Album Reviews

In a first time experience with a Radiohead album, “In Rainbows” had been hyped enough online to make even Rolling Stone blush at the sheer word of mouth for this album. It’s been deemed the best reviewed album of the year by several sources and even had the catchy buy me gimmick of being absolutely free. I wasn’t one of those few to get this stunning deal but I did get it readily cheap from Amazon. With my limited experience with Radiohead outside of “Karma Police”, I understand the group is quite original to say the least and was expecting almost anything. What I got was something truly amazing; the hype was right, this is an amazing album. It’s not that the music isn’t weird, it definitely has a bit of oddity to it, but it doesn’t overwhelm you with the fact that it is an oddity. It’s just music that’s not trying to be anything but itself. The lyrics present an interesting dimension to songs like “15 Steps” and “Weird Fishes” but what I love about this album is the superb guitar work. Even if you’re not a Radiohead fan (i.e. you don’t like the lead singer) the music in itself is something amazing. This has all due right to be labeled not only one of the best albums of the year but is one of those truly memorable classics of alternative rock.

In a student submission from Erin Parker, class of 2010, the second studio album from Paramore, “Riot!”, an appropriate title to the emotional brand of punk music that Paramore brings to the table. As the first track plays, the general idea of what the band represents is pretty clear; angst and juvenile rebellion, which would normally turn me off but the lead singer is talented enough to draw me in (that and she’s just so damn hot). Going from track to track, the music stays pretty consistent, not showing a lot beyond power chords and what would feel like a less than inventive bass line so the big thing that kept me listening was the power of the singer. Hayley sings and writes sincerely and it shows; the songs all centralize around rather cliché themes but they work in the way she lays it down. Two songs that really stood out for me to show off the band’s ability were the opening track “For a Pessimist, I’m pretty optimistic”, a rolling start with some great low range vocals from Hayley and “Crushcrushcrush”, a nice low note to the high tension of the rest of the album. A decent album that is easy to listen to and shows that Paramore is a band to look out for.