Elbow Albums Ranked

Elbow is an English rock band formed in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1997. The band consists of Guy Garvey (lead vocals, guitar), Craig Potter (keyboard, piano, backing vocals), Mark Potter (guitar, backing vocals), and Pete Turner (bass guitar, backing vocals). They have played together since 1990, adopting the name Elbow in 1997. Drummer Alex Reeves replaced Richard Jupp first as a session performer in 2016, which he continues to be. The band has released eight studio albums: Asleep in the Back (2001), Cast of Thousands (2003), Leaders of the Free World (2005), The Seldom Seen Kid (2008), Build a Rocket Boys! (2011), The Take-Off and Landing of Everything (2014), Little Fictions (2017), and Giants of All Sizes (2019). Their studio albums, as well as their B-sides compilation Dead in the Boot (2012), all reached the top 15 of the British album chart. Seven of their singles placed in the top 40 of the British singles chart. Their most recent album, Giants of All Sizes, was released on 11 October 2019. In 2008, Elbow won the Mercury Music Prize for their album The Seldom Seen Kid, and in 2009 they won the Brit Award for Best British Group. In 2012, they released “First Steps”, the BBC theme for the 2012 London Olympics. Here are all of Elbow albums ranked.

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10. The Seldom Seen Kid: Live At Abbey Road (2009)

“This is one of the greatest albums of all time : Period. These orchestrations are absolutely exquisite, and bring out the full emotional range of the songs. Those songs which did suffer from a somewhat subdued arrangement on the original album : “Some Riot” and “Audience with the Pope”, are given a far more vivid string presence here, and only “The Loneliness of the Tower Crane Driver” lacks its original industrial edge and appeal. Essential.”

9. Live At Jodrell Bank (2013)

“I quite like this. It isn’t the most dynamic of live albums but It’s thoughtfully put together. The playing is understated but top-notch. Guy Garvey is a good live vocalist with a good rapport with the audience.’

8. Giants Of All Sizes (2019)

“There is certainly no getting away from the fact that this is an Elbow album, but there is something a little more at ease with Giants of all Sizes than it’s recent predecessors. It feels more organic, where the songs aren’t created to play a certain role on the album. What you have is a concise collection of pure Elbow. There are genuinely zero bad songs, but perhaps no Elbow classics either.”

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7. Little Fictions (2017)

“While listening to this album, I was consistently surprised by how much I was enjoying it. On the surface, Elbow is a band I wouldn’t vibe with. Clean, moody, ballad-filled alt-rock doesn’t sound super appealing to me, but any genre can be great if enough talent and craftsmanship goes into it. Little Fictions is so finely crafted that it’s easy to look past how kinda melodramatic the whole thing is. The arrangement choices and the performances makes the songs feel hypnotic where another band would sound merely boring; familiar where another band would sound merely cliche.”

6. Cast Of Thousands (2003)

“Even though the instrumentation is sparser in this album, they manage to pull off a lot more different sounds here than with their previous albums, and at some point they even start to sound like Coldplay. At least the vocalist, that is. Arguably better than the last album, if you liked that one you can’t go wrong here.”

5. Leaders Of The Free World (2005)

“This record fits in neatly with the rest of Elbow’s back catalogue. Not much on it to distinguish it from their others but as usual the quality of the songwriting is excellent. Because their records are all pretty similar, it’s hard to pick my favorite/least favorite, but I think “The Seldom Seen Kid” is really the place to go if your looking to get into this band.”

4. The Take Off And Landing Of Everything (2014)

“I have listened to this more than any other Elbow release and I find myself going back to it time and again. It seems to offer up it’s charms slowly but they are worth the wait. It is very soothing yet engrossing. The lyrics and melodies both speak to me and I feel an emotional connection to the point of celebration. Bravo Elbow! I will be looking forward to seeing you live sometime down the road.”

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3. Build A Rocket Boys! (2011)

“This album peaks early and dips with the rather anthemic and basic ‘With Love’. The remainder is standard Elbow fayre and is certainly highly recommended for any lovers of this fine band. I have to say that five albums in, Elbow have really proven to be a band that all Brits should be proud of. Elbow are very consisent from both a style and quality point of view.”

2. Asleep In The Back (2001)

“I listened to this not expecting much but my expectations were wrong. This album is full of melancholic but moody music, perfect for those rainy days, steeped in instrumentation but nonetheless does not fail in eliciting feelings of sadness”

1. The Seldom Seen Kid (2008)

“An incredibly delicate yet potent alternative/chamber rock album. The album is at it’s best when it dials down the noise and focuses on it’s loud/soft dynamics, which in this age of brick walling, is a welcome change of pace and elevates The Seldom Seen Kid’s production.”