as my favourite is still 'Asleep In The Back' and the tracks 'Newborn' and 'Any Day Now'...

from the Cast Of Thousands LP:

From the album Leaders of the Free World is a thing of rare power and beauty. I was gutted when they didn't play it past time I saw them (although the gig was great)

I reckon it's their best album as a whole too.

So much good stuff on the first two albums.

Whilst "Cast of Thousands" has the sublime "Switching Off" and the fragile "Not A Job", I think their debut still clinches it.

If you're going to get "Asleep In the Back", make sure its the re-release that had the title track included. The brass on it brings forth a wizened sense of nostalgia for a time that none of them had lived through, "Red" is yearning at its best, "Powder Blue" appropriately ends with the sound of shattering glass, delicate as it is, there's a song named after a Withnail & I character, the lurching beast of "Coming Second" and the album's centrepoint, the aforementioned "Newborn" which starts as an acoustic ballad but ends up a wurlitzer psychadelic wig-out. Good stuff all round.

if captivated by lippy kids direction should be to one day like this from seldom seen kid

yes it has been thrashed ,especially in the UK I understand, but who was not delighted,nay uplifted on first hearing

surely to the uninitiated it is an obvious selection

in my humble opinion, but they've not bettered this

Elbow - Great Expectations

I had a similar experience with this one - missed it on the album which I bought played a few times and moved on. Then heard Switching Off played live and fell for it completely. The new album is quality but i'd give an honourable mention to their cover version of Running to Stand Still from the War Child Heroes compilation.

but I'd also like to add Buttons and Zips from Cast of Thousands - it's pure filth, and all the better for it.

If you enjoy Build a Rocket, Boys, then Cast of Thousands is probably the most similar of their previous albums.

My personal favourite is Leaders of the Free World, which has the perfect combination of lyrical dexterity (I'll always love the description of a bouncer as being 'like Buddha with mace'), a spot of pop and some staggeringly beautiful songs to knock Lippy Kids sideways (Great Expectations, Puncture Repair, Everthere).

It depends which side of them you like. As with kev147, I think Leaders Of The Free World is the best. It's probably the most varied in pace and has some good rockier songs on it. The last two are generally mellower, so if you favour that side I'd go for one of them.

for all your suggestions, I will definitely have a look! :-)

It doesn´t hurt, but looks a bit weird.