An astonishingly intense and ambitious album, Elbow's Cast of Thousands is relentlessly experimental. Having toiled for 10 years over their spellbinding Mercury-nominated debut Asleep in the Back, the maverick Bury five-piece--who were initially hailed as the new Radiohead--have produced a worthy sequel in a comparatively short two years. While mirroring their debut's melancholy tone, this album's romantic lyricism and uplifting harmonies inject a fresh dynamic.

From the first bar, Cast of Thousands is enthralling. "Ribcage", an exquisite rousing treasure, builds on a languorous and fragmented melody into a cohesive climax while Garvey listlessly intones (with a flat mic taped to his larynx) the charming mantra, "When the sunshine/ throwing me a lifeline/ finds its way in to my room/ all I need is you". Meanwhile, the London Community Gospel choir's spiralling harmonies echo Blur's "Tender" in its lo-fi, mellifluous majesty. But the majority of the album is far less grandiose with the haunting "Snooks (Progress Report)" and "I've Got Your Number" bristling with an unnerving intimacy and brooding dialogue. It's an enchanting return that finds Elbow stretching from despair to lovelorn tenderness. --Christopher Barrett

Love It, 18 Jan 2008
Elbow have written and performed some of the best music this century (IMO). Beautiful ballads & catchy tunes,

Favourite Tracks: Fugitive Motel & Grace Under Pressure

Drab, seven thousand shades of grey, 14 May 2006
The music lacks drive and composure. It drifts seamlessly from one 2-demensional number to another, there are no gates of pleasure, no emotions other than the drab. Too many influences, too much historical rhetoric and too little raw edge - seems to fit with the UK music image, all pretty petticoats and no balls.

Moving Rock But Probably Not Everyone's Bag, 03 Aug 2005
It'd been my experience that the more you listen to Elbow, the better they get. When I was given their first album Asleep In The Back, I just had it on in the background while I read a book. Didn't really think too much about it considering how much my flatmate hyped them up. I liked the first track alright but it didn't throw me out of the chair. A week later I listened to it again but this time I really listened to it. "Hey! This is pretty good," I thought and listened to it twice more that day. I liked it more each time. The new album is made the same way. The first time I listened to it I didn't think it was as good as their first. Then I listened to it again and again and so will you.

It sounds a bit more polished than Asleep but is just as moving and it's a bit more psychedelic but just as powerful. Although Elbow sounds relatively familiar, they have a fairly timeless sound, not borrowing too heavily from any one decade's influences. While the first album tended to have a few more all out rock moments, Cast Of Thousands sees Garvey and company matured to a more composed and collected form. Their power lies in their simplicity...but it's pretty much pointless to try to fully explain the movement of Elbow. Their work just needs to be felt. Imagine that! Feelings still exist some 20 years after Satan launched his own channel, MTV. In the words of the Glastonbury 2002 crown at the end of "Grace Under Pressure," an amazingly moving song, "we still believe in love so f**k you!"

A band on the move, 05 Apr 2005
This album shows a band on form, moving on from asleep in the back (another marvelous album)into a territory full of samples bips and bleeps. The sound is still noticabley that of elbow but the songs are a little more hopefull. From the opening track ribcage ("tear my ribs apart and let the sun inside") to the final song backed by a glastonbury album this is an album to be treasured.

Elbow show they have grace under pressure, 13 Jul 2004
After Asleep in the Back, an album that took years to create and release, Elbow must have felt the strain when asked to make a follow-up in a much shorter timespace. However, the pressure seems to have worked well as they have made a brilliant second album that shows just how talented these guys are.

The great thing about this album is its layers: Elbow really have a thing for attention to detail. All the tracks add layer upon layer to create amazing soundscape-like masterpieces that are at once catchy and melodic.

The experimentalism on this album is also catchy. Everything from the offbeat, sometimes jazzy sometimes just odd drumming to the quiet piano, repetitive guitar sounds, melodic offbeat bass and giant gospel choirs just seems to work well together. This is partly due to great production by Ben Hillier & Elbow and partly due to the band's creativity. The good thing too is that the album still retains the dark, melancholy feel of the first album; it just achieves it in slightly different ways. This experimental feel just blows other bands out of the water.

But it's not just the music that's great. The lyrics are what make the music still feel human. Guy Garvey adds wit and romanticism to every song, and his Peter Gabriel-like voice just adds to this feel. "Lost in a lullaby, side of the road, melt in a melody, slide in a solitude". Beautiful.

Some people say this album is more uplifting than the last, and, while that is true to an extent, the constant darkness of the first album is still here which is what I love. You just love the fact that the band are moody and unhappy, and they can't get enough of it themselves either. That's what makes this album work.

So, in conclusion: great layered structure, unusual musicianship, brilliant lyricism, great production, curiously unhappy but uplifting feel... what more do you want? These guys are the future of rock music, so buy them now. And congrats to Elbow for making such an amazing record in a much shorter space of time.

While it's tempting to position Elbow next to the sardonic likes of Badly Drawn Boy--mainly because of their proximity to the city of Manchester and their way with an acoustic guitar--Asleep In The Back, their frighteningly competent debut album, bears not the joker's smile. Instead, it comes straight from Manchester's simmering, ugly dark side--eleven tracks of rain-sodden misery, blown up into the breed of gracefully elegiac fatalism that once formed the essence of the likes of Joy Division. The foggy psychedelic swirl and sewer-deep dub basslines might recall the prog-rock indulgences of Radiohead, but Elbow's grievances are unmistakably aired from the far end of a dole queue; "Any Day Now" veritably fidgets with small town frustration, lead singer Guy Garvey--a man with the voice of an angel and the face of a brickie--hissing "Any day now/ How's about getting out of this place/ Anyways?" over and over, a mantra of desperation. Should we take it as a given that Elbow will break out of this rut of depression and despair? Asleep In The Back is good enough to suggest so. But then, Asleep In The Back also knows that fate can be awfully cruel. --Louis Pattison

Love It, 18 Jan 2008
Elbow have written and performed some of the best music this century (IMO). Beautiful ballads & catchy tunes,

Favourite Tracks: Fugitive Motel & Grace Under Pressure

Drab, seven thousand shades of grey, 14 May 2006
The music lacks drive and composure. It drifts seamlessly from one 2-demensional number to another, there are no gates of pleasure, no emotions other than the drab. Too many influences, too much historical rhetoric and too little raw edge - seems to fit with the UK music image, all pretty petticoats and no balls.

Moving Rock But Probably Not Everyone's Bag, 03 Aug 2005
It'd been my experience that the more you listen to Elbow, the better they get. When I was given their first album Asleep In The Back, I just had it on in the background while I read a book. Didn't really think too much about it considering how much my flatmate hyped them up. I liked the first track alright but it didn't throw me out of the chair. A week later I listened to it again but this time I really listened to it. "Hey! This is pretty good," I thought and listened to it twice more that day. I liked it more each time. The new album is made the same way. The first time I listened to it I didn't think it was as good as their first. Then I listened to it again and again and so will you.

It sounds a bit more polished than Asleep but is just as moving and it's a bit more psychedelic but just as powerful. Although Elbow sounds relatively familiar, they have a fairly timeless sound, not borrowing too heavily from any one decade's influences. While the first album tended to have a few more all out rock moments, Cast Of Thousands sees Garvey and company matured to a more composed and collected form. Their power lies in their simplicity...but it's pretty much pointless to try to fully explain the movement of Elbow. Their work just needs to be felt. Imagine that! Feelings still exist some 20 years after Satan launched his own channel, MTV. In the words of the Glastonbury 2002 crown at the end of "Grace Under Pressure," an amazingly moving song, "we still believe in love so f**k you!"

A band on the move, 05 Apr 2005
This album shows a band on form, moving on from asleep in the back (another marvelous album)into a territory full of samples bips and bleeps. The sound is still noticabley that of elbow but the songs are a little more hopefull. From the opening track ribcage ("tear my ribs apart and let the sun inside") to the final song backed by a glastonbury album this is an album to be treasured.

Elbow show they have grace under pressure, 13 Jul 2004
After Asleep in the Back, an album that took years to create and release, Elbow must have felt the strain when asked to make a follow-up in a much shorter timespace. However, the pressure seems to have worked well as they have made a brilliant second album that shows just how talented these guys are.

The great thing about this album is its layers: Elbow really have a thing for attention to detail. All the tracks add layer upon layer to create amazing soundscape-like masterpieces that are at once catchy and melodic.

The experimentalism on this album is also catchy. Everything from the offbeat, sometimes jazzy sometimes just odd drumming to the quiet piano, repetitive guitar sounds, melodic offbeat bass and giant gospel choirs just seems to work well together. This is partly due to great production by Ben Hillier & Elbow and partly due to the band's creativity. The good thing too is that the album still retains the dark, melancholy feel of the first album; it just achieves it in slightly different ways. This experimental feel just blows other bands out of the water.

But it's not just the music that's great. The lyrics are what make the music still feel human. Guy Garvey adds wit and romanticism to every song, and his Peter Gabriel-like voice just adds to this feel. "Lost in a lullaby, side of the road, melt in a melody, slide in a solitude". Beautiful.

Some people say this album is more uplifting than the last, and, while that is true to an extent, the constant darkness of the first album is still here which is what I love. You just love the fact that the band are moody and unhappy, and they can't get enough of it themselves either. That's what makes this album work.

