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The main reason for Radiohead's inclusion in the Archives (and the centre of a huge debate and fights at the time), this very controversial (and hardly just on this site, but in every music mag) album is certainly a masterpiece, prog or not. Radiohead is a typical alternative rock group that consistently developed intelligent pop/rock (their early albums were clearly inspired of U2) capable of grabbing even the most demanding ears belonging to progheads such as us. Whether they are prog or not, is beside the question, but the immense majority of us, progheads, all agree that this album is superb, reflective, intimate and adventurous. And is this not what counts after all, challenging music?

My review coming rather late after their introduction, I will not spend time describing the tracks (there are many great reviews before and after mine) or giving you their influences, but simply tell any progheads that is not convinced yet of this album being superb, that they should give a shot. Somewhere between depressive, melancholic, reflective and intimate, most of the tracks are carefully constructed and not a single note out of place, leaving little doubt at the mastery of Yorke's ability to write catchy songs. Many sombre ambiance and a few tempo changes (Radiohead never gets wild on this album, a bit like the image of this album: self-restrained) are the first hints that they were about to move on to greater things and leave the alternative pop of previous albums.