Reviews (page 9 of 10)
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.
Nice vocals, sort of downtempo/groovy rock.
Ett bra album
Didn’t love this one. Made me sleepy at work
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.
Superb a classic Cover art 5/5
Litt kjedelig utenom Mirrorball
Hadde ikkje høyrt heile før, ganske bra
I love this album, haven’t listened to it much recently so when it popped up as the album for the day I was overjoyed. Not a bad track on the album and days like these was the track that my wife and I walked out of the church to on our wedding day. A banger of an album, a 5/5 every day of the week and twice on a Sunday
I loved this. I told a few people about it. By my metric, that's a 5. Will listen again.
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.
Could listen to again
Ça s'écoute bien, mais ça reste un peu trop safe à mon goût
Purty.
cool album. loved starlings and one day like this.
Really enjoy the sound of this album. Recommended listening.
Not actually bad but not particularly exciting either. But I'll give them marks for trying to keep out of the loudness wars...
Going by Apple Music’s description of this being a cross between U2 and Coldplay, I figured I would either love it or hate it. IMHO it’s much more like Coldplay than U2. This album won me over, though. I was thinking it was a strong 4, but by the time I got halfway through, it became a 5. I look forward to listening to this again. I had never heard of this band before so this is a fun surprise.
Bland stadium indie-by-numbers.
I really wanted to hate this. I can't tolerate Indie Lite does mainstream. There's no passion, power or point to the music. It's bland as fuck. I wasn't disappointed. Elbow are bland as fuck.
6/10. Not bad.
Some British nonsense. Musical enough. 5/10
One of my favourite albums by one of my favourite bands. Lyrically, musically and vocally flawless. My favourite lyric is the first verse of "Some Riot". Heartbreaking at points, and arguably even more so when you read the story of his friend who it is dedicated to. 5 🌟
Fantastic album, luscious arrangement beautiful melodies
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.
Absolutely amazing!
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
I imagine a cabal of dads made this album and the rest of elbows discography to bore the rest of the world… still though I’m not a dad and I like it. I don’t dig the album though, there’s great singles, the one with Richard hawley is good (though if you want Richard hawley go for the longpigs although they’re not on the list). Every song is good and theoretically hits a high threshold but I can’t give it a 5 or anything, has to be a 4
A lesser Coldplay
I am very much here for Elbow. This is the kind of working class British music in the loosely rock and roll sphere I can get behind. More of this, less of new wave, please.
Músicas interessantes, especialmente o instrumental.
Loved this when it came out and it's as spine tingly beautiful now as it was then.
By turns casually exuberant to beautiful melancholy to majestic, musically this album soars. Guy Garvey’s mellifluous vocals and the wryly observed humanity of the lyrics link the songs back into the familiar. The two together create something quite special, with intimate, relatable songs underscored by emotionally fulfilling music. Superb.
A really excellent album with some modern classics on them. Can't believe it only came out in 2008. Some of these songs are so ingrained they feel like they have been around for ever. A real pleasure to listen to again.
It's not bad but it's not the kind of music I like.
Great songs. Not a massive fan of his voice though if I’m bein critical.
There are two brilliant songs in here but the rest were just okay.
Dark, complex, interesting and thoroughly solid from start to finish.
Listning to this album on the 2nd day in May in a public park ! Greatfull for this moment 🙏
Great and underrated.
I was not familiar with Elbow but happily now I am! I love the grand, orchestral sound and the first lyric, "How dare the Premier ignore my invitations/ he'll have to go." What a wonderful opening song. "Darling, is this love?" Yes. "Mirrorball" is magical and beautiful. "Grounds for Divorce" has a great, gritty rock sound. "An Audience with the Pope" sounds like one of the better James Bond themes. "The Fix" is just great story telling and I love the duet of conspiring voices singing lyrics like "the redoubtable beast has had Pegasus pills." This is definitely a new favorite.
I very much enjoyed this album. The instrumentation is very interesting, the vocals are pleasant sounding, and all layered together so well. Kind of simple while simultaneously so grand.
