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My first exposure to Elbow was the Seldom Seen Kid. I grew so attached to that album, that I decided to check this album out.
While I initially felt like The Seldom Seen Kid was the better of the two albums, I can honestly say that at this point it is hard to tell or even care. This album continues to get better and better with each listen. In my review for the Seldom Seen kid, I think I suggested a similarity between Elbow and Peter Gabriel's work in that there was a multi-cultural twist to the music that really makes it stand on its own. I realize with this album and many many listens of the these two recent album, that may not be entirely correct, and this album really makes Elbow stand on their own as a unique band that will obviously keep ascending the ranks of popularity. They are just too good not to.
This album has all the quality that the Seldom Seen Kid had, but it doesn't sound like a rehashing (or more properly that album doesn't seem like a rehash of this one). They are each fantastic albums. This album rocks quite a bit and has a bit of a rawer edge to it. It may be the production or may just be that it really is rawer, but it by no means this album isn't good. Production is over-valued sometimes, and the production here by no means misses. If anything, it makes you appreciate the lyrical quality of the album, and it is really superb. This may be the aspect that really lifts Elbow to the top in my mind. The lyrics makes you think. They don't get boring. That may be something that rises to Peter Gabriel's level regardless of the sound. I am a large U2 fan, and the lyrics and music are akin but easily exceed those you might have found in The Unforgettable Fire or The Joshua Tree. The lyrics and music of this album (and the Seldom Seen Kid) are vague enough to be timeless, and that really is the mark of a great band.
The combination of this album and the Seldom Seen Kid, really make me want to explore what Elbow was like before. They may not be the same, but different is often good.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2009
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2005
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Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2011
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2014
Top reviews from other countries
StarlittenAntipathy
Epischer Drittling bestättigt Elbow als andauernde Größe
Reviewed in Germany on September 25, 2005
