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Elbow
Cast of Thousands
(V2)
First Appeared at The Music Box, April 2004, Volume 11, #4
Written by John Metzger
Cast of Thousands, Elbow’s sophomore effort, begins with a series of
electronic blips, which causes one to take pause and wonder if the band is
another in an endlessly expanding line of Radiohead imitators. By the time the
opening track Ribcage has drawn to its conclusion, however, one is
assured that this is not the case. Granted, Cast of Thousands might not
have evolved in quite the same way had Radiohead not unleashed upon the world
the strange, freak-out mayhem of Kid A and Amnesiac, but Elbow’s
soaring art-rock gambits do more than simply follow in Thom Yorke’s footsteps.
As it turns out, the aforementioned electronic blips simulate the sound of a
heart monitor, providing the perfect introduction for a series of stream of
consciousness musings about the nature of relationships. "I wanted to explode/to
pull my ribs apart/and let the sun inside," sings Guy Garvey with equal doses of
dejection and delight on Ribcage, only to add, "All you have is
kisses/and all I need is you" as the music swirls about him and a gospel choir
lifts him from his murky gloom.
Indeed, unlike Elbow’s debut, Cast of Thousands features as much hope,
however guarded, as it does despair, and this shines through the group’s lyrics
as well as its melodies. The word "intense" frequently comes to mind as guitars
act as buzz saws and sounds frequently cascade and collide to create the
textured soundscapes that envelop Garvey’s melancholy-drenched vocals. There are
smatterings of Wilco, The Beatles, Spiritualized, R.E.M., Psychedelic Furs,
Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, and countless others kaleidoscopically drifting
through the songs’ dream-filled ethers, and the symphonic wonderment of the
arrangements builds big sounds out of intimate spaces. It’s enough to consider
Cast of Thousands to be a minor masterpiece and to declare that Elbow is
definitely a band worth watching. 
Cast of Thousands is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2004
The Music Box
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