grounds of Divorce, One Day Like This) that catch my ear. It's OK, I guess.
Ça s'écoute bien, mais ça reste un peu trop safe à mon goût
Purty.
cool album. loved starlings and one day like this.
Not actually bad but not particularly exciting either. But I'll give them marks for trying to keep out of the loudness wars...
6/10. Not bad.
Some British nonsense. Musical enough. 5/10
Decent chill music but throughout I flipped back and forth with liking it, and being underwhelmed. Kind of sounds like Noel Gallagher doing an anti-Oasis album.
Wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really stick with me. I thought the songs sounded unique but I wasn’t impressed by the vocals most of the time. At the half way point everything kinda blended in with each other besides tracks like the loneliness of a tower crane driver and one day like this. Fav tracks: starlings, grounds for divorce, the loneliness of a tower crane driver, one day like this Least Fav: the fix, the bones of you
This seems fine. I don't believe I've ever heard of these folks. Or if I did I just assumed someone was talking about a body part.
some cool soundscapes and nice production. most of the songs drag on though. highlights: the bones of you grounds for divorce the fix one day like this
A lesser Coldplay
Músicas interessantes, especialmente o instrumental.
There are two brilliant songs in here but the rest were just okay.
Reminds me of Peter Gabriel.
good and honest
about a year after the tremendous In Rainbows from Radiohead, we see the impact with beautiful dynamics and subtle guitars shifting the landscape of indie and alt rock as we know it. It's sounds like these that move me, leave me yearning for more. This album, however, represents an important aspect to that sound: structure. Where Radiohead expertly crafts an album of highs and lows in it's tracklisting on In Rainbows, The Seldom Seen Kid loses me pretty early on before grabbing me again on the final track. I think this is a good album with the potential to be a great one, it would just need some reworking to get it really right.
Decent in a calming, considered way, it's dark and quirky in equal measure, well-crafted and listenable though not something I'd listen to on the regular. 3/5.
This was good - the two songs I knew before (One Day Like This and Grounds for Divorce) are really, really good, and the rest of the album is pleasant to listen to. Not mind-blowing by any stretch of the imagination, but a comfortable three out of five.
This is the fourth album from the English alternative rock band Elbow. It has a great assortment of "easy-listening" tracks. The album received a lot of praise at release and has kept a steady hold on this popularity over the years. Not my most favorite type of music, but this album was interesting to listen to. This is because it has pretty songs with a good amount of flair, since the album uses dynamic range of sound to give the instruments more depth and oomph. I might have to circle back to this album in the future and give it another listen.
Not bad.
Post-Radiohead indie rock. Some of the instrumentation is pleasant.
Initially, I was pretty taken with this. First few songs were great. I found myself gettin bored by the end, however :( A lot of the singles stand on their own, but I'm not in love with it as an album. It tended to be a bit same-y. 3/5
This usually isn’t my thing at all, but I got into it alright. It hits the right level of bombast and has some solid production, but I can also see myself never listening to it again, idk C
Very hot or miss but it had its moments
Nice music that's often even better than its Coldplay template, but is never excellent.
Alright, every song was a bit too long
cotovelo
I dig it
Pretty good, if unspectacular.
Middle strange sound
New one for me. I've heard of Elbow, but if you wanted a Peter Gabriel Radiohead/Coldplay cover band, this is them. The sound is etherial and makes good background filler with the concession that this one hour album feels like four. 3.5/5.
I like the vocals on this one quite a bit. Overall, I think it's a solid album.
Never been Into elbow, so went into this expecting this to be a 2, but actually enjoyed this. Not sure if it’s one I’ll come back to, but deserves a 3.
3.5 - decent listen of alternative epicness. Strong notes of Blur. Fun but won’t be returning soon.
Most songs feel like they never start. Even the lead singer sounds unenthusiastic about the music.
Very ordinary, nothing bad, nothing that really grabbed me
This album was better than I was expecting from the objectively awful band name. There's some pretty but melancholy indie here. My top pick is 'Grounds For Divorce' - great gritty lyrics and riffs!