So, in conclusion: great layered structure, unusual musicianship, brilliant lyricism, great production, curiously unhappy but uplifting feel... what more do you want? These guys are the future of rock music, so buy them now. And congrats to Elbow for making such an amazing record in a much shorter space of time.

this is music!!!, 16 Mar 2006
i cant believe i hear this album now! having recently bought the brilliant Leaders Of The Free World I wanted to discover Elbow. Then I listened to Cast Of Thousands next which i included in my top 10 album list. but then I listened to this album and I was totally knocked off my feet! I just love it. this is music! reading other reviews I was deeply dissapointed they were compared to other bands. some of the reviews which compare elbow to say coldplay would have put off buying this record. If u like music then get all the albums by Elbow. Another band I thought I should recommend is I Am Kloot.

In my top 10 list of all time, 23 Jul 2005
This album is one of the most exceptional albums of the new millenium. Its completely different to anything ive ever heard. Elbow are an experimental-indie band and their sound is completely fresh and original.

All the tracks are great and are beautifully structured. From the lovely any day now to the sublime scattered balck and whites.

my favourite tracks are coming second, any day now, scattered balck and whites, red, dont mix your drinks. every track is a gem including the 7 minute epic single, newborn.

With this album you get 60+ minutes of sublime music. Listen and enjoy. Although it wont be your favourite on first listen you'll appreciate eventually. Get their second album also. its great.

If you want to think, 08 Feb 2005
I was attracted to this album after hearing a shortened version of newborn on an acoustic album. At first this was the only track that i listened to but then i was gradually drawn in to the beauty of tracks like 'powderblue' with its wonderfully compelling lyrics. If you allow it to this album will take you over with every track becoming a must listen. This band are much underated for how good they are.

sublime..., 01 Feb 2005
totally soaring and beautiful. no one should be without this album to see them through times when it seems things can't get any worse. it's not a happy album but it never fails to make the listener feel that things are going to be ok. hope flies through as a sparkling undertone to the downbeat songs with an effect that is ultimately soothing.

Elbow - Asleep in the Back, 11 Jan 2005
If you like this genre of music, it is an essential purchase.

As Greatest Hits--and particularly the busking pavement jazz of "Lovecats"--reminds us, the best Cure singles were very often tangential exercises; halcyon playtime divergences offering a Goth-free contrast to some of the weightier studiousness of some of those early albums. Or, as smudged frontman Robert Smith says of this 18-track collection, "Songs that are sung with a smile." This wasn't always true--witness the refrigerated fogginess of the classic "A Forest", the Blair Witch Project of it's day. What this compilation does is focus attention on the Cure's perennial unpredictability--the nursery school bonkers-ness of "The Caterpillar", the breathless claustrophobia of "Close to Me", the New Order-lite of "The Walk", the brass-section embellished thrust of "Why Can't I Be You". Oddly, chart-wise, the Cure's Lost Weekend began immediately after "Friday I'm in Love", their most ebullient melodic moment and the ultimate clocking-off to kick-those-heels! anthem. But at least the inclusion of two new songs "Cut Here" and "Just Say Yes" (with Saffron from Republica) indicate that the Cure remain a healthy ongoing concern. --Kevin Maidment

Love It, 18 Jan 2008
Elbow have written and performed some of the best music this century (IMO). Beautiful ballads & catchy tunes,

Favourite Tracks: Fugitive Motel & Grace Under Pressure

Drab, seven thousand shades of grey, 14 May 2006
The music lacks drive and composure. It drifts seamlessly from one 2-demensional number to another, there are no gates of pleasure, no emotions other than the drab. Too many influences, too much historical rhetoric and too little raw edge - seems to fit with the UK music image, all pretty petticoats and no balls.

Moving Rock But Probably Not Everyone's Bag, 03 Aug 2005
It'd been my experience that the more you listen to Elbow, the better they get. When I was given their first album Asleep In The Back, I just had it on in the background while I read a book. Didn't really think too much about it considering how much my flatmate hyped them up. I liked the first track alright but it didn't throw me out of the chair. A week later I listened to it again but this time I really listened to it. "Hey! This is pretty good," I thought and listened to it twice more that day. I liked it more each time. The new album is made the same way. The first time I listened to it I didn't think it was as good as their first. Then I listened to it again and again and so will you.

It sounds a bit more polished than Asleep but is just as moving and it's a bit more psychedelic but just as powerful. Although Elbow sounds relatively familiar, they have a fairly timeless sound, not borrowing too heavily from any one decade's influences. While the first album tended to have a few more all out rock moments, Cast Of Thousands sees Garvey and company matured to a more composed and collected form. Their power lies in their simplicity...but it's pretty much pointless to try to fully explain the movement of Elbow. Their work just needs to be felt. Imagine that! Feelings still exist some 20 years after Satan launched his own channel, MTV. In the words of the Glastonbury 2002 crown at the end of "Grace Under Pressure," an amazingly moving song, "we still believe in love so f**k you!"

A band on the move, 05 Apr 2005
This album shows a band on form, moving on from asleep in the back (another marvelous album)into a territory full of samples bips and bleeps. The sound is still noticabley that of elbow but the songs are a little more hopefull. From the opening track ribcage ("tear my ribs apart and let the sun inside") to the final song backed by a glastonbury album this is an album to be treasured.

Elbow show they have grace under pressure, 13 Jul 2004
After Asleep in the Back, an album that took years to create and release, Elbow must have felt the strain when asked to make a follow-up in a much shorter timespace. However, the pressure seems to have worked well as they have made a brilliant second album that shows just how talented these guys are.

The great thing about this album is its layers: Elbow really have a thing for attention to detail. All the tracks add layer upon layer to create amazing soundscape-like masterpieces that are at once catchy and melodic.

The experimentalism on this album is also catchy. Everything from the offbeat, sometimes jazzy sometimes just odd drumming to the quiet piano, repetitive guitar sounds, melodic offbeat bass and giant gospel choirs just seems to work well together. This is partly due to great production by Ben Hillier & Elbow and partly due to the band's creativity. The good thing too is that the album still retains the dark, melancholy feel of the first album; it just achieves it in slightly different ways. This experimental feel just blows other bands out of the water.

But it's not just the music that's great. The lyrics are what make the music still feel human. Guy Garvey adds wit and romanticism to every song, and his Peter Gabriel-like voice just adds to this feel. "Lost in a lullaby, side of the road, melt in a melody, slide in a solitude". Beautiful.

Some people say this album is more uplifting than the last, and, while that is true to an extent, the constant darkness of the first album is still here which is what I love. You just love the fact that the band are moody and unhappy, and they can't get enough of it themselves either. That's what makes this album work.

So, in conclusion: great layered structure, unusual musicianship, brilliant lyricism, great production, curiously unhappy but uplifting feel... what more do you want? These guys are the future of rock music, so buy them now. And congrats to Elbow for making such an amazing record in a much shorter space of time.

this is music!!!, 16 Mar 2006
i cant believe i hear this album now! having recently bought the brilliant Leaders Of The Free World I wanted to discover Elbow. Then I listened to Cast Of Thousands next which i included in my top 10 album list. but then I listened to this album and I was totally knocked off my feet! I just love it. this is music! reading other reviews I was deeply dissapointed they were compared to other bands. some of the reviews which compare elbow to say coldplay would have put off buying this record. If u like music then get all the albums by Elbow. Another band I thought I should recommend is I Am Kloot.

In my top 10 list of all time, 23 Jul 2005
This album is one of the most exceptional albums of the new millenium. Its completely different to anything ive ever heard. Elbow are an experimental-indie band and their sound is completely fresh and original.

All the tracks are great and are beautifully structured. From the lovely any day now to the sublime scattered balck and whites.

my favourite tracks are coming second, any day now, scattered balck and whites, red, dont mix your drinks. every track is a gem including the 7 minute epic single, newborn.

With this album you get 60+ minutes of sublime music. Listen and enjoy. Although it wont be your favourite on first listen you'll appreciate eventually. Get their second album also. its great.

If you want to think, 08 Feb 2005
I was attracted to this album after hearing a shortened version of newborn on an acoustic album. At first this was the only track that i listened to but then i was gradually drawn in to the beauty of tracks like 'powderblue' with its wonderfully compelling lyrics. If you allow it to this album will take you over with every track becoming a must listen. This band are much underated for how good they are.

sublime..., 01 Feb 2005
totally soaring and beautiful. no one should be without this album to see them through times when it seems things can't get any worse. it's not a happy album but it never fails to make the listener feel that things are going to be ok. hope flies through as a sparkling undertone to the downbeat songs with an effect that is ultimately soothing.

Elbow - Asleep in the Back, 11 Jan 2005
If you like this genre of music, it is an essential purchase.

Takes you back to another time, 09 Oct 2008
Music can take you back to a time and a place that you would otherwise forget. This is one of thise albums.


Greatest Hits - plain and simple, 01 Sep 2008
The Cure have always been one of these bands that I've only ever half been aware of - I've fully appreciated the impact they've had on the music scene, but I've never really known any of the songs as well as I should have. Which is why I bought this - their Greatest Hits.

People that bleat on and complain about Greatest Hits being too predictable by certain artists miss the point - Best Of compilations are not for the die hard fans - if you're a die hard fan, you should already have all the albums. Best Of's are a great starting point for people just getting into an act. And this is exactly what this does. All the classics are here - Friday I'm In Love, Boys Don't Cry, In Between Days....and that's exactly what people want.

