This one seems to always appear up at the top of the ‘Top 100 albums ever’ sort of lists, and I’ve even seen it at number one. Yet it didn’t merit a place on the shelves, having been relegated to the drawers years ago.
This purchase (almost certainly charity shop) was another ‘what’s all the fuss about’ purchase. Was I missing something? Let’s see. I haven’t listened to it for a number of years, so it’s almost a new listen.
Airbag rocks the album off in a fairly nondescript way, then it’s into hit single Paranoid Android, and I can see why the hype. The multipart structure gives it a feeling of grandeur, but I’m struggling hard to get past Thom Yorke’s whiny vocals. It’s a rewarding listen, worthy of further investigation. Subterranean Homesick Alien and Exit Music slip by without making much of an impression, other than the grating of Yorke’s voice. Let Down, is pleasant enough, without much impact. And so it goes. I’m really not hearing it. There’s the experimental, with Fitter, Happier, and even a bright guitar riff to open Electioneering which does liven things up a bit. But it’s back to whiny gloom on Climbing Up The Walls. Then another familiar hit in No Surprises, with its intrusive lullaby like theme before we sign out with Lucky and The Tourist.
Is it a bad album? No. It’s got some interesting ideas, delivered with commitment, but with little light to banish the gloom. I can see that if Yorke’s voice appeals, this might work. But not for me. In the end, the songs aren’t strong, there’s no coherent theme, or if there is, Yorke’s delivery renders it incoherent. It doesn’t work as a set of songs, it doesn’t hold together as a concept.
2* - if this is in the top 100 albums of all time, I’m really missing something.
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