Radiohead

Radiohead are, for me, the definition of 'alternative rock'. "Kid A" and "OK Computer" are two albums that changed my life.

OK Computer was my first album from them, and suddenly I realized there was other music than metal. The album was for the most part minimalistic art rock, with a Pink Floyd-esque feel, but then it would instantly change into an almost metallic feel, with the guitars becoming louder and the vocals harsher. The lyrics were cryptic to my ears, but I could tell there was an underlying theme to the whole thing. It remains one of my favorites.

Kid A instantly threw me into another world. The music was more ambient, but I still loved every minute of it. It also altered my perception of "political" music. Initially, I thought political music had to be found in those blunt, literal, unimaginative songs that you hear in punk, rap, folk, etc., but Kid A completely destroyed that notion. Kid A creates a distorted reflection of the real world, and then uses this space to challenge our political philosophy through poetic allegories. I've analyzed the hell out of all the little subtleties found on this album (including the online blips, comic strip, and hidden booklet), and it was very rewarding. Radiohead's "message" became far more potent to me than any protest song I've ever heard.

I have the majority of their albums, and I like them all, but these two in particular stand out. Radiohead kicks ass.

Yeah, I don't like 'em.

I remember buying OK Computer the first week it came out in 1997. Probably the album that reminds me most of my senior year in High School as I played that album out. It's great to listen to at night in bed with headphones.

Radiohead great band and definitley a band that gets more intriguing with each listen and best experienced with headphones, just alot going on with their albums, 'Kid A' the most uncompromising successful album I can think of, very arty and cerebral.

Definitely in my top 5 most hated bands list. Probably number 3 behind "you know who" and Coldplay.

tohostudios wrote:

Definitely in my top 5 most hated bands list.

Toho I know Dave Matthews Band and Phil Collins occupy two of spots.

manny wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Definitely in my top 5 most hated bands list.

Toho I know Dave Matthews Band and Phil Collins occupy two of spots.

Journey is up there as well.

Bingo and bingo!!!

Phil would probably be #4 and Journey #5. DMB is definitely #1.

Oh yeah, that other thread just reminded me that Creed slots at #6.

I like 'em.

I worked with a guy that was a huge fan of theirs, but unfortunaley, since this dude was such a pretentious a-hole, I immediately dimissed anything he listened to, much in the same fashion I'm sure he did with my metal tastes in music. So in all honesty, I can't say that I've ever given Radiohead a fair shake, but from the few tunes I've heard here and there, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

Pretentious is the first word I think of when I think of Radiohead. "Ooooo...aren't we arty..."

I don't care for them.

tohostudios wrote:

Pretentious is the first word I think of when I think of Radiohead. "Ooooo...aren't we arty..."

Most really successful bands fall prey to some of this at some point whether the group is seen as "arty" or not.
I can see how some people would get that vibe from this band but I get more of that pretentious vibe from many of their fans than directly from the band per se.
It's the same kind of vibe I get sometimes from some fans of bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Ayreon and the like.
Sometimes prog-metal/rock fans can be just as snobby as any other music genre fan out there.

Svengo wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Pretentious is the first word I think of when I think of Radiohead. "Ooooo...aren't we arty..."

Most really successful bands fall prey to some of this at some point whether the group is seen as "arty" or not.
I can see how some people would get that vibe from this band but I get more of that pretentious vibe from many of their fans than directly from the band per se.
It's the same kind of vibe I get sometimes from some fans of bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Ayreon and the like.
Sometimes prog-metal/rock fans can be just as snobby as any other music genre fan out there.

I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, I get the same pretentious vibe from all those prog bands you named that I get from Radiohead.

Dream Theater is actually in my top 10 hated bands list. I don't think any band is more preoccupied with trying to demonstrate how talented they are. For my money, no band sacrifices song memorability on the altar of technical wankery more than DT.

