I think it's pretty safe to assume one release definitely going unoverlooked this week is Pink Floyd's long-awaited DVD release of Pulse, the document of their now "official" final tour in 1994. I was initially really excited about this - with all that gorgeous new Storm Thorgeson artwork and all those tantalizing extras - until I realized I had almost no desire to actually watch it.
I got the videotape back in the 90s when it came out and watched it maybe a couple of times, if that, and found it less than intriguing. No concert video is ever going to reproduce the actual feeling of "being there," but the most entertaining ones find ways to break down the wall created by the visual medium. Pulse, unfortunately, did not even come close to doing this. Even less, it was absolutely nothing like actually being at the show I'd seen - which I'd watch from far up in the bleachers of ASU's Sun Devil Stadium, so it's not like I had particularly noteworthy seats.
I just felt letdown after the sweeping cinematic splendor of Delicate Sound of Thunder, which took great liberties with the flow of the real Floyd show, from what I read, but did so in an effort to present a concept of what the Pink Floyd live experience was to an audience member. Those are likely my objections alone, and Pulse is likely to sell an incredible number of copies this week. There just won't be one sold to me.
Thom Yorke - The Eraser: There's something kind of humorous about Thom Yorke's insistence this album is not a "solo" album ("I don't want to hear that word, 'solo.'") It has his name on the spine, and he's not playing with the band . . . but anyway, you can probably guess the direction this album goes - more electronic, more sparse, a little darker and more weird than Radiohead typically gets. If Kid A's quiet, dark moments twist your knobs, get your knobs ready, because this is more in that direction again.
Muse - Black Holes And Revelations: And if you're hungry for what Radiohead used to do, namely big songs with strong choruses, you probably should check out Muse if you haven't already. Muse's Matthew Bellamy resembles Queen's Freddie Mercury filtered through Thom Yorke's warble, and with Black Holes And Revelations
Muse seem to actually be stretching beyond the Radiohead comparisons that plagued their first three albums. This one finds the band playing with more techno elements that they'd only hinted at on earlier albums (and in completely different ways than Radiohead have) and, from the reviews I've been seeing, the band pulls off the transition quite well. Absolution seems to have been the album that got them attention in the US, but this might just be the one that really takes them forward. Keep an eye out for the limited edition package which includes a DVD of their performance at the Glastonbury festival - Amazon's got a steal of a deal right now ($13.99.) And I get a little Storm Thorgeson fix here - his trademark surreal imagery is found on the album's packaging.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
it's true, a video of a Pink Floyd show just can't even get close to the weirdness of things like the giant pig hovering over the crowd as they play "One Of These Days". it just can't.
lookin' forward to hearing the Thom Yorke tho...
2 - DJRadiohead
...and then the sad announcement of the passing of Syd Barrett.
3 - Tom Johnson
And only 60 - it seems like he should have been so much older for the legend he has grown around him. "Shine On" will probably be getting played a lot today in his honor.
4 - DJRadiohead
You're right, Tom, about the song and the age. Like I mentioned on EO's obit piece, he's been gone so long it is hard to believe he is only now leaving us. Very sad.