I'd never heard of Elbow, which is either the best band name or the worst. Can't decide. But what a wonderful surprise! I was hooked by the second track (The Bones of You). Many other favorites, including Mirrorball, Grounds for Divorce, Weather to Fly, The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver, and of course One Day Like This.
The first time I listened to this I felt like I knew some of these songs. Later I realized I’d seen a couple of TV shows that used a few of these songs. Otherwise this was the first time I’ve heard this group. This album really clicked with me on the second listen. Catching more clever lyrics like “So yes, I guess I’m asking you to back a horse that’s good for glue” and picking up more of the stories the songs tell really made me fall for this album. The music is really interesting, the vocals unique, and it all came together for me. “ We made the moon our mirrorball The streets, an empty stage The city sirens violins Everything has changed ” There are touches of epic, wistfulness, sadness, drama, sarcasm and joy throughout the songs. I love it! Standout songs: Mirrorball, Weather to Fly, An Audience With the Pope, One Day Like This, A Friend of Ours, Hotel Istanbul
Reminds me of Peter Gabriel.
Music for car commercials
Fantastic
Not sure why I haven’t heard them before. Good listen.
Big ol cinematic rock
Yummy yum yummy yum
good and honest
very unique album, it has a variety of different styles throughout, hard to compare it to something else or to really narrow it down to a genre but i think its really good
Indie/Prog? An album that will never jump out at you. It's one you'll have to sit down with, maybe with a pint and some crisps, and interrogate it. It can be a slog, but it's worth it. Best Tracks: Starlings; Grounds For Divorce; One Day Like This
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.
03/31/2022 Hadn't heard of this band before. Similar sound to Sting and Peter Gabriel. Really easy to listen to... I'm a fan!
Not bad.
Overall fairly boring and at time way too whiney.
Post-Radiohead indie rock. Some of the instrumentation is pleasant.
Simply masterful. Guy Garvey is probably a genius. A wonderfully sublime album which showcases Elbow's complex simplicity (an oxymoron I know). If you ever wanted to know how to build a beautiful song by carefully layering simple instrumental melodies and harmonies and blending them with apparent effortlessnes, then this is the altar at which you should pray.
yes i agree this was some good stuff
I really dug this. Not familiar with Elbow at all, but there was so much to listen to in these songs. Hard to pin just how many things I'm reminded of listening to this, but overall I really enjoyed it.
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
Coldplay-esque indie-rock. "The Bones of You" is fantastic, great weight to the bass and captivating vocal performance. Wish more songs shared the intensity of that track, but I actually enjoy this quite a bit. Production is pristine and clear. A couple of snoozers but good overall.
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
Ehhhhhhhhhhhh. This is exactly the kind of middling rock that I just cannot jibe with. The arrangements are nice, the instrumentation is tasteful, but I wish it had some guts or bite somewhere, this is just post-trope-ified coffee shop rock, an elevated(?) Coldplay (gross). 1.5
OverallUK version of Lambchop is what I think, but maybe not quite as good overall. Opener is lovely and thoughtful and “Bones of You,” very groovy and compelling. The record is interesting throughout – lots of moments. ”One Day Like This” is a later highlight. I admit not loving Garvey’s vocals or style. And I get a little lost in the inclining to melodrama and theatricality, which feels like trying too hard. The production is overdone at times, too. The uplift from the initial cuts is never re-achieved, though I suspect this is a record that rewards repeat listening (say on a long flight). 3.7 and rounding up (with bonus points more for Damon Runyon references than the Mercury Prize) but not a strong 4, a 4-minus, if you will.
Not bad, but not good. It was super forgettable to be honest.
Необычный альбом. С ходу даже не могу выделить на что это было бы похоже. Интересный звук, гармонии, инструменты. Пару песен я слышал и до того, как прослушал целый альбом.
No just no
Very hot or miss but it had its moments
A bore. Start to finish. The best song in my opinion is Lullaby, but as the last track I was already looking forward to this record being done.
Saved by the singles
This album is like an Edward Gorey book come to life.
I am in a bad anxiety filled mood today & while this is soothing so should have helped it had the opposite effect. It really just pissed me off how it sounds like every other gd band. Maybe will try again someday in a better more objective mood (or not).
Kind of a 3.5 stars for me, but it's a good listen
Chill all the way through.
