The Take Off and Landing of Everything
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''The Take Off and Landing of Everything'' is the sixth studio album by English
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...
, released in the UK, Europe, and Australia through
Fiction Records Fiction Records is a British record label founded by Chris Parry in 1978, owned by Universal Music Group and based in the United Kingdom. It is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. It was originally a part of Polydor, ...
and
Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
on 10 March 2014 and in the US on
Concord Records Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have ...
on 11 March 2014. Originally recorded with the working title of ''All at Once'' and then renamed ''Carry Her, Carry Me'' after a line in closing track "The Blanket of Night", the band changed their mind shortly before the album's release and settled on naming the album after one of its tracks. Singer Guy Garvey explained, "It's to do with the fact that there have been o manylife events. There are five members of the band—people have split up, got together, had children. It never stops, this stuff. Especially round the ge of40 mark... and yet I wanted to remain celebratory about that. Everybody's feeling relief, with remorse, next to joy, next to loss. But I think laughing very hard and worrying very little is a good way to keep young."


Writing and composition

Garvey split up with his long-term girlfriend, journalist and novelist Emma Jane Unsworth, during the making of the album, which led him to revise some of the album's lyrics. Talking about the album's opening track, "This Blue World", Garvey originally stated, "It's almost saying, everything from the beginning of time was leading up to the day we met. So that's very romantic, but something I'm fond of doing, when I'm offering a huge romantic gesture, is to point out the realities as well." After the break-up, he said that the song "was about this mythical mix of ex-girlfriends, it's really about her, it's this prophetic thing. I added some lyrics at the end, about imagining her going on and having a family without me, which is tough to swallow." Unsworth also influenced some of the album's other tracks: she suggested the title of "My Sad Captains" from a line in
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's play '' Antony and Cleopatra'' in which
Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...
speaks about his drinking partners ("Come, let's have one other gaudy night; call to me all my sad captains; fill our bowls; once more, let's mock the midnight bell"). According to Garvey the song is about "missing my friends that have dropped out of the drinking culture that we all met in, or moved away, or died". The lyrics for "New York Morning" were adapted from one of Garvey's diary entries about a trip he and Unsworth made to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. In an interview on radio station XFM on 24 January 2014, he told presenter
Jo Good Jo Good is a British broadcaster. Career A radio 'anorak' since her early teens, Jo joined the radio industry straight out of school, aged 17. At this point she moved from Alnwick, Northumberland to Manchester. Working first as a travel reporte ...
that the lyrics were "pretty much verbatim, 6 o'clock in the morning, in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in the Moonstruck Café amed_after_the_1987_film_'' amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''">Moonstruck.html"_;"title="amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck">amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''_it's_verbatim_how_I_was_feeling_as_the_city_was_waking_up"._The_track_was_called_"The_City"_for_a_short_while,_until_Elbow_realised_the_implications_of_such_a_name_in_their_home_city_of_Manchester,_where_the_two_rival_ amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''">Moonstruck.html"_;"title="amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck">amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''_it's_verbatim_how_I_was_feeling_as_the_city_was_waking_up"._The_track_was_called_"The_City"_for_a_short_while,_until_Elbow_realised_the_implications_of_such_a_name_in_their_home_city_of_Manchester,_where_the_two_rival_association_football">football_teams_of_Manchester_United_F.C..html" ;"title="association_football.html" ;"title="Moonstruck''.html" ;"title="Moonstruck.html" ;"title="amed after the 1987 film '' amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''">Moonstruck.html"_;"title="amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck">amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''_it's_verbatim_how_I_was_feeling_as_the_city_was_waking_up"._The_track_was_called_"The_City"_for_a_short_while,_until_Elbow_realised_the_implications_of_such_a_name_in_their_home_city_of_Manchester,_where_the_two_rival_association_football">football_teams_of_Manchester_United_F.C.">Manchester_United_and_
amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''">Moonstruck.html"_;"title="amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck">amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''_it's_verbatim_how_I_was_feeling_as_the_city_was_waking_up"._The_track_was_called_"The_City"_for_a_short_while,_until_Elbow_realised_the_implications_of_such_a_name_in_their_home_city_of_Manchester,_where_the_two_rival_association_football">football_teams_of_Manchester_United_F.C.">Manchester_United_and_Manchester_City_F.C.">Manchester_City_are_often_referred_to_as_simply_"United"_and_"City",_and_the_band_could_have_been_accused_of_being_partisan._Garvey_spent_a_large_part_of_2012_in_New_York_while_working_on_the_'' amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''">Moonstruck.html"_;"title="amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck">amed_after_the_1987_film_''Moonstruck''_it's_verbatim_how_I_was_feeling_as_the_city_was_waking_up"._The_track_was_called_"The_City"_for_a_short_while,_until_Elbow_realised_the_implications_of_such_a_name_in_their_home_city_of_Manchester,_where_the_two_rival_association_football">football_teams_of_Manchester_United_F.C.">Manchester_United_and_Manchester_City_F.C.">Manchester_City_are_often_referred_to_as_simply_"United"_and_"City",_and_the_band_could_have_been_accused_of_being_partisan._Garvey_spent_a_large_part_of_2012_in_New_York_while_working_on_the_''King_Kong_(2013_musical)">King_Kong_ King_Kong_is_a_fictional_giant_monster_resembling_a_gorilla,_who_has_appeared_in_various_media_since_1933._He_has_been_dubbed_The_Eighth_Wonder_of_the_World,_a_phrase_commonly_used_within_the_franchise._His_first_appearance_was_in_the_novelizat_...
''_musical,_and_he_told_''Q_(magazine).html" ;"title="King_Kong_(2013_musical).html" "title="Manchester_City_F.C..html" ;"title="Moonstruck">amed after the 1987 film ''Moonstruck''">Moonstruck.html" ;"title="amed after the 1987 film ''Moonstruck">amed after the 1987 film ''Moonstruck'' it's verbatim how I was feeling as the city was waking up". The track was called "The City" for a short while, until Elbow realised the implications of such a name in their home city of Manchester, where the two rival association football">football teams of Manchester United F.C.">Manchester United and Manchester City F.C.">Manchester City are often referred to as simply "United" and "City", and the band could have been accused of being partisan. Garvey spent a large part of 2012 in New York while working on the ''King Kong (2013 musical)">King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
'' musical, and he told ''Q (magazine)">Q'' magazine that the time he had spent in the city had been a big influence on the album, saying, "I'm having an intense love affair with Brooklyn. One overarching theme on this record is me flitting between Manchester and New York." "The Blanket of Night" is about a refugee couple attempting to travel to another country by boat. "Charge" is the story of an ageing man drinking in his regular bar, and complaining about the lack of respect shown to him by the bar's younger patrons. Garvey admitted that "the character from the song is definitely me but a bit older". He said that the album's title track, written after the amicable ending of his relationship with Unsworth, had been "born of our love for space rock, progressive rock, prog, Primal Scream and Spiritualized" and that he had wanted the song's lyrics "to be a celebration, not just of the throes of great relationships but of the timely end of things. The landings are as important as the take-offs." For the first time in their career, Elbow did not write the album together as a group, with band members composing songs separately and bringing them to the other members when they were almost completed. Keyboard player and producer Craig Potter was chiefly responsible for "Real Life (Angel)", his brother guitarist Mark Potter wrote and recorded "Honey Sun" at home; bassist Pete Turner composed "Colour Fields" using apps on his
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
; and the rhythm section of Turner, Mark Potter and drummer Richard Jupp created "Fly Boy Blue/Lunette" in the studio in the absence of Garvey and of Mark's brother Craig.