A couple of strong songs, lots of attention to detail (album sounds great!) but not so many hooks - i bought the album at the time but was never really able to get into it. Art rock with not enough pop.
To me, "The Seldom Seen Kid" is the crest of the wave: UK indie's commercial peak during the late '00s. After Elbow released their first album in 2001, they spent the next seven years slowly bubbling up from the underground to the surface. Suddenly, the stately "One Day Like This" burst onto the scene, the 21st century's answer to "Hey Jude" and all the Britpop singalongs it inspired, and eclipsed anything they did before or since. 50 years from now, anybody who doesn't know who Elbow were will just have to stick the TV on, switch over to a major sporting event or charity video and realise it's the guys who did the 'throw those curtains wide' song. Majestic as that song is, it isn't necessarily representative of the rest of "The Seldom Seen Kid". We get more orchestration, but more as embellishments than backbones. The album is propped up by ruminative piano lines, occasional bass synth, delicate drums (rim-shots a-plenty), and Guy Garvey's oh-so Mancunian vocals. It hinges on abrupt changes with dynamics: quiet to loud, gentle to titanic, vague to purposeful. The opening track "Starlings" exemplifies this by lulling the listener with some looped percussive synth, hushed wordless vocals and pensive piano... before a sharp burst of brass becomes a wake-up call into the album proper. It's a disarming effect and ensures everyone will be paying attention (annoyed or not). While some more of the anthemic cuts really work (the climax of "Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver", for example), on the whole the tone of "Seldom Seen Kid" is over-reflective, bordering dangerously on navel gazing. "Weather to Fly" is a gorgeous exception, but elsewhere some heavy editing wouldn't have gone amiss. "Mirrorball" and "Some Riot" are too fluffy, getting lost in their own delicate haze. While bolstered with heavier instrumentation, "The Bones of You" is too plodding to ever really take off. As cliched as it may be to say so, the popular ones here are the best for me. "Grounds for Divorce" is so unlike anything else on the record that it stands out be default: upbeat, pithy, killer riff... it's single-ready. And "One Day Like This", while ubiquitous for the best part of five years on British TV, is a modern classic: an anthem that is swept away by its own simplicity, those glorious octave strings. It's such a crowning achievement that it feels bizarre not to close the whole album: "Friend of Ours" is so lacklustre and stuck in its predecessor's shadow that I had to check it wasn't a bonus track. I enjoyed a lot of the material here and it may improve on further listens, but it's just too uneven to put any higher. A bit more focus and less haze- or maybe just a different state of mind- would help me enjoy it much more.
Disappointed for it being a mercury award winner. Very slow without a lot of redeeming melodies. 2.5/5
rather liked it - just wish it was a bit more upbeat
This will be good to fall asleep to. They appear to be very earnest and take themselves very seriously.
Was something different
Overall fairly methodised. Kneels in comparison to others in the same genre, but I reckon it could grow on me
An interesting album, doesn't really sound doesn't like anything else I can think of. Does their style appeal to me? No not really but I can hear the quality in the songwriting and the playing, just not a style that appeals to me.
Every song blends together in a jumble of mediocrity. Sound, lyrics, and music were all neither good nor bad. Just a basic 3 star effort.
very dramatic, haunting music 3.5
Schönes Album, versetzt mich in leicht weihnachtliche Stimmung, haut mich aber auch nicht gerade um vor Emotionen. Bei der Geschichte vom Seldom Seen Kid vermute ich autobiographisches; ich war nämlich in Manchester auch schonmal in nem Loch in nem Boden und habe dort mit meinem selten gesehen Bruder getrunken. Und dieses Loch gehörte (Zufall? Ich glaube kaum!) Guy Garvey himself.
6/10
Nice but boring at times.
It was fine. Couple things I liked. Mostly forgettable.
I thought it was kinda spooky in a way and I liked it. It wasn’t the most intriguing album however I did enjoy it.
Didn't exactly come together for me. The genre seemed muddled and musically and vocally, mostly didn't grab me. I liked the final bonus track on the version YT Music came up with best out of all of it.