I do like how they 1-up'd the music industry by letting the fans pay whatever price they wanted for one of their albums. Naturally, my friend (who likes them) put down $0.00, and got the CD. Weird thing is, that the album went platinum and made millions of dollars!

I have two Radiohead albums. I have The Bends(which I love) and Ok Computer.

I have been listening to them since Pablo Honey (and no, that does not make me pretentious! :-). Like many others, I bought the album because of Creep, but found the rest of the album to be ok. The Bends is the album that really reeled me in, though. Even so, neither of those two releases prepared me for OK Computer. Definitely one of my top 5 favorite albums of the 90's. Yes, I know there are many haters out there. When you have a band that gets so much critical praise, you are bound to get your fair number of neigh-sayers... many of whom will dismiss the band without really listening to them. It's cool... different strokes for different folks.
BTW, I think their decision to release their last album for free (or, pay-as-you-like) was brilliant. I liked the album so much I actually went out and bought a physical copy when it was finally released at the stores.

I alot of bands I love could be considered pretentious (King Crimson, Rush, The Mars Volta, The Doors, YES, etc) there is nothing wrong with that, I think Radiohead are very unique band, I can't think of single band that sounds remotely like them.

Like Neuro said, this band is not for everyone. Radiohead's albums are CD's I have to spend alot of time listening to, I always hear something new whenever I spin one of their albums.

That is very true... I like them for the same reasons I like some of the other bands you listed. You can listen to a Radiohead track, and you know it is Radiohead (love em or hate em). The same is true of a band like Rush. You can never confuse a Rush song for anyone else. It is hard to maintain a uniqueness, especially nowadays where every band seems to sound like Nickelback!

Neuropete wrote:

That is very true... I like them for the same reasons I like some of the other bands you listed. You can listen to a Radiohead track, and you know it is Radiohead (love em or hate em). The same is true of a band like Rush. You can never confuse a Rush song for anyone else. It is hard to maintain a uniqueness, especially nowadays where every band seems to sound like Nickelback!

I don't see that every band today sounds like Nickelback. Clean out your ears man!

I'm still waiting for Miley Cyrus to "ruin" these guys for not wanting to speak to her backstage at the Grammies. Fear the wrath of Hannah Montana, Radiohead!! Feeeeaar it!!

...wait a minute, or was it Coldplay she threatened to ruin? I get them and Radiohead confused all the time. Screw it. I don't like either band (or Miley) anyway. I'm just post whoring.

Quote :

Pretentious is the first word I think of when I think of Radiohead. "Ooooo...aren't we arty..."

My feelings exactly. My brother got into them and they seriously made me want to hurt small animals.

TheNazgul wrote:

Quote :

Pretentious is the first word I think of when I think of Radiohead. "Ooooo...aren't we arty..."

My feelings exactly. My brother got into them and they seriously made me want to hurt small animals.

Radiohead makes people want to hurt small animals?
Man I gotta go back and listen to some of their albums again. I think I missed something the first time around.

Svengo wrote:

TheNazgul wrote:

Quote :

Pretentious is the first word I think of when I think of Radiohead. "Ooooo...aren't we arty..."

My feelings exactly. My brother got into them and they seriously made me want to hurt small animals.

Radiohead makes people want to hurt small animals?
Man I gotta go back and listen to some of their albums again. I think I missed something the first time around.

The only thing Radiohead makes me want to hurt is members of the band.

"You're in Radiohead?!?!?!? I got your artsy fartsy, pretentiousness right here!!!"

Wham!!!! Fist to the head.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I'm still waiting for Miley Cyrus to "ruin" these guys for not wanting to speak to her backstage at the Grammies. Fear the wrath of Hannah Montana, Radiohead!! Feeeeaar it!!

...wait a minute, or was it Coldplay she threatened to ruin? I get them and Radiohead confused all the time. Screw it. I don't like either band (or Miley) anyway. I'm just post whoring.

It was Radiohead.