Homework

When I listened through Radiohead's discography for the first time ever earlier this month I said that the creative transition from Pablo Honey to The Bends was "maybe the biggest leap in quality I've ever heard between any two releases probably ever" - while I certainly stand by that assessment I'm sure a similar argument can be made about the quality gap between this album, Daft Punk's debut, and Discovery, their sophomore. In my review of Discovery I called it "a revolutionary and mind-blowing step forward in the history of dance music" and "one of the most influential records of the century", both of which I think are true, but I really should've listened to this first because it just doesn't hold up in comparison at all. Don't get me wrong, it's good - it has a few classic tracks littered throughout the tracklist and heaps of potential laced in each and every one, with a few utilising that potential really well, but it's way too long and feels overstuffed and ultimately fatigued by the end. I listened to it in the gym, and while it mostly did a good job soundtracking my workout I couldn't help but feel lost in the monotony of its repetition sometimes when really I wanted it to invigorate me and fill me with energy which, to be fair, it did at times. It's just not up to the standard of the rest of their work at all. Not bad, but really nothing special either.