Radiohead - OK Computer (Review: Dan)

It annoys me, and I'm sure others too - my stubborness. I have been adamant to not enjoy Radiohead from the start, just because I said I didn't once. And I hate conceding defeat. It pleases me, then, that this time I don't have to.

OK Computer has had high standards set from everyone I know who has heard it. They aways tell me how brilliant it is. One time I was played the song 'Paranoid Android' and I absolutely dispised it. But I did go into this album allowing it some space to change my mind. Still, after the boring 'Airbag' it shouldn't have needed to do much.
In some fairness, it was a lot better. But I still didn't like it. It sounds like a few songs that they decided could work better if they merged them into one. And I do not like it.

The rest of the album follows suit in that it bores me through every track. The first time I listened to the album, it wasn't until 'Testify' by Rage Against The Machine started playing that I realised it was over.

I think I know what's wrong with this. As musicians, Radiohead are very talented and I have to give them credit where credit is due. And as such talented musicians they know how to combine their own individual sounds into what is clearly recieved as very good music. But I think that what goes wrong for me is that they may have combined it too well. It flows well, but there is never anything exciting to come from it. They use the same formula in all of their tracks to provide music that I think you either love or hate. This is why I really like the song Idioteque, from the album Kid A; It sounds a lot different from everything else I've heard of the band.

I did like a song though. It was Karma Police. I thought it was very good. That's another thing with Radiohead; The songs I do think are good, I think are very good. The rest is just dreary though, and, hard as I try, I can't seem to find enjoyment from it.

On a final note, I love Thom Yorke's voice. It's magnificent, and I'm sure over time many more tracks will come along that can excite me. But for now, Radiohead just isn't working for me.

2/5.

Looks like it will have to be Lostprophets at Reading this year then...Even though I think that Idioteque is better than every Lostprophets song, and I don't want to miss it. What a tough decision :(

Album Highlights:
[6]Karma Police

Placebo - Meds (Review: MattJ)

I'd never heard Placebo before this and really was not sure what to expect, although I do have a very faint memory of them being on Kerrang when I was about 12 but I don't remember what they sounded like.

Anyway the first thing that struck me were the vocals. When I first heard them I hated them because they were whiney, but after the first couple minutes I got over it and actually started to enjoy them. They complement the music brilliantly. The vocals are probably my favourite part of the album purely for their uniqueness

I think this is an album which is good for background music, the music and vocals are very nice but they didn't do well in holding my attention. Not to say that their songs all sound the same but they aren't massively attention-grabby. Despite this there are two tracks that I absolutely adored: Follow the Cops Back Home and Post Blue. The lyrics are nicely emotional but don't over do it, I found them quite captivating. But I mostly love Post Blue because it shows the chemistry of the band extremely well, all elements of the music complement each other.

A lot of the lyrics seem to be about drugs and alcohol and both their positive and negative effects, this is probably why the album is called Meds. Drugs is definitely one of my favourite subject matters in music and poetry and I'm very glad that Placebo manage to do it so well. I am also very pelased that they portray both sides of drugs rather than just one biased side - the naked truth. I think that's why they have chosen that album art.

Overall I'm quite unsure about this album and I found it very hard to review. I disliked the fact that I didn't like it more. 3/5

Radiohead - Ok Computer (Review: Alex)

This was another album on my already extensive list. It worked well for me, therefore, that Matt put it up. Never have I disliked a Radiohead song that I've heard, and The Bends is one of my favourite albums. It was therefore looking good for Ok Computer.

This album is fantastic, really it is. From the word go it had me hooked, with the interesting opening to 'Airbag', which sounds like it shouldn't really work as a guitar line. Radohead seem to have a knack for creating songs which sound initially weird, but are paradoxically so perfect. Everything works, everything fits perfectly.
Thom Yorke's voice is truly brilliant, as are his self reflective lyrics, exploring the notion of a rigid structure of life; 'Ambition makes you look pretty ugly', he says in 'Paranoid Android'. In fact, every track on this album has a quality which makes me think about things: it's what I liked so much about the Damien Rice album (back to the depressing music, probably).

