Album Review - Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

Back in 2008 I felt Radiohead had been robbed of the Mercury Prize for the best album of the British Isles, when The Seldom Seen Kid was chosen over In Rainbows, however, I guess that to many that was not surprising, specially if you consider that whoever chooses the albums, ignore to nominate The Bends, and yes, Kid A. You should also note the judges chose New Forms over Ok Computer, Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea over Amnesiac, and Boy in da Corner over Hail to the Thief.

However, I must also add, that when I made the judgement that this was an act of theft, I was still to listen to The Seldom Seen Kid. A truely enjoyable album, which attacks you with mellow vocals, pretentious lyrics that actually work, and great atmosphere and overall musical sound. I ignore completely Elbow's earlier discography, except for a video single I accidentally bought, and although I won't rush to look it up, I believe this band has indeed a lot to give. Even if the vocals are a little limited, after just a pair of listens, I could pretty well remember each of the songs in here. The opening Starlings delivering a killer first line "How dares the Premier ignore my invitations?" and closing with another question "Darling is this love?". Unbelievable, but the song flows perfectly from point A to point C. The Bones of You is another of the album highlights follow by another pair of good songs and An Audience With the Pope featuring a great guitar solo. After another of my album's favorites, Weather to Fly, we might say the album falls a little in quality, but is saved by the best track on the album, One Day Like This, simply pop gold, specially if you like chorus singing the same lyric over and over.

Even if this could have found a perfect spot on the the 90s Britpop movement, it doesn't sound dated. However, I must warn that this is an extremely mellow, soft, low tempo album, perfect is you just want to lay down and hear beautiful musical arrangements, without falling asleep. And yep, In Rainbows is better. But not by much.

Elbow - One Day Like This