The singer reminds me so much of Peter Gabriel, but the whole sound is so much different. This was an enjoyable listen, but it didn't blow me away or anything.
Liked it. Easy listening. Different sound.
Interesting, but also forgettable.
Only has a few songs that were interesting to me despite the cleaver lyrics and lovely singing.
Pop Radiohead
I really don't know how I never listened to this band before. It's exactly the kind of modern rock that I liked very much during my teenage years. I can see a mixture of "Imagine Dragons" and "The Killers" that I'm sure that was a real hype in 2008, however, this is my first experience with "Elbow". Well, even nothing makes sense, the album is just it. That kind of teenage alternative British rock that a lot of people (including me) loves for a period and forget when new songs and music types arrive in our lives.
Moderately enjoyable
Yeah. Um.
Nice singing, strings and drum grooves
Nice.
It started off smooth, some of its more energetic songs fell flat for me. It was able to save itself in the end, worth listening to but some of the middle tracks just didn’t reflect much.
Ik krijg een beetje een Sting gevoel. Ik vind het persoonlijk een beetje saaie muziek. Verder niks mis mee, dus kan prima op de achtergrond tijdens het werk. Soms wel leuke geluidjes, maar ik mis toch wat energie. ***
Мелодичный альбом
Gezapig is het woord.
its just a bit meh. its got some big tracks on it, but then its got some drivel so it just averages out at the mean. saw them at a festival around the time this was out and they were pretty epic, though thats probably cos it was the sundown set and they had some sort of string quartet.
Interesting sound.
This album has an ethereal and expansive feel for the most part. While I enjoyed it, it started to drag very quickly. The use of electronic and orchestral elements was interesting. I feel like if this album had condensed itself a bit and tightened its focus it would've been a great album.
It’s clear a lot of craft and love has gone into this alt-pop award-winning album and there are plenty of luscious arrangements of swelling strings to emphasise to the listener just how emotional they should be feeling but for some reason this doesn’t touch you in the heart or grab you in the gut. The whole thing feels a little forced.
Journey. Will go back with headphones on and deep dive.
Lots of decent songs. Started out sounding like Sting. Some songs like Ground for Divorce fooled me into thinking I was listening in on another commercial. Despite the weak songs and the commercial tunes, the album is carried by the creative direction as well as strong tracks like Mirrorball and One Day Like This.
Listen to Radiohead much? My lord.
Good voice to balance out the instrumentals. Pretty good in my opinion.
Not bad, but I was surprised how bored I was by a lot of this album.
I'd give this 3.5 if I could, good tracks but not quite a 4
diablo-escue rämpytystä, iha cool, 3,5/5
Kaksi sanaa: geneerinen
The album is better as a whole than the songs are by themself. The standout song grounds for divorce is good. The whole album is relatively seamless but it’s pretty good. Nothing exceptional. For a first time listen I enjoyed it. 7.4/10
Bit dull. Not exceptional indie.
Very pleasant/pretty indie rock? Good production and instrumentation.
Nice musically but an overall meh album for me. Too ambient and sleepy.
Never knowingly listened to Elbow, despite being aware of them for decades. More interesting than I expected, slightly leftfield arena rock - quite strange in places. I may explore more but not desperate to
Bealte-esque...but not my thing.
Favourite Songs: The Bones of You & Grounds For Divorce
I've know the 'hits' well but never listed to the whole album before now. The grandiosity works on some tracks but grates on others. There's something about his voice that I don't like, I think it's the forced sincerity. 4 really good songs.
Not bad. I've always been quite scornful of Elbow, as music for mental midgets. However, I must revise this opinion, if only slightly. There are some very beautiful songs on here, the standouts being "Grounds for Divorce" & "Weather to Fly". I also understand their USP more than I did before; LS Lowrys of indie pop. But I still don't really understand them headlining festivals or selling out stadiums.
There is nothing bad about this album, there just isn’t enough great tracks on it. For the most part it’s um, pleasant
Listenable but didn't really grab me. I thought I had never heard of them but did recognize the main single "one day like this" which is decent. It does really feel of an era; I was able to place the decade after hearing the first few bars.
