Cast Of Thousands - Elbow

...2 years with this album Cast Of Thousands to follow up 2001 debut Asleep in The Back. With the same line up and the addition of a small choir who also play the violins and cello, are Strings without Strings.

Following an impressive debut Guy Garvey and the rest of the band had a lot to do to keep to the same sort of standard. The anger from the first album seems to have gone and in its place a more relaxing album is the result. Although ...
...the more relaxed sound makes it hard to distinguish, which of the albums is better, but hopefully I'll have an answer at the end of this.

Guy Garvey Singer/songwriter/guitar
Mark Potter Guitars/Backing Vocal
Craig Potter Piano/Organ/Keyboard
Pete Turner Bass
Jupp Drums

The album opens with the superb "Ribcage", which like many of the tracks on this and the first album is of rather ... more

This year has seen so many good albums already. Whether they be debut albums or follow up albums, there have already been a lot. This is another of those follow-ups. Elbow return after 2 years with this album Cast Of Thousands to follow up 2001 debut Asleep in The Back. With the same line up and the addition of a small choir who also play the violins and cello, are Strings without Strings.

Following an impressive debut Guy Garvey and the rest of the band had a lot to do to keep to the same sort of standard. The anger from the first album seems to have gone and in its place a more relaxing album is the result. Although that little bit of anger really made the first album, the more relaxed sound makes it hard to distinguish, which of the albums is better, but hopefully I'll have an answer at the end of this.

Guy Garvey Singer/songwriter/guitar
Mark Potter Guitars/Backing Vocal
Craig Potter Piano/Organ/Keyboard
Pete Turner Bass
Jupp Drums

The album opens with the superb "Ribcage", which like many of the tracks on this and the first album is of rather epic proportions. It opens using a sample echoing before the vocals come in accompanied by the Bass, while the sample continues in the background. The vocals start slowly, then for the chorus picks up a little as the drums join in with a slow steady beat. The song continues on a slow beat with the drums backing up well and the vocals keeping quite a low volume, but sounding very melodic. The choir joins in towards the end to add a bit of extra feeling into the song.

The next track, "Fallen Angels" is the first single to have been taken from the album. It starts with a drumbeat intro before again the vocals join in before any guitars or keyboards. Garvey's voice carries the early part of this truly beautiful song. The guitars join in before the chorus and again like on the first album, they make a simple musical set-up sound truly amazing. A perfect choice as the first single, it comes in at just over 4 minutes, which compared to a few of the other tracks is quite short. An easygoing song, it really won't take long to really get into it.

Next up is my favourite track on the album, "Fugitive Motel". Not only does it sound great on here but even better during there live set at Reading Festival this year. It opens with a sample of some dogs barking, before the keyboard and drums open the track properly and then in come the vocals. Another slower mellower track, but with a great guitar line, whilst Garvey's vocals sound amazing, especially during the chorus. He hits some superb notes and the vocals sound better than on any other track I have heard. Garvey's talent for writing songs that are easy to listen to and at the same time enjoyable, is something, which will see Elbow go far.

"As it flies from the other side of the world,
From my room in my Fugitive Motel"

Like with Newborn on the first album, Fugitive Motel is a hard song to follow up, but that is the task given to "Snooks (Progress Report)". It opens with a loud drum beat mixed with a bass line before Guy's vocals come in, on what is largely a more upbeat track than the opening three. The beat continues into the song before we come to the chorus where the keyboards come in, along with the guitar. The same drumbeat carries on throughout, which keeps a good rhythm to the track. The sampled vocals sound a little strange, but all in all simply add to the overall appeal of the track. I'd say they've done a good job again of following on.

Which is something I feel is a plus about Elbow albums, they don't seem to believe in putting weaker tracks on the album and "Switching Off" is no exception. Again it opens with the drums beating before the keyboard comes in just before the vocals, which start slowly. The same combination leads the song towards the chorus, where the pass slowly starts to pick up a little. Garvey's vocals are slow, which adds a bit of extra feeling and passion to the track. The drums and Keyboard continue to provide the backing for the vocals, as the song really starts to build in the middle where the guitars join in and really make the remainder of the track a joy to listen to.

Then it's onto "Not A Job", which starts a lot livelier than anything else on the album so far. The drumbeat is there from the start accompanied by the guitars and keyboard, all of which are joined shortly afterwards by the vocals. A slow but upbeat start, which really gets going when it gets out of the verse and into the chorus. Again Garvey's vocals really make the song giving it a slower feel than the music actually suggests, which I feel makes it much better. Easy to listen to and thoroughly enjoyable.

"The dream again nobody understands,
Walking through the long grass on your hands"

A track, written before its time somewhat is "I've Got Your Number", which could so easily have been used on the 118118 advert. It starts with an echoing bass line; joined quite quickly by a slow drum beat and then the guitars before the vocals come in. Some clever riffs during this track add a bit of an edge to it. The vocals are again slow and mellow but again easy going. The instrumental sections of the song also sound amazing, adding a sort of atmosphere to the back ground, along with Garvey's vocals. And what more could you ask from a song but the actual line "I've got your Number", Garvey was obviously thinking ahead of his time.

The next song is the shortest full track on the album at 3 minutes 58 seconds, and that kind of makes "Buttons and Zips" a bit special, as there are only a few tracks on either album under 4 minutes long. It opens with the guitar on it's own, joined quickly by the rest of the band and then Garvey's vocals, humming over the top of the intro. Then he actually starts singing quietly over the top of it. The chorus lifts the song even further, although Garvey's vocals seem to stay at the same volume, but this actually sounds brilliant. Another easy going mellow track that confirms the status of Elbow as a nice relaxing band that anyone can enjoy.

"Will I ever get this song off my lips is what you said,
We were at each other’s buttons and zips,
In the blossom Shed"

And then all of a sudden we have got to track 9 and only have three to go. The next track, "crawling With Idiot" could possibly be a future single. It has a slow eerie start, with the keyboard opening up with the drums, joined by the guitars shortly afterwards. The Garvey comes in with the vocals, again a slow start with a touch of an echo to it. When you listen to the tracks and you actually see Guy it's almost exactly as you imagine, cause these tracks have been written by someone with a lot of talent, but who isn't your average clean cut musician. This track carries on much the same way as it opens throughout with another mellow and easygoing sound.

Then it's onto the last full-length track, "Grace Under Pressure". It opens with a beautiful guitar and keyboard introduction, which lasts for a short time. Then the vocals come in slow to start with for the initial line, before the drums come in to join everything else for the chorus. The song only has one real verse which is just repeated over and over, getting louder and louder as it goes. Each time it's sung a different set of vocals join in, from Doves Jimi Goodwin, to the crowd at Glastonbury 2003. A truly magnificent track, that again is easy to listen to and thoroughly relaxing.

The last track of the album is the shortest Elbow track with just the one verse and sounds a lot quicker and upbeat than anything else on the album. The track, "Flying Dream", has a strong beat and guitar line and is simply an easy going track to come down out of the album.

So there we have it the second album from Elbow, and having listened to it for about the 40th time in 2 weeks I'd say that it is marginally better than Asleep In The Back, but both have a different style and sound, with this album being a lot easier to get into. Available as always from www.CD-Wow.com for just £8.99. 

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