Everybody should have heard of The Cure - use this Greatest Hits as an excuse to finally buy one of their CD's and get to learn how great these tunes that have been played to you over and over again over the past 20 years really are.

To everybody else - stop complaining about Greatest Hits compilations.

Give me the disease instead., 11 Aug 2008
I cannot believe that they scooped together this many tunes to fill a CD by the whiney voiced big haired wet lipped shy thing. He sings all out of tune and flounces about like clothes without a person in them. Some of the tunes get in your head but its mostly inept teenage dirge with no substance. They are no Status Quo fo sho. Spend your money on something better like a Bartok syphony or Bong-ra or even Girls Aloud. Not this, this is not medicine, this is self inflicted whiney earache. I'm not buying this album to keep him in oversized shirts, hairspray and mascara, no.

good pop songs, 12 May 2008
This is a good selection of pop songs...

But those seeking 'what the cure are really all about' should either by the albums or get join the dots (because some of those B-sides are amazing).
The Cure were about long atmospheric pieces of music which conjure up images in your head and evoke moods without even hearing the lyrics. When the lyrics do come they are usually delivered in a despairing hopeless way, or wailed, by Robert Smith and his masterfully unique voice, in the world of Pop/Rock.

Best songs suited for this are all the tracks on 'pornography', and charlotte sometimes, none of which included here.

This is the lighter bouncier commercial side of the Cure. Songs you WILL have heard before but didn't know who it was. Except everyone knows 'Friday I'm In Love' - National Student Anthem.

Staring at the Sea and Galore are better compilations, this skims over too many songs, but If you are going to get anything get disintegration. If you want pop hits, get Head on the door. And go from there

Great overview, 24 Aug 2007
I'm not a Cure purist, I never really thought of myself as a real fan of the band. But this is a great collection of songs. Maybe not a fully representative one in terms of their overall goth agenda, but for those non-goths of us out there, it's just a great set of indie classics.

For the casual listener (like me) there are a couple of tracks that detract from the overall quality. I don't really like 'Caterpillar', 'Lovecats' was never their greatest song, and the cd tails off a little bit after 'Mint Car'. But the bleak brilliance of 'Forest', the jangly guitars of 'In Between Days' and the joyous build-up of melody in 'Close to Me' represent real class, the like of which is just too rare these days. And who can forget 'Just Like Heaven' which has become my firm favourite for the intro alone.

The acoustic cd is not really worth much attention. I think I've listened to it twice. There's no real variety or inventiveness evident on this - the tracks sound like exact replicas of the studio versions played on acoustic instruments, slightly less enthusiastically than they were the first time around.

If you're a die hard Cure fan I'm sure there's a whole lot more out there for you and this will probably just leave you wanting. For the rest of us, it's a great album.

Coldplay were faced with a difficult choice as they set to work on X&Y. They could either follow Radiohead’s lead and use their enormous success and financial security as a springboard to a brave experimental future--or they could play it safe, repeat the tricks used on the 16 million-selling A Rush Of Blood To The Head, and consolidate their position as one of the biggest bands in the world. In truth, despite the Tetris-inspired artwork and presence of teaser track "Talk"--which steals its melody line from electro-futurists Kraftwerk’s gorgeous "Computer Love"--X&Y is more the latter than the former. Fans will be delighted by "What If?", a piano elegy that takes flight on strings, and slowly builds towards a Beatles' "A Day In The Life"-style climax, while the likes of "Fix You" and hidden track "'Til Kingdom Come"--originally written for country hero Johnny Cash--proves Martin’s skill for simple, affecting songwriting remains intact. One development, however, comes through the judicious inclusion of some rather pleasant synthesiser work--see "White Shadows", where Martin gently beseeches "Come on love, stay with me" over a gentle Eno-esque keyboard wash. Fair enough: the experimental albums can come later. --Louis Pattison

More Coldplay
A Rush of Blood to the Head (CD)	Parachutes (CD)	Coldplay: Live 2003 (Limited Edition DVD with Live CD)	Coldplay: Look at the Stars (Paperback)
Find more from Coldplay

Love It, 18 Jan 2008
Elbow have written and performed some of the best music this century (IMO). Beautiful ballads & catchy tunes,

Favourite Tracks: Fugitive Motel & Grace Under Pressure

Drab, seven thousand shades of grey, 14 May 2006
The music lacks drive and composure. It drifts seamlessly from one 2-demensional number to another, there are no gates of pleasure, no emotions other than the drab. Too many influences, too much historical rhetoric and too little raw edge - seems to fit with the UK music image, all pretty petticoats and no balls.

Moving Rock But Probably Not Everyone's Bag, 03 Aug 2005
It'd been my experience that the more you listen to Elbow, the better they get. When I was given their first album Asleep In The Back, I just had it on in the background while I read a book. Didn't really think too much about it considering how much my flatmate hyped them up. I liked the first track alright but it didn't throw me out of the chair. A week later I listened to it again but this time I really listened to it. "Hey! This is pretty good," I thought and listened to it twice more that day. I liked it more each time. The new album is made the same way. The first time I listened to it I didn't think it was as good as their first. Then I listened to it again and again and so will you.

It sounds a bit more polished than Asleep but is just as moving and it's a bit more psychedelic but just as powerful. Although Elbow sounds relatively familiar, they have a fairly timeless sound, not borrowing too heavily from any one decade's influences. While the first album tended to have a few more all out rock moments, Cast Of Thousands sees Garvey and company matured to a more composed and collected form. Their power lies in their simplicity...but it's pretty much pointless to try to fully explain the movement of Elbow. Their work just needs to be felt. Imagine that! Feelings still exist some 20 years after Satan launched his own channel, MTV. In the words of the Glastonbury 2002 crown at the end of "Grace Under Pressure," an amazingly moving song, "we still believe in love so f**k you!"

A band on the move, 05 Apr 2005
This album shows a band on form, moving on from asleep in the back (another marvelous album)into a territory full of samples bips and bleeps. The sound is still noticabley that of elbow but the songs are a little more hopefull. From the opening track ribcage ("tear my ribs apart and let the sun inside") to the final song backed by a glastonbury album this is an album to be treasured.

Elbow show they have grace under pressure, 13 Jul 2004
After Asleep in the Back, an album that took years to create and release, Elbow must have felt the strain when asked to make a follow-up in a much shorter timespace. However, the pressure seems to have worked well as they have made a brilliant second album that shows just how talented these guys are.

The great thing about this album is its layers: Elbow really have a thing for attention to detail. All the tracks add layer upon layer to create amazing soundscape-like masterpieces that are at once catchy and melodic.

The experimentalism on this album is also catchy. Everything from the offbeat, sometimes jazzy sometimes just odd drumming to the quiet piano, repetitive guitar sounds, melodic offbeat bass and giant gospel choirs just seems to work well together. This is partly due to great production by Ben Hillier & Elbow and partly due to the band's creativity. The good thing too is that the album still retains the dark, melancholy feel of the first album; it just achieves it in slightly different ways. This experimental feel just blows other bands out of the water.

But it's not just the music that's great. The lyrics are what make the music still feel human. Guy Garvey adds wit and romanticism to every song, and his Peter Gabriel-like voice just adds to this feel. "Lost in a lullaby, side of the road, melt in a melody, slide in a solitude". Beautiful.

Some people say this album is more uplifting than the last, and, while that is true to an extent, the constant darkness of the first album is still here which is what I love. You just love the fact that the band are moody and unhappy, and they can't get enough of it themselves either. That's what makes this album work.

So, in conclusion: great layered structure, unusual musicianship, brilliant lyricism, great production, curiously unhappy but uplifting feel... what more do you want? These guys are the future of rock music, so buy them now. And congrats to Elbow for making such an amazing record in a much shorter space of time.

this is music!!!, 16 Mar 2006
i cant believe i hear this album now! having recently bought the brilliant Leaders Of The Free World I wanted to discover Elbow. Then I listened to Cast Of Thousands next which i included in my top 10 album list. but then I listened to this album and I was totally knocked off my feet! I just love it. this is music! reading other reviews I was deeply dissapointed they were compared to other bands. some of the reviews which compare elbow to say coldplay would have put off buying this record. If u like music then get all the albums by Elbow. Another band I thought I should recommend is I Am Kloot.

In my top 10 list of all time, 23 Jul 2005
This album is one of the most exceptional albums of the new millenium. Its completely different to anything ive ever heard. Elbow are an experimental-indie band and their sound is completely fresh and original.

All the tracks are great and are beautifully structured. From the lovely any day now to the sublime scattered balck and whites.

my favourite tracks are coming second, any day now, scattered balck and whites, red, dont mix your drinks. every track is a gem including the 7 minute epic single, newborn.

With this album you get 60+ minutes of sublime music. Listen and enjoy. Although it wont be your favourite on first listen you'll appreciate eventually. Get their second album also. its great.

If you want to think, 08 Feb 2005
I was attracted to this album after hearing a shortened version of newborn on an acoustic album. At first this was the only track that i listened to but then i was gradually drawn in to the beauty of tracks like 'powderblue' with its wonderfully compelling lyrics. If you allow it to this album will take you over with every track becoming a must listen. This band are much underated for how good they are.

sublime..., 01 Feb 2005
totally soaring and beautiful. no one should be without this album to see them through times when it seems things can't get any worse. it's not a happy album but it never fails to make the listener feel that things are going to be ok. hope flies through as a sparkling undertone to the downbeat songs with an effect that is ultimately soothing.

