Ten years is a long time in anyone's language, but in music, you're looking at a lifetime, a collection of memorable - or otherwise - eras. A decade ago, U2 were hammering down the 'Rattle and Hum' guffaws with the industrial reinvention of 'Achtung Baby', Nirvana gave The Kids something to live and die for and Radiohead, were, literally, lowly creeps. Noel Gallagher? He was a roadie for The Inspiral Carpets.
At the very same time, Elbow formed, embarking on a tortuous rites of passage that has finally lead to 'Asleep In The Back'. What a ludicrously drawn-out journey but, equally, what an album.
As we await deliverance from the terminal 'Next Radiohead' dead-end, Elbow have produced a record that in its musical scope and emotional turmoil matches that of their exalted peers in so many areas that others have failed to touch. In doing so, they even make the tenuous comparison an insult, capturing more readily the disarming, elegant spirit and sound of prime-era Talk Talk.
The album begins as it should, with a paean to escape and a brave new world gleaming before your eyes. 'Any Day Now', with its monotonous organ and lyrical repetition, is as hypnotic as the dream which inspired it, Guy Garvey's mumbled delivery at odds with the sheer drama he will bring over the course of the 58 minutes this record spans.
Elsewhere, the other two singles on the album set a very high standard, as 'Red''s deep cello, shuffling then explosive percussion and Garvey's pained baritone recall a "tragedy starting to happen'. 'Newborn' is even better, a stirring eulogy to growing old that builds to a spectacular maelstrom of sound.
But you'll struggle to find any filler on a record that works magnificently as a whole. There is nail-biting melancholia and a harrowing quality to Harvey's lyrics to match a musical verve that throws instruments and ideas around like sonic schizophrenics.
It's there in the rolling piano melody, squawking sax and - perhaps overtly - theatrical vocal drama of 'Powder Blue', 'Bitten By The Tailfly''s menacing mesh of moods and gorging guitars and the choral, oceanic breakdown of 'Presuming Ed (Rest Easy)'.
Because while there maybe passengers 'Asleep In The Back' of Elbow's vehicle, the band have their foot uncomfortably nailed to the accelerator, as perhaps best evidenced by the desperate thirst quench of 'Coming Second'. As the rocking momentum marches ever closer, a reverberating then horrific vomit of guitar is shredded through your head. It's that kind of record.
Ten years? It's been unquestionably worth the wait for us, and, I'm sure, for the good souls that are Elbow.
