Ill get the initial stuff out of the way and say that Im one of those Radiohead geeks that sees anything remotely related to the band and goes ga ga over it. I wasnt much of an electronic music fan until Jonny Greenwood tossed his solo album my way. I didnt care for live releases until I got my hands on my first Radiohead bootleg. And when it comes to my all time best albums list, The Bends and OK Computer are represented well.
I say all that to say that The Eraser is boring. Yes, I said it, its boring. We have all heard the mixed up electronic sounds Thom employs throughout the album, and think fondly of Amnesiac, but its all filler from there. And for some of you the mere mention of Amnesiac has you clicking away already. The high pitched sometimes whiny vocals never really grated on me until songs like Atoms for Peace seeped through my headphones. So, why is this such a departure from the Radiohead I love? And, to be clear, maybe it isnt, but what is missing for me?
Well, for one thing Jonny Greenwoods presence is a large gap to fill. While Im sure he was incorporated to the album in a small way I can feel the void left by Mr. Greenwood and his musical genius. If youve ever seen Radiohead live you can appreciate that statement. Jonny does as much on stage for RH as anyone does for a band.
And dont hear me wrong, The Eraser is by no means bad. I just finished listening to it again and found that I quite enjoy parts of some songs, but rarely a whole one. Thats what I mean by boring. While ive heard some people say that tunes like “Black Swan” and “Harrowdown Hill” are as good as anything from the Radiohead canon, I dont buy it.
I found myself skipping the second half of almost every track in order to get to what Id hoped would be a tune worth repeating. Still, if you are like the guy I mentioned at the beginning of this opinon, you will likely follow the masses and throw a 5 star rating at The Eraser too.
Me, Im holding out for more of the genius that Yorke and Company have and can provide as a full band. So as Thom insists that this is not a solo album, Ill insist that he not drag the rest of the crew down.
Technorati Tags: Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood, The Bends, The Eraser
Jul 26, 2006Are you guys deaf? This is one of the most fantastic albums I’ve ever heard. It just takes about five or six listens to understand what he’s trying to do. These reviews sound like they’re coming from people who liked Creep, the one song that Radiohead say they’re embarassed to have written. Guess what, Radiohead’s music requires effort to understand, it’s not bloody Blink-182. Like art- people always give a piece of art about five seconds, and then say, “I don’t get it. Modern art is stupid. A five-year old could have done that.” And somehow they think their opinion is valid. Sorry you don’t have time to sit and try to understand something, but have you ever tried to write a song? Paint a picture that doesn’t look like Bob Ross? It’s incredibly difficult, and to have someone who has evolved into a beautiful and complex creator of music get pissed on by people who couldn’t write a song to save their life is absurd.
Cory, its obvious that you know what youre talking about but let me humor you for a moment. There are just as many people who are in the “everything Thom does is brilliant, we even rave when he takes a dump” camp as are in the aformentioned Blink 182 camp. And maybe you missed the beginning of the article stating how much I love RH, this one just doesnt do it for me.
Aug 23, 2006this is thom yorke doing radiohead thom yorke stylee dark,artistic,deep and all that stuff he does so well!
Aug 23, 2006hey ho admiistrator thom has realeased an album i like,thom could sing “any old iron” i would buy it!
Aug 27, 2006I agrre with Cory, this album is the shit. The fact that amnesiac is my favorite radiohead album probably has something to do with it but none the less, i love it. To sit there and say its boring is rediculous. The reason most people think its “boring” is because like what was previously said, you have listen to the music not just hear it, theres a huge difference. In world where all music is sounding more and more the same, most people get fed that shit and love it. I mean, heaven forbid you have to pay attention to the music you hear, not just love it because its on mtv. You talk about following the masses by loving everything thom does, did you think that there might be just a little bit more to it? Maybe the guy can right some awesome stuff and becuase so many people like it you call it following the masses. I dont know, like i said i love this album. The clock,cymbal rush and black swan are awesome. If you say you love radiohead, then you obviously have had to take the time to listen and to appreciate it, why is so hard to do the same here? It sounds to me like you’re one of those kids who have an off opinion just to be unique and different. This site needs to hire a new reviewer, maybe one who knows what hes talking about, or something about music …..just a thought
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10:07 am
I don’t think it’s as bad as all that. Certainly not worth the 5-star ratings, or Mercury nominations, but pretty decent. I’m slightly different to you – I loved Radiohead for ages, but couldn’t deal with Kid A. It wasn’t the direction (I love electronic music almost too much…) but I just don’t think they did it well.
The Eraser though… I think, by comparison, it’s pretty ace.