What is the appeal of Radiohead?

I should really like them, and I don't dislike them, but I've never really got into Thom Yorke's vocal delivery.

 

When I was in college in the 1990s, John Kasich -- then the congressman repping my school's district, most recently the governor of Ohio and a presidential candidate -- used to go around asking people if they like Radiohead or the Verve. He was a big fan of both.

 

10 pages because someone doesn’t ‘get’ something that they kind of feel they should.

Someone should start a thread named ‘The Beatles - I don’t really get it’ and see how quickly it hits 100 pages

 

I think there was some animosity between Radiohead and Muse at the time because of the similarities and Radiohead believing they'd been ripped off. Don't know if there is anymore though.

 

I love Radiohead, and I don’t like any of those apart from No Surprises. Personally, I think OK Computer is a band trying, and failing, to find a way to avoid repeating themselves. Kid A was the breakthrough.

For a new listener, In Rainbows is probably the most accessible of their post Kid A LPs. It’s certainly the most ‘song’ based.

 

Apparently it is debated, which I find crazy. Most people I knew who were into Radiohead got into early Coldplay, simple as that.And they were praised by the press. And same with frigging Muse before they became this stadium thing.I could never stand them. Whoever finds Thom Yorke grating should take a listen to Matthew Bellamy... Of course, they were not Radiohead rip offs per se but they were clearly influenced. Also, look at the time they were signed and put out their first records. Record companies, as it always happens, were out looking for "new Radioheads", just like they were out for "New Nirvanas". And of course what had followed was bad for the most part.

I really, really do not miss these days. When every other band sounded like a bad cross between Radiohead and Jeff Buckley with oh so lyrical high pitched singers. It was lame.

Heck, I even heard some Radiohead influence in french chanson/pop at the time...It was everywhere.

 

I have no idea. I did like "High And Dry"- maybe The Bends is worth a listen.

 

Pink Floyd? Maybe, but I don't hear even a hint of the Moody Blues in Radiohead. Totally different sensibilities.

 

I think music is so subjective that it’s hard to define in any real terms why a particular band appeals to some and not others. So I think if you’ve given them a chance - in particular what is regarded as their greatest album - and it doesn’t grab you then that’s a natural position to find yourself in. I’m not a fan of forcing music on others or on myself. Either I like something enough to want to own a copy (usually physical but not always) or I pass and if I don’t get an Artist that the consensus suggests I should I don’t lose any sleep over it.

some of the most iconic music hasn’t grabbed me - I bought Pet Sounds and Astral Weeks on the basic that people raves about them and I liked neither enough to keep them. Someone probably found my copies cheap in a Charity shop and maybe they responded better and enjoyed them so that’s the same as lending someone an album you like and they like it enough to buy it in my mind.

But if I can try to answer the initial question - Radiohead for me are the 90s equivalent to bands that set a high standard for the audience of their day while consciously progressing their sound with each release - in the same way The Beatles did in the 60s, Bowie did in the 70s and Prince did in the 80s.

Although each were very popular they weren’t everyone’s taste and if you were drawn to a few well known hits a compilation would probably suffice. So if you liked a few songs on OKC then buy their Best of and stick to that.

 

isnt justin howard's spacey romantic vocals similar to thom yorke's sort of vocals?

there is also a lot of layering overdubbs on some moody blues songs. radiohead also do many overdubbs.

hayward uses a lot of acoustic guitar same as yorke.

 

Yorke's whiney vocals and the boring song structures are their main selling points I'd say.



Seriously, what helpful answers to your question can you expect? They don't appeal to you and that's OK. Move on.

 

Peter Hammill (13:45 for instance)

 

If one can’t get into “Spectre”, “Pyramid Song” or “Harry Patch”, I cant help you.

 

I am of the stripe of person that if I immediately like an album then I become bored of it faster. In regards to Radiohead they challenge you with every album and sometimes they throw it through your wheelhouse and sometimes it lands way outside of YOUR strike zone. For me I have a huge strike zone when it comes to bands like Radiohead.
I admire any band that are willing to challenge themselves at every turn and still come out successful.

 

Of all the prog bands, VdGG was one of the few that was accepted among the post-punk set, though I don't know if they were a particular influence on Radiohead. They were a lot more edgy and angst-ridden than the Moody Blues.

I tend to hear more of the 70s German bands like Can and Neu! in Radiohead's DNA, as well as late 70s Bowie, particularly when listening to their post-OKC output.

 

There isn't. There were a few superficial similarities when Muse first hit the scene (Bellamy's vocal style being pretty similar to Yorke's), but aside from a couple of early songs that sounded Radiohead-esque, Muse hasn't sounded like Radiohead really at all for a long, long time.

 

There would at least 100 bands I wouldn’t be listening to today if I stuck to that theory

 

Listen to "Kid A" followed by a batch of popular contemporary albums and then listen to "Kid A" again.

If you still don't get it move on quickly.

"Kid A" is the best album released this century by anyone. It's also Radiohead's best by a fair margin. Early albums like "The Bends" are good but sound today just like any other guitar rock. "OK Computer" is quite special in that genre too so if it doesn't catch with you, so be it and move on.

 

Don't tell that to Thom.

 

Me too. About 96% of my collection wouldn't have made it through the door, let alone expect to get played and enjoyed.

In general the music I've liked for the longest in my life has been the music I didn't particular like or "get" on the first few airings. Perseverance has provided the key to the best music in my life.

 

what's the deal with air? or water? do people actually like these things? I think they're overrated.

 

Wrong.

OKC was a breakthrough in every conceivable way. It's just that most artists don't follow a major breakthrough with another one, like Radiohead did.

 

I also love that Radiohead does stuff like this:

 

Alright, man. I'll play this ridiculous game. I would love to know where you came up with the 2/3 figure. Here are some actual figures for shows that I attended:

• Rosemont Theater, Chicago - 4/10/98 - OK Computer tour. Spiritualized, one of my favorite bands, was the opener, so it was special gig for me. Capacity = 4,400
• United Center, Chicago - 7/7/18 - AMSP tour. Capacity = 23,500. They played TWO sold out shows here.

Again, I get that you don't like any of the post-OKC albums, but they have not lost 2/3 of their audience or committed career suicide.

 

Yeah - do people forget Radiohead supported other artists until OK Computer, and their singles stopped doing anything outside of Europe after The Bends?