Elbow - Asleep in the Back, 11 Jan 2005
If you like this genre of music, it is an essential purchase.

Takes you back to another time, 09 Oct 2008
Music can take you back to a time and a place that you would otherwise forget. This is one of thise albums.


Greatest Hits - plain and simple, 01 Sep 2008
The Cure have always been one of these bands that I've only ever half been aware of - I've fully appreciated the impact they've had on the music scene, but I've never really known any of the songs as well as I should have. Which is why I bought this - their Greatest Hits.

People that bleat on and complain about Greatest Hits being too predictable by certain artists miss the point - Best Of compilations are not for the die hard fans - if you're a die hard fan, you should already have all the albums. Best Of's are a great starting point for people just getting into an act. And this is exactly what this does. All the classics are here - Friday I'm In Love, Boys Don't Cry, In Between Days....and that's exactly what people want.

Everybody should have heard of The Cure - use this Greatest Hits as an excuse to finally buy one of their CD's and get to learn how great these tunes that have been played to you over and over again over the past 20 years really are.

To everybody else - stop complaining about Greatest Hits compilations.

Give me the disease instead., 11 Aug 2008
I cannot believe that they scooped together this many tunes to fill a CD by the whiney voiced big haired wet lipped shy thing. He sings all out of tune and flounces about like clothes without a person in them. Some of the tunes get in your head but its mostly inept teenage dirge with no substance. They are no Status Quo fo sho. Spend your money on something better like a Bartok syphony or Bong-ra or even Girls Aloud. Not this, this is not medicine, this is self inflicted whiney earache. I'm not buying this album to keep him in oversized shirts, hairspray and mascara, no.

good pop songs, 12 May 2008
This is a good selection of pop songs...

But those seeking 'what the cure are really all about' should either by the albums or get join the dots (because some of those B-sides are amazing).
The Cure were about long atmospheric pieces of music which conjure up images in your head and evoke moods without even hearing the lyrics. When the lyrics do come they are usually delivered in a despairing hopeless way, or wailed, by Robert Smith and his masterfully unique voice, in the world of Pop/Rock.

Best songs suited for this are all the tracks on 'pornography', and charlotte sometimes, none of which included here.

This is the lighter bouncier commercial side of the Cure. Songs you WILL have heard before but didn't know who it was. Except everyone knows 'Friday I'm In Love' - National Student Anthem.

Staring at the Sea and Galore are better compilations, this skims over too many songs, but If you are going to get anything get disintegration. If you want pop hits, get Head on the door. And go from there

Great overview, 24 Aug 2007
I'm not a Cure purist, I never really thought of myself as a real fan of the band. But this is a great collection of songs. Maybe not a fully representative one in terms of their overall goth agenda, but for those non-goths of us out there, it's just a great set of indie classics.

For the casual listener (like me) there are a couple of tracks that detract from the overall quality. I don't really like 'Caterpillar', 'Lovecats' was never their greatest song, and the cd tails off a little bit after 'Mint Car'. But the bleak brilliance of 'Forest', the jangly guitars of 'In Between Days' and the joyous build-up of melody in 'Close to Me' represent real class, the like of which is just too rare these days. And who can forget 'Just Like Heaven' which has become my firm favourite for the intro alone.

The acoustic cd is not really worth much attention. I think I've listened to it twice. There's no real variety or inventiveness evident on this - the tracks sound like exact replicas of the studio versions played on acoustic instruments, slightly less enthusiastically than they were the first time around.

If you're a die hard Cure fan I'm sure there's a whole lot more out there for you and this will probably just leave you wanting. For the rest of us, it's a great album.

x must try harder- y?, 01 Nov 2008
I notice one of the tags for this album is 'music'. Yeah!
Coldplay, whadda they sound like?
well, sort of... music, really.
Whoo! I got to get me some of that!
Yes, it's the sonic equivalent of watching paint dry...

I'm sorry. I don't HATE this stuff. But that's the point... it's so WET. When did people like this get to masquerade as rock musicians? It's bad for you. Your children will grow up thinking this is what a rock band sounds like. Zeppelin who? no, I wanna listen to the guys who go "waaa.. waa... I'm sad and feeble..." When there's the likes of Gutter Twins, Aquila, Rufus Wainwright and The Veils out there barely making a dent, you should not be spending your money and valuable time on this.

bland and totally unworthy of 5 star reviews, 29 Oct 2008
do not be fooled by the plethora of 4/5 star reviews for this album - it is not worthy of it.

and before i get accused of simply hating Coldplay i will say that Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head were both good to very good albums.

However, X&Y is not a very good album - the songwriting is predictable (not up to the standards of their first two albums), the production is dull (the added electronic sheen does make the material on offer any better), Chris Martin's singing is grating (his use of falsetto is constant and overbearing) and the lyrics are just plain bland.

I do not understand the amount of excellent reviews posted for this album (it is though somewhat balanced by the amount of bad reviews).

You people cannot be listening to enough music to have such inflated opinions of this album - try listening to Nick Cave, The Hold Steady, Field Music, Elbow, Jim Noir, Fleet Foxes, Raconteurs, Drive-by Truckers, Calexico, TV on the radio, Goldfrapp, etc., etc, and then go back to X&Y and tell me that it is worthy of 4/5 stars.

Please notice that this meant to be a review of the album and not simply an attack on Coldplay (like so many of the bad reviews posted).

open your ears and minds people.



Yawn....., 04 Jul 2008
Anyone who claims to be a Coldplay fan and likes this album, clearly hasn't listened to 'Parachutes' or 'A Rush of Blood to the Head' two good strong albums, littered with really good songs like 'Yellow', 'Shiver', 'The Scientist', 'In My Place' etc... , whereas 'X & Y' has no good songs, the only half decent thing i liked about this album was one of the videos where an old lady is doing some acrobatic tricks.

THE BEST !! , 05 Jun 2008
great album and very powerful , i love all of there music , i think they are simply great .. this cd/album is as powerful and rich as all the others they have made .. ive got there new one on pre-order .. ive had my coldplay cd/albums for a long long while now and ive only just reviewed them ..

thank u coldplay .

see u ..

AWESOME, 08 May 2008
Look, I won't waste your time with a big lengthy review - I'll ge to the point. BUY THIS! You will fall in love with every track though not necessarily straight away, most are "growers" and you may find that a year after you bought it a song you hated in the beginning has really grown on you and you love it. Don't let the whiny naysayers put you off - this is AWESOME. It's all in the title, really:)

On Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head, the melodic excellence of Parachutes remains, as does the delicate soulfulness of Chris Martin's voice. But now different styles are approached, as the band develop even further beyond their debut album (and the numerous Radiohead comparisons that dogged them at first). "God Put a Smile upon Your Face", for instance, has a thumping voodoo quality, while the hypnotic "A Whisper" has a wild vocal arrangement recalling Jefferson Airplane. Beyond this, each of the 11 tracks--from the literate power ballad "In My Place" to the 60s-style mantra "Daylight"--are given room to breathe, gradually reaching an ecstatic crescendo where Martin and that huge Coldplay piano ride over a pulsing rhythm and orchestrations that are powerful but never overblown. "Give me real, don't give me fake" says Martin in the opening "Politik" and it's an appropriately uncompromising demand, for A Rush of Blood... is without doubt the most heartfelt and emotionally liberated album to top the charts in ages. --Dominic Wills

Love It, 18 Jan 2008
Elbow have written and performed some of the best music this century (IMO). Beautiful ballads & catchy tunes,

Favourite Tracks: Fugitive Motel & Grace Under Pressure

Drab, seven thousand shades of grey, 14 May 2006
The music lacks drive and composure. It drifts seamlessly from one 2-demensional number to another, there are no gates of pleasure, no emotions other than the drab. Too many influences, too much historical rhetoric and too little raw edge - seems to fit with the UK music image, all pretty petticoats and no balls.

Moving Rock But Probably Not Everyone's Bag, 03 Aug 2005
It'd been my experience that the more you listen to Elbow, the better they get. When I was given their first album Asleep In The Back, I just had it on in the background while I read a book. Didn't really think too much about it considering how much my flatmate hyped them up. I liked the first track alright but it didn't throw me out of the chair. A week later I listened to it again but this time I really listened to it. "Hey! This is pretty good," I thought and listened to it twice more that day. I liked it more each time. The new album is made the same way. The first time I listened to it I didn't think it was as good as their first. Then I listened to it again and again and so will you.

It sounds a bit more polished than Asleep but is just as moving and it's a bit more psychedelic but just as powerful. Although Elbow sounds relatively familiar, they have a fairly timeless sound, not borrowing too heavily from any one decade's influences. While the first album tended to have a few more all out rock moments, Cast Of Thousands sees Garvey and company matured to a more composed and collected form. Their power lies in their simplicity...but it's pretty much pointless to try to fully explain the movement of Elbow. Their work just needs to be felt. Imagine that! Feelings still exist some 20 years after Satan launched his own channel, MTV. In the words of the Glastonbury 2002 crown at the end of "Grace Under Pressure," an amazingly moving song, "we still believe in love so f**k you!"

A band on the move, 05 Apr 2005
This album shows a band on form, moving on from asleep in the back (another marvelous album)into a territory full of samples bips and bleeps. The sound is still noticabley that of elbow but the songs are a little more hopefull. From the opening track ribcage ("tear my ribs apart and let the sun inside") to the final song backed by a glastonbury album this is an album to be treasured.