Þessi plata er barasta virkilega góð. Fjölbreytt, dramatísk og skemmtileg lög, og ekkert þeirra bara til uppfyllingar. Útsetningar hæfilega flóknar og söngvarinn nær til mín, bæði túlkunin og röddin sjálf. Held ég hendi barasta fimm á þessa.
Nice music that's often even better than its Coldplay template, but is never excellent.
Favorite songs: The Bones of You; Mirrorball; Grounds for Divorce; An Audience with the Pope; The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver The Fix; One Day Like This.
The attention to detail on this album is incredible. From the quirky intro of Starlings to the outro of The Bones of You. Add in the beautiful lyrics. Put that all to one side. Guy Garvey has a unique and wonderful voice. This album is perfect and rightfully won the Mercury award when it came out.
Alright, every song was a bit too long
Grounds for Divorce made this album rocket up to a 4 automatically for me. It started out kind of slow but just kept getting better and better.
Right up my alley!
Really liked this one....good background music...bit of an old Depeche Mode slow song feel to much of the album
Rating: 7/10 Bests songs: Best of you
cotovelo
This is a brand new band for me, never heard of Elbow before. The first song didn't really grab me, but it quickly picked up and I got very entranced by the music, it's a very pleasant listen and I realized this band reminds me very much of what Coldplay could have become if they didn't go into the mainstream stadium rock path, it's very reminiscent of their early work. In the reviews I see Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Dave Mathews, and Peter Gabriel come up frequently and I think the comparisons make sense. Good album, I could see myself picking this one up if I spot it in a shop. Grounds for Divorce is the standout but it's solid across the board.
I dig it
Pretty good, if unspectacular.
Before this, I hadn't heard of Elbow, but I was blown away by how much I liked this album. I really liked the feel of it and the style. Definitely revisiting this one in the future. Favorite songs: Starlings, The Bones of You, Weather to Fly
Middle strange sound
Finally, something brand new to me that I really enjoyed. Very cool stuff, kind of like progressive rock meets alternative. A bit like Radiohead, and can definitely hear the Peter Gabriel/early Genesis influence, especially on the vocals. Really interesting - I plan to delve more deeply into Elbow's catalog now. 4 stars.
Elbow are a perfect combination of Mancunian sensibilities with a soft core of romanticism smoothing out the northern swagger. Garvey's voice is like one of those throat lozenges with anaesthetic in it. Soothing. Although this album won the Mercury music prize, it's their earlier work that I'm keenest on. Asleep at the back was one of the greatest debuts of the decade. Live they are incredible too. A national treasure.
This is a beautiful record. Epic but fragile, romantic but truthful, outward looking but visceral. I wouldn't be surprised if this is found to have healing qualities. An hour listening and I feel soothed. And moved. Catharsis in sound. 5/5
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.
On first listen I didn't know much what to make out of this. It sounded like one of those records nicely written, nicely played, nicely recorded but not much more than that. On second listen it started revealing itself. I now understand the comparisons with Sting and Peter Gabriel other writers brought up. There is also some Graceland-era Paul Simon (Weather To Fly, which is magnificent by the way); An Audience With The Pope has that guitar playing in the style of Mark Ribbot. The Fix has that California-era Mr Bungle thing going on. I wasn't that impressed with Grounds For Divorce (which seems to have given Imagine Dragons a couple of ideas) nor was I with the lush orchestration of Friends Of Ours, but I did like the orchestra on One Day Like This. Still I wonder: does this record really deserve the classic status? We might not know yet, or at least I am not totally bought for the time being.
The album is dominated by a melancholic undertone; I got some very slight Radiohead-meets-Leonard-Cohen vibes out of it. On top of that, the singer sounds a bit like Sting at times. Still, there is quite the variation between songs, which keept me engaged. Standouts are Mirrorball, Weather to Fly, The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver and One Day Like This. I will listen to this again. - Very enjoyable 4.5/5.
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.
Didn' find anything remarkable or that stood out on this album personally.
3.5 - decent listen of alternative epicness. Strong notes of Blur. Fun but won’t be returning soon.
