Fenxy

Free. I'm not a Radiohead fan, never listened to The Bends, so I'm new to them. Wanted to try them out. Downloading. 56%. Will tell you what I think of it when I've listened twice over.

Downloading already?
Hmm... I still haven't received my code.

Awww "The Bends" is my all-time favorite album, shadowsun7. It doesn't sound a bit like this one though.

I'm on my second listen and it's incredible all the way through. "Nude" and "Videotape" are my favorites so far.

I'm assuming they're distributing a set number of codes per hour or half hour so as not to crash their servers... I ordered my copy late last night so I'm sure I'll have to wait until later today... curse my procrastination!

I'll find The Bends, then. Too many of my friends have cited that as altering their musical tastes. Forever.

@shadowsun7: Pablo Honey and OK Computer are also pretty good for earlier Radiohead stuff (The Bends falls in between these two). Just realised OK Computer is ten years old this year. I feel very old...

I'll be downloading this evening when I get home from work.

"Nude" and "Reckoner" are my favorites so far. Yes, maybe it cannot compete with The Bends, Pablo Honey or OK Computer, but keep listening. It's getting better and better every time I listen to it (now I'm at #5 or so...).

I turned it off around track 7 and put some Goldfrapp on.

I just downloaded it and I'm on the second song now. I haven't downloaded my paid version yet, I'm still waiting on my code, but I plopped out $15 for it. It is Radiohead after all.

And as for my favorite Radiohead album, it's a toss up between Pablo Honey and OK Computer.

I just published my review on Twitter, but I'll reproduce it here.

Sounds like someone shat on OK Computer and recorded the result at 160kbps.

So there. I'll be over there listening to Beck if you need me.

Rich, we get it. :p

@shadowsun7, it's funny you said that because that's exactly how i feel. the bends changed my music taste forever. for the good.

the new album is incredible. every song (except bodysnatchers) is ace. i love it. they have evolved, their sound is more complex yet simpler and easier to listen to than, say, hail to the thief, yet its kinda like it.

if you've heard their japan ep (comlag something) and loved it you're in for a treat!

So Nude, All I need and Videotape are my favorite songs.

Nude sounds like No Surprises but unlike it.

Gave it a once over. Looking for The Bends now (Josue's yet another making me wonder exactly what I've missed ...). I like Bodysnatchers (oddly enough) and Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. This is a first impression, mind, and on tinny laptop speakers. Not made for proper audio enjoyment.

Another 4 l listens on my iPod and I can say definitively what I like.

I'm digging the galloping rhythm of Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.

Rich I second that assessment of the album. Nothing groundbreaking is going on here, and the production quality just doesn't seem that high. At times the vocals are nearly impossible to hear (more impossible than normal Radiohead songs) and I don't know if that's intentional or if they recorded it in a closet.

There is something to be said about the way they are distributing it though. +1 for that.

Rich I second that assessment of the album.

I was beginning to think I was all alone. (He says as he's giving the album a second chance.)

I have listened to the album some uh, 50 times so far, and I have to say it's grown past awesome for me, it's unbelievably good. IMO anyway.

Every song (even bodysnatcher now) is great. Have you heard Reckoner? damn.

So if you don't like this album, there's no way you think ok computer or hail to the thief is any good either. That's cool, it's just your loss.

Radiohead for the win.

I've listened to it about 30 times now. Here's my review of it:

I'm not a Radiohead fan. Heard of them in passing but never listened to anything by them. In Rainbows is my first time. Blasted my Radiohead cherry to bits, it did.

15 Steps opened up catchy and ... electronic. I liked the pace, and it carried nicely over to Bodysnatchers, hit a bump on Nude, and was upped again with Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. I was expecting a lot of electronic sounds, from what I've listened on The Eraser (which isn't much).

And then the piano came in at All I Need. It threw me. Completely unexpected. It marked to me a change in the album - no more discordant synthetic soundscapes ... the rest were guitars and violins and a wonderful tympanic background in Reckoner.

I'm new to Radiohead, so I can't say they've outdone themselves. What I can say, with confidence, is that they've outdone my expectations. They're good. Complex and beautiful and good. A great introduction to a remarkable band.

Now, to get my grubby paws on The Bends ...

FYI: The Eraser is not a Radiohead release, it's a Thom Yorke solo album.

The Bends is a completely different album, don't expect it to sound like In Rainbows. It's amazing on it's own merit though.

Anyway In Rainbows is my new favorite album.

As Josue said, you'll getting a completely different sound from The Bends. If you're after their more perverse-sounding music, you'll probably be better off with Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief and Kid A.

That's not to say that Pablo Honey, OK Computer and The Bends aren't excellent, because they really are... They just sound very different.

I take it The Bends is your favourite? Which album do you guys think I should buy next?

PS: @Josue: yeah I know The Eraser was Thom Yorke. But it was so electronic I was expecting elements of it to seep into Radiohead. He is, after all, lead singer, right?

I actually lean over to OK Computer given the choice between that and The Bends, but I believe that's controversial and pretty atypical for most Radiohead fans =)

It's No Surprises that does it for me. Its intro track (Airbag) is better than The Bends' (Planet Telex).

But I think you should do this chronologically:

1. Pablo Honey
2. The Bends
3. OK Computer
4. Kid A
5. Amnesiac
6. Hail to the Thief
7. In Rainbows

Kid A is the only real duffer in that lot and even then it has a small reprieve with "Everything In Its Right Place" - I love that song - but the rest of the tracks are a little too... experimental for my tastes.

And not that I'm advocating the use of illegal substances but if you just happened to see some magic mushrooms lying about then accidentally slipped, then choked on and had to swallow them, you could do worse things than listen to Radiohead. That really will blast your Radiohead cherry.

As an aside to my aside at the end of my last post, if you do slip mouth-first onto mushrooms and ultimately ingest them, make sure you've got somebody you trust nearby.

I also wouldn't suggest accidentally slipping if you're in a bad mood or you're stressed out.

</hypothetical_meltdown>

ROTFL. Alright then. Chronological order it is.

If it's electronic you're after, listen to Amnesiac. You'll like it.

I'm not actually hunting after electronic sounds ... I loved the way In Rainbows changed from electronic to organic ... love both versions of their sound.

It's been a few days since it came out, I haven't listened to anything other than In Rainbows the whole time, and I think it's terribly good. Sick.

shadowsun7: did you manage to listen to them all yet?

so i'm pretty late to this party but for the record i still love the hell out of "reckoner" and enjoy healthy doses "all i need" "nude" & "arpeggi"

i paid 10 euros