Moments of great beauty offset with moments of pretentious meh.
Couple of great tracks, some lovely lyrics but bland and dull in parts too
3/5 it might have been interesting but...
art rockers led by a mancunian peter gabriel. I dug it and will probably explore other releases. grounds for divorce and one day like this are standouts.
Weirdly good. Dinner music
Elbow were one of a handful of bands I listened to in college while trying to discover/google: "bands like Radiohead". Elbow, Doves, Editors, Starsailor (?) all were in the mix. All of them had beautiful tunes, big beautiful production, and modest British moodiness. I imagine they all loved OK Computer, but mostly Karma Police and probably skipped Electioneering. Too harsh. I think that's the part I need from Elbow. Something a bit risky or harsh to pierce through the thick moodiness of it all. Maybe that's what Muse tried to do for them. I don't really know what I'm talking about. Do you ever order way more mediocre Thai food than two people could reasonably fit in their bodies, and then one of you is full after a reasonable quantity, but you feel a compulsion to pound the remaining phad see ew, panang curry, and fried rice, until you can barely see through the sedative fish sauce haze? I'm very full right now. The Seldom Seen Kid is beautiful, drowsy, overstuffed, ambien. B
This guy beat Gotye across the Peter Gabriel knock off finish line. Grounds for Divorce is solid but I may be biased given the subject matter. Overall, I didn't hate it but I didn't love it.
Completed. Not bad, but it kinda sounds like something you put on the background while doing something else.
Hieman sekava kokonaisuus, oli rauhallista unimusiikkia, johon voisi kuvitella nukahtavansa ja sitten taas välillä jousilla ja kuorolla terästettyä voimapoppia. Lisäksi kaikkea näiden väliltä. Hittibiisi oli selkeästi grounds for divorce, jonka kohdalla mietin olisiko se ollut jossain nhl-konsolipelissä soindtrackilla. Wikipedian mukaan ei, mutta joissain muissa peleissä ja tv-sarjoissa kyllä.
Some good songs but quality is a bit inconsistent.
Ok, not one of my favourites of theirs.
Sometimes it sounded like a more experimental coldplay. Other times it reminded me of dmb.
Huh, Grounds for Divorce is one of the songs I didn’t like, along with the first song that was great until the BWAAAAA came in much louder than the rest of the song, which is a lingering complaint of a few of the songs. Overall, a pleasant surprise!
It's decent enough but I don't really get the awe for this one. Well known tracks are great, album tracks a bit samey.
3, had it on my other one.
De estilo un tanto parecido a Coldplay. Canciones pop con un cierto toque melancólico. Buena voz y buena instrumentación. No me ha enganchado
You can always count on this list to throw in a lesser known band from the UK. Feels like every week we get at least one or two. This album was billed as Pink Floyd meets Coldplay. I like both of those bands better. I did enjoy Mirrorball and Grounds for Divorce but the rest were un memorable. The album overall was nice to listen to in the background but I’m getting a little bummed at how many of these albums we need to listen to before we die just end up as background music. Album art reminds me of a more sophisticated cave drawing.
This is very cold play esque. Mirrorball is a good, chill tune.
Slight Coldplay vibe
Ehh, okay I guess
Enjoyable. Grounds for Divorce is stellar and the rest of the album has good layers and atmosphere.
Good album. A little reminiscent of Coldplay or Radiohead - which is not a positive. But some good songs and great instrumentation.
Another British one I’d never heard of before. (That’s a recurring theme of this book) it’s pretty enjoyable in the moment but not something that screams to me or will likely get replay.
It’s okay. Chamber pop. Maybe on another day it would hit me. Today isn’t that day.
pretty neat
small dick energy
3.5 - I never knew the band before this. There's a lot to like here. Radiohead meets james bond meets peter gabriel. Favourite tunes: Starlings, Grounds for divorce, An audience with the pope, The fix, One day like this
Average at best
Dramatic, Coldplay-esque which makes sense given the time period
Good british alternative rock. Nothing amazing or revolutionary but a solid album nontheless.
