You've downloaded it.

You've listened to it.

Now post up your initial reactions and reviews.

for me, the bar for radiohead has always been Paranoid Android. that song continues to this day to blow my mind. that said, it's really unfair to compare changes in artistic direction. i mean, yeah, you could say that Fake Plastic Trees isn't far off from How To Disappear Completely, but then, it's how do you compare Just and Idioteque, I mean you just can't. there are definitely some great moments on Hail To The Thief, just like there were great moments on Kid A and Amnesiac. i think what suffers a bit is the songwriting. when you're constantly looking to experiment, to break away from your old sound, it seams like the ideas don't get fleshed out completely. it also seems like there is a real division on this record, like Go To Sleep sounds like The Bends era guitar driven pop-rock, even the big Jonny Greenwood leads towards the end sound old-skool. then you hit The Gloaming, and it sounds WAAAY out there, like the experimentation on Kid and Amnesiac. is it good? yeah. is it great? nah, but it's better than 90% of crap out there, so that's a start.

I am starting to think that I don't like getting music 3 months before it comes out. Of course, there is that initial excitment when someone IM's the link and you are watching that download bar like a fiend, but the excitment fades so quickly. I saw this thread and at first wasn't sure whether we were talking about Radiohead or The White Stripes.

I remember the old days. Standing in line at Singing Dog: 11:59PM, Monday night before whatever highly anticipated album came out. There would be about 30 other geeks there who were dieing to be the first to get their hands on the new release. There is something nice about anticipation. What's better? Kissing or the idea of kissing? Don't answer that.

Ever hear the Chinese proverb about time being the most important ingredient in the soup? A bad ass samurai warrior goes into a restaurant and orders some soup. The proprietor disapears into the kitchen, bangs around some pots and pans... minutes pass. The samurai gets impatient... "WHERE IS MY SOUP." He waits and waits and waits. Get's hungrier and hungrier. Finally after a long long time the cook brings out the soup and of course the famished samurai gobbles it up and exclaims, "THIS IS THE BEST SOUP I HAVE EVER HAD! WHAT IS THE INGREDIENT?" Well, I already told you what the cook says.

Of course the new Radiohead doesn't live up to my expectations. I didn't have any expectations. I didn't even know they had a new album in the works.

Does anyone else feel my pain? I don't have any moral quandries about downloading music, mainly because I end up buying the records when they come out anyway. I don't know, all this instant gratification is getting boring. Still. I almost wet my pants when Duffy told me he had the new Elliott Smith 2 disc album that isn't due until this Summer. A classic and cruel April fools joke.

I think that the main problem with Radiohead is that too many people use OK Computer as their point of reference when judging new Radiohead music. Don't get me wrong, OK Computer is a damn good album. Hell, my liscense plate is okcmptr! But it sucks when a band makes the same album over and over again even if the songs are still good (i.e. White Stripes & Jack White saying a few months back that their new record will probably be their last.) You have to be willing to let a band grow in new directions. The reason why Radiohead is still around is because they didn't fade out (no pun intended) after trying to make OK Computer 2. It wouldn't have been as good, and if they had tried, there would have been an equally large group of people who were bitching about the fact that the new stuff sounded like the old stuff. I think that with most people, Radiohead will be hit and miss. Each new album doesn't sound like the last one, and it's not regular rock music that can be easily absorbed. Also, I think some people listen to the hype more than they listen to the music, and that's a shame.

I freaking love Radiohead. OK Computer actually made me angry when it came out, because I realized I could never write anything that even approached it. But I have not downloaded "Hail to the Thief" for some of the same reasons that Charlie T. suggested. I don't want an "unfinished" version of their music. I want a finished package with artwork and fanfare and only an advance-release single to generate my interest. I can't quite explain it. I guess I don't want to taste the cake until it's done...and iced. I think it's unfair to judge a band on something that's not finished. If Radiohead had wanted us to critique their demos, they would have released them on their website and set us loose on their message board. All this pre-release hype is as if someone snapped a photo of someone's half-finished painting or sculpture, posted it to the internet, and said "hey everybody, what do you think?" I guess I just think there's something...pure (?) in holding out for the finished product as the artist intended.

Great...now I sound preachy. I have no beef with anyone who DOES download Radiohead's leaked demos or anyone else's - obviously I snuk a peek at your comments - but it's just not my thing. And as my punishment I guess I'll wait until June to hear the record. <sigh>