Grade: B | Genre: Modern Rock
Summary: The Eraser is a nice day trip to spacious vistas that have become dusty in memory, but I'm really hungry for a real excursion into the new Radiohead.

Radiohead has always proved to be a curious creature on the modern rock scene. They entered as purveyors of the youthful grunge movement with radio staple "Creep," only to yank their sound by the leash into the electro-rock of The Bends and one of rock's greatest moments OK Computer. They would seemingly take on the helm of the Beatles of their generation with the quirky innovative genius of Kid A. Since then they have continued to forge the path into the esoteric and strange with little regard to their fan base or their overall place in music. Some would say innovators like this need not answer for their adventures into the land of the bizarre. They needn't carry any semblance of convention or need to tow the line that rock tries to strong-arm them to take. Yet as the blur of obscurity continues to muddy their sound, the listener finds it harder and harder to connect with these brilliant geniuses, try as we might. The rumor is that the forthcoming Radiohead effort is a thankful return to the dirges of rock they abandoned circa-The Bends. It's still largely under wraps at the moment so we can do little more than spin our speculative wheels. While they were prepping the world for their new direction, lead singer Thom Yorke had some music of his own itching in his head that was plotting its escape. Electronic blips flitter about as Yorke revisits the darker looks of Kid A in the fine release The Eraser.