Elbow Alseep In The Back [Deluxe Edition] (Polydor)
4/5
By: Matt Tomiak
Having finally found favour with the masses after bagging the Mercury Prize for last year's The Seldom Seen Kid, 2001's Asleep At The Back, the lugubrious first album from the Bury boys-made-good-at-last, is given a triple disc retrospective buff-up.
Although the fivesome were never overly burdened with that pesky "New Radiohead" albatross so often slung round the necks of ambitious and emotional British bands, this expanded edition amply demonstrates that Elbow were well worth being discussed in the same breath - certainly, they had more in common with the forward-thinking Radiohead acolytes amongst alt-rock's vanguard like TV On The Radio than with Coldplay's hollow stadium bombast.
'Presuming Ed (Rest Easy)' contains some sinister ill-boding worthy of Thom Yorke ("My brother, fear is only natural/You need to chill your f**king bones...You know that everything is finite"); the slow-rising soar of 'Powder Blue' would have fitted seamlessly onto 'The Bends.' and 'Bitten by the Tailfly', with its rasping bursts of guitar, echoes 'Creep'.
This LP is perhaps best remembered for the shimmering prog and singer Guy Garvey's haunting falsetto contained within 'Newborn', although the best track might well be the diaphanous, Elliott Smith-hued 'Don't Mix Your Drinks'.
CD 2 offers b-sides, live and radio session versions, whilst a third disc provides visual accompaniments to each of AITB's twelve tracks, interspersed with grainy home footage- there’s meandering anecdotes from Garvey, and drummer Richard, clad in defiantly un-rock n' roll North Face fleece, explaining the particulars of his cymbal set-up.
A timely reminder of one of the finest British debuts of the decade.
Artists in this article: Elbow
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