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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.
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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.
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This is a complex record, full of bleak lyrical themes, but it's also riveting, hypnotic and really very good indeed.
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Seems that after all the pale imitators, Radiohead finally have a competitor worthy of healthy comparison.
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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.
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SpinNot 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]
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Entertainment WeeklyA full hour of dense, moody gloss--difficult listening without the tuneful base that keeps Radiohead anchored. [29 Mar 2002, p.72]
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Alternative PressAsleep is just enigmatic enough to avoid plagiarism. [Mar 2002, p.77]
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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.
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The band's collective songwriting skills impress frequently.
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You'll struggle to find any filler on a record that works magnificently as a whole.
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One of the best debut albums of the last five years.
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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.
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Elbow have made the most passionate, beautiful and downright special record you'll hear this year.
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Their debut drips of melancholy and swims in gorgeous sheets of incidental noise.
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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.
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Everything feels a slight bit too polished, but that's not a huge fault.
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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.
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Elbow understand how to make an album flow without sacrificing the unexpected turns any good record should have.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 23 out of 25
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Mixed: 0 out of 25
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Negative: 2 out of 25
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Dec 10, 2010
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Jul 31, 2012
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MrMikeyAug 24, 2004