Radiohead seem to know each other perfectly, and can play off each other's musical talent to create the perfect sound. Everything is subtle: the guitar lines complement Yorke's vioce to the extent where you don't even notice them being there. Even the slightly odd track 'Fitter Happier', which I suppose is a sort of interlude, compells me to listen. In fact, it took me a while to realise the Stephen Hawking-esque voice emmitting from my speakers. I suppose this carries on from the idea of computers underpinning humanity. Ordinarily I would have thought this quite unoriginal. Perhaps it was the, I suppose, 'lyrics' which dictated otherwise. I don't usually pay too much attention to lyrics (by this I mean they aren't the first thing I notice), but Radiohead have taught me otherwise;
'healthier and more productive
a pig in a cage on antibiotics.'

I don't know why, but I always expect Radiohead to be a lot heavier than they are. I suppose that, at some early stage in my musical development, I somehow attributed Radiohead to grunge music. Since then, I have always been pleased every time I realise that they offer far more than this. Their music is so well crafted that I don't think I could honestly put it into any genre. It's no wonder they have such immense global success. I genuinely love this album, and for the second time in two weeks, I'm awarding a 5/5.

It looks like a good week for Album Swap.

Placebo - Meds (Review: Dan)

I'd never heard any Placebo before. I always thought they were a fairly small emo band until I saw them on this years' Reading Festival line up. I was intrigued then, so it was handy that Alex posted up Meds. It was handy in so many ways.

When I started to listen to the opening and title track 'Meds' the first thing that struck me was Brian Molko's voice. It is a very unusual voice, and it genuinely sounds like he is pinching his nose throughout the entire album. However, after only three songs I had fallen in love with this bizarre noise. His voice, the lyrics and the music have such a wonderful strength together, and it makes the album such a great listen.

It has a really calm sound to it, but lyrically I think it is very stressed and very angry. Initially I was reminded of The Used in that it just sounds, how I can only really describe as 'insecure'. It sounds sort of quirky, or unstable...But after a few more listens I changed my mind on this; it's a lot deeper than that and a lot more powerful.

There is no track I like less than another, I think the whole thing is a work of absolute genuis - it really is quite simple but it's so effective and catchy. I think I could listen to this all evening. In fact, I might.

This has definitely been the best album I have heard all year... unless I heard The Downward Spiral this year.
5/5.

Skindred - Babylon (Review: Roshan)

I had never heard of "Skindred" and was quite surprised when I found out they were a Welsh rock band that delved into both alternative metal and reggae. Two genres that I have never heard converge.

Production is pretty good considering it's a debut album, actually bearing in mind the sudden changes in sound and instrument focus it holds up very well throughout.

I was at first dismayed when I saw the first song was, rather originally, called "Intro", probably the most common song title in my music collection. But I won't mark them down for this lack of creativity as they certainly make up for it all aspects of this album.

The first real track "Nothing" was something I something the likes my ears have never before had the pleasure of experiencing. The combination of Punk rock reggae at the beginning was certainly enough to keep me entertained but they layered it up with the addition of extremely hard hitting guitars, powering guitars. I loved it, I would never have thought that this odd combination was ever going to be successful but they proved me wrong.

The theme continues throughout the whole album, though not in a monotonous way though. The first track merely showcases their wide sound range. It's not all hard hitting rock/punk though, "Tears" and "The Fear" show a slightly more uplifting side of their fusion sound.

The vocals are one the most impressive pieces of sonic stimulus on the album. Keeping its traditional reggae roots even when you're being blasted his hardcore screaming. The guitarist is quite obviously influenced by Tom Morrelo, his effective guitar riffing and use of a certain digi-tech wammy at the start of "Pressure" and "Set it Off" is fitting with the style of the vocals.

Overall, I think this album is AbFab. It ticks all the boxes of a standout album and a standout band, it does something fresh while still being easy to listen too and is an impressive debut. I look forward to any future releases from Skindred and they are certainly a band to watch for in the coming years.

