Elbow - Leaders of the Free World

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I seen some people on slsk have this album. I haven't gotten it yet (brasstax has a long wait).

Is it any good?

― Michael Costello (MichaelCostello1), Monday, 18 July 2005 21:53 (twenty years ago)

it's elbow. it's good.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 18 July 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)

Thanks for the heads up, getting now.

I'm sooo excited about this.

― BeeOK (boo radley), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 02:03 (twenty years ago)

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 02:08 (twenty years ago)

rjg do you believe elbow to be rubbish?

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 02:08 (twenty years ago)

if it is the same one I am thinking of

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 02:10 (twenty years ago)

i thought so.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 02:11 (twenty years ago)

yes

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 02:11 (twenty years ago)

you are mistaken

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 02:47 (twenty years ago)

Don't suppose there's any chance of anyone putting it on Yousendit?
I've no access to SLSK or anything like that

It would be much appreciated

― arnoldpalmer, Tuesday, 19 July 2005 09:38 (twenty years ago)

it's not bad. it's interesting to see how they've devolved since "asleep in the back", going from very peculiar/prog (as indie bands go) to more and more generic. still pretty good indie, though!

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 09:48 (twenty years ago)

the last one wasn't very generic/indie. this one, yes.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 10:52 (twenty years ago)

I've heard two tracks. I like them very much.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 11:01 (twenty years ago)

I liked them when they were prog. Are they not as good now?

― Scream! Scrovula, Scream! (noodle vague), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 11:03 (twenty years ago)

They're not as good at surprising you, but they still have a really good grasp on dynamics, I think. And I love Garvey's voice. (The lyrics on the new one, though... um...)

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 11:10 (twenty years ago)

Does anyone know who does their PR?

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 11:59 (twenty years ago)

call v2?

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

russ3ll h4yw4rd at V2.

is there anything on it like "grace under pressure"? because, you know, that is a sublime moment in popular music. if they've backpedalled from that, i disregard them.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 12:07 (twenty years ago)

"sublime" is the perfect word to describe "grace under pressure"!

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

no, nothing like "grace under pressure". :~(

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 12:27 (twenty years ago)

fuckers.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

i like the mexican song there.

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 13:19 (twenty years ago)

So it it better/worse than Asleep in the Back or Cast of Thousands?

For my Money Asleep in the Back is a 9/10, Cast of Thousands 7/10

― Actionjackson, Tuesday, 19 July 2005 14:05 (twenty years ago)

it's 6.5/10 so far.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 14:35 (twenty years ago)

what exactly is "indie" about debuting on Sony/V2?

― william s fields, Tuesday, 19 July 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)

woah, indie purism! it's like the nme circa 1990 all over again.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

you can call it that if it makes you happy but purism has nothing to do with why I made a comment like that. Quite the opposite. I don't think indie has much of any descriptive use at all, aside from separating out the public companies and mass distributors from the independently owned and operated labels. I'm sure there's a thread on this somewhere. I'm just curious how "very peculiar/prog (as indie bands go)" means anything...and what it means.

I liked that first Elbow LP quite a bit.

― william s fields, Tuesday, 19 July 2005 16:49 (twenty years ago)

okay the second half of the album is better than the first half, this album is as good as the last one; neither are quite as good as Asleep in the Back. REally Elbow to me are a superior version of Coldplay and that's really clear on this record

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 19:49 (twenty years ago)

"mexican standoff" is the closest thing to "grace under pressure" here.

and guy garvey's voice is as amazing as ever.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 21:29 (twenty years ago)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2005/07/15/leaders_lyrics_feature.shtml

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 20 July 2005 01:47 (twenty years ago)

wow, on third listen this album is fucking brilliant.

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 20 July 2005 01:47 (twenty years ago)

This album will grow on you..

― caedmony, Wednesday, 20 July 2005 07:16 (twenty years ago)

This is good.

― BeeOK (boo radley), Wednesday, 20 July 2005 07:18 (twenty years ago)

yup, great stuff. mexican standoff is my fav.

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Thursday, 21 July 2005 09:50 (twenty years ago)

hard to believe that voice once came from someone who looked like this...
http://zones12.tripod.com/soft.htm

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Thursday, 21 July 2005 09:57 (twenty years ago)

he's had a major break up hasn't he?

this is fckng brilliant. i only liked 'not a job' before today.

― piscesboy, Thursday, 21 July 2005 10:01 (twenty years ago)

yeah it's a grower, i'm definately liking it

― rizzx (rizzx), Thursday, 21 July 2005 10:45 (twenty years ago)

gets better as it goes on, last 5 of the cd are best.

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Thursday, 21 July 2005 11:43 (twenty years ago)

Really, really liking this. I love all the between-song studio noise, applause, chat and laughter.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 11:50 (twenty years ago)

This band is called "Elbow."

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 13:25 (twenty years ago)

And?

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 13:29 (twenty years ago)

Nabisco, that's beneath you.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 13:30 (twenty years ago)

And you call yourself Nabisco.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 13:30 (twenty years ago)

I am Spartacus.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 13:31 (twenty years ago)

Between Elbow and Spoon, I'm beginning to think that having a really, really stupid name is a good idea.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 13:49 (twenty years ago)

are there any other limb bandnames? (on a sidenote)

― rizzx (rizzx), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

Little Feat Fuckin' Rocked Tonight!!!!

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 13:58 (twenty years ago)

elbow should do a split single with mark arm out of mudhoney.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

i got over their bad name really quick after i heard "asleep in the back."

you should too.

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 21:57 (twenty years ago)

how is their name pronounced?

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

You are reading so very much in to my casual observation that this band has named itself "Elbow!"

