Com Lag (2 + 2 = 5)

...and what an album! You'll probably only have heard of this LE release if you're a Radiohead fan already, and if you're not, I'd probably best tell you that it's an album needing quite an acquired taste. The tracks are all unsurprisingly similar to what was on Hail To The Thief, and may take two or three playings to get into. But once you've achieved that, they're stunning, blissful works of genius!

I'm not going to bore you all with track-by-track reviews and commentary, but if you're a fan of the band and haven't bought all the singles, I urge you to buy this CD! Even the packaging and inlay booklet are works of art alone! And who knows, it might be valuable in the near future!

Stunning!


The Lukewarm   May 9, 2004
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Another must-have for RH fans. I was lucky enough to actually be standing there at Earls Court for the recording of 2+2=5 live and listening to the track again on CD after experiencing it for real just sends shivers down my spine. The song has so much energy live and you can sense Thom's crazy dance around the stage through the sound of his voice as the song explodes. The CD as a whole holds a mix of different styles and contains some fantastic previously unreleased material such as 'Gagging Order' (a pleasant sounding acoustic number) 'Paperbag Writer' (sounds like an amnesiac trialist) and 'I Am A Wicked Child' (a bit different...funky folk rock with a harmonica!). However, 'Fog, live' stands out as its best track and is the definitive version of the song. It considerably out-performs the studio recording in a similar way to how 'Like Spinning Plates, live' on the 'I Might Be Wrong EP' is the better version.


Amazing Mini Album   May 5, 2004
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is a very strange cd. if you liked Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail to the Theif, then this is probably for you. The live version of 2+2=5 is great. and the other tracks on the album are amazing. there isnt a weak song on this album, but it does take a bit of listening to. it is a must buy for any radiohead fan.


Before some insane person rates a B-Sides Album 5 Stars...   April 26, 2004
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

As far as B-Sides go, this is great, but its been priced at the same as afull length CD, So I can only give this 3 stars. Half the price and itwould be 4 stars.
There are some good tracks on there which are worth hearing, "I Am CitizenInsane" - which was probably left out of Hail the Theif because it doesntreally fit in, good song though. It also has a live version of 2+2=5 andFog.
As Amazon havn't included the track titles on this page (at the time of mewriting this) Here they are...
01 - 2+2=5 (Live at Earls Court)
02 - Myxomatosis (Cristian Vogel Mix)
03 - I Will (Los Angeles Version)
04 - Paperbag Writer
05 - I Am A Wicked Child
06 - I Am Citizen Insane
07 - Scatterbrain (Four Tet Remix)
08 - Gagging Order
09 - Fog (again) (live)
10 - Where Bluebirds Fly
Well worth checking out if (like me) You're a Big Radiohead Fan, one ofthe better Radiohead B-Side CD's.


B-sides you already bought?   April 16, 2004
 16 out of 36 found this review helpful

Content: Mostly great.

Product: Depends if you've already shelled out for the singles.

Radiohead B-sides are generally great: quality tracks that didn't quite fit with the 'feel' of the album or (successful) experiments bridging to the album after the one that the single is from. (Remixes are more patchy, but some still interesting).

That's why I've already bought these tracks as B-sides on the singles from Hail to the Thief. That's why I'm disapponited that they now come out on one convenient CD for a quarter of buying all those singles.