Elbow keeps making great recordings!
Based on a number of listens, and comparison to the prior albums--their first album,Asleep in the Back [Bonus Track] and the second albumCast of Thousands the most current Elbow album "The Seldom Seen Kid" is a continuation of the well produced and quiet nature of Elbow. Sadly, I have not really spent a ton of time listening to their third album, Leaders of the Free World--and of the first three albums received critical acclaim but little commercial movement. "Leaders of the Free World" will be my next purchase after listening to this most recent recording. I am digging into listen more intently!

My own listening involves a lot of random and mixed artist play from recent and older play lists. I tend to buy a bunch of music --drop it on my player and let the experience sort itself out in a random mode. When I stop and wonder and look to see what I am listening to, that is a sign it is staying for a while. The most current Elbow was causing this reaction of pausing, and thinking.. what is this? It sounds great!

When I hear Elbow, new or older, I am always thinking... is this newer David Bowie or Peter Gabriel? Or more Dave Matthews? You see, the voicing is somewhat similar to me. There are even some similarities to older Genesis without all the lyrical trappings that those early pioneers of art rock tended to engender. Keyboard rhythms and some classically oriented string instruments tend to make me think in that direction. In the emo realm, another version of Coldplay? Radiohead?

You can tell I like comparing styles--RIYL "Recommended If You Like" is one of my primary ways to find new music to purchase. If you close your eyes, and listen, removing yourself from who you think you are listening to --a number of possible comparisons can be made, and to me, it is a bit amazing that Elbow does not garner more of a US following with each new album.

Production standards are high on this album as with the other mentioned albums. Guy Garvey writes most of the words, the band writes the music. Guy does most of the singing, along with guitar work. Mark Potter on guitar and backing vocals, Craig Potter on keyboards and backing vocals, Pete Turner on bass guitar, and drumming from Richard Jupp.

For Elbow fans, this album should be familiar territory and is recommended. For others, this album is just as good as any to start with. You will probably find yourself wanting all of them after listening/buying one or two.

I'm finding this one hard to like as much as 1 and 2
My introduction to Elbow was Cast of Thousands, followed by Asleep at the back, and now the Seldom seen kid. Of the 3 I have to say I prefer Cast of Thousands.

The seldom seen kid seems a little too much studio work, too polished and "busy" at times. The opening track has this strange calypso feel behind it, and just when you are relaxing this screeching note interrupts play and leaves you scrambling to turn the volume down. Not the first time they've done that, but this one really hit a nerve with me.

There certainly are great tracks,Grounds for divorce is nicely up tempo, The bones of you has some clever lyrics; but I got the feeling they're borrowing musical styles from all over the place when they had a good one of their own. I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me and find this a great album, and it is by no means bad, just not what I was anticipating.

New to me and I like it!
The Seldom Seen Kid, Elbow's newest CD, is my first exposure to this very good band. The lyrics are sophisticated, as is the sound, helped by the lush strings (cello, violin, and viola) and brass (coronet, flugel, and e flat horn, along with the usual suspects, trumpet and trombone). Their sound has been compared to Coldplay and Sigur Ros, but yet they make it their own. But I couldn't help think as I listened to this disc that while it has great intellectual qualities, I wasn't connecting on the same visceral level as, say, I do with two of my current favs, My Morning Jacket and Arcade Fire. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this album.

Solid but not stellar
This is a solid effort by Elbow, filled with medium tempo songs which are both musical and competent. If this seems like damning with faint praise, I guess it is. There is nothing wrong with this disc, and to be fair I know this is purely a matter of taste. The fact is that some discs hit you and others don't. This one doesn't. Oh it will remain on my iPod, and I'll enjoy the songs when they pop up in shuffle mode, but I won't seek this one out, or look forward excitedly to digging into it deeper. There isn't really a "deeper" there with this CD. It is good, not great. Musical, but not inspired. You will enjoy it but, if you're like me, it won't change your life.

Elbow room for more...
Elbow may be, for many over here in the States, the best band you've never heard of.

The better British acts are producing music of a sublime quality compared with many of their American counterparts. Manchester quintet, Elbow, may be the most unheralded of that bunch. While Coldplay and Keane have gone on to see their works used to hock everything from indie films to consumer goods, Elbow have remained on the fringes of commercial success; quite possibly by their own doing, but certainly not in spite of themselves. They have progressed both logically and measurably with each release while eschewing the temptation to write albums rife with catchy singles for the radio-fed audience. At the same time, they've not gone the avant garde route of other bands more fixated with being respected as serious artists, rather than admired by their loyal fans. Elbow's brilliance lies in the details and this new release is packed with all the sublime subtlety and vivid accents that have become the hallmarks of their sound.

Overall, Elbow records are designed not as delivery devices for occasional, epic singles, but as complete works to be heard in their entirety. In fact, vocalist Guy Garvey has been particularly outspoken in his disdain for iTunes' selling practices taking away from artists who, like Elbow, write records designed for uninterrupted listening. The Seldom Seen Kid may be their finest example to date of this deliberate approach. This isn't to say Elbow don't write the occasional toe-tapper. "Grounds For Divorce", in particular, is a Zeppelin-esque thumper designed for repeat play on many an iPod. "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver", in particular, is an astonishing standout and worth the price of the whole album.

Elbow's songs are accessible without being glib and inventive without being ostentatious, driven by their big, Manchester sound and buoyed by Garvey's astute lyrics and haunting vocals. Overall, The Seldom Seen Kid finds Elbow in remarkable form. Previous releases, while brilliant in their own right, were characterized by clever interplays of stadium-sized romps and sparsely-tuned ballads. This new work shows Elbow at its conceptual best, marrying a collection of richly-composed tunes into a complete and masterful showcase.