Elbow show they have grace under pressure, 13 Jul 2004
After Asleep in the Back, an album that took years to create and release, Elbow must have felt the strain when asked to make a follow-up in a much shorter timespace. However, the pressure seems to have worked well as they have made a brilliant second album that shows just how talented these guys are.

The great thing about this album is its layers: Elbow really have a thing for attention to detail. All the tracks add layer upon layer to create amazing soundscape-like masterpieces that are at once catchy and melodic.

The experimentalism on this album is also catchy. Everything from the offbeat, sometimes jazzy sometimes just odd drumming to the quiet piano, repetitive guitar sounds, melodic offbeat bass and giant gospel choirs just seems to work well together. This is partly due to great production by Ben Hillier & Elbow and partly due to the band's creativity. The good thing too is that the album still retains the dark, melancholy feel of the first album; it just achieves it in slightly different ways. This experimental feel just blows other bands out of the water.

But it's not just the music that's great. The lyrics are what make the music still feel human. Guy Garvey adds wit and romanticism to every song, and his Peter Gabriel-like voice just adds to this feel. "Lost in a lullaby, side of the road, melt in a melody, slide in a solitude". Beautiful.

Some people say this album is more uplifting than the last, and, while that is true to an extent, the constant darkness of the first album is still here which is what I love. You just love the fact that the band are moody and unhappy, and they can't get enough of it themselves either. That's what makes this album work.

So, in conclusion: great layered structure, unusual musicianship, brilliant lyricism, great production, curiously unhappy but uplifting feel... what more do you want? These guys are the future of rock music, so buy them now. And congrats to Elbow for making such an amazing record in a much shorter space of time.

this is music!!!, 16 Mar 2006
i cant believe i hear this album now! having recently bought the brilliant Leaders Of The Free World I wanted to discover Elbow. Then I listened to Cast Of Thousands next which i included in my top 10 album list. but then I listened to this album and I was totally knocked off my feet! I just love it. this is music! reading other reviews I was deeply dissapointed they were compared to other bands. some of the reviews which compare elbow to say coldplay would have put off buying this record. If u like music then get all the albums by Elbow. Another band I thought I should recommend is I Am Kloot.

In my top 10 list of all time, 23 Jul 2005
This album is one of the most exceptional albums of the new millenium. Its completely different to anything ive ever heard. Elbow are an experimental-indie band and their sound is completely fresh and original.

All the tracks are great and are beautifully structured. From the lovely any day now to the sublime scattered balck and whites.

my favourite tracks are coming second, any day now, scattered balck and whites, red, dont mix your drinks. every track is a gem including the 7 minute epic single, newborn.

With this album you get 60+ minutes of sublime music. Listen and enjoy. Although it wont be your favourite on first listen you'll appreciate eventually. Get their second album also. its great.

If you want to think, 08 Feb 2005
I was attracted to this album after hearing a shortened version of newborn on an acoustic album. At first this was the only track that i listened to but then i was gradually drawn in to the beauty of tracks like 'powderblue' with its wonderfully compelling lyrics. If you allow it to this album will take you over with every track becoming a must listen. This band are much underated for how good they are.

sublime..., 01 Feb 2005
totally soaring and beautiful. no one should be without this album to see them through times when it seems things can't get any worse. it's not a happy album but it never fails to make the listener feel that things are going to be ok. hope flies through as a sparkling undertone to the downbeat songs with an effect that is ultimately soothing.

Elbow - Asleep in the Back, 11 Jan 2005
If you like this genre of music, it is an essential purchase.

Takes you back to another time, 09 Oct 2008
Music can take you back to a time and a place that you would otherwise forget. This is one of thise albums.


Greatest Hits - plain and simple, 01 Sep 2008
The Cure have always been one of these bands that I've only ever half been aware of - I've fully appreciated the impact they've had on the music scene, but I've never really known any of the songs as well as I should have. Which is why I bought this - their Greatest Hits.

People that bleat on and complain about Greatest Hits being too predictable by certain artists miss the point - Best Of compilations are not for the die hard fans - if you're a die hard fan, you should already have all the albums. Best Of's are a great starting point for people just getting into an act. And this is exactly what this does. All the classics are here - Friday I'm In Love, Boys Don't Cry, In Between Days....and that's exactly what people want.

Everybody should have heard of The Cure - use this Greatest Hits as an excuse to finally buy one of their CD's and get to learn how great these tunes that have been played to you over and over again over the past 20 years really are.

To everybody else - stop complaining about Greatest Hits compilations.

Give me the disease instead., 11 Aug 2008
I cannot believe that they scooped together this many tunes to fill a CD by the whiney voiced big haired wet lipped shy thing. He sings all out of tune and flounces about like clothes without a person in them. Some of the tunes get in your head but its mostly inept teenage dirge with no substance. They are no Status Quo fo sho. Spend your money on something better like a Bartok syphony or Bong-ra or even Girls Aloud. Not this, this is not medicine, this is self inflicted whiney earache. I'm not buying this album to keep him in oversized shirts, hairspray and mascara, no.

good pop songs, 12 May 2008
This is a good selection of pop songs...

But those seeking 'what the cure are really all about' should either by the albums or get join the dots (because some of those B-sides are amazing).
The Cure were about long atmospheric pieces of music which conjure up images in your head and evoke moods without even hearing the lyrics. When the lyrics do come they are usually delivered in a despairing hopeless way, or wailed, by Robert Smith and his masterfully unique voice, in the world of Pop/Rock.

Best songs suited for this are all the tracks on 'pornography', and charlotte sometimes, none of which included here.

This is the lighter bouncier commercial side of the Cure. Songs you WILL have heard before but didn't know who it was. Except everyone knows 'Friday I'm In Love' - National Student Anthem.

Staring at the Sea and Galore are better compilations, this skims over too many songs, but If you are going to get anything get disintegration. If you want pop hits, get Head on the door. And go from there

Great overview, 24 Aug 2007
I'm not a Cure purist, I never really thought of myself as a real fan of the band. But this is a great collection of songs. Maybe not a fully representative one in terms of their overall goth agenda, but for those non-goths of us out there, it's just a great set of indie classics.

For the casual listener (like me) there are a couple of tracks that detract from the overall quality. I don't really like 'Caterpillar', 'Lovecats' was never their greatest song, and the cd tails off a little bit after 'Mint Car'. But the bleak brilliance of 'Forest', the jangly guitars of 'In Between Days' and the joyous build-up of melody in 'Close to Me' represent real class, the like of which is just too rare these days. And who can forget 'Just Like Heaven' which has become my firm favourite for the intro alone.

The acoustic cd is not really worth much attention. I think I've listened to it twice. There's no real variety or inventiveness evident on this - the tracks sound like exact replicas of the studio versions played on acoustic instruments, slightly less enthusiastically than they were the first time around.

If you're a die hard Cure fan I'm sure there's a whole lot more out there for you and this will probably just leave you wanting. For the rest of us, it's a great album.

x must try harder- y?, 01 Nov 2008
I notice one of the tags for this album is 'music'. Yeah!
Coldplay, whadda they sound like?
well, sort of... music, really.
Whoo! I got to get me some of that!
Yes, it's the sonic equivalent of watching paint dry...

I'm sorry. I don't HATE this stuff. But that's the point... it's so WET. When did people like this get to masquerade as rock musicians? It's bad for you. Your children will grow up thinking this is what a rock band sounds like. Zeppelin who? no, I wanna listen to the guys who go "waaa.. waa... I'm sad and feeble..." When there's the likes of Gutter Twins, Aquila, Rufus Wainwright and The Veils out there barely making a dent, you should not be spending your money and valuable time on this.

bland and totally unworthy of 5 star reviews, 29 Oct 2008
do not be fooled by the plethora of 4/5 star reviews for this album - it is not worthy of it.

and before i get accused of simply hating Coldplay i will say that Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head were both good to very good albums.

However, X&Y is not a very good album - the songwriting is predictable (not up to the standards of their first two albums), the production is dull (the added electronic sheen does make the material on offer any better), Chris Martin's singing is grating (his use of falsetto is constant and overbearing) and the lyrics are just plain bland.

I do not understand the amount of excellent reviews posted for this album (it is though somewhat balanced by the amount of bad reviews).

You people cannot be listening to enough music to have such inflated opinions of this album - try listening to Nick Cave, The Hold Steady, Field Music, Elbow, Jim Noir, Fleet Foxes, Raconteurs, Drive-by Truckers, Calexico, TV on the radio, Goldfrapp, etc., etc, and then go back to X&Y and tell me that it is worthy of 4/5 stars.

Please notice that this meant to be a review of the album and not simply an attack on Coldplay (like so many of the bad reviews posted).

open your ears and minds people.



Yawn....., 04 Jul 2008
Anyone who claims to be a Coldplay fan and likes this album, clearly hasn't listened to 'Parachutes' or 'A Rush of Blood to the Head' two good strong albums, littered with really good songs like 'Yellow', 'Shiver', 'The Scientist', 'In My Place' etc... , whereas 'X & Y' has no good songs, the only half decent thing i liked about this album was one of the videos where an old lady is doing some acrobatic tricks.

THE BEST !! , 05 Jun 2008
great album and very powerful , i love all of there music , i think they are simply great .. this cd/album is as powerful and rich as all the others they have made .. ive got there new one on pre-order .. ive had my coldplay cd/albums for a long long while now and ive only just reviewed them ..

thank u coldplay .

see u ..