My Highlights: Nothing / Pressure / The Fear

Score: 4/5

Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)

OK Computer may well be my favourite album ever. It is the album that turned Radiohead from a band that I quite liked to my favourite band in the world. This album has everything - great music, amazing vocals, meaningful lyrics and top notch production. Not only that but every song sounds different - something that previous Radiohead releases did not have. Channel 4 rated this as the best album of all time... and I am inclined to agree with them.

Also I found this album to be a grower, so give it a good few listens if you've got the time.

1	Airbag		4:45
2	Paranoid Android		6:25
3	Subterranean Homesick Alien		4:26
4	Exit Music (for a Film)		4:26
5	Let Down		4:58
6	Karma Police		4:22
7	Fitter Happier		1:56
8	Electioneering		3:49
9	Climbing Up the Walls		4:44
10	No Surprises		3:48
11	Lucky		4:17
12	The Tourist		5:23

Soundgarden - Superunknown (Review: Dan)

Like everyone else, I haven't finished last week's albums on time. Soundgarden was the one I wanted to listen to first but for reasons unknown it has taken me over the week-long limit to get round to it. Hopefully next week I will be up to date for the new albums.

So, Soundgarden. Soundgarden are a band that have a lot of intrigue surrounding them in my musical universe. Lead by Chris Cornell, one of my favourite vocalists, they are bound to give me some enjoyment. I hadn't even heard a lot from the band - just 'Spoonman' and 'Black Hole Sun'. And even this was down to the game Rock Band. In fairness, I had heard 'Black Hole Sun' previously, but I had never paid it it's deserved attention until I was forced to sing it.

Soundgarden were also to be my first real experience of 'grunge' music - a genre that I've never really understood. However, I feel that Superunknown has successfully cleared things up for me.

Superunknown kicks off with the impressive 'Let Me Drown'. Musically, it's very different to most of what I've listened to in the past, and I like it. Cornell showcases his vocals, which impress me as they always do.

I have to say though, I think that his vocal 'style' is a bit boring. By this, I mean that there appears to be no diversity in what he can do. He has a great voice, but I just get the impression that he doesnt like to explore with it. The vocals that he puts down on Superunknown sound, to me, very similar to what I hear on Audioslave and even what I have heard of his solo works. The first verse from 'Fell on Black Days' was where I really noticed this - I listened to this song all the way through from there absolutely convinced that I had heard it before on the album Audioslave.

Still, the music is something that I found refreshing and exciting, and it did help me enjoy the whole album a lot more, as it isn't filled with the same old Tom Morello solo (as much I think he is a sensational guitarist, there is only so much I can take of the noises he makes). It's a very slow paced album, I thought, but with a lot of power in it. I liked this, it made a really great listen.

I was also a bit disappointed that Black Hole Sun and Spoonman were probably my favourite two tracks on the record. This isn't to say that they aren't great tracks; they are. But it's always nice when there are one or two tracks that just jump out at you - they're something different, powerful and you can only sit back and appreciate it. Sadly this album just didn't have that.

There are a lot of great tracks on here, and it's a really good record but without any album-defining tracks it all seems the same to me. This is one that I'll be keeping in my collection though, as there are several tracks that I thoroughly enjoyed. I guess that really I was just hoping to see a different, more youthful side to Chris Cornell.
3/5.

Personal Highlights:
[3]Fell On Black Days
[4]Mailman
[7]Black Hole Sun
[8]Spoonman
[10]The Day I Tried To Live

Dan.