Lovely textures. Was very much the kind of thing I wanted to hear in 2008! Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver still stands out as a powerful song.
- ok this is nice - everything everything but better songwriting maybe? - "grounds for divorce" and "audience with the pope" are a bit too late 00s alt radio rock - lots of cool sounds but idk how much i LOVE it - yeah second half zzz still cool sounds tho
Nice , couple of great tracks, grounds for divorce is my favourite on it. Stars off well but a big lull in the middle before ending well
Different style. I liked it.
Not bad. Kind of boring, songs sounds the same in a repetitive way. Single is by far the best track
Decent album, good songs here and there but not sure if it is enough to make me want to buy
Not familiar with the artist but the album was okay.
Chill. Reminds me of a lesser Coldplay
Alternative fuzzy sound
Not bad
I fell asleep several times while listening to this. It took several tries to get all the way through.
Alternative rock and art rock built from warm piano, expansive guitars, restrained rhythms, and rich baritone vocals feels like reading a thoughtful novel that constantly reminds you of another one you found more compelling—earnest, polished, and for me too familiar to leave much of its own identity. The album aims for emotional depth through slow-building arrangements and sincerity, but I often found myself hearing a blueprint for—or a less engaging counterpart to—the anthemic style associated with later mainstream alternative rock. As a result, it rarely moved beyond quiet admiration.
Most of this album sucked but it also has One Day Like This which I didn’t realise was by them. My parents used to love this song and play it all the time. Still holds up. Rest of the album? Not so much.
Dumb band name, kind of dumb pointless lyrics. Maybe he’s bad with words. There were some really good songs; I liked ‘Bones of You’ and ‘Some Riot’. Didn’t at all like ‘Grounds for Divorce’ which sounds ready made for a truck commercial. I have a soft spot for 2000s Brit ‘indie’ but my god there were so many good albums from 2008 why is this on here.
MMIIIIIIIDDDDDD, good lord this has a global rating higher than SKUNK ANANSIE. Can not be serious.
Hellooooo 2008. I like the instrumentals
Interesting, but nothing super special.
Some good moments, but very uneven and gets boring towards the end
I actually bought this when it came out as I really enjoyed the track Grounds For Divorce. We all do silly things when we’re young lol. Not a terrible album by any means, just tremendously beige.
Temu Radiohead
Alright but better examples of this british style out there, largely forgetable
If you like depressing British orchestral pop that sounds vaguely like Coldplay mixed with the Hold Steady - boy do I have a record for you.
we've got radiohead at home
Reminded me, in order, of Muse (without the amps), Phil Collins (without the melodies), and DMB (without the sex) – weird [Joke about bones but no heart here]
I genuinely can't stand Elbow, so I really wasn't looking forward to this. It had two singles from them that I really don't like as well. To be honest, it's not a terrible album. It's just really not for me. I can't rate them too low because of my own distaste, but I don't think there is anything stand out about this album.
some pretty ideas but lacks focus and urgency, and is not interesting enough to sustain its stretch
eh
I liked the sound on this record except the singing. Very precious lyrics. The minimalist compositions and the blend of electronics with traditionally rock instrumentation keep this proggy enough to be interesting, but it's veering toward Spoon-type easy listening for inoffensive waiting rooms.
Who needs coffee when you can have 'sudden loud blast to the eardrums in the middle of an otherwise too quiet track'? Ouch. Was that supposed to be artsy? Because it was just painful. Not a good start. Kinda' pissed me off. I've learned something about myself through this project (good, that was the point): Whatever the hell the UK had goin' down in 2000-2010, I don't much like it. What was happening during this decade that made you all so pasty, limp and sad? Are you ok over there? Can I offer you some thrash or something? I assure you, it's very cathartic. After the first time through, I didn't remember anything except my eardrums being smashed by the first track (-1 for that). Third time through and I'm done. I normally do at least 4 but no. I've had enough. I liked "The Fix" and "Grounds for Divorce" and about nothing else. This is another band that the rest of you are saying sound like a knock off Radiohead...so I'm not going to like Radiohead am I? Or Coldplay, for that matter.
