> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

60 31Knots
82 Abe Vigoda
71 The Academy Is...
53 The Airborne Toxic Event
79 Alias
77 Theresa Andersson
76 Apollo Sunshine
47 The Automatic
79 Azeda Booth
75 Joan Baez
84 Bajofondo
56 David Banner
76 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
77 Black Affair
59 Black Ghosts
74 Black Kids
79 Blitzen Trapper
74 Bodies Of Water
70 Brazilian Girls
72 Brightblack Morning Light
66 The Broken West
50 Buckcherry
78 Lindsey Buckingham
90 The Bug
56 Caesars
78 Calexico
70 Glen Campbell
70 Brendan Canning
63 Cats In Paris
74 The Chemical Brothers
65 Cold War Kids
69 Alice Cooper
79 Rodney Crowell
63 CSS
67 Miley Cyrus
46 Dandy Warhols
65 Kimya Dawson
73 Dead Confederate
72 Death Vessel
74 Delta Spirit
79 Damien Dempsey
78 Ani DiFranco
58 DJ Khaled
66 The Donkeys
72 Dr. Dog
80 DragonForce
78 The Duhks
77 Dungen
73 Brian Eno + David Byrne
62 The Faint
67 The Fiery Furnaces
63 Ben Folds
64 iForward, Russia!
72 Friendly Fires
71 Fujiya & Miyagi
65 The Game
74 Inara George With Van Dyke Parks
74 Giant Sand
79 Girl Talk
83 Glasvegas
61 Golden Animals
64 Mike Gordon
68 Gym Class Heroes
78 GZA
66 Neil Halstead
64 Albert Hammond, Jr.
72 Juliana Hatfield
61 Hawthorne Heights
81 High Places
77 High Places
76 Zach Hill
85 The Hold Steady
83 David Holmes
80 Horse Feathers
74 Howling Hex
58 Jennifer Hudson
71 Human Highway
70 Ice Cube
66 Ida Maria
68 Jack's Mannequin
69 Jaguar Love
73 James
81 Jamey Johnson
70 Jonas Brothers
78 Damien Jurado
83 Kasai Allstars
57 Kerli
89 B.B. King
65 Kings Of Leon
67 Ladyhawke
73 Leila
54 Levellers
74 Jenny Lewis
76 Lykke Li
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Jackie
60 The Little Ones
57 LL Cool J
60 Lloyd
60 The Lord Dog Bird
85 Patty Loveless
76 John Mellencamp
71 The Melvins
70 Mercury Rev
77 Metallica
71 Metronomy
74 Mirah
75 Mogwai
64 Motorhead
66 Mugison
78 Nico Muhly
74 Murs
84 The Music Tapes
71 Nas
65 Nelly
79 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
50 New Kids On The Block
77 The New Year
85 Randy Newman
80 Ne-Yo
57 Nightmares On Wax
68 The Nightwatchman
78 Nine Inch Nails
62 Noah And The Whale
67 Oasis
75 Conor Oberst
78 Okkervil River
76 Old Crow Medicine Show
80 One Day As A Lion
75 Oneida
73 Joan Osborne
75 Oxford Collapse
85 Paavoharju
78 Amanda Palmer
65 Parenthetical Girls
89 Aaron Parks
73 Lee "Scratch" Perry
51 Kellie Pickler
70 Pivot
58 Plain White T's
89 Plush
64 Primal Scream
50 Pussycat Dolls
75 Ra Ra Riot
71 Ratatat
62 Re-Up Gang
62 Rex The Dog
76 Roots Manuva
71 Darius Rucker
72 The Rumble Strips
81 Raphael Saadiq
57 Sam Champion
73 Scars On Broadway
81 Pete Seeger
70 Ron Sexsmith
68 The Shaky Hands
39 Shwayze
58 Jessica Simpson
69 Slipknot
80 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
73 Solange
69 Son, Ambulance
65 Rick Springfield
65 Staind
47 Stereo MC's
72 Stereolab
71 The Stills
73 The Subways
83 Sugarland
70 Matthew Sweet
74 T.I.
72 Robin Thicke
71 Thievery Corporation
77 Irma Thomas
79 Tindersticks
71 Tittsworth
90 Shugo Tokumaru
74 Emiliana Torrini
67 James Jackson Toth
72 Randy Travis
69 Tricky
89 TV On The Radio
78 The Uglysuit
92 Underoath
56 UNKLE
61 David Vandervelde
77 Chad VanGaalen
71 The Verve
76 Volcano!
68 Loudon Wainwright III
80 The Walkmen
66 Ben Weaver
83 The Week That Was
77 Paul Weller
70 Brian Wilson
76 Wire
63 XX Teens
71 Young Jeezy
55 Yung Berg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

The Seldom Seen Kid
by Elbow


8.9

based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 35 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Official Artist Site

The fourth album for the indie rock band features Pulp's Richard Hawley on one track.

LABEL:	Fiction/Geffen
RELEASE DATE:	22 April 2008
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Indie

NOTES: Original UK release 17 Mar 2008.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Drowned In Sound

The achievement of The Seldom Seen Kid is that Elbow manage to be both incredibly consistent and perpetually improving.

musicOMH.com

The Seldom Seen Kid keeps the band on this upward trajectory.

