Elbow spent six years writing the material for their debut album, and a first version ended up on the shelf: the band had already recorded an album at Real World Studios when Island Records dropped the group. Six songs from those sessions were re-recorded for Asleep in the Back, originally released in 2001 on V2. The album opens with the six-minute-plus 'Any Day Now' and runs on Guy Garvey's warm voice against slow grooves and dark, heavy-set arrangements. 'Red', 'Powder Blue' and the more than seven-minute 'Newborn' were released as singles. The debut was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 2001.

This edition is a 2-LP on Blue Night vinyl, the National Album Day edition.