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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
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
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
57 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Disturbing, but not in a bad way! This is one of my favourite albums of 2001. At times Guy Garvey sings like Peter Gabriel, at others the record has echoes of Bowie or Japan. These are influences, you understand, not copied motifs.
The softness of the music hides an unsettling edge. This isn't merely another album of melancholic northern music, this is an album that doesn't quite let you lie back on the sofa and drift. It doesn't quite let you use it as musical wallpaper. There's something deeper there that keeps you on your toes, waiting.
I bought it because I like bands like Doves and artists like Badly Drawn Boy. Elbow are somehow different. If Doves are your mate, Elbow are like their more intense older brother - the one you're a little bit scared of but you want to be liked by. You know they're related, but somewhere the gene pool got whisked around a bit.
This album makes me think of wrapping up in a big thick jumper, sitting on a beach by a fire, talking to someone who has big ideas and the ability to make you dream on the same scale.
The addition of Asleep In The Back on the updated version is a blessing. If you have been tempted by either Newborn or Asleep In The Back, take the plunge and buy this album. You will thank yourself for the rest of your life.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
By their own admission, Elbow are "prog-rock without the solos" and many others have labelled them as "Doves 2001" - but as this debut proves, they are so much more. "Asleep In The Back" is based around lead singer Guy's distinct genuine hold to every song on it - his honesty and his humble desire to portray the trials and tribulations of himself and his band turns this album into a very real treat. The singles give a good impression of what to expect on the LP - "New Born" with its fragile beauty, "Any Day Now" with its dark melancholy, and "Red" as a brilliantly structured song both lyrically and musically. However, the clear album highlight "Powder Blue" is all these and more and a strong contender for song of the year. "Asleep In The Back" falls nothing short of reminding us that there's still a place in this nu-metal obsessed world for acoustic music with heart-breakingly down-to-earth lyrics. Little surprise really, with musicians as crafted and experienced as Elbow, anything less would be a disappointment. An absolute pleasure to listen to from start to finish.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"Any day now, How's about getting out of this place? Anyways, Got a lot of spare time, Some of my youth, And all of my senses on overdrive" So goes the incredibly addictive refrain of Asleep in the Back's opening track Any Day Now. Yes, it's proggy and more than a little murky, but as with all the songs on this album, the longing heart shines through. This must in main be put down to Guy Garvey's superlative voice. Quite simply no-one can currently match him. Avoiding the histrionics of Starsailor's James Walsh, his voice is never less than warm and inviting, whatever he's singing, even the naked opening lines to Newborn, the album's highlight: "I'll be the corpse in your bathtub, Useless".
The contribution by Garvey's fellow musicians can not be understated. Whereas most bands now rip open the Beatles songbook for a riff, randomly hit the top string of the bass, and feel they have a song, Elbow carefully construct layered masterpieces. Nothing is out of place. The counterpoint backing melodies are superb. Pretty, picked acoustic guitars form the background to every song. Jupp's drumming is nothing less than a revelation. This is pretensionless prog, which before now seemed something of a contradiction in terms.
Comparisons with Radiohead are frankly bizarre. Kid A is the only thing that comes remotely close to it. And even then, Kid A is mostly harsh, often alienating music, far from the tender beauty of Elbow. On the quieter songs Elbow sound like a slightly more inventive Coldplay, which is a complement that serves them no justice whatsoever. The singles in Britain were impeccably chosen: Red, the gorgeous Powder Blue (complete with sad, lonely saxophone) and Newborn are the most accessible songs on the album, and highlight the power and fragility which colours all of this work. They pave the way for more rumbling, almost tribal hymns like Any Day Now, Little Beast and Bitten by the Tailfly, which has a stinging, electrified guitar burst which is possibly the most exciting moment of any album released this year. The bonus track which was not originally included on the first pressing of the album is confusingly also titled Asleep in the Back. It is a gentle, sighing waltz, and a gratefully received addition.
My favourite moment? On Coming Second, Garvey's words tumble down the melody and cry out with just a hint of bitterness and incredulity "Best dishevelled lover 3 years running, Coming second to, A picket fence white, nine to five, Who's just alive".
