A ten track album that features the best six tracks from the 2007 promotional album, and four new tracks. Taking the 2007 tracks first, we get “Misguided” as the first glimpse. Opening with a hammering drum beat on top of which the bass runs provides the anchor as swirling electric guitar surges on top before stopping abruptly to reveal anguished vocals in its place as a chiming guitar wells up from below and the whole thing begins to lift off, the band driving forward on a wave of chunky solid guitar chording and the vocals becoming ever more taut as the cyclical guitar licks return and the rhythm hammers ahead. Now the vocals go even higher as the riffs lurch forward and it all provides both intensity next to wide open expanse, this sprawling landscape of a sound filling every part of the airwaves but sounding strident and purposeful. Abruptly, the mood changes and it reverts to almost ballad-esque proportions to end on a final whisper, and there you have it – one of the best tracks Radiohead never made!! “Healing Silence” is up next, starting on waves of psychdelic guitar chords, pumping bass, garagey drumming as those trademark slithering, sliding vocals appear on top, eventually rising to a high-register croon, still filled with angst and yearning as the raging cauldron of electricity, burns underneath. As the guitar chords cascade and catch fire, the song glides and drives forward, again, no obvious hook, but something altogether more mysterious and open-ended, again their mastery of making indie-rock sound truly epic in scope and content, drawing you as far as the ear can hear. The presence of carefully used synthesizer provides extra depth and texture on a track that is varied, well arranged and, in its own way, quite vast. “Innocence” opens with ringing guitar chords and lilting bass as chunky drums quietly enter and the more slowly emotive vocal wafts through the ether, a more ballad-esque song providing a much-needed air of calm from the emotional turmoil heard so far, again, seriously Radiohead sounding but not so much that you'd fail to admire it. Slowly it rises, gathering strength but never really exploding, simply opening itself onto the far-reaching plains of its own imagination, staying true to its mood throughout. “Last Chance”, by contrast, surges in on a solid fire of electric guitar intensity and growling bass as more garagey drumming clatters out, this time the vocals sounding dramatic and purposeful, again intensifying as they tend to do on the more fiery numbers, the sound filled with guitars and synth embellishments as the adrenaline rises and the surge swells, the rocking sound of indie fire attaching and attacking on many emotional levels, with some cracking guitar work throughout. “Separate” is another slower number, yet as much as it is a ballad with soaring vocals and ringing guitars, it's also a brief foray into your consciousness, short but to the point. Finally, there's “Inevitability” which, cleverly, manages to mix virtually all the aforementioned ingredients into one final epic of a track.
So, we come forward to the 2008 tracks, the first of which, “Save The World”, crashes in with surging guitars, deep bass, solid drums and the sound of piano chords providing light to the guitar darkness. Them as it drops back, against ringing guitar chords and ripling piano, the trademark soaring vocals, this time complete with harmonies to provide extra depth, come into the open as the track slowly moves forward, this time sounding much more mature thanks to the piano embellishments, before the electric guitar chords blare out to put it back on a rockier footing. Again, with an undoubted appeal to Radiohead fans, this is as typical an example of the band's individuality at the same time. The extra depth from a brief wash of synth that then bursts into life with a blaze of electric guitar lead, all serves to prove just how epic this band can sound. “Fly” opens with jangly electric guitar chords shimmering in space as the much more solid sound of their 2008 recorded drums provides the necessary bottom end that really completes the Chiaro sound to a tee as the crooned vocals glide in above the guitar chime and the rhythmic river flow, the huge-sounding, slowly flowing track pouring out of the speakers and gradually intensifying but never overwhelming, bursting into life with a wicked guitar riff as the whole thing then catches fire to become this inferno of a track, drilled forward on waves of thick guitar chording, brief washes of synths filling out the sound with subtlety, then a massive sea of chords from guitars and synths makes it sound for all the world like some kind of “Kashmir”-styled outttake from Led Zep's “Physical Graffiti”, and this extended instrumental finale is simply mind-blowing. “Safe” shows off their new-found strength and confidence, not to mention solid sounding and well produced arrangements, with a blast of guitar chording leading into stuttering guitar backdrops, sizzling guitar undercurrents, hammering drums and bass that really sound like men on a mission as the vocals swoop and fly to dramatic effect, the song's instrumental work soaring and diving to glorious effect, taking in moods from strongly reflective to drivingly intense, a mark of the ever increasing maturity of composition and originality exuded by the band. The sound once again, is huge and full as the subtly used textural synths add depth to the parts that need it, although the guitar work is really electrifying. A neat break from the main body opf the piece gives the rhythm section a chance to shine as the brief burst of synths and soaring guitar leads provide an air of Led Zep and Pink Floyd on top of the Radiohead reflections already mentioned, the result being one astounding slice of songwriting and arranging, as it all twists and turns to great emotive effect. Finally, for the 2008 tracks, “Controlled Damage” bursts into life as the crackling flames and burning embers of on-fire indie -rock, stand before you in all their glory, a solid flowing song topped with emotional vocals, as the whole thing starts to take off and slowly flies onwards an upwards, with wings of expansive harmony vocals, solid rhythms and the omnipresent guitar gunsmoke, all in all, a thing of quality and distinction.
So there you have it – the old, complete with decidedly early Radiohead leanings – and the new – much better in every way, still with a Radiohead appeal, but much much more, and an undoubted reach to prog rock fans of the seventies as well as the contemporary indie kids of the noughties, all wrapped up in four consistently excellent tracks. Recommended!!