Look Back takes, as its name implies, a look back at albums released a little while ago that didn't receive the praise that they maybe should have.
Originally released: March 4, 2011
Elbow's Build A Rocket Boys was probably my favorite album of 2011. As is the case with most Elbow albums, it was reviewed very kindly, but completely left off most critics end of year best-of lists. At least in the American press. In their native England, however, they win scads of awards. 2009's The Seldom Seen Kid won the coveted Mercury Prize, and Build A Rocket Boys was nominated last year, but eventually lost to PJ Harvey's Let England Shake. The album is even popular enough in Britain to have a beer named after it. I've never tried it because I'm not paying $20 plus international shipping for an 8 pack of beer (Word is that it's pretty unremarkable anyway). Now over a full year old, has my love for Build A Rocket Boys waned any?
Not even a little. Elbow has always been great with their use of size in their songs. Their songs can be big and orchestral, described by the band as "prog without the solos". It's clear that singer Gus Garvey listened to a lot of King Crimson growing up. (Sidebar: Maybe I'm just making connections where there are none, but Elbow have released singles called "Red," the name of a King Crimson album and "Fallen Angel," a single from that same album). Where Build A Rocket Boys really shines, however, is in its quieter moments. The mid-album track "The Night Will Always Win" is a shining example of that. The song has Garvey Pretty much on his own, without much more than a reverb laden piano guiding him through. The melody isn't as complicated as some other Elbow songs, but has plenty of range to show off exactly what Garvey can do, and he can do plenty.
Not to say there's nothing for the fans of the huge sound Elbow originally became known for. Though the heights of The Seldom Seen Kid's "One Day Like This" are never reached, that's probably for the best. A little restraint can go a long way. "Open Arms" comes as the album is winding down and has just about everything a longtime Elbow fan could ask for. A choir-backed chorus, vocal gymnastics and some of the best lyrics on the album. The line "You're not the man who fell to earth/You're the man of La Mancha" still gets me to chuckle when I hear it.
The bigger question is: Why has Elbow never really caught on in the States the way they have in their homeland? The easy answer is that their music is kinda weird. The opening track, "The Birds" is not only 8 minutes long, but sports ten bar phrases, as opposed to the more danceable eight. Go on, if you know the song, sing along in your head, see how often you just leave that bar out right before the line "Looking back is for the birds." The longer answer is that prog doesn't hold the same cultural cache here as it does in England. Sure, everyone has at least one copy of Dark Side Of The Moon kicking around in a crate full of records in storage, or at least their dad does, and every once in a while you'll find people who will refuse to believe that there are bands that aren't Rush, but it doesn't really go too far beyond that. King Crimson only ever had one song chart in the States (In the Court Of The Crimson King) and that only hit #80. Most people only know the clip from "21st Century Schizoid Man" from Kanye West's "Power". Genesis' only hit here was "Invisible Touch," and that was only a throwaway pop song. Sad to say that these things, combined with the fact that it's still hard for fandom to cross oceans, Elbow may never play Madison Square Garden, but Wembley will always welcome them with open arms. Get it? The name of the song? Nevermind.
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