New Elbow.

the opening cut, "rib cage," is a good testbed; if you don't like that, you won't like the rest. me, i find it mesmerising.

Excellent description, Nick.

But is there a line as...soul-tugging as "I'm proud to be the one you hold/When the shakes begin"? Cos that still *gets* me every fuckin' time.

And yet I can't stand Newborn. And I've got Asleep in the Back yet never listened to it all the way through. I am trepidatious.

Recommend one off the newie to get me started please, cos I'm only on 56K.

Y'know, first track's called "Ribcage" an' all - are there tracks called "Duodenum" and "Coccyx" and "Femur" and suchlike? Hope so...

Humerus, no?

< bows >

But why has no one mentioned the several thousand people singing (in a rather muddled fashion) something like "I still believe in love, so fuck you" on "Grace Under Pressure"?

That would be their entire audience at Glastonbury 2002, who were asked to sing those particular lines by Guy.

There's a section on the Elbow website where you can submit your name if you were one of those who sang - they were at one point aiming to credit as many singers as possible on the album sleeve, but I fear the fact that NME etc covered the idea will mean the project was derailed by microfame-hungry dicks who weren't even there :-(

"Closer to 45 minutes than an hour, Cast of Thousands is a less bloated record to take in than Elbow’s debut, Asleep in the Back but that’s not to say it’s any less intense. “Snooks (Progress report)” sees Garvey comparing his own life to those of his friends, whispering over a jerking rhythm before an awesome, bronchial guitar yowl punctures through to expose the jealousy beneath. “Switching Off” is exquisitely beautiful, heartbeat toms, a tambourine and an exhaling organ offering a skeletal backing for a freshly broken melody portraying a resigned love; “you the only sense / the world has ever made / early evening June / this room and a radio play / this I need to save / I choose my final scene today / switching off with you…” A disconsolate electric whirr heightens the impact, pricking forth tears and recognition."

I'm sorry to say this Ned, but You know you're getting old when........

Two days ago I had the misfortune of seeing Muse because my wife and I bought tickets for my god-son to see 'em. What a load of wank. But the good thing was that Elbow were supporting them and I'd not heard anything by them before so I was open minded and ready. The first song sounded like "SoE" era Talk Talk, only more 'legible' I suppose. That got me interested. By the third or fourth song I was really into it. Then they said that they loved us and this was their last number, and played a lovely growing monster of a song which I've been singing in my head ever since.

So off I went today and bought "Cast of thousands", played the first ten seconds of each song to see if I recognised it, and there was "Grace under pressure" at the end, being that growing monster song. So I'm happy now. Reading all the above comments means I can't wait to play the whole album now.

got it. good. "the birds" is "newborn" huge

http://www.elbow.co.uk -> news :

On Monday 27th August elbow finally release the long mooted b-sides album: 'Dead In The Boot'.

Bringing together b-sides and hard to find non-album tracks from the band's lengthy recording career, the collection will be available on CD, vinyl album and digital download.

The release tells the alternative elbow story from the early years, with tracks like 'None One' from the original 'Newborn' EP in 2000, right up to 'Buffalo Ghosts' from last April's 'Open Arms' limited edition 10" vinyl single.

Here's the full tracklisting

1 'Whisper Grass' ('Fallen Angel' – V2 single release)
2 'Lucky With Disease' ('Newborn' – V2 single release)
3 'Lay Down Your Cross' ('Not A Job' – V2 CD Single)
4 'The Long War Shuffle' ('Leaders Of The Free World' – V2 CD Single)
5 'Every Bit The Little Girl' ('One Day Like This' – Fiction 7” single)
6 'Love Blown Down' ('Fugitive Motel' – V2 CD Single)
7 'None One' ('Newborn' – Uglyman CD EP)
8 'Lullaby' ('One Day Like This' – Fiction CD Single)
9 'Mcgreggor' ('Forget Myself' – V2 7” single)
10 'Buffalo Ghosts' ('Open Arms' – Fiction 10” Single)
11 'Waving From Windows' ('Grace Under Pressure' – V2 CD Single)
12 'Snowball' (From 'Help – A Day In The Life' – Warchild album release)
13 'Gentle As' ('Leaders Of The Free World' – V2 7” single)

"The band have always loved B-side land and this is a collection of our favourites. It was important to us that this collection be an album in its own right so for some fans it may seem like there are glaring omissions, but these songs are the ones that hung together perfectly." Guy Garvey - Elbow

Excited for this! I've missed out on a lot of the band's B-side material, so this will be much appreciated.

I've got a lot of Elbow singles but I barely know any of these! Which is good, I guess, as I've already got the ones I do know...

new album is very good again.

what? deserves a new thread!

this is fantastic. these guys and field music are so underappreciated

field music have been getting better and better as elbow have depreciated. is this new one a 'return to form' or something

still getting used to it, but so far so good. though you probably don't want to take my word for it since i loved the last one

yeah I by no means think they've gotten worse and worse. I loved the last album but got pretty burned out on it.

Elbow are not underappreciated.

They def are in North America.

And on ILX

Almost as if the term was completely relative

They have found this unique ability to be impressive and boring simultaneously.

Cosign.

That's a really great summation.

What's impressive is how they never seem to get any bad press ever

Because they're not bad! Boring is very different from bad, because sometimes boring is good. But bad never is. "Impressive and boring" is both OTM summation and band approach.

This album is working for me in ways the last two never did. Starting to really like it to the degree it might be my second favourite after LotFW.

What's strange is that it's ostensibly made up of the kinds of songs that made me find those last two records such a drag ...

Their arrangements can appear to be pedestrian or midtempo, but they put more effort into writing stronger melodies and especially vocal melodies than Coldplay so they are constantly fluttering right around the bar of mediocrity/interest.

ooh the sweet spot

Can't wait to hear it - Saw them at the Scala last week and they were (as usual) fucking amazing, played about 50/50 old and new stuff, and the new stuff sounded magic, particularly one tune with a kind of slow gospel vocal with a baggy D&B beat behind it.
Not come across any album promo's yet, lots of single/4 tracks but no album....
― Action Jackson, Thursday, July 17, 2003 9:49 AM (10 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I like "Fly Boy Blue" but the rest of the record does seem quite boring, as did the last album. I have a lot of affection for the first four albums.

Charming how their supporters don't really deny they are boring

Let your beige flag unfurl with pride, I guess

I'll third (fourth? fifth?) the OTMness of "impressive and boring", but I really love the new one and think it may end up being my favorite yet. Something about the tone this time just hits me right, though that ties into my theory about this band. Which is, in short, that the Elbow album you love the most probably comes whenever your personal meloncholy is most closely attuned to the band. If that makes sense...

imo "boring" isn't quite le mot juste but i'm on major painkillers atm so i can't figure out what the right one would be.

It's very ... considered.

Brown

it's good. i like it.

great band. all the right people dislike them, for perfect reasons too.

they are music lovers

I love how much they love Genesis.

Would be really sad if the guy sang like Peter Gabriel but didn't like Genesis.

"magnificent (she says)" is fucking beautiful. our ELO

it's... Elbow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNRGGQ_138I

not sure how I feel about the new one, songs aren't really striking me aside from a couple. could be a grower, but it's the least involving one IMO

https://elbow.co.uk/audio-vertigo-extended-edition/

Bonus version with two extra tracks (one of which is “We Have All the Time In the World”, swoon). CD, signed art, $11 shipping to U.S. for $20? Sold.

I saw them live just before Covid started to shut everything down, had a blast that night as they are very good live.