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100Elbow have always been the most intelligent band in Britain. Now they're the most exciting, too. [#12, p.91]
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100Few albums are this evocative, and 'Leaders of the Free World' is a thing of rare beauty indeed.
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The gloom-rock tunes are as sophisticated as ever. [24 Feb 2006, p.64]
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91Rife with acid-burn guitars, levee-breaking drums, and vocals that recall Peter Gabriel at his wooziest. [Feb 2006, p.87]
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Right now Elbow are hitting an emotional pitch no one else is managing; one more personal and more potent than those that might be considered their competition.
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Leaders Of The Free World contains songs as heavy and epic as the neo-prog of Elbow's first two albums, but it's strongest at its quietest.
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A masterpiece.
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80A... winning blend of seemingly spontaneous, humanised warmth and brooding, existential contemplation.
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80Endearingly sorrowful without descending into outright misery, Leaders Of The Free World is exactly what we the listeners should expect from a band's third album.
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80[A] deft combination of emotional intimacy and musical ambition. [Oct 2005, p.108]
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80Elbow's lifeblood is equal parts rain and alcohol. [Mar 2006, p.111]
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Leaders of the Free World is a bit more rock & roll than not, with guts and heart, because Elbow have finally embraced their powerful, surrounding space this time out.
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80This is certainly no party album, and its colours are almost exclusively monochrome, but its majesty reigns supreme. [Sep 2005, p.112]
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80Retains Elbow's best qualities - embittered romanticism and pretty, twisty melodies - while infusing them with hooks galore.
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80Leaders Of The Free World is an ambitious and beautiful album that confirms Elbow as one of the bands of our generation.
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75A mostly brilliant, though occasionally lackluster, album.
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It's probably the worst Elbow album yet.
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Leaders Of The Free World would seem by-the-book Brit rock, if it weren't for Guy Garvey. Gruff but generous, with a voice like Peter Gabriel minus the ego, Garvey masters the role of sensitive frontman by staying grounded. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.104]
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62Why, pray tell, did Elbow decide to start sounding less like Radiohead rip-offs and more like midlife-crisis Travis?
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60It's certainly more assured and less wilfully angsty than Cast Of Thousands. However, it still lacks the special unified mood or thread of Asleep. [Oct 2005, p.110]
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Presenting four or five great songs on any fifty-minute album is a rare gift, and on Leaders of the Free World, these bittersweet Brits prove to be worthy rainy-day companions.
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The album is a reverb-laced dirge, a slow-motion version of "you're prettier after three beers." Unfortunately, Elbow's lyrics--while plenty fatigued, especially coming from the disinterested vocal cords of lead singer Guy Garvey--are pretty sober.
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The back end of the album trundles along, failing to rival the opening energy or offer anything as interesting as the non-anthemic detours.
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What it lacks are top-quality tunes.
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It's not that Elbow's half-Travis, half-early-Radiohead Britpop shoegaze routine is patently shitty; it's just hopelessly forgettable. [Mar 2006, p.134]
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 38 out of 38
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Mixed: 0 out of 38
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Negative: 0 out of 38
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glynw10
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TonyM.9Cracking album this band just gets better and better. forget about bands that sound alike ELBOW are the real deal.