AWESOME, 08 May 2008
Look, I won't waste your time with a big lengthy review - I'll ge to the point. BUY THIS! You will fall in love with every track though not necessarily straight away, most are "growers" and you may find that a year after you bought it a song you hated in the beginning has really grown on you and you love it. Don't let the whiny naysayers put you off - this is AWESOME. It's all in the title, really:)

Their greatest album to date, 19 Nov 2008
Ive just purchased my third copy of this album (kept getting scratched in my car stereo) and i would buy it again and again. Every song from beginning to end is beautifully written, and executed. This clearly is a must have album

a saunter of blood, perhaps, 01 Nov 2008
Are Keane too hard-rocking and uncompromising for you?

Is James Blunt just too damn original and heartfelt?

Then try Coldplay! Perfection of mediocrity! (Baa baa! ...that's a trumpet)
I know... I'm mean. I don't hate this stuff. But that's the point... it's so WET. When did people like this get to masquerade as rock musicians? It's bad for you. Your children will grow up thinking this is what a rock band sounds like. Zeppelin who? no, I wanna listen to the guys who go "waaa.. waa... I'm sad and feeble..." When there's the likes of Gutter Twins, Aquila, Rufus Wainwright and The Veils out there barely making a dent, you should not be spending your money and valuable time on this.

A classic, 30 Oct 2008
Coldplay take a lot of stick - maybe some of it is deserved, a lot OTT, but all that can be said of this album is that it is a classic. One of the best albums of the decade.

the best, 13 Jun 2008
Simply the best is all that needs to be said a must have for any music collection

great album , 05 Jun 2008
fantastic , thats all i can say .. ive had the cd/album for a while now , and i would like to comment how wonderful and powerful it is , love every track !!

thankyou coldplay !!

see u ..

Whilst one suspects some kind of pre-millennial hysteria prompted Q magazine's readers to vote OK Computer The Greatest Album Ever Made scarcely five months after its release, it certainly doesn't look stupid up there in the pantheon. Following the hot red rock attack of 1995's The Bends, OK Computer heads out into the cold deep space of prog-rock and comes back with stuff that makes mere pop earthlings like Stereophonics tremble. Whilst the eight-minute-long "Paranoid Android" comes across like "Bohemian Rhapsody" with a gun held to its head, and "Electioneering" is a little too like a kiddy-version of Blood And Chocolate-era Elvis Costello to be truly revelatory, the rest of OK Computer spans the sublime to the ridiculously sublime. Thom Yorke had been obsessed with Ennio Morricone during the recording of the album (in a haunted mansion, fact-fans), and it shows on the expansive space-dream of "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and the endlessly comforting closer "The Tourist". And if neither "No Surprises" (played on a toy guitar with Yorke and Ed O'Brien harmonising like a two-man Crowded House) nor "Lucky" (recorded in one day for the Bosnian aid album War Child--it reduced Yorke to tears the first time he heard it played back) make the hairs on your skin spit with electricity, then maybe you're with the Q reader who voted for Anita by Anita Dobson. --Caitlin Moran

Love It, 18 Jan 2008
Elbow have written and performed some of the best music this century (IMO). Beautiful ballads & catchy tunes,

Favourite Tracks: Fugitive Motel & Grace Under Pressure

Drab, seven thousand shades of grey, 14 May 2006
The music lacks drive and composure. It drifts seamlessly from one 2-demensional number to another, there are no gates of pleasure, no emotions other than the drab. Too many influences, too much historical rhetoric and too little raw edge - seems to fit with the UK music image, all pretty petticoats and no balls.

Moving Rock But Probably Not Everyone's Bag, 03 Aug 2005
It'd been my experience that the more you listen to Elbow, the better they get. When I was given their first album Asleep In The Back, I just had it on in the background while I read a book. Didn't really think too much about it considering how much my flatmate hyped them up. I liked the first track alright but it didn't throw me out of the chair. A week later I listened to it again but this time I really listened to it. "Hey! This is pretty good," I thought and listened to it twice more that day. I liked it more each time. The new album is made the same way. The first time I listened to it I didn't think it was as good as their first. Then I listened to it again and again and so will you.

It sounds a bit more polished than Asleep but is just as moving and it's a bit more psychedelic but just as powerful. Although Elbow sounds relatively familiar, they have a fairly timeless sound, not borrowing too heavily from any one decade's influences. While the first album tended to have a few more all out rock moments, Cast Of Thousands sees Garvey and company matured to a more composed and collected form. Their power lies in their simplicity...but it's pretty much pointless to try to fully explain the movement of Elbow. Their work just needs to be felt. Imagine that! Feelings still exist some 20 years after Satan launched his own channel, MTV. In the words of the Glastonbury 2002 crown at the end of "Grace Under Pressure," an amazingly moving song, "we still believe in love so f**k you!"

A band on the move, 05 Apr 2005
This album shows a band on form, moving on from asleep in the back (another marvelous album)into a territory full of samples bips and bleeps. The sound is still noticabley that of elbow but the songs are a little more hopefull. From the opening track ribcage ("tear my ribs apart and let the sun inside") to the final song backed by a glastonbury album this is an album to be treasured.

Elbow show they have grace under pressure, 13 Jul 2004
After Asleep in the Back, an album that took years to create and release, Elbow must have felt the strain when asked to make a follow-up in a much shorter timespace. However, the pressure seems to have worked well as they have made a brilliant second album that shows just how talented these guys are.

The great thing about this album is its layers: Elbow really have a thing for attention to detail. All the tracks add layer upon layer to create amazing soundscape-like masterpieces that are at once catchy and melodic.

The experimentalism on this album is also catchy. Everything from the offbeat, sometimes jazzy sometimes just odd drumming to the quiet piano, repetitive guitar sounds, melodic offbeat bass and giant gospel choirs just seems to work well together. This is partly due to great production by Ben Hillier & Elbow and partly due to the band's creativity. The good thing too is that the album still retains the dark, melancholy feel of the first album; it just achieves it in slightly different ways. This experimental feel just blows other bands out of the water.

But it's not just the music that's great. The lyrics are what make the music still feel human. Guy Garvey adds wit and romanticism to every song, and his Peter Gabriel-like voice just adds to this feel. "Lost in a lullaby, side of the road, melt in a melody, slide in a solitude". Beautiful.

Some people say this album is more uplifting than the last, and, while that is true to an extent, the constant darkness of the first album is still here which is what I love. You just love the fact that the band are moody and unhappy, and they can't get enough of it themselves either. That's what makes this album work.

So, in conclusion: great layered structure, unusual musicianship, brilliant lyricism, great production, curiously unhappy but uplifting feel... what more do you want? These guys are the future of rock music, so buy them now. And congrats to Elbow for making such an amazing record in a much shorter space of time.

this is music!!!, 16 Mar 2006
i cant believe i hear this album now! having recently bought the brilliant Leaders Of The Free World I wanted to discover Elbow. Then I listened to Cast Of Thousands next which i included in my top 10 album list. but then I listened to this album and I was totally knocked off my feet! I just love it. this is music! reading other reviews I was deeply dissapointed they were compared to other bands. some of the reviews which compare elbow to say coldplay would have put off buying this record. If u like music then get all the albums by Elbow. Another band I thought I should recommend is I Am Kloot.

In my top 10 list of all time, 23 Jul 2005
This album is one of the most exceptional albums of the new millenium. Its completely different to anything ive ever heard. Elbow are an experimental-indie band and their sound is completely fresh and original.

All the tracks are great and are beautifully structured. From the lovely any day now to the sublime scattered balck and whites.

my favourite tracks are coming second, any day now, scattered balck and whites, red, dont mix your drinks. every track is a gem including the 7 minute epic single, newborn.

With this album you get 60+ minutes of sublime music. Listen and enjoy. Although it wont be your favourite on first listen you'll appreciate eventually. Get their second album also. its great.

If you want to think, 08 Feb 2005
I was attracted to this album after hearing a shortened version of newborn on an acoustic album. At first this was the only track that i listened to but then i was gradually drawn in to the beauty of tracks like 'powderblue' with its wonderfully compelling lyrics. If you allow it to this album will take you over with every track becoming a must listen. This band are much underated for how good they are.

sublime..., 01 Feb 2005
totally soaring and beautiful. no one should be without this album to see them through times when it seems things can't get any worse. it's not a happy album but it never fails to make the listener feel that things are going to be ok. hope flies through as a sparkling undertone to the downbeat songs with an effect that is ultimately soothing.

Elbow - Asleep in the Back, 11 Jan 2005
If you like this genre of music, it is an essential purchase.

Takes you back to another time, 09 Oct 2008
Music can take you back to a time and a place that you would otherwise forget. This is one of thise albums.


Greatest Hits - plain and simple, 01 Sep 2008
The Cure have always been one of these bands that I've only ever half been aware of - I've fully appreciated the impact they've had on the music scene, but I've never really known any of the songs as well as I should have. Which is why I bought this - their Greatest Hits.

People that bleat on and complain about Greatest Hits being too predictable by certain artists miss the point - Best Of compilations are not for the die hard fans - if you're a die hard fan, you should already have all the albums. Best Of's are a great starting point for people just getting into an act. And this is exactly what this does. All the classics are here - Friday I'm In Love, Boys Don't Cry, In Between Days....and that's exactly what people want.

Everybody should have heard of The Cure - use this Greatest Hits as an excuse to finally buy one of their CD's and get to learn how great these tunes that have been played to you over and over again over the past 20 years really are.

