the obvious thing - The Seldom Seen Kid

The new album is here!! For the brits anyway. And by gum it's fantastic!

What's your standout track at the moment? I'm in love with Some Riot at the moment, I love the subtle bits of piano; gives me classic Elbow goosebumps.

"Starlings" followed by "The Bones Of You" is one of the most impressive openings to an album I have ever heard

It really is brilliant. The Bones of You lived up to the feelings it gave me when I first heard that small sample of it on their website. Those two songs sure uplift!

I think Grounds for Divorce is a great track, and i love how he bangs the mug on the table during the chorus in the video!

Yeah it's funny But what on earth is that thing he's hitting when they played it on Jonathan Ross? I'm interested to see if he'll have the same thing on Sunday... BAM... BAM... BAM...

grr. But actually i was thinking that myself, looked like a draining board

I'd have to go with the fact that "Mirrorball" is probably my favorite track off of the album, but it's something that changes weekly. Even though it's also a crowd pleaser and something to sing along with, I want to know what "One Day Like This" will sound like with a large group of people being able to sing along with the chorus. It's difficult to pick one favorite Elbow track. I have to say that so far with the b-sides, Hotel Istanbul is my favorite new one out of the three already released from the Grounds for Divorce singles.

Love the album... the only song I'm not sure about is One Day Like This, as I've said elsewhere it sounds a bit too obvious to be an Elbow song... more like Embrace... although I think it'd work really well as a festival singalong.

jonny wrote:

But what on earth is that thing he's hitting when they played it on Jonathan Ross? I'm interested to see if he'll have the same thing on Sunday... BAM... BAM... BAM...

I think it is a tubular bell...
When I saw that video first I thought in the first moment: "is he limping again and has a walking stick??" but then I saw that it was a tube, he was carrying...

Quote :

"Starlings" followed by "The Bones Of You" is one of the most impressive openings to an album I have ever heard

I definitely have to agree with that, it really was so powerful listening to that the first time through. Mirrorball is definitely my favourite track in all respects (especially lyrically) and An Audience With The Pope probably comes a close second.

lee spoons wrote:

Love the album... the only song I'm not sure about is One Day Like This, as I've said elsewhere it sounds a bit too obvious to be an Elbow song... more like Embrace... although I think it'd work really well as a festival singalong.

Aye when I first heard it I was like hmmm... Grace Under Pressure v2.0? But I dunno, it's really uplifting! Can't wait to bellow it out at my student union on Sunday *excitement peaking*

Great album, the guys always surprise me with the amount of quality they come back every time...
Favourite track? Probably An Audience with the Pope...

Favourite track? Can't choose one at the moment. It changes daily

Starlings is exhilarating, One Day Like This totally uplifting, Mirrorball is gorgeous, Friend of Ours is gut wrenching, Grounds for Divorce has a superb riff.

Least favourite track is The Fix but then I'm not a fan of Richard Hawley.

Just jumped aboard, and I'd agree with Jonny Mine's Some Riot.

Weather to Fly (!) It is an absolute master piece...

For me, it's been "The Bones of You" for several weeks, but now "Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver" is sneaking up on me in a big way...

Mm seeing Tower Crane Driver live really made it shine for me...

Jones wrote:

Weather to Fly (!) It is an absolute master piece...

Yes I agree! It isn't talked about much or rated I find but it is a really lovely song. It is like "we are elbow and this is how far we've come and it has been a great journey." Sort of a retrospective. One of my stand out tracks on the album. I love the line 'we had the drive and the time on our hands, one little room and the biggest of plans.' classic elbow!

The Bones of You is it right now. That pounding beat does something good to me.

Was Mirrorball for a while. I'm sure it'll change again depending on my mood.

I agree that Weather to Fly is beauteous.

Ted wrote:

Jones wrote:

Weather to Fly (!) It is an absolute master piece...

Yes I agree! It isn't talked about much or rated I find but it is a really lovely song. It is like "we are elbow and this is how far we've come and it has been a great journey." Sort of a retrospective. One of my stand out tracks on the album. I love the line 'we had the drive and the time on our hands, one little room and the biggest of plans.' classic elbow!

Wish this one was being included in the live shows, as I think a lot of fans have come to really love it. Haven't seen it in any of the set lists I've found from the UK/Ireland shows so I don't expect to hear it in Chicago either.

I believe they are working on it and hoping to add it in later shows.

jonny wrote:

Mm seeing Tower Crane Driver live really made it shine for me...

God, I can only imagine how powerful it must be live.
Weather to Fly is a beautiful, beautiful song...

***Beware. Possible Pretentious B*ll*x Alert****

I hadn't listened to TSSK for a couple of days and then sat down last night with a bottle of beer, put my headphones on and turned up the wick on my amplifier. I'd like to give a dispassionate view but I can't as I'm passionate about good music. I think what I'm trying to say is that I'm trying to be objective rather than subjective about TSSK. I'm not a fanboy who believes that everything by all the bands I like is superb. They've all had hits and misses but I really feel that TSSK has the makings of a true classic.

Listening last night I was taken on an emotional roller coaster. From the glorious uplift given by Starlings and One Day Like This, the humour of The Fix and Audience with the Pope; the emotional tuggings from Friend of Ours, Some Riot, Tower Crane Driver, the beauty of Mirrorball and Weather to Fly and the power of The Bones of You and Grounds for Divorce there isn't a bad moment on the album.

The music is stunning, the lyrics fantastic and the playing and production is full and rich with a superb clarity of sound (is it me but is th eproduction on LOTFW a bit thin). The sequencing of the songs is inspired. What's not to like?

One thing I want to know. Why isn't this album selling by the truckload? It's frighteningly good.

Hotblack wrote:

One thing I want to know. Why isn't this album selling by the truckload? It's frighteningly good.

Wish i had the answer. I have told everyone at work about Elbow, and probably 75% of them said.."Who ?", "are they new?" etc.
Maybe they should start one of those schemes like Sky or Next, you know.. introduce two friends ... and before the end of the month we could take over the world

Hotblack - Well put; your take on TSSK is correct all the way. There's genuinely nothing wrong on this album. I really never found any weak moments on it, after listening to it for weeks now. I am a fan (obviously!) and as you said, most fans tend to put a positive spin on anything their fave artists create. But I do recognize the fact that on all 3 previous Elbow records, there wasn't the same start-to-finish consistency, quality-wise, as there is on this one. It really is a step up for them and I also wish I knew why more people aren't buying and loving it.