InMe - White Butterfly

"7 Weeks" - 3:42
"So You Know" - 3:38
"This Town" - 3:59
"Otherside" - 4:21
"Faster The Chase" - 3:32
"You'll Get There" - 3:35
"White Butterfly" - 3:45
"Safe In a Room" - 3:47
"Just a Glimpse" - 4:06
"Almost Lost" - 3:36
"A World Apart" - 3:30
"Chamber" - 8:06
"Parting Gift" - 2:10
"Angels With Snipers" (Bonus track) - 3:18 / "Screaming in Circlers" (Japanese bonus track)
"Every Whisper Aches" (Bonus track) - 3:19

Looking to follow up last weeks relatively successful recommendation, I offer you a very different record from InMe. Strangely, not many people have heard of InMe and I think their fantastic sound is one which deserves a hell of a lot more listeners. They have a very technical sound with instantly enjoyable riffs and good lyrics/vocals to go with that. This is perhaps not InMe's best album but as many of you have heard 'Daydream Anonymous' I thought you could be enlightened further by their music. To anyone who hasn't heard DA, it is probably one of the most strongly recommended album I could give you as I think it is about as close to a perfect album that I have heard.

Personal Favourites:
7 weeks
Otherside
Safe in a Room
Just a Glimpse
A World Apart
Chamber
Angels With Snipers

We Are Scientists - With Love and Squalor (Review: Roshan)

We Are Scientists are a band, that like Alex, I have been meaning to listen to for the same reasons as Alex. In fact I'm tempted just to copy his first paragraph here.

Production on this album is very good, in case your wondering, which you probably aren't, I listen to all my music with audio enhancements turned off, I believe that most studios put enough effort trying to balance the sound levels they don't require you to tread all over their hard graft by pressing bass boost button.

The first thing that struck me is the similarity of the voice with a local band "Exit Avenue" and that's certainly not a bad thing. The opener is great and has a reassuring familiarity about it, the riff was catchy and it had the minimalistic bass line that seems to be a trend with most indie bands. It certainly ticked all the boxes for a good indie song.

The whole album seems to fluctuate in style, never sticking to a specific sound. This is mainly achieved by the varying vocal styles, going into "Killers" territory with "Worth the Wait" which is sure to only draw in more fans. Also the very post-rock "Editors" like guitar breaks that can be heard on most of the tracks is a great addition to the mix. This is what I like about the album, it tries to dip its feet into the style of the bands that surround them, and the Influence is clearly there.

When I first heard this I thought that this was, possibly, a UK band. It's no wonder then that they are more successful in Blighty than, hip-hop/R&B engulfed America. The song composition is fairly simple as Alex states, and that's where it owes it popularity to.

Overall I can breeze through this album without complaint and It feels like the sun is slightly warmer after it's finished. However, I cannot award it anything higher than a 3 because it doesn't really amaze, just because a song is catchy, to me, doesn't instantly make it a great song. I always feel there is something lacking when I listen to indie, the simplicity of it really doesn't satisfy my ears enough, although I would recommend it to any indie rock fan.

My Highlights: Nobody Move / The Great Escape / Worth the Wait

Score: 3/5

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Soundgarden - Superunkown (Review: MattJ)

I've always wanted to listen to Soundgarden being a fan of other Grunge acts like Nirvana and Alice in Chains, and I'm glad Alex put it up. What I've found with Grunge is that unlike other genres one band can sound entirely different from the next - I mean Nirvana are supposed to be the model Grunge band but all the other Grunge music I've heard doesn't really sound like them at all. I suppose Grunge is just what they called Alternative Rock in the early to mid 90s.

The first thing that has to be addressed in this review is the vocals. They are superb. Everyone praised Cornell's vocals in their Audioslave reviews but I didn't particularly see what was special about them. But on Superunknown they are twice as powerful and frankly just so much better - an example of when his voice is very powerful is on tracks like Mailmain and Superunknown. Perhaps it's just that I think his voice suits this kind of music better than that of Audioslave.

The music on the album is what I'd expect of any Grunge band - nothing spectacular but very nice and probably catchy. To be honest I'm thinking more and more than Grunge is Pop Rock with a bit of distortion, although this isn't a bad thing at all. Despite that Soundgarden seems a lot more Rock than Pop and I found myself really enjoying it with head banging and the lark. I really enjoyed Soungarden's slower songs as well, like Head Down and Fell on Black Days. This shows another side of the band making us see that they aren't a one trick pony but can explore a slower and darker element of the genre.

