What is the appeal of Radiohead?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Archguy, Jul 31, 2020.

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  1. Liam Brown

    Liam Brown Forum Resident

    This seems like the 50th time we had one of these threads about Radiohead and you all are bringing your greatest hits, isn't it time for some new material?
     
  2. ghoulsurgery

    ghoulsurgery House Ghost

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I really think this is their best song. Most times I’ve seen them, they’ve opened with it. It sounds so damn good live (and I think it’s the only one where Phil gets to sing too)
     
  3. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Of course but you didn't write that the angst sounded phoney but was phoney so my question stands. How do you determine whether it's sincere or phoney?
     
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  4. Mirror Image

    Mirror Image 200 Years Of Anton Bruckner

    Location:
    United States
    And if you don’t like the thread, then you can simply exit stage left.
     
  5. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    OK, I'll change it for you

    "His voice is unbearable, not to mention the phoney-sounding angst."

    Better?
     
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  6. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    It may sound like I'm splitting hairs but yes, that is much better.

    I'm a casual fan but there a dozen songs of theirs that I enjoy.
     
  7. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    No, you're right, it didn't come across very well and I have no idea what's going on in Thom Yorke's head, so his angst might be genuine but it sounds like part of the act to me. And I don't have a problem with stuff that's 'part of the act' but don't expect me to take it overly seriously.
     
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  8. O Don Piano

    O Don Piano Senior Member

    If you don't like something, and you've given a few tries because of the praise, you don't like it.
    It's OK!
    I borrowed "OK Computer" in 2000 from a friend. I liked it, but it was indeed rather dreary despite it's obvious brilliance.
    I tried "Kid A" and "Amnesiac". Just wasn't for me.
    I absolutely respect them as a pioneering band who eventually brought forth a truly original sound.
     
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  9. roolfie

    roolfie Well-Known Member

    Location:
    US
    Radiohead was the gateway band for me, and I still think they strike a better balance between accessibility and experimentation than any other contemporary band.

    That said, it’s hard for me to say whether they would mean as much to me if I were already familiar with the styles of music they introduced me to.
     
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  10. O Don Piano

    O Don Piano Senior Member

    I hasten to add:
    In a lot of threads like this one, the OP seems to think that just because he doesn't have the same kind of appreciation for a 'universally' praised band or artist that something is wrong; that they don't 'get it' and it's some mind of personal flaw!
    Not so!
    It's all subjective personal taste. It's hard to intellectualize that!
     
  11. misteranderson

    misteranderson Forum Resident

    Location:
    englewood, nj
    Odd that none of them mentioned The Pixies. Not one. And of course Christgau got The Bends wrong.

    Of course the Brits got it right. Not one bad track to be found. The Bends is brilliant. And then they got better.
     
  12. Archguy

    Archguy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    FWIW, I really appreciate all of the perspectives that have been offered here. I would edit the thread title to be more accurate and perhaps less triggering, but it appears that I'm too late to do that. "What's a good path into Radiohead" would have been better, most likely.

    So far, in addition to what I mentioned yesterday I've listened to The Bends, and I'm really appreciating it. But I'm also looking forward to Kid A (maybe by next week) because I really like the idea of a band taking a sharp left turn after a big success, and I like a lot of alternative music, even ambient/electronica etc.

    To those who wonder why I'd even bother pursuing this, I can only say that I enjoy expanding my musical horizons. Example: A lot of people might say that I'm a bit old to enjoy hip-hop. But a couple of friends and some deliberate exploration has taught me that there's a lot of it I really like. Something similar happened years ago with opera. Like most people I thought opera was boring. Until I got into it. Now it's captivating.
     
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  13. misteranderson

    misteranderson Forum Resident

    Location:
    englewood, nj
    Oooh. Your C-list prog bona fides are showing.

    Go ahead and toast yourself for being so, so very cool.
     
  14. RudolphS

    RudolphS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rio de Janeiro
    In 1993 (when these reviews were published) the Pixies were hardly more famous than Radiohead. Pixies enjoyed some moderate success in europe, but back home in the States they were at best a cult band. Their highest charting album was Bossanova, peaking at #70. The Pixies' popularity only grew after their breakup.
     
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  15. DeanoBee

    DeanoBee Lifelong Music Junkie

    Location:
    Newfoundland
    I love Radiohead. Even their EP's and B-sides are fantastic, for example, "The Daily Mail" and "Talk Show Host". They can play any instrument and are artists, with melody and song compositions that are like no others. When I listen to them, it is the closest I get to a spiritual sensation, especially on the slower piano based-tunes.

