Thom Yorke - The Eraser

[CAIRATH]

So Thom Yorke released a solo album. Who has heard it and what are your thoughts on it?

I'm only on my first listen at the moment so I'm going to wait with my verdict until I've had a chance to let it sink in properly. But my initial impression is that I am a bit disappointed with how much it sounds like Radiohead. Don't get me wrong, I love Radiohead, I just hoped he would be using his solo effort to explore something else and do something a little more original and unexpected.

 

[Hypnos]

i can't stand his voice in Radiohead so i probably won't check his solo album. i'd rather have some Radiohead recording without Thom Yorke.

 

[Powers]

I'll buy this on Saturday, if anyone recomends it.

 

[NFU]

i thought it was pretty good. fairly similar to a lot of radiohead material, but a bit more vocally driven obviously, and maybe more focused on texture than specific instrumentation. however ive only listened to it twice since getting it. i dont even remember all the songs that well at this juncture. but i CAN say that if you love yorke and radiohead, youll most likely appreciate his solo work.

 

[Death_To_False_Metal]

This guy should listen to Gwen Stefani or Pussycat Dolls or something !

Thom, it is okay to have fun in life, shake your booty a little !

 

[illidurit]

no one should ever listen to gwen stefani

 

[NFU]

no one should ever listen to gwen stefani

.

 

[worldwide_suicide]

good record but he missed a great chance to do something different.. its basically another RH album

 

[SethCohen]

it doesn't matter who you hate, some people hate gwen stefani, and other people hate jean benet ramsey, but its all doesn't matter because thom yorke really does a good job with his unorthadox styleings

 

[illidurit]

i totlally agree seth OCohen

 

[MegaMoose]

It doesn't sound THAT different from Radiohead, but I really don't think it sounds as much like the whole band as people are saying it does.

 

[:Wreath:]

i thought it was pretty good. fairly similar to a lot of radiohead material, but a bit more vocally driven obviously, and maybe more focused on texture than specific instrumentation. however ive only listened to it twice since getting it. i dont even remember all the songs that well at this juncture. but i CAN say that if you love yorke and radiohead, youll most likely appreciate his solo work.

you're right about the vocal side of this - I read in an interview with Thom that everytime he tried to use some strange effects to distort the vocals like in many Radiohead tunes, the producer strongly opposed, so vocal-wise the album is pretty traditional - a good thing for me as I really like his voice.

This album is a typical 'grower' - after the first listen I was like: 'this is decent', but right now I'm listening to it for the 10th time I believe and I love it! If you like Radiohead be sure to check this out...

btw, Black Swan, Harrowdown Hill and the title track are my favs

 

[Don Corleone]

well it is very likely that it sounds like radiohead since radiohead is mostly yorke.

havent heard it yet but wow, what an excellent album cover that is

 

[affinityband]

I didn hear anything id wanna hear again to be honest. It was alright but nothin special

 

[CAIRATH]

It's a grower. I've been spinning it a lot these past two days and I really like it. My initial impression was "meh, nothing special" but after repeated listens I now think it is a good solid album. It's not earth shattering but with the last Radiohead album having been released 3 years ago already, I'll gladly take it.

 

[Seance]

a great recent interview with Thom, very upbeat, http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10464376/radioheads_thom_yorke_on_going_solo

most of it is about The Eraser, how it came about, why, etc.

 

[Jon Snow]

I enjoyed the album quite a bit.

 

[Powers]

The one and only problem with this album, and it is a massive and enourmous problem, is as follows, there is no climax. It doesn't build toward anything it just feels like a bunch of very well composed mellow ambient electronica songs just laid out in a line it's lacking in something. Maybe it justme being more used to the exaggerated and frankly ludicrous climatic endings of (for example) Emperor albums, but this really affects the album. It's lovely but it feels a little as though nothing really happens in it. This is also why it's inferior to all of Radiohead's material.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

I think it's excellent. And it must reach some people, because I have a friend who thinks it's the most special record she's ever purchased.

I think the reason it sounds so much like Radiohead is because the experimantation of recent Radiohead records is something we shouldn't expect to see so much of on the latest Radiohead record when it emerges. 'The Eraser' is the progression from 'Hail To The Thief'. The new Radiohead will be something rather different. Closer to 'Ok Computer', perhaps?