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The Seldom Seen Kid | 
 enlarge | Artist: Elbow
Label: Geffen Records
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $9.49
You Save: $0.49 (5%)
New (35) Used (16) from $4.81
Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 469
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 001106302
UPC: 602517642522
EAN: 0602517642522
ASIN: B0015I2P0Y
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Starlings | | • | The Bones of You | | • | Mirrorball | | • | Grounds for Divorce | | • | An Audience with the Pope | | • | Weather to Fly | | • | The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver | | • | The Fix | | • | Some Riot | | • | One Day Like This | | • | Friend of Ours |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk
There are few things in life quite so liberating as the opening track on an Elbow album--they're like airlocks between the plainness of the outside world and the elaborate melancholic heave-ho that you are likely about to submerge yourself in. Following predecessors "Any Day Now", "Ribcage" and "Station Approach", "Starlings" opens their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid rising from a bed of tumbling electronic subtlety like a depressed Atari game loading up, adding bare touches of piano, glimpses of ambient guitar, out of body background vocals, an understated pulse and a wisp of strings, before--EXCELSIS!--a fanfare avalanche of horns crashes the gate and elevates things to gasping palatial heights, before Guy Garvey's inimitable gravel tone and wrenchingly poetic reinterpretations of the everyday announce their arrival proper. It's astonishing, by far the most progressive moment on the album and if anything it sets the bar too high. But even when the pace dips, and songs like "Mirrorball" and "Weather to Fly" don't distinguish themselves quite enough, their textural peerlessness remains. This is a beautiful sounding record. Their collaboration with Richard Hawley may be more of a curiosity than a thing of beauty, but the highs, the riffing cross-stitch of "Ground for Divorce", the desolate grandeur of "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver" and the enlightened string-laden anthem "On a Day Like This" (like their own Sound of Music--only substitute the Alpine peaks for a Manchester high-rise) number amongst the best of their career. --James Berry
Album Description
Acclaimed for their innovative sound and candid, evocative lyrics, Elbow has received vast critical acclaim and been endorsed by major artists Blur, R.E.M. and U2. Elbow return with a new album, "The Seldom Seen Kid", their follow up to 2005's universally acclaimed Leaders Of The Free World and first for Fiction/Geffen Records. In support of the new set Elbow will be coming stateside kicking things off with a show in New York City April 26, 2008 at Webster Hall. "New Elbow is sublime!!" - SUPERNOVA "Their latest effort deserves to trigger a large-scale love affair. Elbow are at the top of their game" - UNCUT MAGAZINE "Every now and then a great band like Elbow comes along. I am a big fan so its no surprise that I totally love the first song to surface from their upcoming album, The Seldom Seen Kid" - EACH NOTE SECURE
Album Description
International pressing of ttheir fourth album. The Seldom Seen Kid is a welcome return from the band, driven by a thunderous riff that reminds listeners of Elbow's love of the heavy as well as the delicate. Produced by keyboard player, Craig Potter, the album is the follow up to 2005's universally acclaimed Leaders Of The Free World. The lyrical core of The Seldom Seen Kid sees Guy Garvey address the key questions of life. The big themes of love and loss become the central focus of an album that sees Elbow, a band universally recognized for their musical ability and innovation, stretch their sonic template further than ever before. We move from the sparse Electronic of `Starlings' through the flamenco influenced `The Bones Of You' to the Zepellinesque Rock of the first single `Grounds For Divorce'. 12 tracks. Polydor.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 59 more reviews...
 Theatrical & emotional October 3, 2008
Complex is right...styles all around yet all fit together seemlessly. Sound is engaging and, while it can't get much better with each listen, the volume gets turned up with each playing!
 eh? September 12, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
So Elbow have won the Mercury Music Prize and people all over the country are scrambling to find out what they've missed. From where I'm standing it's a bit of a mystery. There are several places on the album where my attention is wandering and there's nothing innovative here and nothing that really gets the hairs standing on end.
Its all very safe. Very well put together, and has at least three excellent tracks. But ultimately the best you can say is that they do a lot better job at what they do than Coldplay or Snow Patrol. But that's damning with faint praise.
It's a decent album but no more than that. Given that, why did it win the Mercury? I can only guess that it was a compromise. But sadly the Mercury Prize should showcase the best of British. Let's hope that some British band hears the new TV on The Radio album "Dear Science" and is inspired to make next years contest a bit more interesting.
Brilliant, not to be missed August 23, 2008
Album of the year, easily, maybe the best album of the 00's. I NEVER give 5 stars, but this is the kind of work that changes the pop music landscape...
Sublte Album that Really Sucks You in August 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have been a mild Elbow fan for a few years; there previous couple of albums where enjoyable with a few good cuts that stood out. But where these previous efforts were good to play while doing other things where they became kind of like a score for life at the moment, the new album, The Seldom Seen Kid, becomes more like a soundtrack to life.
I must admit that I missed this album at first listen; it didn't capture my attention. But, after a couple of passes, The Seldom Seen Kid became part of my life. This is a strong effort that surpasses all of Elbow's previous albums. Where previous albums had some catchy tunes that stood out, this album is just plain very good from start to finish with each song building into the next.
The Seldom Seen Kid has promoted Elbow from a middle of the road Prog Rock band to something a few steps removed. The Prog Rock roots are still very evident, but this album is more epic, more sonic. In some ways it reminds me of Radiohead; it is not quite at In Rainbows level and Elbow isn't as sonic as Radiohead, but The Seldom Seen Kid affects my day in the same way that In Rainbows does.
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A Guide to my Music Rating System:
1 star = Not worth the blood dripping from your ears/
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good music, but not life altering.
5 stars = This music changed my world in at least some small way.
A Refreshing Sound August 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When I got this album, I had no idea what to expect. The description was vague, but I have to say on first listen this album had be hooked.
This album has elements that make it atypical. It has a cross-cultural sound that to me isn't unlike Peter Gabriel's work. What it adds to that sound is strong instrumentation and equally strong vocals. One can't help but feel good after listening to the album as it's ambiance is really uplifting.
It has made me a repeat listener. "Starlings" is really a great intro to the album which puts a strong dynamic sound at regular intervals amongst an otherwise relaxing song. While the dynamic variation is never as strong through the remainder of the album, the melodies, timbre, vocals, and poly-rhythms only get stronger and mix things up enough to make each listen a new experience. All of this variation is subtle enough that the album holds up as a coherent piece that will possibly have a different sound depending on your own mood and emotions.
All I can say, is that this album is a welcome relief as way too much of today's popular music puts everything out front without a challenge to the point where it can get boring. This album never gets boring.
I guess with that in mind this isn't unlike some other greats such as Peter Gabriel, which this album seems to have a loose similarity too. The sound also reminds me a bit of modern day Radiohead minus the vocals (thankfully). In other words, Elbow presents a multi-layered album that will easily stand the test of time. I look forward to exploring more of their albums, and I think an exploring listener should give this album a chance.
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