Really didn't like this one. It's sameish and repetitive.
Entra no clássico caso de "álbum interessante, mas longe de justificar presença em uma lista de álbuns que precisam ser escutados antes de morrer". Como esse aqui, existem muitos - e melhores. 2/5.
not a fan of boom clap hey wee-o music
not agressively terrible, more subtly terrible
meh, medio aburrido
It wasn't awful but certainly not something I would ever want to hear again. Sounds a bit like Coldplay but where Coldplay usually have at least one great track that grabs your attention on every album, Elbow's album 'The Seldom Seen Kid' sounds like one long song cut into 11 pieces. A forgettable affair all around.
Unnecessary indie music. Trying to be something between Coldplay and progressive.
4/10
Listened to this yesterday. Not really sure about it now
the kind album that makes you fall asleep at your desk and fart yourself awake
This strain of British “rock” is well liked but not my cup of tea, cause I don’t like tea. What happened to British rock, though to be honest there is very Little Rock or roll in this, in the new millennium. Why did this train from Pink Floyd via Phil Collins Genesis through to Radiohead, via Coldplay become so all encompassing. What we get here is a slight variation, the northern accented one. It’s earnest, it’s kitchen sink, passive emotional. Musically fine but overall bland chin rubbing. But and this is a big but it is this is so, so very dull. If I wanted to induce a coma then this would be fine, but I don’t. I felt miserable bloody miserable after listening to this first thing on a Monday morning. He is telling me it’s looking like a beautiful day, it is melodic, strings surge but he isn’t convincing me, sod one day in 365, that odds sum up what this album is. Don’t want to particularly dislike on this, it has music merit like all of the list at the start, and I do understand why lots like, but I really don’t want to listen to this like I wouldn’t want to study a mathematical equation all morning - 2 Star.
Meh
I really thought I'd enjoy this, but just didn't find it interesting at all
this sounded like a mix of dave matthews band, radiohead, and coldplay. that is to say it sounded pretty derivative. other than one or two songs it wasn't bad but i don't understand how an album that sounds like this, from this time period, made this list.
This is what you get when you ask for an old Radiohead album and your mom says you have old Radiohead albums at home
Weather to fly was surprisingly decent but the majority of this truly was just Coldplay who I hate. It’s like they’re doing a bad Radiohead impression the whole way through.
C'était de l'eau tiède. J'ai pas envie de mettre 1, parce que c'était quand même mieux fichu que du Georges Michael, mais qu'est-ce que ça m'a ennuyé !
A quieter album, with great vibes, perfect for early morning relaxing
It’s ok, don’t have much else to say
This guy's voice really annoys me and overall this album seems like it really wants to be clever and impress the listener. It's like a guy at university trying to get a girl by playing her his original songs on a guitar at a party to show her just how, like, deep he is, baby, like a lot of people don't really understand just how I'm feeling, yeah, like we all hide our true selves, you know? Anyway, what he / they have come up with are a bunch of songs with swooping but misplaced orchestral backing and belaboured metaphorical lyrics. Also the songs could all stand to finish about one minute sooner instead of having very prolonged outros. Oh, when One Day Like This came on I was like, this is it, this is the reason this album is on this list. This was the hit that was everywhere from 2008 onwards, and it is head and shoulders above the rest of the songs on this album. Having listened to the whole thing, this song is the sound of lightning striking, and it doesn't strike twice.
It's from the 2000s, it's a band I've never heard of, and it's an indie rock album. That combination sounds like boring shit to my ears. And it IS boring shit! It's bland indie rock that kind of just plays in the background rather than engages the soul like good music. Of course, the band are British(why not?) and it sounds pretentious as all hell(because many music journalists dig pretentious bullshit). Granted, I can love pretentious albums, but this has little musical merit behind the veneer. It's the very definition of "meh" and therefore not an album to hear before you die. Come on, man.
not bad but got bored quickly
Varies in quality. I liked it initially the longer it played the more I got some boom clap energy from the singing especially. I know that's not really music criticism per se but I also just didn't enjoy a many of the more animated tracks besides being afraid of listening to something thie internet might deem cringe.
