The achievement of The Seldom Seen Kid is that Elbow manage to be both incredibly consistent and perpetually improving.
The Seldom Seen Kid keeps the band on this upward trajectory.
The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow's most self-assured and enjoyable album so far.
‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ is a stunning record, a career-best from a band whose consistency has seldom been matched by any British indie band this decade.
The Seldom Seen Kid finds Elbow maturing into their sonic ambitions, adding a sorely missed depth to their ever-present innovation.
Though the album’s most overt trait is tenderness, the hetero-waltz “The Fix” (featuring Richard Hawley on vocals) and the Zeppelin-esque “Grounds for Divorce” provide a certain masculine muscle, making The Seldom Seen Kid feel like a male sibling of the Cardigans’s equally exquisite Long Gone Before Daylight.
The album works as whole – beginning with an eruptive blast of noise and ending with the gentle farewell that is “Friend Of Ours”.
The combo of ethereal prog rock and lead singer Guy Garvey’s hushed, careworn words couldn’t be finer than on mournful, horn-laden Weather To Fly, while sing-along stadium-ready cliché One Day Like This is the only discernible reminder of why I avoided them in the first place.
Their fourth album picks up where 2005's Leaders of the Free World left off.
Guy Garvey's got a great voice, and good thing, too. As Elbow have morphed from ambitious but sterile art-rockers to something slightly more visceral, his singing-- equal parts Peter Gabriel and Talk Talk's Mark Hollis-- has been one of the few elements linking the Manchester band's varied output. It's also what's helped Elbow stick out a bit from the choirboy pack of Chris Martin, guy from Keane, et al. At the same time it's not a very rock'n'roll voice,
which perhaps explains how, despite some degree of hype, Elbow have always fallen just shy of expectations.
This is the album's Achilles heel - too few memorable tunes. Those it does have border on beautiful, but there are not enough. And hits will forever elude those who skimp on the tunes.
Really impressive album overall. Over time, this could gain a lot of popularity from me. It has such an interesting, unique feel compared to others like it. Absolutely incredible.
Very few albums are as astonishing as this. Guy Garvey earns his place here as one of the finest writers of the modern age.
Every track is personal and beautiful in a different way. Whether it's heavy guitars and smashing drums or it's beautiful swelling orchestral numbers, you never feel bored with this album. The pain felt by Garvey is portrayed by his lyrics not through moaning and whining but by hope and optimism.
An underrated highlight of the album is the beautifully devestating ... read more
8/10
exceptional
Fav tracks: Starlings, The Bones of You, Mirrorball, Grounds for Divorce, An Audiance for the Pope, Weather to Fly, The Loneliness of a Town Crane Driver, The Fix, One Day Like This, Friend of Ours
I don't think I'll be able to write a review that fully encapsulates my feelings on this album, but damnit I'll try my best. Elbow are such a fantastic group, and are one of the bands that I accredit for me finding my love of music. I was introduced to them at a young age and, when I was properly getting my teeth stuck into this whole music thing, they were one of the first bands that I took a deep dive into. From that point, they cemented their place as a favourite band of mine, and, wow, am I ... read more
"Grounds for Divorce' is such a MASTERPIECE rock song <333333
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Starlings 6,3
The Bones Of You 10 *_________*
Mirrorball 8,6
Grounds For Divorce 10 *_______________________________________*
An Audience With The Pope 7,0
Weather To Fly 6,4
The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver 6,7
The Fix (feat. Richard Hawley) 8,2
Some Riot 5,8
One Day Like This 10 *_____________*
Friend Of Ours 6,6
We're Away - Album Version - UK Bonus Track 5,7
Hotel Istanbul - Non-album track 7,5
Lullaby 6,7
MERCURY PRIZE WINNERS DEEP DIVE (for @Legoshi): 2008
I am willing to excuse Elbow for winning the Mercury over In Rainbows, because I believe they managed to craft a pretty well written, well orchestrated and damn touching post-Britpop album, chockfull of songs to soundtrack the emotional coming-of-age indie film of your life
1 | Starlings 5:05 | 77 |
2 | The Bones of You 4:49 | 88 |
3 | Mirrorball 5:50 | 85 |
4 | Grounds for Divorce 3:39 | 90 |
5 | An Audience With the Pope 4:27 | 81 |
6 | Weather to Fly 4:29 | 79 |
7 | The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver 5:14 | 83 |
8 | The Fix 4:27 feat. Richard Hawley | 83 |
9 | Some Riot 5:23 | 83 |
10 | One Day Like This 6:34 | 95 |
11 | Friend of Ours 4:36 | 77 |
12 | We're Away 1:57 Bonus Track | 68 |
#1 | / | musicOMH |
#3 | / | The Guardian |
#8 | / | Q Magazine |
#9 | / | PopMatters |
#11 | / | Spin |
#12 | / | No Ripcord |
#14 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#17 | / | NME |
#23 | / | MOJO |