Never heard of this before, but guessing UK?. aaaand yep, some whiny Coldplay/Radiohead ripoff affair. Fuck off hey, wuss rock shit. 2/5.
‘Guy Garvey has said: "I grew up listening to every Genesis record. I learned to write harmonies by listening to Peter Gabriel.”’ Still sound like cack though, mate. Music for people who don’t like music.
Brit pop but not Brit pop, interesting and cool
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
I've never heard of elbow but I'm glad I was able to give this a listen. It was reminiscent of DCFC or DMB. Great background type music or mellow rainy day music.
Aburrido. Después de leer un poco me enteré que fue muy reconocido y traté de escucharlo con un poco más de detalle. Sí tiene canciones bonitas pero en general me siguió pareciendo aburrido. La mejor es One Day Like This, seguida de The Bones of You. 2.5 estrellas que bajan porque no lo recordaré mañana.
Me pareció interesante y hasta curioso porque no sabría colocarlo en algún grupo ni geográfico, ni racial, ni musical. La voz y la instrumentación y el estilo están ahí como en medio de muchas cosas y eso les dio un punto extra. Me gustó en general, pero en especial "Grounds for Divorce" (que me suena como a soundtrack para una escena final de película), y resulta que hasta tienen música lanzada este año y que no está nada mala.
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!
Ooooooh I have always loved this album!! Before I really had a music collection or a music taste, before I formed opinions and learned about how music is made. I owned a couple of tracks on iTunes and a few burned CD mixtapes but I had this album! A very dear friend introduced this album to me and it's extremely emotional, the memories tied to it. It's a five stars all the way to me and I can hardly even look at it objectively because of how strongly I immediately feel when I listen to these songs. The timing of this album coming up has been quite spookily meaningful for me. Listening to this with the sun shining after days of rain is magical.
Grounds for divorce and one day like this are bangers! Elbow were a different band in my head though, I think I maybe had them confused. Love those songs, the others didn't quite hit me the same way but we're alright
I really enjoyed this, beautiful and varied. Elbow always surprise me - there's one song on here I had either forgotten or had no idea was Elbow! So wasn't their style I associated with them.
I'm sorry I just can't seem to get on board with Elbow, they are really dull to one. One Day Like This is a banger for sure but I don't like the rest. The Fix was grating.
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.
After the first listen I thought it sounded interesting. There was a lot going on in the musical arrangement, so worth another listen. During the second listen I realised how sleep-inducing and cringingly pretentious it really was. I understand many others will like this a lot, but I'm just not buying it.
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.
Never heard of this band. After listening to the album it makes sense. Nothing excites me about this.
Was something different
I love elbow.
Some good tracks - an album worth exploring but doesn’t feel like one of the greats
Elbow rules
Overall fairly methodised. Kneels in comparison to others in the same genre, but I reckon it could grow on me
Never listened to it in full before and the lyrics are great. Played about 4 times in the day and whilst it wasn’t ideal for the gym it was perfect at other times.
From the first crash of starlings all the way to the triumph of one day like this, beautiful songs with clever lyrics.
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.
horoshiy
I never got on with Elbow's first album, and it out me off listening to their later stuff. But this is phenomenal and I wish I'd given them a second chance at the time. The only track I don't like is "One Day Like This," which EE used as its hold music and I'll forever associate with stressful calls.
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
7/10
Absolutely love One Day Like This but the rest of the album isn’t quite enough to push it to full marks.
I'd only heard "One day like this" before, and I have to say that I think that song is an updated version of The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony - that is a wrist-slitting dirge with absolutely nothing to redeem it. I put my preconceptions to one side and listened to this, and was actually surprised to find out that some of the tracks on this album have some slight merit. I mean, I don't like any of it. But I can tell that there's some good production and musicianship in evidence. "One day like this" remains an appalling stain on the musical landscape, and for that alone this album gets 1 start. Unforgivable.
Really well crafted album, can tell a lot of work was put into the string section (and a real string section not a synth). Comes across as possibly too polished. Big songs, especially One Day Like This.