    I saw them at MSG in 2018 and it was fantastic. On their last tour, they played over 50 songs on that tour, rotating many in and out of various shows. What other bands have done that?

    Great band and one of my faves.
     
  16. ghoulsurgery

    ghoulsurgery House Ghost

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Which MSG show did you see? I went on the 4th night, stood pretty close on the floor.
     
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  17. Archguy

    Archguy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    Interesting. I like those three bands as well.

    FWIW, I keep reading about "Forever Changes" -- it seems to have grown tremendously in estimation these last however many years. Aside: The Damned's version of "Alone Again Or" is transcendent and quite faithful to the original as well.

    Presumably that is rhetorical, but one main appeal is that you can't hold still.
    "U Got the Look (Long Look)" -- "Cream" -- "Raspberry Beret" -- "Erotic City"

    Okay, I will ask a mod to edit the title since I can't. The OP described what I was seeking much better than the title did. My apologies to those who have tens of thousands of posts on music topics, nothing personal, we're just coming from different directions.
     
  18. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    I find ridiculous how the band dismisses their first album and so does most of their core audience.And yet the same go ape**** when they play "Creep" for the first time on stage in x years. Go figure.

    It was a different time, it was a different era for the band. It doesn't mean it's awful.

    I also remember some encouraging reviews in France around the time of "Pablo Honey". They were voted one of the best upcoming new bands, one of the new "hopes" for 1994 at Rock n' Folk's end of the year poll .

    "Pablo Honey" is one of many decent "independent" british guitar rock album from the early 90s. It's a good album, a bit generic (I'd rather listen to Adorable's first album than "Pablo Honey" if I have to be honest just to name a contemporary British album I prefer) but it's good. I actually listened to it not too long ago as I got a free copy of it from a record store. When people talk about it, it's almost as if it was a Bush album of b-sides or something. Just because someone happens to enjoy "Pablo Honey" doesn't make them a thick Nickleback fan who doesn't know anything about music. It's perfectly fine with me if someone liked "Pablo Honey" and nothing else. Just like there are probably people out there who only like Blur's first album, just because they changed.

    I remember that the band didn't like the U2 comparisons, but yes, I did hear it too at the time, even up to "The Bends" ("Bones" chorus). Something about how lyrical it sounded, some vocal inflexions.

    Oh, and the single-only "Pop is Dead" was amusing, a word not many would apply to Radiohead nowadays. :D

     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
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  19. Frangelico

    Frangelico Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Maybe you aren’t missing anything. You just don’t like them and that’s fine. I like Radiohead, not Coldplay. Pollock, not Rothko. Classical, except for opera. Small group and avant-garde jazz, not swing. Antonioni, not Tarkovsky.

    I do find Radiohead interesting from the standpoint of some of their melodies/compositions, Yorke’s voice (a strange, dystopian, dirge-like invocation) as an appropriate reflection of the band’s music/lyrics, and their partial incorporation of classical, jazz, avant-garde, minimalist, existential elements into their music. Their overall perspective is relatively low-key and bereft of braggadocio, a common fault of too much popular music.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
  20. Archguy

    Archguy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    That's awesome recon, thanks. Something of a guilty pleasure reading when critics got things magnificently wrong.
     
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  21. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Comparsions often miss the point completely. The Smashing Pumpkins' first album "Gish" was compared to The Black Crowes, to REM (Billy Corgan loves REM but you don't hear them in his music) by critics, and probably to other bands that have nothing to do with the sound of that record.
     
  22. JoeF.

    JoeF. Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I’m with you on The Bends and I think that OK Computer and Kid A have some stellar stuff.
    I have little use for most of their other albums, but then I liked A Moon Shaped Pool a lot.
    They are creative and risk-taking and hugely talented.

    Some people go overboard with praise, but I think that happens with a lot of fans of various artistS.
     
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  23. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    i think if you love the moody blues/pink floyd youll like ok computer/the bends
     
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  24. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    There's no need to call the non-fans mentally-challenged, but I agree with your take on the band in general. Their live shows are always great, even with Thom being somewhat hit or miss vocally live. The first time I saw them in '08, he played (at various points of the show) piano, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and drums. You don't see that too often where a lead singer plays that many different instruments throughout the course of the show while still singing.
     
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  25. Rufus rag

    Rufus rag Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    The music minus Thom Yorke's voice!
     
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