It didn’t move me thaaat much. I could tell when the most streamed song came on that it was something that stood out more for radio..
Coldplay left me well, cold
Rating: 5/10 I'm usually a fan of the kind of acclaimed posh alt rock that Elbow inhabits but I just found this boring. This album won the UK's Mercury Prize for some reason. I really tried with the album and stuck with it in my headphones on the bus full concentration and wasn't having any fun with it. There was really no clear highlight to me until at the very end One Day Like This finally sounded interesting. Very meh and doesn't deserve to go in my 3 bucket at the moment
Tidstypisk britpop efter britpopens storhetstid. Går att lyssna på men inte fantastiskt eller originellt på något vis. Inga låtar som sticker ut.
A tricky one to rate. There’s something quite moany about most of these songs which make them a chore to get through. “One Day Like This” redeems the album.
I can appreciate the production but didn’t wow me
Muy pretencioso
A little weird. Not my cup of tea.
not too shabby I liked some riot and friend of ours and I really enjoyed the instrumental of starlings 2.5/5
the bones of you pretty peak the one about being a tower crane driver is good too its actually not that bad its not unlistenable but not many songs were added to playlist 2/ 11 songs the ones mentioned above
Не мій гурт, здається цей альбом вже слухав раніше. Трохи арті колдплей вайб. Нудьгувався, коли його слухав. Єдине, що сподобалось - вокал.
Unknown band. Mildly interesting. An OK album.
Ok. Bit boring
this voice is familiar for some reason...Sting? Sting in Australia? Men at Work? the Police at Work? This isn't offensive, but I wouldn't say I'm enjoying it. Just not my taste, I suppose. Its as if the Police tried to make a Radiohead styled album but did so poorly. Well that all changes at track 8 "The Fix'. This is quite the style shift. Sounds like the theme song to a Mystery TV show on the BBC. It's getting a 2, would be a 2.5 If I could do it.
bit of a snooze fest
Dirge
A bit too whispy, ethereal.
Two good songs. Lots of less good songs. How did this make the cut?
Well, it’s epic, beautifully written and sometimes sounds interesting. If it were shorter, I would like it more. It’s 54 minutes of depressing, boring music, which is way too much for me. I already want to call Robert Dimery a jerk for including so many ordinary britpop albums. It’s exhausting. It’s worse than Coldplay. And Coldplay is worse than Radiohead, so... 2/5 —————————————— No liked songs
wasn't a big fan of the vocal. I really like the instruments.
Didn’t get me very excited
I do not like Elbow. It's rare that I skip songs but there were multiple here that I just couldn't finish: An Audience with the Pope, Weather to Fly, The Fix, and Some Riot were just awful. One Day Like This is OK but does it need to be almost 7 minutes long? The only song I genuinely enjoyed was the last one.