New Musical Express

The Seldom Seen Kid is a stunning record, a career-best from a band whose consistency has seldom been matched by any British indie band this decade.

Filter

It is rare to come across a record that possesses such refinement and stylization, but The Seldom Seen Kid excels at both and was more than worth the wait. [Spring 2008, p.94]

Under The Radar

The Seldom Seen Kid finds Elbow maturing into their sonic ambitions, adding a sorely missed depth to their ever-present innovation. [Summer 2008]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

As ever with Elbow, the album is too long, ever ready to make room for more lush melancholy. But beneath the superficial drabness and gloom is a band as diverse as any of its flashier contemporaries.

Village Voice

The singer's Mancunian bleariness is such that the bittersweet barfly sing-along 'Grounds for Divorce' rings effortlessly real, while the quasi-spiritual questing of 'Weather to Fly' gets reined in by the sobering image of "pounding the streets where my father's feet/Still ring from the walls."

Slant Magazine

Though the album's most overt trait is tenderness, the hetero-waltz 'The Fix' (featuring Richard Hawley on vocals) and the Zeppelin-esque 'Grounds for Divorce' provide a certain masculine muscle, making Kid feel like a male sibling of the Cardigans' equally exquisite 'Long Gone Before Daylight.'

Dot Music

'One Day Like This' rolls out an exultant, almost fulsome, bright blue-sky assurance that really, no matter how gloomy you might feel, a lovely day can put an altogether better complexion on things. If anyone else voiced such sentiments, you'd rightly want to reach into the stereo and slap them hard, but that Elbow make the affirmation ring touchingly true is a testament to their sweet sincerity and principled candour.

The Guardian

Elbow sound beautifully understated rather than underwhelming, less underachieving than desperately undervalued.

Uncut

The album works as whole--beginning with an eruptive blast of noise and ending with the gentle farewell that is 'Friend Of Ours.'

Hot Press

Established fans will be glad to hear Elbow’s sound further maturing; newcomers will hopefully realise that this particular seldom-seen-kid should definitely be heard.

Observer Music Monthly

Their fourth album picks up where 2005's "Leaders of the Free World" left off.

Q Magazine

Elbow have hardly stepped out of their comfort zone here, but then their comfort zone has always been oddly unsettling. They're still burning: slowly, maybe, but stronger than ever. [Apr 2008, p.114]

All Music Guide

The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow's most self-assured and enjoyable album so far.

Spin

Nicer than Pulp, less sappy than Coldplay, Elbow excel at meticulous orchestral pop that doesn't take itself too seriously.

NOW Magazine

The combo of ethereal prog rock and lead singer Guy Garvey’s hushed, careworn words couldn’t be finer than on mournful, horn-laden 'Weather To Fly,' while sing-along stadium-ready cliche 'One Day Like This' is the only discernible reminder of why I avoided them in the first place.

Pitchfork

The ebb and flow of the disc feels like it's advancing some unknowable plot, always the sign of a well sequenced disc but also the bridge between songs like the lovely 'Mirrorball' and the bluesy (in the get-the-Led-out sense) 'Grounds for Divorce.'

PopMatters

It’s one that we can all get in on and enjoy, as Elbow has once again proved that it’s a band that’s looking forward and doing things in its own inimitable way.

Lost At Sea

The good news, evident from the very first listen, is a welcome diversity of songwriting and arrangements, on an otherwise basic pop rock record.... The bad news is that diversity alone cannot salvage the album from being their least spontaneous effort yet.

Mojo

The bass-fuzz stomp and chain-gang holler of 'Grounds for Divorce' couldn't be more immediate, Guy Garvey refusing to let emotional intelligence blackball a decnt tune. [Apr 2008, p.106]

cokemachineglow

If only you didn’t spoil these tender moments that seem to make my heart want to burst out my chest by goofing around all the time.

The average user rating for this album is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Josh E. gave it a9:
A fantastic album full of thoughtful songs. Elbow is one of the few truly brilliant British rock bands out there today.

Allan S. gave it a9:
Guy Garvey & Co., rather than Britney, should be exclaiming 'Oops, I did it again', because Elbow have. That is, if 'it' includes peerless layered arrangements and heartfelt yet measured lyrical vignettes. Maybe two songs don't quite make Elbow's consitently high standards, but most band would willingly piss ball bearings to write stuff even half this good.

Al M gave it a9:
Just exceptional. 'Mirrorball' and 'One Day Like This' in particular are life-affirmingly brilliant.

Decepticon Pom gave it an8:
Just like their first two albos, a delightful slow burner. One reviewer described it as a 'refinement' which I like - it's really re-fining the Elbow sound after the over-rushed last record.

Kris S. gave it a9:
Utterly brilliant. This will take some beating for album of the year

Adam W gave it an8:
Great album - good lyrics, melody and sound.No horrible compression - can actually hear the arrangement rather than just a big crass wall of sound. My IPod broke on a recent holiday-all I had on me was my Pride-Of-The-90s DiscMan and this album on CD. I'm so pleased I did. Terrific album.

Dick J gave it an8:
The sad thing about this album is that it takes several listens to "get it". In this instant gratification world of ours, many give up too soon. With Elbow, it won't really hit you until the third or fourth listen. Write your review on the fifth. This is a solid, well thought out and wonderfully produced album

The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow

The Seldom Seen Kid
by Elbow