Cast of Thousands

by

Elbow

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i was mildly entertained by 'asleep in the back,' elbow's first album. as the title suggests, by the end of the album i was asleep. 'asleep...' was an 'atmospheric album' (save a few tracks like the beautiful 'newborn'), heavy on sound and ambience. so i surprised when i first heard 'a cast of thousands.' it's quite a step forward for the band. they, much like doves, ditched the atmospherics for a more straightforward sound. and the results are incredible.

guy garvey, he of the beautifully huskied voice, is one of rock's premier lyricists. 'i'll blow you a kiss,it should reach you tomorrow as if flies from the other side of the world' belongs among the great single lyrics of our time. other lyrics like 'pull my ribs apart and let the sun inside,' ('ribcage) 'walking through the long grass on your hands,' and 'teach you how to whistle like a boy' reveal a nice sensitivity without dipping into sentimentality. the album is full of amazing imagery, much more poetic that 99.9% of songwriters out there.

musically, the band really seems to find it's footing. every track, and i mean, EVERY track, is well worth listening to. the rawkish 'fallen angels,' the hummable 'not a job,' and my favorite song of 2003 - 'switching off.' it's a devasting and heartbreaking song. you'll hit repeat again and again and again and again. i know i did. when guy sings 'you, the only sense the world has ever made' you get goosebumps zipping up and down your body like rogue torpedos. one of the great modern love songs. trust me.

it's difficult not to join the elbow army, especially when the album ends with thousands of people singing 'we still believe in love, so f*** you!'

I for one thought Elbow's US debut, "Asleep in the Back", was one of the most unexpectedly auspicious debuts of 2002. So I eagerly awaited this long-delayed followup. My first - and second - impression is of a band that wants to move on and explore new musical territory, while grounding itself in more traditional stylings as well. And Guy Garvey's mopey vocals are still eerily reminiscent of David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, a major influence to be sure. Elbow is a middle ground between Coldplay and Radiohead (how many times has that been said before?), yet here they seem to want to go in both directions. Some of the tunes here are more upbeat, even "poppier", than anything on "Asleep", and the use of the gospel choir is interesting. (But what's with that high-pitched scream that annoyingly punctuates the chorus of "Grace Under Pressure"?) Garvey's lyrics are often brilliant ("To pull my ribs apart/and let the sun inside"), and yes, the music occasionally leans toward the experimental. Yet nothing here moves me as the anthemic soungs like "Powder Blue" did on the first album. Give Garvey and the band credit for wanting to move on, rather than stagnate into a "sound", but that progress, at least for this record, has met with mixed results. (The CD-ROM bonus music video disc is a nice plus, but there's nothing terribly groundbreaking here - a good diversion for your desktop, though.)