Album #12 Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid I feel like, on paper, I should love this album. I am quite enamoured with British culture since consuming their television, film, sport, and music from a young age. My top ten favourite bands would all be British except for Pixies. Part of the reason I love British music so much is the lyricism, the cynical and witty views that most Brits have always endeared me. Britpop is my favourite genre of music, and I am even quite charitable to most post-Britpop. I enjoy early Coldplay, Keane, Boa, etc. Yet for some reason, this album just doesn’t do anything for me. I went in expecting to like it, and by the third track, I could tell that something was off. My least favourite decade for music is definitely the 2010s. I feel as though most rock music began to become infected with the stomp-clap indie sound that emerged in the late 2000s; this sound can be identified seeping through this album, but primarily in the song “Grounds for Divorce,” which is constantly backed by literal stomps and claps. I find this song to be really out of place on an album which appeared to be a slower and more lyrical listen at first. There are some interesting and clever lyrics, but I struggle to fully enjoy them due to the singer's voice. I normally like hearing blatant British accents in music, yet for whatever reason just feel grated by his voice. It’s hard to really understand why I don’t enjoy this, while liking many similar albums. It’s not terrible, but to me it just felt a little subpar, and not an album which should be considered one of the 1000 essential albums. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this list in relation to the 2000s and onward, but if this makes the cut, then I'd better also see some quality indie rock like Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Killers, Interpol, Arcade Fire, etc. Also, probably not on here, but the Divine Comedy’s Absent Friends would fill this slot much better. Best Tracks: One Day Like This, Starlings, Mirrorball Worst Track: Grounds for Divorce Score out of 10:5.5
Well-composed and restrained, I struggle to hear the spark at the heart of the record. The Seldom Seen Kid is the sound of smooth becoming unremarkable, or of having refined your influences and playing so expertly that the result feels averaged out, with only a faint hint of the material that went into it. This album is the seltzer of music; it's the memory of a taste rather than an immediately flavorful experience. Lacking the ability to punch through, surprise or delight, it's adult contemporary for the indie age sleepwalking through the mid-aughts.
Not my thing vocally
Weather to Fly is that straight-up Beatles descending chromatic but it works well. Overall group reminds me of British Sea Power and a little of early Coldplay. Not bad. Oof the Fix is in song is terrible
The name says it all. When it comes to pasta, the elbow is never the shape you are looking for. Elbow is neither your top choice nor a timeless classic. The elbow is something you’ve settled for - you definitely wanted something else but this is what you ended up with. Human elbows don’t make any sense. They are impractical, hard to navigate, easy to bump, impossible to beautify. Nobody is “into” elbows - they are wrinkled, bony protrudances that are so common, we completely ignore them except when they are broken or used as weapons. Likewise, this is how we should regard this band. It is undesirable, commonplace and wholly uninspiring. Maybe If you cover it in cheese and bake the hell out of it for an hour, you might forget how mediocre it is - but I doubt it.
Seldom seen kid, the song is great. Awesome riff but the rest of this album is a bit samey. Feel like one day like this is ubiquitous in the UK as a song over a montage or an advert. Very easy to be absolutely sick of.
too millennial for me
Sorry, but for me, it sounds just like yet another boring indie record. Does absolutely nothing for me, probably not complete thrash, but I skipped most of it and really don't want to listen again, we will see. Max 2 stars.
Appreciate the different arrangements. But feels overproduced and commercial.
Hadn’t heard this band before. Liked his voice, and the first few songs, but then they all started running together a bit.
Another whiny man backed up by subpar music
Who
Very mid
yeah just not feeling it idk.
I have been feeling a little burned out from music on this recent "vacation" I am on, but I am wanting to power through some of the piling up recommendations from the 1001 albums to hear before I die list. Today I got yet another album I have heard absolutely nothing about, Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid, and it is both not what I expected at all and unfortunately really middle of the road. This project at first comes off like a very thoughtful Indie Rock album and then slowly loses itself as it continues to try and stretch itself thin with all these theatrical ideas in a project that really doesn't need it. This album is far from essential but it is novel in its' efforts to try and bring more over the top efforts to their Indie Rock sound. It is cool for what it is, but I would definitely not call this a "must-hear" album by any means. Nuff said.
Another entry into the list of things the Brits like but I do not (sorry)
i wish this was a seldom listened to album so it would have never made its way to my ears
It had it's moments, I suppose...
Sounded a bit like Coldplay or Radiohead but worse. Mediocre
Boring Indy rock. There is nothing special here.
4/10
I don’t like his voice. Otherwise I suppose it’s actually pretty good at times. The singing is too detatched from the music. It’s likely meant to be, but I dislike it. It should be more music centered. There’s a few little great bits that are ruined when he starts singing. Someone get him to shut up please. What this album is doing here on this list is beyond me.
Almost drew me back in with the fourth song, but then went back to being bored
2.5 - Feels harsh but just find them boring
Not heard this before. Largely comes off as Radiohead-lite to me with some Coldplay mixed in for good measure. Derivative of both. 2⭐️