Enough about the man. Thom Yorke's solo album, The Eraser, is a must-listen for almost any music fan. This album is huge in its smallness. Beautiful in its ugliness. Dark in its brightness. This album is a work of opposition just like I dream Thom Yorke to be as an indie kid with a huge voice and one of the world's biggest bands.
Within The Eraser, we have all the blips and beeps that have come to define at least a part of Radiohead's career, and yet we have some of the cleanest vocals Thom Yorke has ever recorded. The reverb is low, if present at all. The multi-tracks are used for harmonies, but not doubles. Hearing Yorke move in and out of falsettos without the frosty shield of studio layers is intriguing, and in this case it works.
The songs are cohesive, seemingly working for the same goal from beginning to end. And The Eraser is more than just a supplement to your Radiohead catalogue. I can guarantee that it will become an integral part of your collection.
And in the end, Thom Yorke proves just how indie he is with The Eraser, because he is reminding us once again that he didn't follow us. We followed him.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
I'm really looking forward to this album and your review confirms everything I've heard so far. It's got the electronic feel of Kid A, but with much crisper vocals and songwriting. It would've been nice though if you talked about some of the individual songs. Your review doesn't mention a single song title. Just an observation...
-Glen
2 - Mark Sahm
I agree Craig, if you got an advance listen, can you give your RH lovin' brothers a quick summary of the tracks?
3 - FilteringCraig
To be quite honest, I didn't want to go track by track because I felt like this was one of those albums that really flowed from beginning to end.
Track 1, The Eraser, plays with you until the actual beat comes in. You can't figure out exactly where it is going to go with the piano. The vocals at the beginning and the vocal run in this track are about as great as any Thom Yorke vocal run ever.
Track 3, Clock, has a really great driving beat. With kind of a chunking, breathing beat box from Yorke in the background. Then Yorke comes in with some really great legato notes. These vocals are some of the only ones on the album that sound "wet" with reverb. This song seems to go into the hypnotic jam, but it never goes so long as to be self-indulgent.
Track 4, Black Swan sounds like it could be an outtake directly from KidA or Amnesiac. It is one of the only tracks that feels like it really could have been a full blown radiohead track. If it didn't rely on an eff bomb so heavily, I would have this pegged as a single.
Track 6, Atoms for Peace, sounds like the music could be The Postal Service. It is a little brighter than the rest of the tracks, and it also has the most impressive vocals on the album, despite what I said about The Eraser. Unlike other material where the artist plays with you and only does the cool thing once, Yorke is willing to revisit the money vocal run that you want to keep hearing.
Track 9, Cymbal Rush is light on the vocals and heavy on the experimentation. It is chaotic with layers and caucophony, but still somehow retains its beauty.
How is that?
4 - Glen Boyd
Now thats more like it Craig. Now I've got a very good idea of what to expect from what you tag as key tracks. This whets my appetite for The Eraser even more so than it already was.
I just saw Radiohead in Berkeley this past weekend (you can actually find my review here on BC), and they played one of the wildest setlists of the tour...if you don't believe me, check out what Radiohead fans are saying about it on the message boards at ateaseweb.com
Thanks for filling in the blanks about The Eraser Craig. Can't wait.
-Glen
5 - Mark Sahm
Well put, Craig. Thanks! I'm really looking forward to this one now.
6 - jim tunstall uk
I was a touch apprehensive when I read some pre-release chatter about the content being essentially a harsher re-working of some of the themes in "Kid A", as some of that album can be less than easily accessible, but having now listened to it 5 times since it arrived yesterday I am gaining even more respect for Mr Yorke than I had before. I especially love the clarity of his vocals ( as described rather better in your article), and the rather alarming harsh electronic sound as if a train was heading down a (dark naturally ) tunnel at the climax of "Analyse". All in all potentially one of the best albums of the year. Jim Tunstall Harrogate UK
7 - Dave
Thom Yorke is the synapsis firing in Radio's Head. The time signatures and layered beats alone are worth listening to. The vocal on Atoms for Peace is something any listener will dwell on. The lyrics throughout the record are to some degree straight forward depending on the song but stellar on every track. This is what pushing the envelope sounds like.