Ganz passend in VW-Werbespots und Jahresrückblick-Montagen oder bei WDR2 Hörerschaft, die darunter „ernsthafte Musik“ versteht. Ich buchstabiere „hypnotisch“ oder „Dream Pop“ ganz anders und wollen Elbow mich umerziehen, muss aber noch eine Sackladung Trockeneis in die Maschine. Ich sehe Ähnlichkeit zu The Dears „No Cities Left“, die aber doch ordentlich mehr Eskalationspotenzial über Albumlänge aus Reisetaschen schütteten. 2.2
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
No idea what to expect. Pleasant enough. British. Reminds me of some other bands I don't like. Nice enough as background music but I'm confident none of it will stick in my head past the end of the album, although I did heart "one day like this".
Slow and dull. Not for me. But I did play it all the way through, so I guess it didn’t bug me that much
Nice but boring at times.
Lovely
Intimate with shocks of sound that jolt your ear in the best way possible. Dynamics were great. Really well done overall.
Very bland. I had problems getting used to the singers voice.
It was fine. Couple things I liked. Mostly forgettable.
4.5/5 Nice album, relaxing and nice voice
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.
I'd only recently been acquainted with Elbow but had not heard anything from this album, so here we go... The vocals sound like a mix of Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Fish (Marillion)....this is a high compliment. I'm not often/usually/ever "into" vocals - mostly they're a necessary addition (or distraction) but too up front or over the top and it takes over and ruins things. But I'm finding them (vocalist: Guy Garvey) a real equal/compliment to the music -> which i *love* - mysterious, cinematic, melodic, yet accessible. For me their best songs keep the mystery - there are literally no bad tracks on this album but some of the more up-tempo/rock ones seem slightly out of their comfort zone (specifically "Grounds For Divorce" is a bit of a throwaway). You definitely need variety on an album of course but Elbow works best at any tempo when they're using more instrumentation. Having said that, it's nitpicking and if you're a fan of complex and delicate melodies in the vein of anything from Radiohead to Genesis to Pink Floyd and with a modern bent this is a keeper. I also feel like this album will only grow on me as I get more familiar with the songs. 8/10 4 stars
This is my type of rock, very stripped-back instrumentation with moments of it being heavier. Very artsy, not quite smooth voice. Exactly what I go to alternative/indie for. Bonus tracks don't do it for me, definitely feel cobbled on the album
Beautiful album Fav tracks: Starlings, grounds for divorce, the loneliness of a tower crane driver, one day like this, friend of ours.
Wyspy kolejny raz pokazuja, ze lista wcale nie jest baisowana, the seldon seen kid to czwarty album bandy zwanej elbow, czy to kenganowa referencja, plyta z roklu 2k08 co czyni ja dosc nowozytna pozycja jak na standardy listy, gatunkowo bedzie to rock, ten artystyczny szukajacy na siebie pomyslu, a powielajacy tylko oklepane schematy i pakuje je dla sluchacza o wysublimowanym guscie muzycznym, ktory byle czego nie tyka, do wlasnie takiego gatunku zaliczylbym te plyte, nie slucha sie tego tragicznie, ale zostawia posmak, ze brak tu jakiegos osobistego pierwiastka, bo calosc sprowadza sie do tego ze 5 osobowa banda gra w cieniu poteznego smyczkowania, bo wlasnie trak wypchany do granic mozliwosc brzmieniem muzykow sesyjnych i zabijajacy sama bande byl dla mnie hajlajtem, czyli przedostatni kawalek one day like this, ktory laduje na plejce, natomiast reszta plyty niczym nie dosc, ze nie zaskakuje, to nawet nie przyciaga uwagi, nudny i smetny krazek, no i jeszcze te wokale lidera pana Guya, ktory byl rowniez odpowiedzialny za liryke plyty, to dowod na to, ze po wokalu mozna zwizualizowac jak wyglada artysta z ktorego sie on wydobywa, dodatkowo jeszcze trafic z imieniem, bo Guy brzmi prawie tak typowo jak wokal tego pana, brak w nim czegos na czym mozna sie zatrzymac i po mnie wrecz splywa, prawie jak wolne fragmenty pana z imaginowych dragonow podobny typ spiewu
Enjoyed Grounds For Divorce & An Audience with the Pope & The Fix. Didn’t like Some Riot.
