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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Asleep In The Back
by Elbow


8.4

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Often compared to Doves and Radiohead, Manchester-based Elbow is yet another new alternative band to emerge from the British music press hype machine. This debut album was shortlisted for 2001's Mercury Music Prize.

LABEL:	V2
RELEASE DATE:	22 January 2002
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Alternative, Rock

NOTES: UK release 12 June 2001.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

E! Online

Their debut drips of melancholy and swims in gorgeous sheets of incidental noise.

100

Playlouder

Elbow have made the most passionate, beautiful and downright special record you'll hear this year.

100

Delusions of Adequacy

A dark, moody, hypnotic monumental masterpiece with songs that unfold subtlety from one elaborate texture to the next so that you almost don't notice the marvelous hooks until they have dug their way beneath your skin and buried themselves in your soul.

New Musical Express

Seems that after all the pale imitators, Radiohead finally have a competitor worthy of healthy comparison.

Stylus Magazine

One of the best debut albums of the last five years.

Q Magazine

This is a complex record, full of bleak lyrical themes, but it's also riveting, hypnotic and really very good indeed.

Billboard

The band's collective songwriting skills impress frequently.

Alternative Press

Asleep is just enigmatic enough to avoid plagiarism. [Mar 2002, p.77]

All Music Guide

The tempos might not ever exceed mid-level, and half of the songs might exceed five minutes, but the record is anything but a difficult listen or tough to wade through.

Ink Blot Magazine

Elbow understand how to make an album flow without sacrificing the unexpected turns any good record should have.

Dot Music

You'll struggle to find any filler on a record that works magnificently as a whole.

CDNow

One listen to Asleep in the Back's "Newborn" invokes a feeling of unmistakable contemplation and a sense of beauty entirely absent from the repertoires of the Oasis and Verves of Brit rock's last generation.

Austin Chronicle

Elbow is a sad lot, likely to lead to a life of Merlot, Silk Cuts, and a straight razor or two if you don't watch out. They're gorgeous just the same.

Pitchfork

While the band has a very developed sense of texture and sound, though, they rather desperately need to work on changing things up a bit more with regard to the songs themselves.

Nude As The News

More in the vein of Built To Spill's Perfect From Now On than the latest Doves or Travis albums, Asleep is structured as an epic, almost prog-rock album that, once spun, reveals itself as a comfortable listen, containing a number of classic pop songwriting turns within its vastness.

Almost Cool

Everything feels a slight bit too polished, but that's not a huge fault.

Entertainment Weekly

A full hour of dense, moody gloss--difficult listening without the tuneful base that keeps Radiohead anchored. [29 Mar 2002, p.72]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Establishing a languorous mood right away, the album is all meandering, low-key moods and textures, with precious few focused songs on which to hang them.

Spin

Not many of the expansive, leisurely songs on Asleep In The Back stick in the memory once they've ended, but they swoon nicely. [Mar 2002, p.127]

The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mr Mikey gave it an 8:
Cracking debut, 10 years in the making. Newborn is the stand out track for me as I just feel that its a full on aural assault of the best possible kind. Slow to mid tempo? Yes. Boring? Anything but.

Craig gave it a 10:
one of the best debut albums i've heard in the past few years.

Dom S. gave it a 9:
A bad Catherine Wheel CD? More like a good Catherine Wheel CD would only hope to sound like this. What has everyone said? Texture texture texture blah blah blah. Sure, there's texture, but this is a collection of some of the dankest, moodiest, visceral music of the year. I only wish I could live in Machester to truly experience this perfect soundtrack.

Mac Mac gave it a 10:
Best debut for a long long time

[Anonymous] gave it a 10:
a masterpiece! on the same level as "ok computer".

cody g gave it a 10:
brilliant!

Mithrandir gave it a 7:
Sir Spite Full is wrong. Catherine Wheel did produce an outstanding album: "Ferment". It remains one of the shoegazing era's best offerings. Catherine Wheel has produced some lousy albums but "Ferment" is emotional noisy guitar heaven. Absolutely essential. As for Elbow, I think they are slightly overrated. Critics tend to drool over them whereas I wish they had a better sense of melody.

Asleep In The Back by Elbow

Asleep In The Back
by Elbow