To everybody else - stop complaining about Greatest Hits compilations.

Give me the disease instead., 11 Aug 2008
I cannot believe that they scooped together this many tunes to fill a CD by the whiney voiced big haired wet lipped shy thing. He sings all out of tune and flounces about like clothes without a person in them. Some of the tunes get in your head but its mostly inept teenage dirge with no substance. They are no Status Quo fo sho. Spend your money on something better like a Bartok syphony or Bong-ra or even Girls Aloud. Not this, this is not medicine, this is self inflicted whiney earache. I'm not buying this album to keep him in oversized shirts, hairspray and mascara, no.

good pop songs, 12 May 2008
This is a good selection of pop songs...

But those seeking 'what the cure are really all about' should either by the albums or get join the dots (because some of those B-sides are amazing).
The Cure were about long atmospheric pieces of music which conjure up images in your head and evoke moods without even hearing the lyrics. When the lyrics do come they are usually delivered in a despairing hopeless way, or wailed, by Robert Smith and his masterfully unique voice, in the world of Pop/Rock.

Best songs suited for this are all the tracks on 'pornography', and charlotte sometimes, none of which included here.

This is the lighter bouncier commercial side of the Cure. Songs you WILL have heard before but didn't know who it was. Except everyone knows 'Friday I'm In Love' - National Student Anthem.

Staring at the Sea and Galore are better compilations, this skims over too many songs, but If you are going to get anything get disintegration. If you want pop hits, get Head on the door. And go from there

Great overview, 24 Aug 2007
I'm not a Cure purist, I never really thought of myself as a real fan of the band. But this is a great collection of songs. Maybe not a fully representative one in terms of their overall goth agenda, but for those non-goths of us out there, it's just a great set of indie classics.

For the casual listener (like me) there are a couple of tracks that detract from the overall quality. I don't really like 'Caterpillar', 'Lovecats' was never their greatest song, and the cd tails off a little bit after 'Mint Car'. But the bleak brilliance of 'Forest', the jangly guitars of 'In Between Days' and the joyous build-up of melody in 'Close to Me' represent real class, the like of which is just too rare these days. And who can forget 'Just Like Heaven' which has become my firm favourite for the intro alone.

The acoustic cd is not really worth much attention. I think I've listened to it twice. There's no real variety or inventiveness evident on this - the tracks sound like exact replicas of the studio versions played on acoustic instruments, slightly less enthusiastically than they were the first time around.

If you're a die hard Cure fan I'm sure there's a whole lot more out there for you and this will probably just leave you wanting. For the rest of us, it's a great album.

x must try harder- y?, 01 Nov 2008
I notice one of the tags for this album is 'music'. Yeah!
Coldplay, whadda they sound like?
well, sort of... music, really.
Whoo! I got to get me some of that!
Yes, it's the sonic equivalent of watching paint dry...

I'm sorry. I don't HATE this stuff. But that's the point... it's so WET. When did people like this get to masquerade as rock musicians? It's bad for you. Your children will grow up thinking this is what a rock band sounds like. Zeppelin who? no, I wanna listen to the guys who go "waaa.. waa... I'm sad and feeble..." When there's the likes of Gutter Twins, Aquila, Rufus Wainwright and The Veils out there barely making a dent, you should not be spending your money and valuable time on this.

bland and totally unworthy of 5 star reviews, 29 Oct 2008
do not be fooled by the plethora of 4/5 star reviews for this album - it is not worthy of it.

and before i get accused of simply hating Coldplay i will say that Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head were both good to very good albums.

However, X&Y is not a very good album - the songwriting is predictable (not up to the standards of their first two albums), the production is dull (the added electronic sheen does make the material on offer any better), Chris Martin's singing is grating (his use of falsetto is constant and overbearing) and the lyrics are just plain bland.

I do not understand the amount of excellent reviews posted for this album (it is though somewhat balanced by the amount of bad reviews).

You people cannot be listening to enough music to have such inflated opinions of this album - try listening to Nick Cave, The Hold Steady, Field Music, Elbow, Jim Noir, Fleet Foxes, Raconteurs, Drive-by Truckers, Calexico, TV on the radio, Goldfrapp, etc., etc, and then go back to X&Y and tell me that it is worthy of 4/5 stars.

Please notice that this meant to be a review of the album and not simply an attack on Coldplay (like so many of the bad reviews posted).

open your ears and minds people.



Yawn....., 04 Jul 2008
Anyone who claims to be a Coldplay fan and likes this album, clearly hasn't listened to 'Parachutes' or 'A Rush of Blood to the Head' two good strong albums, littered with really good songs like 'Yellow', 'Shiver', 'The Scientist', 'In My Place' etc... , whereas 'X & Y' has no good songs, the only half decent thing i liked about this album was one of the videos where an old lady is doing some acrobatic tricks.

THE BEST !! , 05 Jun 2008
great album and very powerful , i love all of there music , i think they are simply great .. this cd/album is as powerful and rich as all the others they have made .. ive got there new one on pre-order .. ive had my coldplay cd/albums for a long long while now and ive only just reviewed them ..

thank u coldplay .

see u ..

AWESOME, 08 May 2008
Look, I won't waste your time with a big lengthy review - I'll ge to the point. BUY THIS! You will fall in love with every track though not necessarily straight away, most are "growers" and you may find that a year after you bought it a song you hated in the beginning has really grown on you and you love it. Don't let the whiny naysayers put you off - this is AWESOME. It's all in the title, really:)

Their greatest album to date, 19 Nov 2008
Ive just purchased my third copy of this album (kept getting scratched in my car stereo) and i would buy it again and again. Every song from beginning to end is beautifully written, and executed. This clearly is a must have album

a saunter of blood, perhaps, 01 Nov 2008
Are Keane too hard-rocking and uncompromising for you?

Is James Blunt just too damn original and heartfelt?

Then try Coldplay! Perfection of mediocrity! (Baa baa! ...that's a trumpet)
I know... I'm mean. I don't hate this stuff. But that's the point... it's so WET. When did people like this get to masquerade as rock musicians? It's bad for you. Your children will grow up thinking this is what a rock band sounds like. Zeppelin who? no, I wanna listen to the guys who go "waaa.. waa... I'm sad and feeble..." When there's the likes of Gutter Twins, Aquila, Rufus Wainwright and The Veils out there barely making a dent, you should not be spending your money and valuable time on this.

A classic, 30 Oct 2008
Coldplay take a lot of stick - maybe some of it is deserved, a lot OTT, but all that can be said of this album is that it is a classic. One of the best albums of the decade.

the best, 13 Jun 2008
Simply the best is all that needs to be said a must have for any music collection

great album , 05 Jun 2008
fantastic , thats all i can say .. ive had the cd/album for a while now , and i would like to comment how wonderful and powerful it is , love every track !!

thankyou coldplay !!

see u ..

best album of the past 25 years, 26 Jul 2008
it is over 11 years since i bought this album. i listened to it a few times with no real hallelujah moments. then it clicked. i listened to the album as a whole, i listened to the album with the lyrics sheet open. and then it became the soundtrack for my summer. the memories associated with this album were brilliant but then so was the music. every track is unique, the lyrics are awesome, yorke's voice has at least 5 styles, the guitar play, cut up drums, soundscape are magical. i listened to the album again yesterday and it prompted this review. you must respect radiohead for not re writing the bends but creating something bigger and better. brilliant, absolutely brilliant

Ratings track by track, 14 Jul 2008
Here are my individual ratings (out of 10) for tracks on the best album ever made on Planet Earth!
Airbag 9;Paranoid Android 8.5;Subterranean Homesick Alien 8.5;Exit (Music for a film) 9;Let Down 10;Karma Police 9; Fitter Happier 2;Electioneering 6;Climbing up the Walls 10;No Suprises 8;Lucky 9; the Tourist 9

Musical genious, 18 Jun 2008
I must say that after listening to 'The Bends' for the past couple of months, it took a while to adapt to the ever progressing style that Radiohead have adopted with each album. The introduction to new techniques and sounds make the third album a refreshing take on the final decade of the 20th century, that shaped a lot of music we hear today.

From the outset, OK Computer produces unusual and fascinating tracks, each of them leaving a unique fingerprint behind them. The ability to relate to the music as the songs evolved from more synthesised sounds, to deep and complex rhythms truly set the basis for what would ultimately define OK Computer as a masterpiece in music.

While many would say that this is the product of Radioheads finest work, I would say that is is only a fragment of the style that can be differentiated from one album to the next. In purchasing OK Computer, you fill in one piece of the puzzle that creates the overall picture of Radiohead's talents, as each release is so diverse relative to previous Radiohead tracks.

Overall I would, without a shadow of a doubt, recommend this album to anyone who wishes to expand their musical appetite. I think that it would be useful also to read differing reviews about this CD before purchasing it, as I am only putting forward my own opinion. After all, one of music's many purposes is to provoke differences in opinion!

Why'd I leave it so long?, 12 Apr 2008
After being a fan of music and in particular rock music for many years i finally decided to give radiohead a chance and bought ok computer, i'm not really sure why I waited so long but they never seemed to appeal to me, maybe it was a lack of instantly catchy tunes, who knows. So i insert the CD, first listen i was moderately impressed and went and bought 'the bends', having now listened to both albums uncountable times i have really been drawn in by the radiohead spell and find every listen reveals something new, either in the lyrics or music, a new understanding is achieved, it onlys leaves me wondering why the hell I left it so long before I conceded. For people who may face the same situation the two albums mentioned are definitely the places to start and give them at least 6 or 7 listens each, if you're not appreciating the music by then maybe try 10 or 20 listens, it will happen eventually. Overall a monumental record which quite rightly is widely regarded as one of the best of all time, personal favourites are 'Airbag' and 'Karma Police'. 10 out of 10.

