No sophomore slump for Elbow. Gracefully, they expand their repertoire without repeating themselves, defining new terrain on this follow-up to Asleep in the Back. This was the first album of theirs I discovered, and it won me over immediately. It holds together as an album (although it becomes a bit drossy down the stretch, just as its predecessor did), and the songs are strong in their own right. It is rather murkily mixed, but this adds to the charm and impact of the album, whether it's the forlorn wanderings of Fugitive Motel or the epic, astounding denouement of Grace Under Pressure.

Lyrically, Cast of Thousands can basically be taken as a gossip album. (Hence, I imagine, the title.) Songs like Snooks and Buttons and Zips are essentially musings of what the band's friends are up to. Even the romantic numbers are taken in the context of a peer group. "We blew the doors, didn't we, pissed in their champagne, and did a real thing, didn't we? Gave ourselves a name," starts the opening number, Ribcage (one of two songs--Grace under Pressure is the other--that unexpectedly, and quite pleasingly, employ a backing choir for bizarre, cavernous grandeur). Lyrically, this is Elbow's most knowing and clever release. In every respect, it is worth having on your shelf.

Although this is not the CD I wanted with a particular song on it, it still is a laid back, groovy sounding CD. I also recommend Asleep in the Back.

I bought this a while back, and just found it buried in my iTunes. The guy at the record store said it is Radiohead without the paranoia. I thought that was funny.

It's good stuff. Mellow, interesting tunes. It grew on me the more I listened to it.

The CD is worth the price for Ribcage, Fugitive Motel and Not a Job. However, the rest of the songs sound like they were thrown together at the last minute: like filler songs...the songs are not as strong as they are on Asleep in the Back and Leaders of the Free World.

Maybe one of the most brilliant british groups today!! Elbow defines what british rock should be...listen very carefully the third track ("Fugitive Motel") so beautifully crafted, full of passion and melancholic tenderness. Next we have "Snooks (Progress Report) bringing a fabulous intricate bass rhythm and a scary chorus in despair, also we cannot forget the harmonium-like melody of "Switching off"... Come on, these fellows are thousand times better than Coldplay or Starsailor, but unfortunetely they haven't any hype movement around them, have they???
At middle of the record there's a jazzy feeling rapidly giving place to an angry guitar (I've Got Your Number), a meditative plainsong smashed by an angry guitar (Whisper Grass) that leave us to the funny "Buttons and Zips" with an almost blockbuster melody (seems strangely like Deep Purple's Smoke On The Water", am I wrong???). The album ending tracks are somber and mournful, "Grace Under Pressure" brings a final hymn with a sentiment of hope to the short "Flying Dream 143"...