What is the appeal of Radiohead?

The second one for me, up in the stands on the right hand side, great gig

 

I wish I’d gone to multiple nights after seeing the setlists. I love that there was no telling what would come next.

 

I was 'late' to appreciating Radiohead. When OK Computer came out all I could think was... this is interesting 'prog'... but to me Yes, Tull, King Crimson, Floyd etc. are all infinitely more interesting. Then the next couple albums kind of lost me.

"In Rainbows"... however... for whatever reason clicked. Right place, right time, right mood... not sure. But that was the point I really connected.

 

OK Computer is my favourite album of all-time. Nothing really comes close. But I've never loved anything else by Radiohead quite as much. The Bends and In Rainbows... yes, awesome records. I really enjoyed A Moon Shaped Pool too. But I can't imagine that they'll ever make a record again that means as much to me as OK Computer. That's just the way of things - sometimes something comes along that is perfectly aligned with your life - exactly what you're looking for, exactly when you're looking for it. And that's just my experience. I do love them and they're a fantastic live band - but I don't really consider them among my very favourite bands, despite how much those records - and that one in particular - mean to me.

 

I've always been puzzled why so many Radiohead fans also seem to dismiss "Hail to the Thief." I think that after "In Rainbows," that's the one I come back to most.

 

I think most fans like it; they just like other albums more. I think cutting a bit of the fat off would have helped. I love the record, but there are 3-4 songs I don't care for and the album would have flowed better and been more concise with them, but it's still pretty great as is. The highs on the album are some of my favorite RH tunes ever.

 

I think you're wrong about that. I hear a number of style points that Coldplay has borrowed from Radiohead. Muse is another band that I hear some occasional similarities to.

They don't sound the same, but they do "sound remotely the same".

 

Yep. I'm not a fan of Coldplay but especially in their earlier stuff you can see the influence. Now, Muse - that's a definite and acute connection. When I first heard Origin Of Symmetry there was something so obviously Radiohead about it - that stood out to me more than anything - even though it was a totally different take on the theme.

 

Agreed. I don't even think it's debated that Coldplay was influenced mid/late 1990s Radiohead. The way in which it most comes out in the music is some of the vocals, the tone and maybe some of the melodic constructions. There are certain parts of certain Coldplay songs that aren't that different from certain parts of certain Radiohead songs. But there aren't (IMO) any Coldplay songs (that I've heard) that from start to finish sound like Radiohead songs.

 

Yeah KID A (2000) hit #1 and Amnesiac (2001) hit #2 in the USA, then Hail to the Thief (2003) hit #3, so far better than OK Computer which peaked at #21.....Three TOP 3 records in a span of four years! (plus loads of cool B-sides)....

So they gained tons of fans in the States in the early 2000s compared to the mid 90s.

Some bands have so little interest in making the same record twice. I'm glad Radiohead is one of them. I really enjoy following them as artists who are always evolving. Even if that means there are some songs I dislike. I still admire the band.

 

And there lies a major difference between you and me. I almost always need time to determine whether I deeply like something or not. Multiple listens are likely to be required. I often must put some effort into it. I find that music that I like on first listen tends to be ultimately shallow, and I tire of and forget it easily. The stuff that I spend time and allow to enter my heart is the stuff that endures and gives me lifetime pleasure. If I only listened to music I liked on first exposure, I would not have the most cherished music in my life.

An analogy: if you depend on the gold you find lying on the ground, you might get rich. But if you dig for gold you will probably be richer.

I like candy bars, but I sure wouldn't want to live on them.

I'm not a huge Radiohead fan, but I like what I have, and I will continue to listen. They seem to tickle my neurons differently depending on my mood. "OK Computer" isn't perfect, but it has several excellent tracks on it. I really like "Kid A" more, and "The Bends" is also very entertaining.

 

First time I heard this, I thought that sounded cool. Really nice tune.

 

In Rainbows came out my freshman year of college, as a "pay what you think its worth" download. I paid $5 I believe (hey, I was a student) and downloaded it the day it came out. I think being at an impressionable age for discovering music may have been a part of it, but I've always had a soft spot for Radiohead. I think In Rainbows is the best introduction to their music.

 

I like listening to my "every song Radiohead has released arranged in alphabetical order by title" playlist whilst driving. That provides an interesting perspective on their catalogue.

Everything in its alphabetical place...