Unbelievable, 24 Mar 2008
I am getting old. All rock albums these days seem to be treading the same paths that were hacked clear some 20-30 years ago. I didn't think they made albums like this anymore. It is new. It is fresh. And it is great, really great. Rock lives.

This is the value of working at cross-purposes: The Smiths were Morrissey's excuse to undulate his wry, disaffected lyrics and Johnny Marr's vehicle for his sharp, chiming, pop songs. Their favourite kind of compromise made them essentially a singles band, and The Queen Is Dead has a couple of their best (notably "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side", one of the greatest pop expressions of the Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name). But it also has some wonderful compromises of different kinds: the bizarrely romantic "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" and "Cemetry Gates", where Marr covers up for Morrissey's floridity with shimmying rockabilly. --Douglas Wolk

Love It, 18 Jan 2008
Elbow have written and performed some of the best music this century (IMO). Beautiful ballads & catchy tunes,

Favourite Tracks: Fugitive Motel & Grace Under Pressure

Drab, seven thousand shades of grey, 14 May 2006
The music lacks drive and composure. It drifts seamlessly from one 2-demensional number to another, there are no gates of pleasure, no emotions other than the drab. Too many influences, too much historical rhetoric and too little raw edge - seems to fit with the UK music image, all pretty petticoats and no balls.

Moving Rock But Probably Not Everyone's Bag, 03 Aug 2005
It'd been my experience that the more you listen to Elbow, the better they get. When I was given their first album Asleep In The Back, I just had it on in the background while I read a book. Didn't really think too much about it considering how much my flatmate hyped them up. I liked the first track alright but it didn't throw me out of the chair. A week later I listened to it again but this time I really listened to it. "Hey! This is pretty good," I thought and listened to it twice more that day. I liked it more each time. The new album is made the same way. The first time I listened to it I didn't think it was as good as their first. Then I listened to it again and again and so will you.

It sounds a bit more polished than Asleep but is just as moving and it's a bit more psychedelic but just as powerful. Although Elbow sounds relatively familiar, they have a fairly timeless sound, not borrowing too heavily from any one decade's influences. While the first album tended to have a few more all out rock moments, Cast Of Thousands sees Garvey and company matured to a more composed and collected form. Their power lies in their simplicity...but it's pretty much pointless to try to fully explain the movement of Elbow. Their work just needs to be felt. Imagine that! Feelings still exist some 20 years after Satan launched his own channel, MTV. In the words of the Glastonbury 2002 crown at the end of "Grace Under Pressure," an amazingly moving song, "we still believe in love so f**k you!"

A band on the move, 05 Apr 2005
This album shows a band on form, moving on from asleep in the back (another marvelous album)into a territory full of samples bips and bleeps. The sound is still noticabley that of elbow but the songs are a little more hopefull. From the opening track ribcage ("tear my ribs apart and let the sun inside") to the final song backed by a glastonbury album this is an album to be treasured.

Elbow show they have grace under pressure, 13 Jul 2004
After Asleep in the Back, an album that took years to create and release, Elbow must have felt the strain when asked to make a follow-up in a much shorter timespace. However, the pressure seems to have worked well as they have made a brilliant second album that shows just how talented these guys are.

The great thing about this album is its layers: Elbow really have a thing for attention to detail. All the tracks add layer upon layer to create amazing soundscape-like masterpieces that are at once catchy and melodic.

The experimentalism on this album is also catchy. Everything from the offbeat, sometimes jazzy sometimes just odd drumming to the quiet piano, repetitive guitar sounds, melodic offbeat bass and giant gospel choirs just seems to work well together. This is partly due to great production by Ben Hillier & Elbow and partly due to the band's creativity. The good thing too is that the album still retains the dark, melancholy feel of the first album; it just achieves it in slightly different ways. This experimental feel just blows other bands out of the water.

But it's not just the music that's great. The lyrics are what make the music still feel human. Guy Garvey adds wit and romanticism to every song, and his Peter Gabriel-like voice just adds to this feel. "Lost in a lullaby, side of the road, melt in a melody, slide in a solitude". Beautiful.

Some people say this album is more uplifting than the last, and, while that is true to an extent, the constant darkness of the first album is still here which is what I love. You just love the fact that the band are moody and unhappy, and they can't get enough of it themselves either. That's what makes this album work.

So, in conclusion: great layered structure, unusual musicianship, brilliant lyricism, great production, curiously unhappy but uplifting feel... what more do you want? These guys are the future of rock music, so buy them now. And congrats to Elbow for making such an amazing record in a much shorter space of time.

this is music!!!, 16 Mar 2006
i cant believe i hear this album now! having recently bought the brilliant Leaders Of The Free World I wanted to discover Elbow. Then I listened to Cast Of Thousands next which i included in my top 10 album list. but then I listened to this album and I was totally knocked off my feet! I just love it. this is music! reading other reviews I was deeply dissapointed they were compared to other bands. some of the reviews which compare elbow to say coldplay would have put off buying this record. If u like music then get all the albums by Elbow. Another band I thought I should recommend is I Am Kloot.

In my top 10 list of all time, 23 Jul 2005
This album is one of the most exceptional albums of the new millenium. Its completely different to anything ive ever heard. Elbow are an experimental-indie band and their sound is completely fresh and original.

All the tracks are great and are beautifully structured. From the lovely any day now to the sublime scattered balck and whites.

my favourite tracks are coming second, any day now, scattered balck and whites, red, dont mix your drinks. every track is a gem including the 7 minute epic single, newborn.

With this album you get 60+ minutes of sublime music. Listen and enjoy. Although it wont be your favourite on first listen you'll appreciate eventually. Get their second album also. its great.

If you want to think, 08 Feb 2005
I was attracted to this album after hearing a shortened version of newborn on an acoustic album. At first this was the only track that i listened to but then i was gradually drawn in to the beauty of tracks like 'powderblue' with its wonderfully compelling lyrics. If you allow it to this album will take you over with every track becoming a must listen. This band are much underated for how good they are.

sublime..., 01 Feb 2005
totally soaring and beautiful. no one should be without this album to see them through times when it seems things can't get any worse. it's not a happy album but it never fails to make the listener feel that things are going to be ok. hope flies through as a sparkling undertone to the downbeat songs with an effect that is ultimately soothing.

Elbow - Asleep in the Back, 11 Jan 2005
If you like this genre of music, it is an essential purchase.

Takes you back to another time, 09 Oct 2008
Music can take you back to a time and a place that you would otherwise forget. This is one of thise albums.


Greatest Hits - plain and simple, 01 Sep 2008
The Cure have always been one of these bands that I've only ever half been aware of - I've fully appreciated the impact they've had on the music scene, but I've never really known any of the songs as well as I should have. Which is why I bought this - their Greatest Hits.

People that bleat on and complain about Greatest Hits being too predictable by certain artists miss the point - Best Of compilations are not for the die hard fans - if you're a die hard fan, you should already have all the albums. Best Of's are a great starting point for people just getting into an act. And this is exactly what this does. All the classics are here - Friday I'm In Love, Boys Don't Cry, In Between Days....and that's exactly what people want.

Everybody should have heard of The Cure - use this Greatest Hits as an excuse to finally buy one of their CD's and get to learn how great these tunes that have been played to you over and over again over the past 20 years really are.

To everybody else - stop complaining about Greatest Hits compilations.

Give me the disease instead., 11 Aug 2008
I cannot believe that they scooped together this many tunes to fill a CD by the whiney voiced big haired wet lipped shy thing. He sings all out of tune and flounces about like clothes without a person in them. Some of the tunes get in your head but its mostly inept teenage dirge with no substance. They are no Status Quo fo sho. Spend your money on something better like a Bartok syphony or Bong-ra or even Girls Aloud. Not this, this is not medicine, this is self inflicted whiney earache. I'm not buying this album to keep him in oversized shirts, hairspray and mascara, no.

good pop songs, 12 May 2008
This is a good selection of pop songs...

But those seeking 'what the cure are really all about' should either by the albums or get join the dots (because some of those B-sides are amazing).
The Cure were about long atmospheric pieces of music which conjure up images in your head and evoke moods without even hearing the lyrics. When the lyrics do come they are usually delivered in a despairing hopeless way, or wailed, by Robert Smith and his masterfully unique voice, in the world of Pop/Rock.

Best songs suited for this are all the tracks on 'pornography', and charlotte sometimes, none of which included here.

This is the lighter bouncier commercial side of the Cure. Songs you WILL have heard before but didn't know who it was. Except everyone knows 'Friday I'm In Love' - National Student Anthem.

Staring at the Sea and Galore are better compilations, this skims over too many songs, but If you are going to get anything get disintegration. If you want pop hits, get Head on the door. And go from there

Great overview, 24 Aug 2007
I'm not a Cure purist, I never really thought of myself as a real fan of the band. But this is a great collection of songs. Maybe not a fully representative one in terms of their overall goth agenda, but for those non-goths of us out there, it's just a great set of indie classics.

For the casual listener (like me) there are a couple of tr