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I've been buying Radiohead albums as soon as they come out, and digesting them with equal parts uncertainty and awe since 1995. I can't really understand the general lack of appreciation for Hail to the Thief, but I know what it's like to be in that, "God fucking dammit, another album I'm supposed to think is brilliant for some reason" state of mind.
I think the press is to blame for the over-saturation of Ok Computer. It's almost as if the world failed to notice that REM made the same basic statement with New Adventures in HiFi before OKC was even a thing. I think very little of that album stands the test of time, but that's got a lot to do with everyone insisting that it's "perfect" (it isn't). Yet "Paranoid Android," "Airbag," and possibly most notably "Karma Police" all really do hold up.
Kid a was hyped to high heaven too, and its legacy has suffered because of that hype. Best album of the 2000's? No goddamn way. But it's the bits that don't get a lot of attention that make it special for me... the ambient bits, the jazzy drums on the title track, the horns and other strange arrangements. It's a good album.
Amnesiac was flawed.
Hail to he Thief should have been given the OKC treatment. How can you argue with "Myxomatosis?"
Anyway, I am still processing the new one but it's got a lot of pleasant and likeable stuff on it. Not sure if I prefer it to TKOL from the basement, but I'm only just starting to get the hang of it.
I'm pleased, I'll tell you that. I am happy with this release. New Radiohead and Pj Harvey in the same year is pretty awesome.
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