Albums Of The Year: No. 5

THOM YORKE - 'The Eraser'

Radiohead bloke goes all "solo album" on us, eh? Composed mainly on a computer with weird techno beats? Sounds like the recipe for a shit sandwich, if you ask me.

Then I heard it.

And I thought it was rubbish. I really did. Load of pretentious bollocks. And yet, I found myself humming the one or two not-so-hideous songs on there, so I'd keep playing it. Then the hideous tracks became hummers too, and before I knew it I knew the whole album and loved it. I liked the album now.

So how does an album I grew to "like" be in the top 5 albums of the year? Simple, because the answer is this - it was only after I got to like the album that I finally 'got it', the intention behind it, the workings of it, and the song-writing. That's when I fell in love with it.

This is a grower, I won't lie to you, but the whole point behind this album is to find the songs behind all the lo-fi casio beats, and when and if you do, you'll find an album so rich in majestic lyrics and melodies that you'll wonder why anyone bothers with those Arctic Monkeys twats.

You won't like this the first time you hear it, but if you're the sort of person that's willing to give music more than one go in case there's something great hidden there... well, you'll be glad you did.