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The Eraser is a triumph.
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What makes it breathe, what allows it to flourish above its glitchy techno, its processed wizardry... what untangles it from a mess of circuitry and power strips and anti-virus pop-up warnings, is Yorke's incredible, distinctive voice.
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A claustrophobic sequel to Thief.
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Anyone who found the alien sonic landscapes of "Kid A" a bit overwhelming will feel much more at home with these nine less fussy but primarily electronica-dominated compositions.
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He's well able to marry insightful lyrics and memorable melody to a genre not always associated with such qualities.
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'Kid B'? Yeah, OK - but Radiohead will never make another album like it, and as a twin, it's every bit the equal.
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'The Eraser' is Radiohead's fourth best album, and not bad considering it's the first one with only one man on it.
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You must surely marvel at Thom Yorke's insistence to challenge his audience and his enemies.
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Difficult, certainly, but not without its charms.
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Q MagazineIt sounds as you would expect: a desolate dreamscape punctuated by nervous drum machines. In other words, it's a bit Kid A. [Aug 2006, p.110]
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UncutWhat makes The Eraser great is Yorke's singing. [Aug 2006, p.82]
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MojoThe Eraser is less crabbed, cryptic or violently bitter than Hail To The Thief... and is often more satisfying for that. [Aug 2006, p.86]
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The album doesn't make the point that Yorke doesn't need his bandmates to make a great record so much as it helps shed light on what each member of the band contributes to the overall equation.
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The Eraser’s sound lies somewhere between the roiling beat soup of Amnesiac and a poppier sensibility.
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The spare melodies and bleeps-and-loops approach result in chillingly direct songs.
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The Eraser is full of moments when you wait for the band to kick in, and it doesn't happen.
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Intensely focused and steady.
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It's a vital addition.
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The results are competent, if unsurprising.
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FilterIt's hard to imagine that fans of Radiohead will be all that disappointed by The Eraser, and it's miles better than a dozen or so other solo projects that come to mind. [#21, p.93]
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Nigel's production and arrangements leave very little room for the songs to breathe... However, the emphasis on Thom's lyrics illuminates The Eraser's strongest asset: its content.
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While The Eraser might not be a genre-busting classic like Kid A or OK Computer it's a good, solid record nonetheless.
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UrbPerhaps an EP would have better-suited Yorke's solo aspirations. [Jul/Aug 2006, p.115]
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SpinThese are the weirdest tracks Yorke has ever been a part of. [Aug 2006, p.75]
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Under The RadarThe resulting songs are considerably more understated than most anything in the Radiohead oeuvre, more dark electronic pop than dramatically layered art-rock. [#14]
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It sounds exactly like you would expect a Thom Yorke solo album to sound: twitchy electronic beats, doomy washes of synthesizer, backing vocals that are invariably high, wordless and ghostly.
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Slight, but carrying a fair amount of weight, The Eraser isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s much more than solo-project divergence.
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The Eraser is not Radiohead good.
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Radiohead fans will obviously want to snag it up, but if you’re looking for melancholic electronic pop, there’s much better to be found.
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This could have been groundbreaking once upon a time, but there's nothing really new here and only a few songs ever rise above sheer novelty value.
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Such is the lure of his hypersensitivity that his admirers forgive and even applaud the extreme attenuation of this tastefully decorated click-and-loop.
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One could imagine the dynamics, colors, and crescendos his bandmates might've added, and without them Yorke sounds hemmed in.
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Where The Eraser sags is in the middle, with tracks 3-5 falling particularly flat. Like too many of Radiohead's new songs, they contain a single weak idea dragged on interminably.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 188 out of 219
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Mixed: 23 out of 219
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Negative: 8 out of 219
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PHNov 7, 2007The album is amazing, the texture manages to be both lush and sparse at the same time, leading to a unique aural experience. A complete triumph.
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Mar 22, 2012
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TheManAug 5, 2006my bro likes him and radiohead but they suck so dont buy this cd it sucks like crap