There's not a lot that I don't like about this album - well I say not a lot but I can't think of any. The album is very long but it's OK because the tracks are all pretty good and I mean pretty good. There aren't any tracks that jump out at me and make me think "Wow, that's amazing". Hopefully I will find something when I listen to this album more and I can make this a 5/5. But for now it will have to remain a 4/5, which is by no means a bad score.

Also, sorry to go off topic but I don't think there's enough talking between authors and so I think we should hold 'music debates' on MSN or something between 2 or 3 of us and then we could post it here on the blog.

Masodon - Crack the Skye (Review: Roshan)

I'd like to start off by apologising for my previous reviews, I understand that they contain far too much descriptive content. I blame my attention to detail and my obsession for pointing out things I feel people might have missed. I intend to rein this habit in for this and future reviews. Expect them to be a lot shorter too.

"Mastodon" is the kind of band I like to avoid, this is not because of its genre, in fact metal and all sub-genres make up a huge percentage of my music collection. I avoid it because it is far to mainstream for me, I was looking forward to purchasing Sonisphere tickets until I read an article saying they are trying to get 14 of the biggest bands on stage. This immediately translated to 14 of the Worst bands on stage in my head.

The production on this album feels very natural, it doesn't feel like they've played around with the layers too much and turned it into a crazy guitar driven assault on my ears, I'm talking to you..."Lost Eden". Japanese Metalcore bands these days....

The Album opens strongly and I did enjoy the chorus to this song, it was catchy and the voice harmonised with it rather well. The next few tracks I felt were standard metal, and didn't do much to impress me. In fact on a first play through much of it passed me by without me feeling the need to look at what song was playing. I tried to concentrate on the marathon of a song, "The Czar" which has a progressive feel to it at the beginning. Although in the back of my head I had a feeling it was going to end up listening to the most cliché of all tracks on metal albums, the compulsory slow / acoustic song. Fortunately it was not and turned out to be a well thought out song that had "Tool" like begins but soon came into its own. The breakdown did annoy me a bit and the solo because I heard it all before.

In honesty that's the problem I have with this album, its nothing new, its not spectacular, its not breaking boundaries or making heads turn. It's trenched in well within the heart of metal. Not too extreme, not too easy listening.

My Highlights: Oblivion / The Czar

Score: 2/5

And what the hell is going on in that album cover!?

Skindred - Babylon (2002)

Skindred's debut album, Babylon is a very good record and unlike anything I have ever heard before. It's a unique blend of genres and all links together brilliantly, making for a great listen. I'm not expecting many people to like it, however. I've not met many people who have enjoyed what they have heard. But lets see shall we. They are also on my 'Bands to See in 2009' list. Anyone who had Need For Speed: Most Wanted should recognise 'Nobody'.

Track Listing:
[1]Set It Off
[2]Kiss and Make Up
[3]Pressure
[4]Sicker
[5]Selector
[6]Babylon
[7]The Fear
[8]Bruises
[9]Together
[10]World Domination
[11]Nobody

Placebo - Meds (2006)

Unfortunately I couldn't find a download link to this album, so it looks like you'll all have to soptify it. When I saw this band on the Reading lineup, I was immensely pleased, and thought we should all have a listen. If I'm honest, I could have put any Placebo album up, they're all good.
Track listing:
1. Meds
2. Infra-red
3. Drag
4. Space Monkey
5. Follow The Cops Back Home
6. Post Blue
7. Because I Want You
8. Blind
9. Pierrot The Clown
10. Broken Promise
11. One Of A Kind
12. In The Cold Light Of Morning
13. Song To Say Goodbye

Mistabishi - Drop (Review: Tom)

When first decided to listen to this album I found myself in the same situation as both Dan and Matt in that I haven't had much of an experience with drum and bass, and more specifically 'liquid funk', previous to this album. Despite this I have listened to many hours of 'house' and 'funky house' mixes, forced upon me by my dad in my pre-car ownership days, giving me something to compare Mistabishi to.

