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The Seldom Seen Kid | 
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Artist: Elbow
Label: Geffen Records
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $6.01
You Save: $3.97 (40%)
New (37) Used (11) from $4.84
Avg. Customer Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 554
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 001106302
UPC: 602517642522
EAN: 0602517642522
ASIN: B0015I2P0Y
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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| Tracks:
| • | Starlings | | • | The Bones of You | | • | Mirrorball | | • | Grounds for Divorce | | • | An Audience with the Pope | | • | Weather to Fly | | • | The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver | | • | The Fix | | • | Some Riot | | • | One Day Like This | | • | Friend of Ours |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk
There are few things in life quite so liberating as the opening track on an Elbow album--they're like airlocks between the plainness of the outside world and the elaborate melancholic heave-ho that you are likely about to submerge yourself in. Following predecessors "Any Day Now", "Ribcage" and "Station Approach", "Starlings" opens their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid rising from a bed of tumbling electronic subtlety like a depressed Atari game loading up, adding bare touches of piano, glimpses of ambient guitar, out of body background vocals, an understated pulse and a wisp of strings, before--EXCELSIS!--a fanfare avalanche of horns crashes the gate and elevates things to gasping palatial heights, before Guy Garvey's inimitable gravel tone and wrenchingly poetic reinterpretations of the everyday announce their arrival proper. It's astonishing, by far the most progressive moment on the album and if anything it sets the bar too high. But even when the pace dips, and songs like "Mirrorball" and "Weather to Fly" don't distinguish themselves quite enough, their textural peerlessness remains. This is a beautiful sounding record. Their collaboration with Richard Hawley may be more of a curiosity than a thing of beauty, but the highs, the riffing cross-stitch of "Ground for Divorce", the desolate grandeur of "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver" and the enlightened string-laden anthem "On a Day Like This" (like their own Sound of Music--only substitute the Alpine peaks for a Manchester high-rise) number amongst the best of their career. --James Berry
Album Description
Acclaimed for their innovative sound and candid, evocative lyrics, Elbow has received vast critical acclaim and been endorsed by major artists Blur, R.E.M. and U2. Elbow return with a new album, "The Seldom Seen Kid", their follow up to 2005's universally acclaimed Leaders Of The Free World and first for Fiction/Geffen Records. In support of the new set Elbow will be coming stateside kicking things off with a show in New York City April 26, 2008 at Webster Hall. "New Elbow is sublime!!" - SUPERNOVA "Their latest effort deserves to trigger a large-scale love affair. Elbow are at the top of their game" - UNCUT MAGAZINE "Every now and then a great band like Elbow comes along. I am a big fan so its no surprise that I totally love the first song to surface from their upcoming album, The Seldom Seen Kid" - EACH NOTE SECURE
Album Description
International pressing of ttheir fourth album. The Seldom Seen Kid is a welcome return from the band, driven by a thunderous riff that reminds listeners of Elbow's love of the heavy as well as the delicate. Produced by keyboard player, Craig Potter, the album is the follow up to 2005's universally acclaimed Leaders Of The Free World. The lyrical core of The Seldom Seen Kid sees Guy Garvey address the key questions of life. The big themes of love and loss become the central focus of an album that sees Elbow, a band universally recognized for their musical ability and innovation, stretch their sonic template further than ever before. We move from the sparse Electronic of `Starlings' through the flamenco influenced `The Bones Of You' to the Zepellinesque Rock of the first single `Grounds For Divorce'. 12 tracks. Polydor.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
 Really good! August 11, 2008
Really, really good band. I hadn't heard of them until I saw them on "Live from Abbey Road". I got the album right away and it is one of my favorites this year. Very tight band with a very good lead singer.
 Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid 6/10 August 10, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Manchester Britpop band Elbow is one of the most critically acclaimed bands on their side of Atlantic, but commercial success has continued to elude them, and the group is practically unknown in America. The Seldom Seen Kid, their fourth album, aims to reach wider audiences with its epic brand of indie rock, with vocalist/guitarist Guy Garvey's distinctive British tenor leading the way.
The record starts off with slow burner "Starlings," mostly a bubbling synthesizer and Garvey's tender voice punctuated by occasional blasts of horn. Ultimately boring, the band luckily picks up the pace with the quintessentially British-sounding "The Bones of You," which sounds like a mix of the Verve's intelligent witticisms and Blur's innovative instrumentation.
The highlight of the record is obviously Garvey, whose velvet pipes expertly complement his dreamy storytelling, as is most evident on lead single "Grounds for Divorce," where he describes feelings of nostalgia as "there's a hole in my neighborhood / down which of late I cannot help but fall."
Sadly, Garvey's talents as a songwriter can only go so far, and unfortunately The Seldom Seen Kid suffers from the same affliction as its starting record: it is too ponderous to hold the listener's attention for long. Songs drag along on waves of noise and guitar, with only Garvey's voice to lead a path through the musical bog.
Great Songs Delivered with Heart July 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The album opens with "Starlings", sort of an electronic/techno/pop number that reminds me a bit of Fleetwood Mac, then the album seques into "The Bones of You", a song about love lost, or maybe destroyed, that rips right into you with the lyrics, "I took a hammer to every momento, but image on image, like beads on a rosary move through my head, as the music takes hold and the second it hits, I can work till I break, but I love the bones of you that I will never escape." This is one good song, delivered with heart. If there were no other good songs on this album, "The Bones of You," would be enough for me.
But there is more, the haunting beat of "Mirrorball" combined with the orchestral background as Guy Garvey spins a love song so tender. Then the album switches gears with the tight, trashing "Grounds for Divorce" which reminds me of the John Lennon of "Give Peace a Chance" crossed with T-Rex. I can't get the song out of my head. This is a good record, stuffed full of songs so good it's hard to pick on I like the best, but if I had to pick one I liked better than the rest, I'd pick "One Day Like This." Guy's right on with this one, and this song really puts this album on the top of the heap, well they all do actually, there's not a bad tune on this album.
Reviewed by Stephanie Sane
lush textures make for a great album July 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A friend of mine has been going on about Elbow for a few years. For some reason, I never managed to pick up one of their albums. Until this one.
So many adjectives come to mind while listening to this album. "Exquisite" is probably the most-repeated one. The album is filled with lush textures and perfect lyrics. The lead singer has a voice that covers a wide range of emotional territory. Likewise, the instruments on the album cover a wide range of musical territory. Altogether, the album is a cohesive one that makes me wonder how I've missed out on them for so long.
Their best yet! July 17, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you haven't heard their song "One Day Like This" then you're missing what may be Elbow's best single ever. It's an uplifting, feel-good song that instantly catches your ear.
The rest of the CD is more of the same.
Just a pure joy to listen to. And why Elbow isn't top of the charts is beyond me. They've been nothing but consistent throughout their career.
The Seldom Seen Kid is definitely a career peak for them. From start to finish, it's just about perfect.
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