• Band Name: Elbow
  • Record Label: V2
  • Release Date: Jan 22, 2002
User Score
8.5 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 24
  3. Negative: 2 out of 24

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  1. Mithrandir
    Mar 1, 2003
    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.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. Tee
    Mar 7, 2002
    3
    boring. no two ways about it.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. MarkJ.
    Jun 28, 2002
    9
    It's slow but not boring
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  4. codyg
    Mar 15, 2003
    10
    brilliant!
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. MacMac
    Jul 31, 2003
    10
    Best debut for a long long time
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. [Anonymous]
    Oct 11, 2002
    10
    simply one of the best, most emotional and mind-blowing records of all time. hard to imagine it's a debut.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. G$DaGoosePimpPumpernikel
    Apr 1, 2002
    9
    beautiful
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  8. Craig
    Jan 14, 2004
    10
    one of the best debut albums i've heard in the past few years.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  9. MrMikey
    Aug 24, 2004
    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.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  10. MikeS.
    Mar 11, 2002
    2
    Very disappointed, way too slow and boring for my taste. Does not come close to living up to the great reviews IMO. It basically sounds like a bad Catherine Wheel CD.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  11. SamS.
    Mar 17, 2002
    9
    truely human, with genuine spirit and soul!
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  12. DomS.
    Aug 13, 2003
    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.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  13. SirSpiteFull
    Nov 14, 2002
    7
    it sounds like a bad Catherine Wheel CD (see user review below)? Do NOT trust the opinion of anyone who thinks there is a GOOD catherine wheel CD!!! this is interesting chamber pop, even if occasionally it lapses. Catherine Wheel...christ, i can't believe people even think about them anymore...
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  14. Dec 10, 2010
    10
    Absolutely beautiful album. Its filled with eerie and melancholy sounds mixed with some sweet riffs and effects. Definately worth a listen. Slow, moody, at times melancholy, but by no means boring.
Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 19
  2. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Elbow understand how to make an album flow without sacrificing the unexpected turns any good record should have.
  2. You'll struggle to find any filler on a record that works magnificently as a whole.
  3. 80
    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.