Recording

The group spent the first two weeks of the album's recording at Peter Gabriel's
Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real ...
in November 2012, before moving back to their own Blueprint Studios in
Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
to complete the album. Speaking about the decision to start the recording process at Real World, Garvey said, "When you're there, you get six months work done in two weeks. To go and live and breathe your record without the distractions of the rest of life, you make creative decisions you would not have made at home." As with the songwriting, Elbow broke with their traditional method of recording together as a group, and—on the advice of an engineer at Abbey Road Studios—they instead recorded their parts separately at different times in the studio.


Release and promotion

The album was released in three versions: CD, deluxe
digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case ...
CD, and double vinyl LP. The track "Fly Boy Blue/Lunette" was made available as a digital download on 15 January 2014. On the same day, Elbow's
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel posted a video of the band performing the song in the studio, directed by long-time collaborators The Soup Collective. The song belatedly debuted on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at number 183 on 9 March 2014. The first official single from the album was "New York Morning", released on 27 January 2014. The video for the single featured Dennis and Lois, the New York couple who had become famous for their patronage of the New York alternative music scene since the 1970s. On
Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
on 19 April 2014 Elbow released "Charge" as a 7" single, limited to 1000 copies. This single featured the song on the
A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
and an etching of the album cover instead of a song on the B-side.


