Leaders of the Free World
The third album, made by the band alone in a hired room, with a DVD from the Soup Collective.
Elbow, 2005
- Released
- 12 September 2005
- Studio
- Blueprint Studios, Salford
- Label
- V2
- Producer
- Elbow
Released on V2 in the UK in September 2005 and in the US in February 2006, it was produced entirely by the band at Blueprint Studios in Salford, a space they hired for the sessions. It reached 12 in the UK. The band made an integrated DVD with the video artists The Soup Collective, and early copies came as a limited CD and DVD set. Alexis Smith and Jason Boshoff added programming, Jote Osahn and Stella Page played strings on Forget Myself and My Very Best, and Mexican Standoff was also recorded in Spanish.
Forget Myself came out in August 2005 and the title track in November, the band's last single on V2. The cover shows five characters from songs on the album. Pitchfork gave it 6.2, noting the title track's near-explicit reference to George W. Bush and finding the band duller than before.
Track listing
- Station Approach4:21
- Picky Bugger3:08
- Forget Myself5:22
- The Stops5:03
- Leaders of the Free World6:11
- An Imagined Affair4:43
- Mexican Standoff4:01
- The Everthere4:14
- My Very Best5:34
- Great Expectations5:05
- Puncture Repair1:46
Personnel
- Alexis Smith additional programming
- Jason Boshoff additional programming
- Jote Osahn strings on Forget Myself and My Very Best
- Stella Page strings on Forget Myself and My Very Best
- Marius de Vries additional string arrangement
- Dylan Jupp laughter on Mexican Standoff
More from Elbow
Asleep in the Back (2001), Cast of Thousands (2003), The Seldom Seen Kid (2008), Build a Rocket Boys! (2011), The Take Off and Landing of Everything (2014), Little Fictions (2017), Giants of All Sizes (2019), Audio Vertigo (2024)
Sources
- Leaders of the Free World, Wikipedia
- Leaders of the Free World (song), Wikipedia
- Elbow: Leaders of the Free World, Pitchfork (2005-09-07)
- Leaders of the Free World (master), Discogs