Build a Rocket Boys!

Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!
Critic Score
Based on 28 reviews
2011 Ratings: #38 / 1031
User Score
Based on 100 ratings
2011 Rank: #231
Liked by 4 people
April 12, 2011 / Release Date
LP / Format
Polydor / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Arts Desk
Elbow's fifth album puts Garvey firmly in the lyrical Premier League.
100
The Telegraph

Their last album, The Seldom Seen Kid, managed the rare feat of winning the Mercury prize and huge public affection. So how do Elbow follow it? With continued greatness and without fuss.

90
DIY
If anything, 'satisfyingly weathered' may fit the bill best - its imperfections only serve to hold the interest further.
83
A.V. Club
It isn't the type of album that will easily find its way into the hearts of those in need of a quicker, simpler fix.
80
The Skinny
Music to get lost inside: for headphones rather than booming speakers.
80
Evening Standard
Chock-full of the soul, poetry and good humour that have become the band's trademark.
80
The Irish Times
This is the real deal, magnificent in its composition and execution. Not everything on the album works, but when it does it’s some of the best music you’ll hear this or any other year.
80
Q Magazine
It's simply another excellent Elbow record.
80
Gigwise
Elbow are honest, intricate and mellow. Mellow bordering on soft, bordering on heartbreaking, bordering on one of the best British bands around; bordering on genius.
80
The Independent
The air of exultant expectation recollected in tranquility pervades the entire album, with Garvey confiding memories and misgivings to the natural world in "The River" and "The Birds", the latter appointed "the keepers of our secrets", while the former ultimately washes them out to the west-facing sea.
80
Mojo

As with earlier records, Build A Rocket Boys! is touched by ambitious, intuitive invention.

80
Uncut
In short, it's a quietly beautiful record: anthemic but not bombastic, introspective yet universal, simply drawn but beautifully coloured in.
80
The Guardian

Too old to have their heads turned by mainstream success, but too big-hearted, maybe too grateful, to spurn it with a churlish how-do-you-like-us-now gesture, Build a Rocket Boys! sees Elbow doing perhaps the smartest thing you could under the circumstances: carrying on regardless.

80
Clash
Beautifully produced and blessed with Guy Garvey in fine voice, it's a small but perfectly formed step forward.
80
The Fly
Filled with quiet moments of stirring beauty, arm-raising jubilance and enlightening lyricism. A truly brilliant return.
80
Under the Radar
The emotional pallet may be lightened, but once again Elbow still manages to break hearts, even as their own remain intact.
80
No Ripcord

It is not the finest album that Elbow have made but, I suspect, it is one that ‘everyone and everyone’s mum’ will be glad they did.

80
SPIN
Expansive yet intimate, ornate yet seductive, this is capital-A Art rock without pretense, but with tremendous heart.
80
NME
Specifically speaking, Elbow have retained their crowns as everyman kings.
80
AllMusic

Build a Rocket Boys! knows when to push forward and when to pull back, and its songs find the accessibility in out-of-the-box thinking without alienating either side of Elbow's audience.

80
PopMatters

Details make Build a Rocket Boys! warrant repeat listenings, requiring that you pay attention and remember what you experience.

80
musicOMH

They've recorded another Elbow album, full of quiet introspection, subtly life-affirming melodies and the usual brilliant lyrical sketches of Northern life.

80
Drowned in Sound

We should be grateful that a bunch of steady-goers like Elbow have continued to perfect their craft and simultaneously achieve such acclaim and recognition.

75
Paste

This is an artfully conceived and executed, heartfelt and evocative work, and I suspect it’s precisely the kind of album Garvey and his mates wanted to make.

75
Prefix

Build a Rocket Boys! sounds very much like an Elbow record, but it doesn't sound like any Elbow record we've heard before.

70
Consequence of Sound

They’ve crafted an album full of beautifully lush melodies, intricate patterns, and soaring vocalizations.

69
Pitchfork

More than ever, Elbow are hitching their fortunes to their lead singer, and with that, Rocket is by a large margin their quietest record to date, the closest thing to a Garvey solo album we've heard.

62
Spectrum Culture

For all its lush serenity, reflection and emotional profundity, Rocket too often fails to galvanize itself to have an appeal for new fans, though Elbow fans will find no problems soaking up its reminiscences.

KevMetzger
82

Elbow's albums are always so full of poetry and softness that one can't dislike them. And 'build a rocket, boys!' makes no exception.

Jamobo
85

Elbow have been, for several years now, one of my favourite bands. They are the kind of group that unrepentantly makes whatever type of music they want to and by some sheer cosmic coincidence that's exactly the music i want or need to listen to!
Build a Rocket Boys! is honestly kind of a mid-tier Elbow album, the group have more experimental albums and they've got more consistent ones as well, but even mid-tier Elbow shines in a way that most other records simply cannot compete. From Guy ... read more

daFigz
80

Parts Art Rock and Progressive Rock, Elbow upon my introduction remains one of my favorite English bands to emerge in the new Millenium. I read a review which stated Guy Garvey does Peter Gabriel. I'm still trying to figure this comparison out. Garvey's voice is a treasure as are the band's poetic lyricism and sublime musicality. On this album you've got Classical strings, and brass which has an instant appeal to me. Elbow's 'Build A Rocket Boys!' is worthy of your time and attention. I mean ... read more

BillyT_
81

Build a Rocket Boys! is perhaps the Elbow album I come back to the least. That being said, there are some absolutely stellar highs on this album. It's nice to see Elbow wearing their art and prog rock influences on their sleeve a little more on this album, and those tracks that do make for some of my favourites. It's also nice to see a happy Elbow, considering the mood of the subsequent album.

Favourite Song - Dear Friends

daFigz
80

Parts Art Rock and Progressive Rock, Elbow upon my introduction remains one of my favorite English bands to emerge in the new Millenium. I read a review which stated Guy Garvey does Peter Gabriel. I'm still trying to figure this comparison out. Garvey's voice is a treasure as are the band's poetic lyricism and sublime musicality. On this album you've got Classical strings, and brass which has an instant appeal to me. Elbow's 'Build A Rocket Boys!' is worthy of your time and attention. I mean ... read more

SJCTurntable
84

Garvey Goes Gabriel, being allowed the artistic freedom to experiment on the back of the huge success of the Mercury Award winning ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’. This is clearly evident from the outset with the expanded and atmospheric arrangement of album opener, ‘The Birds’, which builds perfectly to a rousing chorus. Garvey brings all his brilliance to the narratives here, especially here on the sadness of an old man looking back on his long-lost happiness. He then transports ... read more

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