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Amazon.co.uk Review
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
Review
Cast Of Thousands is recorded in a sparse, intimate setting, with occasional bursts of outside elements (namely, a dog, a Glastonbury crowd and the London Community Gospel Choir). It's a classic grower whose songs stand out for very different reasons. Each tune has at least two conflicting emotions. Melancholy is never too far away, but its presence can make the resolution and peace derived from these beautiful songs seem all the sweeter.
The album opens painfully with "Ribcage" which metaphorically looks at the inner struggle of pulling one's ribs apart to let the sun inside. An impressive start made all the more worthwhile by a gospel choir and kisses.
The wonderful "I've Got Your Number" begins as a bubble of repressed venom with words of psychotic potential, which then gets blown through the roof by a joint frenzy of guitars and keyboards. "Grow a f****** heart, love" sings Garvey. You get the impression that whoever this song is aimed at ought to hide under the table until the songwriter has left the room.
"Buttons And Zips" is a cheery, catchy number which includes lists of past friends, memories of the "blossom shed" and some plain old lust. The note by note falling of the chorus makes you feel like life's patterns are all inevitable, almost tedious, yet the lazy beat gives steady comfort.
There are some really colourful moments - the screaming guitar in "Snooks" ought to come with a warning, and the drumming of "Grace Under Pressure" is just fantastic. This is the one truly joyful song on the album, taking an unassuming melody and lifting it with backing vocals from the Glastonbury fans, those drums and the organ.
And there are some great lyrics and melodies -"Not A Job" is a very kind, gentle song, with lovely backing vocals and a reassuring message to any friend in need. "Switching Off" is a poetic number, reminiscent of REM.
This is a great album, whose emotional capacity belies some sophisticated instrumentation. It's definitely worth a few hundred listens. --Lucy Davies
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Customer Reviews
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.
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!"
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