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Thursday, June 12, 2003
Hail to the Thief: Some Impressions
Well, I was going to start a series on my favourite video games (including which games other critics like but I detest) but I can't get Radiohead's newest cd out of my brain, so I thought I'd start by talking about that.
Baffingly, they have managed to be different again. I mean, OK Computer was different from The Bends, then Kid A and Amnesiac were different than OK Computer, and now this. Thom Yorke seems to have an endless font of song-writing creativity (probably the other members of the band too but he seems to do the initial song-writing). Each CD has had a different sort of perspective, if one could say that. The main way I think of this CD is what a standard rock disc would be if it were in an alternate dimension where demons regularly walk amonst the population (and hamburgers eat people :) ). Hmmm, that probably wasn't too helpful. It just seems that the CD takes a standard group of songs and twists them backwards into some sort of dark and treacherous beast, hungry for your blood. I wish I had a better description but that's all I can come up with.
It's very dark. I don't mean like "oh I'm Creed I'm so sad my girlfriend left me now I drink stuff" dark, but rather dark as in it is frickin' evil. Like Thom Yorke really does think people go around "sucking young blood". Like politicians really are soulless beasts from hell. They seem to want to bring out the evil in the world and have you see it too - in a cheerful song sort of fashion :)
As for liking or disliking it, I love it. I can't get enough of it. Various phrases from the songs are still going through my head. It's certainly one of their "catchier" CD's: that is, it has more hooks and hummable parts than OK Computer, Kid A, or Amnesiac. Aside from that, it's just lovely to listen to. The different parts all intertwine while Yorke's voice floats above it all, either angelically or beastly. The combination of the words and music evoke strange emotions. Most importantly, it's interesting.
I don't think I can be very objective about Radiohead. (Except for Pablo Honey, that well and truly sucks). I just have loved all of their CD's (after the first one) far too much. If you like Radiohead, I can pretty much guarantee you will like this disc.
Well, I was going to start a series on my favourite video games (including which games other critics like but I detest) but I can't get Radiohead's newest cd out of my brain, so I thought I'd start by talking about that.
Baffingly, they have managed to be different again. I mean, OK Computer was different from The Bends, then Kid A and Amnesiac were different than OK Computer, and now this. Thom Yorke seems to have an endless font of song-writing creativity (probably the other members of the band too but he seems to do the initial song-writing). Each CD has had a different sort of perspective, if one could say that. The main way I think of this CD is what a standard rock disc would be if it were in an alternate dimension where demons regularly walk amonst the population (and hamburgers eat people :) ). Hmmm, that probably wasn't too helpful. It just seems that the CD takes a standard group of songs and twists them backwards into some sort of dark and treacherous beast, hungry for your blood. I wish I had a better description but that's all I can come up with.
It's very dark. I don't mean like "oh I'm Creed I'm so sad my girlfriend left me now I drink stuff" dark, but rather dark as in it is frickin' evil. Like Thom Yorke really does think people go around "sucking young blood". Like politicians really are soulless beasts from hell. They seem to want to bring out the evil in the world and have you see it too - in a cheerful song sort of fashion :)
As for liking or disliking it, I love it. I can't get enough of it. Various phrases from the songs are still going through my head. It's certainly one of their "catchier" CD's: that is, it has more hooks and hummable parts than OK Computer, Kid A, or Amnesiac. Aside from that, it's just lovely to listen to. The different parts all intertwine while Yorke's voice floats above it all, either angelically or beastly. The combination of the words and music evoke strange emotions. Most importantly, it's interesting.
I don't think I can be very objective about Radiohead. (Except for Pablo Honey, that well and truly sucks). I just have loved all of their CD's (after the first one) far too much. If you like Radiohead, I can pretty much guarantee you will like this disc.
