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Leaders of the Free World

Elbow

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Album Review

When Doves headed to the studio for the recording of their third album, 2005's Some Cities, they returned home to Manchester. With that kind of scenic inspiration and emotional attachment, Some Cities resulted in Doves' best of their career at that moment. It is mere coincidence that their musical mates, Elbow, have done the same for their third album, Leaders of the Free World. Such a coincidence is a bit comforting in the respect that Elbow do not stray from what they have previously done. Despite being cast as a gloomy bunch on their first two albums — 2001's Asleep in the Back and 2004's Cast of Thousands — Elbow trudge on as an emotional band. Singer/songwriter Guy Garvey doesn't wallow in failed relationships as much as he enjoys being cynical and playful about the world around him. Sure, Elbow's more melodic, pensive moments such as "The Stops" and "The Everthere" are classic heartbreakers, with piano-driven melodies lush in melancholic acoustic guitars and Garvey's somber disposition. Leaders of the Free World really comes to life when Elbow give in, allowing these songs to grow into something glorious. Album opener "Station Approach" and "Forget Myself" are brilliant examples of this. "Forget Myself" metaphorically points fingers at a media-obsessed culture that is equally blasé about its own issues. Garvey throws his hands in the air, sighing to himself to "look for a plot where I can bury my broken heart." The album's title track also criticizes a very questionable political system, demanding, "I need to see the Commander in Chief and remind what was passed on to me" as a storm of electric guitars mirrors an anxious, waxing delivery by the band itself — "Passing the gun from father to feckless son, we're climbing a landslide where only the good die young." Elbow are a great band regardless of what it takes for them to find their footing. 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.

Customer Reviews

If you thought they couldn't get better, you were wrong.

I defiinitely am glad i picked this up. It's imaginitve and extremly well planned. Poking at politics, it's got a pretty good view at them, they are a bummer (politics that is). Forget Myself being one of the best tracks from this, and with the enjoyable Leaders of the Free World track, it's humorous and delightful Mexican Standoff, Elbow continues to please with, in my opinion, one of the best albums of 2005.

Under the Radar

There probably is a radar out there, somewhere. And inevitably some things literally do fly under it. This album, and band perhaps, are so far beneath the refracting beams of radar technology, that they are practically invisible, but that's exactly how their music aims to feel. Elbow is an innovative band; they once sang an entire song through the sole of a ballet slipper just..well...because. But with 2005's "Leaders of the Free World," Elbow sought to create something more meaningful than simply obscure; they aimed for a Brit-rock bullseye.
The album presents a politically savvy cover and a title track that openly challenges the Bush/Blaire era, but the depth of the albums' emotional sea arrives in the deeper cuts. Take "An Imagined Affair," for example. Never was a song about those things you could never have more intensely likeable. It's dipped in nostalgia, but covered in a powdery frosting of hope. "Station Approach" is, on the surface, a song about mommy, but really is about a longing for comfort in times when it is so gosh darn hard to find anywhere else. But allow yourself to be swept up in tracks 8, 9, and 10 and you will see that Elbow crawls through your veins deep into the thumper in your chest not just to pitter around a bit, but to make a home and leave your soul reeling with thoughts of switches never flicked.
I know people usually only review albums that they really love, but this is an album to break your heart. Enjoy every second of the sweet sorrow.

Biography

Formed: 1997 in Manchester, England

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

Injecting a wider range of emotions into their music than most of their guitar-based British peers, Elbow have been known to refer to their orchestral, grandiose sound as "prog without the solos." The members of the band — vocalist Guy Garvey, drummer Richard Jupp, organist Craig Potter, guitarist Mark Potter, and bassist Pete Turner — met during the early '90s while attending college in Bury. After moving several miles south to Manchester...
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