― nabiscothingy, Thursday, 28 July 2005 00:34 (twenty years ago)

so you've never heard them, then?

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 28 July 2005 00:48 (twenty years ago)

how is their name pronounced?

[produces lighter. drops it on table.]

[hopes people used to watch "a bit of fry and laurie".]

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Thursday, 28 July 2005 13:44 (twenty years ago)

ahh yes. Spelt N I P P L hyphen E.

― lee ward (lee ward), Thursday, 28 July 2005 22:22 (twenty years ago)

thank you, lee! i feel less alone in the world now.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 29 July 2005 08:33 (twenty years ago)

i lied, The Everthere is my favorite.

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Friday, 29 July 2005 09:14 (twenty years ago)

I kinda think "Fearless" by Pink Floyd tends to render Elbow not necessary, I have to admit.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 29 July 2005 09:18 (twenty years ago)

i watched a live set of their from a few years ago last night on cable; are they really this dull live? too bad, because the albums are so good.

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 29 July 2005 12:14 (twenty years ago)

I saw them open for Goldfrapp in Montreal on the Felt Mountain/Asleep in the Back tour and they were electrifying. Made me love the album a lot more. Dunno about these days.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Friday, 29 July 2005 12:17 (twenty years ago)

anything rendered not necessary by pink floyd must be incredible

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 29 July 2005 14:19 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

wow, on third listen this album is fucking brilliant.

got it yesterday; i'm not quite through my first yet. major problem so far: "station approach" is so, so fucking GREAT that nothing else has measured up. i'm resolutely not blown away yet, but ... there's a lot here that i'll come back to very happily.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:21 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

This may be my favorite Elbow yet.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Friday, 21 October 2005 18:52 (twenty years ago)

Yes this is indeed some good stuff and it just gets better with each listen. Now in my top 10 for 2005 and could be moving up.

― BeeOK (boo radley), Saturday, 22 October 2005 03:56 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

This album is proving to be truly astonishing. It's not one that reveals itself after a few listens but might be the best England has to offer in 2005.

This year I was expecting Super Furry Animals to put out an album that said that they are indeed England's (or Welsh's) best band. Unfortunately they forgot to write songs that had hooks, and released their worst album. It's still good but doesn't have that classic SFA sound that I have so loved over the last 10 years. Other bands like Teenage Fanclub, House Of Love, Wedding Present, Echo, and the mighty Supergrass put out just OK albums in 2005. Meanwhile my favorite album of this year comes from bands like Andrew Bird, Okkervil River, Black Mountain, and Vatalic.

Meanwhile you have Elbow doing their thing where Guy almost whispers when he sings. He lets the music speak louder than his words where it washes over you and put out album number three where there is no let down like so many other bands of today. True it's not as immediate as Cast Of Thousands but is no way a step backwards, just takes a bit more time.

So thanks Elbow for not being Coldplay, Franz, Tears, Coral or {insert English band here} that have let me down again in 2005.

― BeeOK (boo radley), Thursday, 10 November 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

http://www.nme.com/news/elbow/26165

Elbow have almost completed their "darker and heavier" fourth album at home in Manchester.

The band have been holed up in Salford's Blueprint Studios working on the follow-up to 2005's 'Leaders Of The Free World', and for the first time they have completely self-produced an album, with keyboard player Craig Potter at the helm.

"There's still lots of light and shade on it," explained frontman Guy Garvey, "there's just a lot of things going on. There's been some not so great stuff and some amazing stuff. Just in terms of the families that are growing up in the band - the babies are turning into little boys now, and everybody's happy in that respect. But the beginning of last year was quite difficult in terms of personal stuff for a few of us.

"So yeah, it's quite a mixed bag. It's certainly got the darkest stuff that we've done."

Tracks set for inclusion on the album are 'Friend Of Ours', 'Starlings', 'The Bones Of You', 'Brambles' and 'A Regret'.

"It's of its time," suggested Garvey. "I'd say if 'Leaders...' was raising a clenched fist, this is a conspiratorial back room. It feels very much we've done it just the five us. There's been nobody else in the room, so it's a dark record from a dark corner of our minds.

"It feels like there's a strange alchemy going on. We're not sure what we've made, but it's alive. I've never been so confident about anything we've written."

The LP is due in the spring.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 1 February 2007 13:04 (nineteen years ago)

I kinda think "Fearless" by Pink Floyd tends to render Elbow not necessary, I have to admit.

Ned in 'wtf are you TALKING about' shocka! :P

― to scour or to pop? (Haberdager), Thursday, 1 February 2007 13:18 (nineteen years ago)

for mine, all of their records thus far have had really significant staying power, quite atypical of the bands they've been lumped in with.

i don't think they've quite recreated anything as striking and powerful as 'any day now' or 'can't stop' off the debut, but they've continued to put out solid and poignant records.

i'll definitely be on board for this next one

and yeah ned, i don't quite get what you're referring to there, but i'll give 'fearless' a nice, close listen now all the same

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Thursday, 1 February 2007 13:26 (nineteen years ago)

excited, love this band

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 1 February 2007 14:50 (nineteen years ago)

i didn't imagine you to like these for some reason. they seem kind of more lex type music

― Friendly Tree (688), Thursday, 1 February 2007 15:27 (nineteen years ago)

do you like these

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 1 February 2007 15:31 (nineteen years ago)

what are the chances of lex weighing in here?

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Thursday, 1 February 2007 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

elbow? no, not really my type of thing

― Friendly Tree (688), Thursday, 1 February 2007 15:38 (nineteen years ago)

underrated

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 1 February 2007 15:38 (nineteen years ago)

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