I was listening to this album a lot when I met my wife, and we had Mirrorball playing at our wedding. Not going to get a fair rating out of me, sorry. It's a crime One Day Like This got so overplayed on telly. Ban TV.
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.
This album led me to a whole new genre of albums and songs. The singer sounds like sting
Absolutely beautiful. Reminds me of Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear. Amazing combination of strings and traditional rock instruments.
First album of this project that I could not finish. I feel like there was a good album here somewhere, but wherever it was it wasn’t for me.
Myndi alveg hlusta á aftur. Minnti mig á Sigurrós
How have I never heard of this band before now? A bit melodramatic overall butt obvious talent with some interesting song writing and arrangement
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.
Very forgettable. Cant remember a single song or even melody
I had never heard of the band prior to being given the album to listen to. I found nothing wrong with the music, but I also could not understand why this album was one out of a 1,001 albums that I needed to listen to before I die. I have no care if I ever listen again.
What a beautiful album, and a pleasant surprise from not only a contemporary artist but one unknown to me. Great production and use of strings, harmonies, indie guitar playing, and some truly quality songwriting.
Great and versatile album, loved "One day like this"
Really Cool vocals, and some awesome songs overall. Not always my style but overall great
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.
Mi disco favorito de Elbow con diferencia. Creo que fue el primero o el segundo que escuché. Canciones como The bones of you, Grounds for divorce, Weather to fly y One day like this. Supongo que no es para todo el mundo pero para mí está entre los imprescindibles de segunda línea.
Elbow are the early to mid 00s English alternative/pop rock band that should have been bigger than Oasis and Coldplay (because they're better). A low bar for some, but I'm not damning them with faint praise. This album is a diverse yet cohesive unit, comprised of anthems, ballads, and weird indie shit, sometimes all in the same song. Somehow it all works. Best track: One Day Like This
Nagging vocals get lost in ethereal instrumentals to make this LP end up a repetitive yet forgettable mess.
Moderately enjoyable
Really nice, reminds me of radiohead a little. Some lovely tracks: the bones of you/mirrorball/grounds for divorce are my favourite
Yeah. Um.
Brittrr :(
Nice singing, strings and drum grooves
Mid, tf is it doing on this list.
Nice.
One of my all-time faves. Every time I listen I'm reminded of my first Glastonbury festival when the Guardian was giving out bags with 'Throw those curtains wide/One day like this a year would see me right' on the side. Elbow were playing the Pyramid stage after Paolo Nutini, who was sloppy drunk and pretty terrible, but I met a nice girl who gave me one of those little packs of raisins. So anyway, I left partway through Nutini's set because I didn't know who Elbow were back then and I wanted to go and see Noah and the Whale or some shit. So now every time I listen to this masterpiece I get to remember how much of a moron I used to be. 10/10.
Liked this! Good ambient driving music with some fun fugues
Hate that voice and the dreary sound.
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.
Loved it!
Radiohead lite vampire weekend vibes. Lyrics are simplistic but poetic. nice and dreamy.
Mellow and lovely
ну инструментальненько и интеллигентненько все так. Голосок, барабаны, гитарки, всё на месте своем
Good band and also the most boring band in the world.
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. ***
Really good. Will listen again
quite boring. I guess you need to be in the right mood.
Beautiful and experimental. Full score. Will buy the album on occasion.
Nice album but a bit whiny
Dit heeft een beetje peter gabriel ballade vibes. Zeer leuk alleen had er soms zo iets meer up-tempo of harder tussen mogen zitten. Anders had een half uurtje beter geweest.
Wow echt een zeer fijne ontdekking!
Мелодичный альбом
Eh. The music’s cool but the singer sounds like he’s trying to channel Thom Yorke, Morrissey, and Chris Martin simultaneously and not in a compelling way. Blah.
Perfectie met extra aandacht voor de volgorde van de nummers; het voelt zo geweldig om van het ene in het andere nummer te vallen.
Hopla! Een van mijn all-time favorites. Album klopt van top tot teen!!
Geweldige band, geweldig album.
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.
You know that saying 'you don't know your arse from your elbow'? Well, it's pretty apt here, because this is shit.
