THE KING HAS RETURNED... AND HE'S BRITISH

     America, you gave us Elvis and we thank you. A pelvic thrusting, hip gyrating hound dog who could have u dancing in your blue suede shoes, then turn around and love you tender.
     England, you gave us The Beatles and we praise you. From mop tops to mutton chops, the fab four literally defined music, breaking genre's and preconceived notions yet remaining widely accepted. They gave us the love of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," and they gave us angst in "Helter Skelter," and sometimes you got 'far out' in their LSD infused "Strawberry Fields." No matter the focus of expression, they executed it precisely and beautifully and their music will truly live on forever.
      Since then, you could argue Michael Jackson was the next great contribution to music, but with the loads of  personal baggage that he possessed, America only claims him pre "Bad" album.  So, we waited and waited. Grunge was a pretty cool fad but it left once Cobain left, and N'sync came and went with the bubblegum generation of the millennium. Today, we got the "Beliebers" who worship a seventeen year old with a horrible haircut (thank you, Canada) and enough Gaga to go around for everybody(thank you, Outer-space), so where is the next great thing?
                 AH, it has been underneath the western world's nose for decades. Thom Yorke is the closest thing to a revolutionary musician we had since Lennon. With a cult success in the nineties, they brought a fresh and artistic approach to alternative music, but they didn't just stop there and fade out like the many imitation bands (I.E. Sonic Youth and Portishead), no they defined how the bar was to be set.
                With their last 2007 release "In Rainbows" we saw how they changed the face of the record industry by allowing their album, via download, payable to any amount. I paid $20.50 for the album to show support but the guy next door payed a whopping fifty cents. This shook the walls of the capitalistic music monsters like Colombia, Virgin, and Sony. To them their music was art and to be heard by the masses, not used as a whore for the pimps of record companies to collect on. And since then, many bands have this new precept.
                As of today, right at this moment, they have returned! After a mysterious four years of "hush hush" and secret shows, they birthed their best work yet. They can't be stopped and as far as I am concerned, England, you got one up on America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfOa1a8hYP8