The first worry I had about this album before I listened to it was a painful, ear bleeding endurance of hours of the same basic drum beats and strange sythesised sounds heard on cheesy science fiction shows such as Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. I am delighted to report that this was certainly not the case. The album had variation and cleverly constructed musical interludes and melodies, showing Mistabishi's ability as a musician and not just a DJ. Indeed the musical phrases heard in tracks such as 'No matter what', 'Greed' and 'View From Nowhere' removed all my anxiety about this album being 'unintelligent drum and bass' that I had been warned about. Furthermore the variation in drum beats and patterns changes throughout the album with Mistabishi using both accopela vocals, changes in tempo and dynamics to create relative climax or ani-climax's and the variations in drum beats and patterns such as his use of off beats in 'View From Nowhere' and a relaxed swung style beat in 'Lean'.

Mistabishi similarly uses clever techniques for creating his other tracks, most notably the much discussed track 'Printer Jam'. At first I thought this would serve simply as a gimic, making it diregardable as a listenable piece of music. I am happy to say that once again I was wrong. It not only utillises the most inventive use of sampling that I have heard but is also a piece of music in its own right. Indeed it is listenable as an example of drum and bass as well as providing an example of an inventive and clever gimic.

I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to this album, so much so that I am looking for more examples of drum and bass. In my opinion if an album makes you want to experience more of a genre then it has performed its job superbly. It is therefore fair to say that Mistabishi has educated me, not only in his track 'Lean' as he explains that fire=smoke and smoke=choke and that grass is green, despite the extremely high educational value that this holds. Mistabishi educated me in the existence and versatility of drum and bass as a whole. It is for this and my sheer enjoyment of the album that validates my score:

4.5/5 OR 90% OR 9/10 (there, all avenues covered ;) )

We Are Scienists - With Love And Squalor (Review: Alex)

We Are Scientists are a band I've always meant to listen to; the sort of band which I thought I would like, and which I could find no reason why I hadn't listened to yet. This album truly reaffirmed this suspicion, and I am now slightly ashamed that I haven't listened to them before.

Of course this is the only album I have to go on, but With Love And Squalor has led me to think that We Are Scientists are possibly the best indie band out there. 'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt' is a fantastic opener, and is a prime example of the band's ability, as Ben said, to write a catchy riff, and follow it up with a great song. All too often I find a good riff spoiled by a mediocre song. We Are Scientists seem incapable of this.

Kieth Murray isn't a great vocalist, but I'm not sure he needs to be. The catchy, upbeat nature of the album doesn't lend itself to a reliance on a powerful voice. In fact, there is nothing technically brilliant about anything on this album. However I don't think this matters. I'm certainly not listening in the hope of hearing an ear-blistering guitar solo. It's great for every other reason imaginable. It's what we all look for in a great indie band: an ability to do as much as they can with as little as possible. We Are Scientists have a fantastic talent for this. Most of the songs on this album are just 3 or 4 chords, but that is by no means a hindrance.

I have to congratulate We Are Scientists on a brilliantly easy-listening album. Even the more mellow songs on the album, 'Textbook' in particular, seem strangely uplifting. As a result, I have little choice but to give With Love And Squalor 4/5, simply for doing exactly what was expected of it: nothing brilliant, but nothing at all bad.

New Release Sunday: Mastodon - Crack The Skye

This week's album is Mastodon's latest offering - Crack the Skye. Personally I have never heard anything from Mastodon, so I'm looking forward to listening. I don't know if any of the others have listened, so I think this will be an interesting one. I am also interested by the 'e' on the end of Sky. This was clearly a typo.

Track Listing:
[1]Oblivion
[2]Divinations
[3]Quintessence
[4]The Czar:
I. Usurper
II. Escape
III. Martyr
IV. Spiral
[5]Ghost Of Karelia
[6]Crack The Skye
[7]The Last Baron