Like wanking in a wheelbarrow. Uncomfortable and perverse.
Dreary.
It was okay.
Holy shit this hit me like a tonne of bricks. What a beautiful record. It's what post X&Y Coldplay could've been but never were. Emotive, evocative, poetic observations of the examined life. "Straight to my head like the first cigarette of the day." " We kissed like we invited it" "Yes I'm asking you to invest in a horse that's only good for glue." Never tepid, every song has an edge layered somewhere within it that captivates eg the Alt J style dirty baseline in The Bones of You or the straight up foals style shred monster that is Grounds for Divorce - it's fucking orchestral. THIS is a contemporary record that deserves to be here.
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.
Delicately balancing between a Pixar movie and a coked out Tim Burton film, this album resonates with that late 2008 art rock baroque folk scene. It’s beautiful yet eerie in parts- vague yet also grounded both in lyrically and instrumentally. All the songs are different enough to leave different impressions but similar enough to be considered as part of the same statement. Mirrorball and Audience With the Pope are the standouts to me- along with the fix. 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.
True story: I've owned this record forever, just never actually listened to anything aside from "Grounds for Divorce". I'm very surprised how much I enjoyed this record. It's indie rock with a lot of interesting instruments, structures, and vocal performances. I think it hits a lull mid-album that only really recovers at "Some Riot", but I think the 4-song run of "The Bones of You" through "An Audience With the Pope" is just perfect. Favorite tracks: "Mirrorball", "Grounds for Divorce", "The Bones of You", "An Audience With the Pope"
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.
An inventive, gorgeous, eerie, smooth album! I love the more creative/genre-blending tracks on here, like the jazzy closer and "Some Riot". "Grounds for Divorce", despite the awesome track name, was a low point, it felt a little generic pop-rock, but it's not that egregious taking into account the year this was made.
Nostalgia boner, definately on rotation from now on
Asleep at the back and THIS … lyrics are so good …
I had no clue who these guys were and had absolutely zero idea of what to expect, but damn, this was really great. Hearing lots of Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, and Radiohead influences, but with a lot more dramatic and expansive soundscape. I saw them described as a “cinematic” pop group and I think that’s a great adjective as every song feels like a story bursting open. Each song has a unique timbre and mix of instrumentation/effects while the album still sounds pretty cohesive. Cant really say it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before but it’s definitely really well done.
Good voice to balance out the instrumentals. Pretty good in my opinion.
Surprisingly, this is a really good album. Pop is generally boring and repetitive, but this was just enough of an outlier to feel new but familiar enough to not be annoying.
Somehow actually hadn't heard this before! Great album though
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
zingers
diablo-escue rämpytystä, iha cool, 3,5/5
Kaksi sanaa: geneerinen
Style and sound I like.
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
Light alt rock, calming, melodic 5/10
didn't like it, pretty boring
Bit dull. Not exceptional indie.
5/5 This was definitely one I really liked that I would never have heard. Sounds kinda like Dave Matthews.
Drums too soft until they’re the boot stomp/chain type beat
Very pleasant/pretty indie rock? Good production and instrumentation.
4.0
Seems like a very well-made album. Had some interesting moments, but overall didn't grab me. Felt mellow overall. Hotel Istanbul was neat. Not sure how to rate it. It was good, just didn't love it.
Nice musically but an overall meh album for me. Too ambient and sleepy.
A pleasant surprise!
Like Grounds for Divorce. Rest of the album is pretty bad
Boring? I just don’t get why this one is on the list. Quite possible it’s just the hard rocker in me.
I’m finding that I’m just not into art rock. When the songs have structure and melody on this album they’re really good but this seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Too many long, quiet, and droning songs for me to come back to this one regularly.
very calming, some very interesting sounds/harmonies? the fix
Great Album!!! I love it
lol
Some lovely tunes. Not really my thing: file it with Coldplay, Snow Patrol etc. Generally very nice inoffensive AOR with the occasional standout track.
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
Hell yes! Peter Gabriel vibe, but different. Love this album. Even though you have been here since 2006...Welcome to 2021, Mr. Elbow. Really good album.
