elbow / albums

417,478 plays
153 SHARES
256 FAVS
56 fans

- Cast of Thousands
- - 6,558 plays
  - 3 favs
  - 1 shares
Elbow
Released 2004

Switching Off
05:05
897 plays

Fugitive Motel
05:51
740 plays

Fallen Angel
04:07
730 plays

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songs

- 1
- Ribcage
- 06:27
- 648 plays

- 2
- Fallen Angel
- 04:07
- 730 plays

- 3
- Fugitive Motel
- 05:51
- 740 plays

- 4
- Snooks (Progress Report)
- 04:00
- 507 plays

- 5
- Switching Off
- 05:05
- 897 plays

- 6
- Not a Job
- 04:23
- 450 plays

- 7
- I've Got Your Number
- 04:48
- 550 plays

- 8
- Whisper Grass
- 04:29
- 260 plays

- 9
- Buttons and Zips
- 03:56
- 415 plays

- 10
- Lay Down Your Cross
- 04:44
- 361 plays

- 11
- Crawling With Idiot
- 04:41
- 377 plays

- 12
- Grace Under Pressure
- 04:57
- 467 plays

- 13
- Flying Dream 143
- 01:48
- 407 plays

album review

There doesn't appear to be an Elbow consensus: they are their own band; they are the Coldplay it's OK to like; they are the Talk Talk for people who've never heard Talk Talk (or Catherine Wheel); they are somewhere between Supertramp and Superchunk; they are part of a succession of over-introspective, twaddle-peddling British rock bands. They are most of these things -- the positive things, at least -- at various points. On Cast of Thousands, Elbow's second album, the group does deserve to take its rightful place as one of the most respectable rock bands going. What separates this album from the debut isn't all that apparent on the surface. Downcast songs about relationships remain the stock in trade, but the sound has made natural advancements and the quality control is less prone to malfunctioning. In other words, they have followed through on whatever promise Asleep in the Back held; you could sense this would happen, just as you could sense that, after Lazer Guided Melodies, Spiritualized would make an even better record the next time out. However predictable, the minor differences add up to a lot. More so than ever, Elbow's greatest asset is that the band is capable of making big sounds without being bombastic or flashy. And they've tempered the characteristics that got them tagged as sad sacks, although that fact is mostly apparent in the lyrics ("place" rhymes with "virgin mother what's-her-face"; the payoff line in opener "Ribcage" goes "I wanted to explode, to pull my ribs apart and let the sun inside"). The only setback? Gospel choirs. Hopefully, at some point before they make their next album, they'll realize that their songs don't need background vocals from an entire congregation in order to feel redemptive -- or powerful. [V2 issued the album in the U.S. five months after the original U.K. release.] ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide