New Radiohead Album

[nova]

I gather from the newspaper today that Radiohead's new album "Hail to the thief" has been leaked onto the internet 2 months ahead of its release. Apparently the quality is excellent, and it is available over those p2p utilities that, of course, none of us use. Naturally I shall not be downloading it from the net when I return. In the meantime if anyone were also not to download it, and consequently not be able to tell me if it is any good, I would be grateful.

[hr]"Won't you tell me, brave captain, why are the wicked so strong, how can the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves his porch light on."
- Tom Waits

[The_Farwall]

Sod p2p programs, it's available from a website. http://www.idioteque.it/multimedia/audio.htm
The site's in italian but is seems to be claiming that these mp3s are bootlegs from a 1993 Barrowlands gig (!?).
Anyway, the songs are pretty cool, they don't seem anything spectacular but then I'm on my second listen and it took me about a month to get into the last couple of albums. It does seem to be in pretty much the same vein as Kid A and Amnesiac, with maybe a little more rock guitar than them.
I haven't spotted any standout songs yet but it seems pretty solid so I'll wait and see if anything jumps up and grabs me by the throat over the next few days.
[hr][s]'Time of my life, I think you came to soon.'[/s]

[flarewearer]

get the new aereogramme or meanwhile back in communist russia albums... although i suppose everyone will end up buying *IT* cos *IT*s radiohead

[hr]* 9 out of 10 cannibals agree;
"vegetarians taste BETTER"

[Blessed Benediction]

i'll buy it, cause it's Radiohead. it will be fairly good (if not necessarilly spectacular). one of the few bands i actually pay for although that's more out of tradition probably.

[hr]watches should have a smiley face on them as it's always time to be happy

[EviLTwiN]

on a totally unrelated note... i hate 56k modems.

[teamonkey]

I've got it (and I'll be buying the CD when it comes out).

Yes, the quality is excellent, but the version that's on the net isn't the final version that will be on CD. It's not been finally mastered yet, and the journos who have heard the real version (which has been digitally watermarked so they can't leak it) say that it sounds more "together", and the tracks fade into each other.

The tracks are good. Much better than Amnesiac and IMO better than Kid A. It would be great, but there aren't any really spectacular songs like there were on the early albums. The only one that's even remotely got stuck in my head is Mixamatosis, where OK Computer, The Bends and Pablo Honey had tracks that you couldn't stop thinking about for days. Anyway, if you loved OK Computer, you'll love it. If you loved Kid A you'll love it. If you loved Amnesiac you probably don't love anything any more.

[EviLTwiN]

there there and 2+2=5 seem good songs

[TheGamesMaster]

Ah, Radiohead the band that is very much overrated yet people still seem to like and buy. Why people, why?

[Al]

Perhaps because other people don't think they are over-rated. Perhaps they think that they are very good.

[hr]Can you fly with swans in the dark?

[TheGamesMaster]

Well other people are just wrong then.

[teamonkey]

[s]TheGamesMaster wrote on 18:26, 3rd Apr 2003:
Well other people are just wrong then.


Surely you jest, scoundrel that you are!

[stan]

to quote a wise sinner user "if music be the food of life then radiohead be a spam sandwich". the end.

[hr]is a dream a lie that dont come true, or is it something worse? - The Boss

[Blessed Benediction]

...i was 16 & very slightly disturbed after having a bit of a rubbish uneventful existence. i spent my days doing homework & played football with my brother on weekends etc... i'd only just worked out that as a 16 year old i was very much missing out on the joys of adolescence. hence i got pretty depressed when the point hit home.

then one night, not long after said realisation, i switched on Jools Holland for the 1st time & saw a band called Radiohead play a song which i still regard as the finest televised studio performance i've ever seen. Paranoid Android. it was scary & genuinely exciting. i then bought OK Computer the next day & got even more scared. listening to Climbing Up the Walls as a suicidal teenager, who was as obsessed as i've ever been with anyone, was completely haunting. i loved it.

at the end of the day i think that Radiohead have an edge that few other contemporary bands have. it's not about musical ability, they have a drive that i like. even if they are a little pretentious here & there at lewast they have an underlying honesty it seems.