 

I used to consider them one of my favorite bands, but I do feel like they have been stuck in a rut ever since Kid A. Their second and third albums were so innovative and unique, but Kid A struck me as sort of copycat of what a lot of other bands/artists were doing at the time, even though I still liked both it and Amnesiac a lot. Their work since then aside from In Rainbows has just been, well, kind of boring. I haven't heard that spark or energy that was there in spades on The Bends and OK Computer. I keep waiting for them to put out something compelling and really creative again, but at this point, I don't know if they ever will.

 

A cautionary tale.

Not much different than Peter Gabriel who plodded around with his version of esoteric bleeps and blurps for the "look at me I'm better than you Genesis sold out" crowd before going full-Sledgehammer for a buck and competing with Phil Collins for the title of AOR king.

 

I'm a Radiohead fan who wasn't knocked out by OK Computer. I'm still not, though I have warmed to it considerably. It was my first Radiohead CD purchase.

My first impression, as I remember it:
1. Jangly alternative rock. OK(no pun intended). Unexceptional.
2. Why are there a dozen people in the band and one lead singer?
3. What is this track that sounds almost exactly like Sexy Sadie?

I think some albums get adulterated by their own hype. And, some albums are growers.
I'm not particularly moved by it, but if I put on Exit Music, my girlfriend will almost instantly break down crying.

I think it took brass balls to make the left turn that was Kid A. I thought nothing of playing it over and over and I think they have yet to even get near it again, though I enjoy the next few albums they made afterward.

That's what is great about music--what moves me might not move you. There is no predicting what people will respond to. That is both frustrating as well as amazing.


Dan

 

Here’s my quick summary of their career:

Phase 1: Their rock phase. They reveal themselves to be a rather gloomy band with a flair for drama. The first album is a Brit take on alt-rock with a strong Pixies influence. Bends is their best guitar album that’s a little less Pixies and a little more glam. And then OK Computer is their masterpiece drawing electronic influences to reflect on end of the millenium ennui.

Phase II: they up the electronica influences with their second masterpiece Kid A. Turns off the guitar purists. For anyone already into Aphex Twin it’s not as groundbreaking as it’s made out to be. But for most it’s top shelf. Amnesiac is the companion album (Pyramid Song is the classic glitchy Radiohead piano ballad). Hail to the Thief is an attempt to reintegrate the guitars (There There is a classic Radiohead rocker).

Phase III: I’d argue that In Rainbows was the album where they pulled the rock and electronic influences together into a cohesive whole to define their sound. Everything since then has been the band continuing to explore that line. The two basement sessions are essential viewing.

 

Oof. OMG get this guy a full refund, he was wronged by Radiohead 20 years ago, I’m convinced

 

At least 50% of my dislike for this group is because I can't stomach singers named "Thom".

 

They've done it over and over and over again from 2000-2016.

 

I guess I'm just not hearing it then. It all seems so stale.

 

Stale? Lol... no, what would be stale is if they followed up OK Computer with OK Computer, Part II. Now, that would be boring, but thankfully, this didn’t happen and wiser heads prevailed. I’m with @nosticker in that I didn’t think much of OK Computer. I mean there were some cool pieces on it, but, overall, I felt this album to be a letdown compared to what came after.

 

Well, whether you liked it or not, that album was inventive and creative. What they’ve done since then has been largely derivative and repetitive. They’ve seemed stuck in a rut for a long time now. It was fine for the first two post-OKC albums (mostly recorded in the same sessions), but I haven’t gotten much out of most things they’ve done after that. In Rainbows showed some promise but then they regressed after that.

I guess I’ve just moved on. Which is perfectly fine; I’m not complaining.

 

OK Computer was the late night soundtrack to seemingly every party I attended in the late 90s and early 2000s. I used to listen to my friends praise it to the skies and wonder what the hell they were talking about. Quite recently, I remembered that I used to think the exact same thing in the 80s, when Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall would inevitably be placed on the turntable at 3am.

The point I'm making is that the musical style of those records — versions of prog rock, or art rock, or whatever it's defined as — simply doesn't appeal to me. I could keep trying, but I know I'll keep running into the same hurdle. It's a relief to finally accept that (albeit decades later!) and just move on.

It works both ways, of course. Like yourself, I'm a big fan of The Smiths and The Cure and I can appreciate that their music doesn't speak to a lot of people (crazy people, clearly. With no taste. But you catch my drift... )