What an album! So atmospheric and loved listening to it through while driving
Bealte-esque...but not my thing.
Favourite Songs: The Bones of You & Grounds For Divorce
Such a 'try hard' album, almost like Garvey is doing a parody of the pretentious singer songwriter but the sad thing is that he's genuine.
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.
Pretty meh. "I've been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce" has to be the worst lyric in this project so far. Best track: One Day Like This
Had to listen to this a second time on the following day. On the first listen I disliked the first song and then didn't listen too attentively, but found myself liking the album more and more as it progressed. Since it's a fairly unobtrusive album I thought it fair to give it another spin the next day and listen more attentively. I'm really glad that I did because this time around I really loved it. It's serene, but has a surprising amount of depth and versatility. I can see myself revisiting this one quite often when I want background music that is relaxing but simultaneously of really high quality.
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.
Definitely a different artist..... Friend of ours & We’re Away my favorites..
Moments of great beauty offset with moments of pretentious meh.
Couple of great tracks, some lovely lyrics but bland and dull in parts too
Experimental enough to not be dull and familiar enough to not be annoying Did not expect it to be this good! A modern white band I like. How strange.
Meh
The first thing I noticed about The Seldom Seen Kid is that the textures of the songs are interesting and thought out with an impressive level of detail. For example, opener Starlings starts with a marimba like figure backed by echoey, percussive bass and swampy harmonies. There's plenty of space in the arrangement. There are spare keyboard figures, punctuated by harsh digital horn section stabs. This is all in the service of a song structure that is simplicity itself, oscillating between two chords a tone apart. Over that is a conventional melody. Not much there, but at least it sounds different. Okay. The 2nd song has a similarly simple song structure and melody, but entirely different musical textures. There's a clattering beat box rhythm paired with strummed guitar and fuzzed out bass, along with harmonies similar to the first song. Now and then distorted layers of guitars join in. By now, Elbow's modus operandi is clear. The songs themselves on The Seldom Seen are simple, even simpleminded, but the textures are anything but. The simplicity of the songs makes them accessible, but the production makes the music seem more profound than it actually is. In a way, this is ideal music for public spaces like a restaurant or a clothing store, because it doesn't really require close listening. You can just let the waves of sound wash over you. But for me, there is just too much good music around to seek out stuff that is only interesting on the level of texture, and even then, it's not radical, the way something like Here Comes The Warm Jets is.
3/5 it might have been interesting but...
i quite liked a lot of the songs on the album!! esp audience with the pope, mirrorball, grounds for divorce, and the bones of you... gives me kinda radiohead-but-for-people-who-are-on-the-road-to-depression-and-aren’t-quite-at-rock-bottom-yet vibes ... also the album art is sick !!
Conhecia Grounds for Divorce ja, maneira, mas o resto foi meh
Mest konstigt, inte riktigt min grej känns lite Tim Burton-film aktigt... om man kunde ge 2,5 skulle det bli, jag väger mellan 2 o 3, vi får se..
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 is a beautiful, milti-genre, journey. Another album I’ve never hear of that I loved. Good lyrics, nice minimalism, epic crescendos. There are a few songs that almost ruin it, the country revival dirge in the middle reminding me of the radio songs of 5 yrs ago, there’s also a couple Nick Cave style songs I didn’t love. At its best this album sounds like a film score with Indy vocals. Nick Cave and country revival songs weren’t enough to ruin this album for me, it was successful despite those songs. 5.
Started out strong, then got a little precious, ended fairly decent.
I'm not the biggest fan of that sounding voice. Classic indie pop.
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.
Felt like it dragged on for a very long time. Production quality seemed great but just not for me.
Liked Hotel Istanbul & Weather to Fly. But not me cup of tea, me lady.
Some good songs but quality is a bit inconsistent.
Really good! Sounds like early Radiohead, better Coldplay, also The Doves
Ok, not one of my favourites of theirs.
Sometimes it sounded like a more experimental coldplay. Other times it reminded me of dmb.
I really enjoyed this, it was right up my alley and something I’d never heard of!
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.
Classic. Not a bad song.
I can hear like a lot of effort went into making it sound good but none of the songs do anything for me.