Reception

''The Take Off and Landing of Everything'' has received acclaim from music critics. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 80 based on 28 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Many critics praised the band for moving on from the previous success as the last two albums into something of their own. Writing for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'', reviewer Neil McCormick awarded ''The Take Off and Landing of Everything'' a maximum score of five stars, stating that it was "fantastic: an album of world-beating standard yet still intimate and friendly, an epic of the everyday, a romance of the real." Drowned in Sound's Aaron Lavery was similarly impressed, describing it as "a record that's designed to be listened to as a whole, complete with a sense of mood and place that runs throughout", before concluding that it was "an impressive feat indeed" and scoring the album eight out of ten. In his review for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', music critic Alexis Petridis accorded the album a rating of four stars out of five, and noted that "instead of pushing obvious buttons, ''The Take Off and Landing of Everything'' concentrates on what Elbow do best: Northern snug-philosopher wisdom...buoyed by music that's subtly expansive and adventurous". '' Q'''s Tom Doyle hailed the album, saying, "These 10 magnificent songs see the singer and lyricist trying to get his head around life, death, love, the universe and what he calls 'the mysteries of the human heart'... Always musically sure-footed and prog-minded – less, of course, in terms of never-ending solos; more in the sense that you never know what's up next sonically – here Elbow stretch themselves musically without tearing up their original blueprint... Topping even ''The Seldom Seen Kid'', ''The Take Off...'' is the perfect expression yet of everything that is Elbow. As their best album to date, it will lift yor heart and fill your soul." Referring to the group's concert at
Jodrell Bank Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astro ...
in 2012, ''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...
'''s Victoria Segal noted, "You don't need the world's largest radio telescope to pick up the issues of mortality and make-or-break change pulsing through the record... Plotting their course through these highs and lows – those take-offs and landings – Elbow are no clearer than anyone else about how they will reach the final destination. By sharing that uncertainty and navigating by what little light there is, artistically, at least, they never lose their way." Some critics were disappointed that the band had stayed too close to the sound of their previous records, with ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' reviewer Emily Mackay saying that "too often you feel the band collapse back into comfy...making music shouldn't always be as easy as giving someone a big sonic hug"; Mackay awarded the album six out of ten.
Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
's Jason Heller, who scored ''The Take Off and Landing of Everything'' 6.2 out of 10.0, shared this view, stating that "the album dangles there, an effortlessly leaden exhibition of glum triumphalism—and an example of what makes Elbow, at its least potent, so subtly unsubtle." Not all reviews of the album were favourable: in ''Trucking'' magazine's regular music reviews Shaun Connors wrote, "A dull-as-dishwater album from a dull-as-dishwater band that dull-as-dishwater people persist in telling us are amazing". Concluding a one star out of five review, Connors added, "Far from amazing, in reality, only depressed students in cold and damp flats eating their final tin of value baked beans on a grey, cold and rainy day would enjoy this."


Track listing


Personnel

Elbow: * Guy Garvey – vocals, strings and horns arrangements *Richard Jupp – drums * Craig Potter – keyboards *Mark Potter – guitar *Pete Turner – bass Additional personnel: *Tim Barber – trumpet on "New York Morning" and "My Sad Captains" *Katharine Curlett – trumpet on "New York Morning" and "My Sad Captains" *
Jimi Goodwin Jimi Goodwin (born Jamie Francis Alexander Goodwin 28 May 1970 in Manchester) is the bassist, vocalist and guitarist for Doves. Before their incarnation as Doves, the three members were in a house music group, Sub Sub. Goodwin is best known a ...
– backing vocals on "New York Morning" *Peter McPhail – baritone saxophone, clarinet and sopranino saxophone on "Fly Boy Blue/Lunette", alto saxophone and baritone saxophone on "New York Morning" *Bob Marsh – trumpet on "My Sad Captains" * The Hallé Orchestra – strings on "Charge", "Real Life (Angel)" and "Honey Sun" *Chris Worsley – score on "Charge" and "Real Life (Angel)"


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Release history


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Take Off and Landing of Everything 2014 albums Elbow (band) albums Fiction Records albums