If AMG had stars: 200 out of 5.
An All Music Guide review of Elbow’s The Seldom Seen Kid recently came out. Note that it thinks Elbow is a plural noun. Here it is:
In a world where even the generally mediocre likes of Snow Patrol can have honest to goodness mainstream pop success, it seems peculiar that Elbow have never broken through beyond a devoted cult following. (Admittedly, the fact that their new labels, Polygram’s alt rock imprint Fiction Records in the U.K. and Geffen in the U.S., are their fourth and fifth, respectively, after stints on Island, EMI, and V2, may have a lot to do with their lack of mainstream attention.) Exploring the fruitful middle ground between early Radiohead’s mopey art rock and Coldplay’s radio-friendly dumbing down of the same, Elbow makes records built on a balance of things not often found together anymore: strange musical textures alongside immediately accessible pop song choruses, or unexpected left turns in song structure paired with frontman Guy Garvey’s warm, piercing vocals. It’s no surprise that Elbow are regularly compared to old-school prog rockers like Pink Floyd and Electric Light Orchestra: they’re proof that records can be cool and commercial at the same time, an idea that’s not particularly hip in this day and age. Yet a song like “Grounds for Divorce,” which puts a sharp, wryly funny Garvey lyric against a clanging, Tom Waits-like arrangement and throws on one of the album’s catchiest tunes for good measure, or “Some Riot,” which filters a yearning, lovely melody for guitar and piano through so many layers of effects and processing that it can be hard to tell what the original instruments sounded like, isn’t afraid to display its accessibility even on its most experimental numbers. At the album’s best, including the spacious, atmospheric balladry of the opening “Starlings” (imagine if Sigur Rós could write a pop song as emotionally direct as Keane’s “Everybody’s Changing”) and the potential radio breakthroughs of the soaring, semi-orchestral epic “One Day Like This” (complete with choral climax!) and the wistful “Weather to Fly,” The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow’s most self-assured and enjoyable album so far. [The U.K. version added “We’re Away” as a bonus track.]
Now without all the fluffy adjectives that never seem to match up with anybody’s personal experiences:
In a world where even the likes of Snow Patrol can have pop success, it seems peculiar that Elbow have never broken through beyond a cult following. (Admittedly, the fact that their new labels, Polygram’s alt rock imprint Fiction Records in the U.K. and Geffen in the U.S., are their fourth and fifth, respectively, after stints on Island, EMI, and V2, may have a lot to do with their lack of attention.) Exploring the middle ground between early Radiohead’s art rock and Coldplay’s dumbing down of the same, Elbow makes records built on a balance of things not often found together anymore: textures alongside immediately choruses, or left turns in song structure paired with frontman Guy Garvey’s vocals. It’s no surprise that Elbow are regularly compared to prog rockers like Pink Floyd and Electric Light Orchestra: they’re proof that records can be cool and commercial at the same time, an idea that’s not particularly hip in this day and age. Yet a song like “Grounds for Divorce,” which puts a Garvey lyric against a Tom Waits-like arrangement and throws on one of the album’s tunes for good measure, or “Some Riot,” which filters a melody for guitar and piano through so many layers of effects and processing that it can be hard to tell what the original instruments sounded like, isn’t afraid to display its accessibility even on its most experimental numbers. At the album’s best, including the balladry of the opening “Starlings” (imagine if Sigur Rós could write a pop song as direct as Keane’s “Everybody’s Changing”) and the breakthroughs of the epic “One Day Like This” (complete with climax!) and the “Weather to Fly,” The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow’s most self-assured and enjoyable album so far. [The U.K. version added “We’re Away” as a bonus track.]
Now without all the name-dropping of bands, which usually muddles the review with people you’ve never heard of playing music that never sounds remotely alike:
It seems peculiar that Elbow have never broken through beyond a cult following. Elbow makes records built on a balance of things not often found together anymore: textures alongside immediately choruses, or left turns in song structure paired with frontman Guy Garvey’s vocals. They’re proof that records can be cool and commercial at the same time, an idea that’s not particularly hip in this day and age. Yet a song like “Grounds for Divorce” or “Some Riot,” which filters a melody for guitar and piano through so many layers of effects and processing that it can be hard to tell what the original instruments sounded like, isn’t afraid to display its accessibility even on its most experimental numbers. At the album’s best, including the balladry of the opening “Starlings” and the breakthroughs of the epic “One Day Like This” (complete with climax!) and the “Weather to Fly,” The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow’s most self-assured and enjoyable album so far. [The U.K. version added “We’re Away” as a bonus track.]
By the way, when did a song’s having a climax become so titillating? Now with only the sentence structures that describe the music on the actual album:
Elbow makes records built on a balance of things not often found together anymore: textures alongside immediately choruses, or left turns in song structure paired with frontman Guy Garvey’s vocals. Yet a song like “Grounds for Divorce” or “Some Riot,” which filters a melody for guitar and piano through so many layers of effects and processing that it can be hard to tell what the original instruments sounded like, isn’t afraid to display its accessibility even on its most experimental numbers. At the album’s best, including the balladry of the opening “Starlings” and the breakthroughs of the epic “One Day Like This” and the “Weather to Fly,” The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow’s [best album yet].
Well, at least this album doesn’t discriminate against handicapped people.