It is one of several heart-stopping moments on an album that lingers in the memory long after it has been played.
Guy Garvey is a new, original lyricist with the voice of the decade, backed by a new, exciting band. They deserve to take all before them.
The contribution by Garvey's fellow musicians can not be understated. Whereas most bands now rip open the Beatles songbook for a riff, randomly hit the top string of the bass, and feel they have a song, Elbow carefully construct layered masterpieces. Nothing is out of place. The counterpoint backing melodies are superb. Pretty, picked acoustic guitars form the background to every song. Jupp's drumming is nothing less than a revelation. This is pretensionless prog, which before now seemed something of a contradiction in terms.
Comparisons with Radiohead are frankly bizarre. Kid A is the only thing that comes remotely close to it. And even then, Kid A is mostly harsh, often alienating music, far from the tender beauty of Elbow. On the quieter songs Elbow sound like a slightly more inventive Coldplay, which is a complement that serves them no justice whatsoever. The singles in Britain were impeccably chosen: Red, the gorgeous Powder Blue (complete with sad, lonely saxophone) and Newborn are the most accessible songs on the album, and highlight the power and fragility which colours all of this work. They pave the way for more rumbling, almost tribal hymns like Any Day Now, Little Beast and Bitten by the Tailfly, which has a stinging, electrified guitar burst which is possibly the most exciting moment of any album released this year. The bonus track which was not originally included on the first pressing of the album is confusingly also titled Asleep in the Back. It is a gentle, sighing waltz, and a gratefully received addition.
My favourite moment? On Coming Second, Garvey's words tumble down the melody and cry out with just a hint of bitterness and incredulity "Best dishevelled lover 3 years running, Coming second to, A picket fence white, nine to five, Who's just alive".
It is one of several heart-stopping moments on an album that lingers in the memory long after it has been played.
Guy Garvey is a new, original lyricist with the voice of the decade, backed by a new, exciting band. They deserve to take all before them.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
sheer briliance
after buying seldom seen kid and build a rocket boys i decided to buy asleep in the back, knowing this is there debut album wasnt expecting it to be as good as the other 2 , how... Read more
Published 6 months ago by dogsy
Fathers Day ...
Purchased this along with another Elbow album as a Father's Day present - arrived in good time and me Dad was well chuffed.
Published 10 months ago by MumO2
Still an Outstanding, Meaningful Debut Years After Release
Shortly after the release (and purchase) of the Seldom Seen Kid I found myself looking at the back-catalogue of Elbow albums, working my way backwards until I got to this album,... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Angus
Inspring, Moving, dramatic and pure bliss all in one
elbow are a strange band, I listened to this twice when it first came out, I didn't like it at all. My wife listened to it alot more on headphones and she kept telling me how this... Read more
Published 14 months ago by L. Moffatt
Great band.
This is the second album I have purchased by this band - definitely my kind of music. Looking forward to their next one.
Published 14 months ago by Annie
Nothing like Colplay
This album like all the Elbow Albums is incredible and glad to say nothing like Coldplay. Where does the Coldplay reference come from anyway. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Rolling Stone
Beautiful
Isn't it funny how you turn to miserable and morose music when your self-belief starts to dip? Elbow are the type of band to sit you down and instead of telling you to pull... Read more
Published on 2 April 2010 by Mr. T. Dale
Elbow - Asleep in the back
Absolute top notch album. Only discivered them this year and will now buy the back catalogue. Saw them live at "V" and they blew every other band off the stage. Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2009 by J. linley
Dark, but great
I am probably one of thousands who discovered Elbow via the excellent Seldom Seem Kid album, wondered why they hadn't heard of Elbow before seeing as they had made three previous... Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2009 by BugPowderDust
If you like that you'll like this
I think Elbow make some excellent music, and this album is no exception. If you have just got to know Elbow's music through hearing 'The Seldom Seen Kid' then you will like this. Read more
Published on 26 May 2009 by I. H. C. Mellor
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