To address the Kid A, Amnesiac issue, i'd say that those LPs had some very excellent stand out tracks (Everything In It's Right Place, Pyramid Song & Like Spinning Plates) however there were just too few really good songs to be able to compete with The Bends or OK Computer, both of which were pretty consistent.

Radiohead write good music (quite poppy at times like No Surprises), have good artwork & have quite interesting lyrics (though the last two LPs were debatable i guess). plus they're quite scary. good enough reason for me to like them & buy their output.

[hr]watches should have a smiley face on them as it's always time to be happy

[rubbermuffin]

Why are people so down on Kid A and Amnesiac - they were a clear distancing from Radiohead's previous work, showing a thoughtful progression from their britpop beginnings, and that they weren't happy to churn out another 6 Ok Computers til their career died. Great songs off those albums - Pyramid Song, Like Spinning Plates, Idioteque, track 5 off amnesiac (can't remember the name but a killer riff), Everything in it's right place, life in a glasshouse.

They were ace. The reason people like Radiohead is their mix of technical brilliance, intelligence and politics. And their ability to right a fine tune!

[hr]'I said I'd enjoyed talking to them a lot, too. I meant it, too. I'd have enjoyed it even more though, I think, if I hadn't been sort of afraid, the whole time I was talking to them, that they'd all of a sudden try to find out if I was a Catholic.'

[The_Farwall]

I agree that both Kid A and Amnesiac have some good songs on them, I'd even go as far as to say the Amnesiac is quite good. The trouble is that they also have some not so good tracks on them, Kid A especially (the title track, the national anthem and treefingers jump straight to mind), and before Kid A that was kindof unknown on a Radiohead album.
As I think someone else has already said, Pablo Honey, The Bends and ok computer are all very consistent albums (the latter two especially so). So when Kid A was released and proved to be not only quite different but also kinda mediocre in places, then it was always going to be a let down for a lot of people. Don't forget that it was trying to be a follow up to an album so good as to be voted the best ever by some people.
And then Amnesiac was better, quality wise, but not a big revolution in style like the ok computer-Kid A transition had been (what with them being recorded pretty much simultaneously and having 'Morning Bell/Amnesiac' on both of them) so the people hoping for another exciting new sound after Kid A where again disappointed.
It's a case of the new material not living up to the massively high standard the band have set in the past. Doesn't mean it's not great music compared to most other things you could compare to.
[hr][s]'Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way'[/s]

[teamonkey]

Well, I've been listening to HTTT quite a lot recently. It's something that you don't mind playing over and over again, and I have to say that it's really growing on me the more I listen to it. Which is nice.

[flarewearer]

sorry, radiohead bore the crap out of me. it had to be said. i mean everyone can't like them. or can they? am i going mad?

[hr]* 9 out of 10 cannibals agree;
"vegetarians taste BETTER"

[Blessed Benediction]

you probably can like them. may take some effort & time, which you may not have going spare.

as to Hail to the Thief. apparently it's not the finished version. maybe it is & Radiohead are saying that just so that folk wait & buy the record when it's finally released. however, i wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't the finished article & i'm quite happy to wait for it's release.

National Anthem is a bit like In My Lifetime by The Beatles in that it starts off really quite good & then they feel like 'ruining' it a little bit in the 2nd half.

[hr]watches should have a smiley face on them as it's always time to be happy

[flarewearer]

in case anyone's is interested in this non-beliver's opinion, i am well informed it is not the finished mix...

[hr]* 9 out of 10 cannibals agree;
"vegetarians taste BETTER"

[Guest]

I don't rate the Bends as highly as either Kid A or Amnesiac, as it hasn't the high technical standard of their more recent albums. I like the albums in this order:

OK Computer
Amnesiac / Kid A
The Bends
Pablo Honey

The Bends is a very radio friendly album. Just because Treefingers doesn't have a memorable hook and isn't radio friendly doesn't mean it lacks merit. Aphex Twin doesn't get played on radio. Still cool.