Radiohead

[Zip City]

. Like most of their stuff even though they get a little artsy at times.

I read this all the time and don't know what it means

It means they're borderline pretentious. I don't have a problem with that if the artists are genuine and talented enough, which Radiohead certainly are.

I think Jason Isbell summed it up perfectly when he tweeted "I hope Radiohead never stops taking themselves too seriously".

I agree with that tweet. I also don't think it's pretentious for a band to push the boundaries rather than just be another rock band

[Smitty]

I don't get it. And by that I don't mean I disagree, I mean I don't understand.

They can be a little dour. Is that pretentious?

Part of it is that they do seem so serious and that their music does get a bit avant garde-ish at times. Sometimes (for a lack of a better term) "weird" songs come off as contrived.

I ain't saying I agree, but I definitely understand why some feel that way. Jeff Tweedy and Wilco used to get the same criticism around YHF/AGiB.

It's no different than someone who prefers realist paintings rejecting a Dali or Picasso.

[hendooman]

OKC>KidA>Amnesiac is an unreal run by any great bands standard. Skip Hail to the Thief and then they put out In Rainbows, 4 out of 5 "desert island" quality albums. My respect for Radiohead is off the charts. They capture live just as well. I might be wrong the live recordings is a short but great live gem.

[linkous]

Just finished the first listen, downloaded 24 bit hi res file

It's largely slow, has dark electronics and ghostly guitar textures wafting all over it, sweeping strings strewn everywhere,quite a bit of piano and absolutely no "hit" singles. Oh, and a choir. Like TKOL, it's not much of a "band" album in places but I guess these things can be deceptive, esp. re the heavily treated guitars.
You just know that this LP is going to unpeel like the layers of an onion though, and this time next week it will sound totally different.
First impressions - very ambitious, love the strings, no loud guitars. This is a million miles away from OK Computer, would have been a fantastic last part of a Kid A, Amnesiac trilogy. Thom Yorke's singing is fairly subdued(a good thing), the critics are going to be creaming themselves over this album.

On the Radiohead msg boards people are simultaneously having orgasms, crying for joy/relief, and generally hailing this as a massive return to form.

[Zip City]

Haven't heard it yet, but that whole post excites me

[Beebs]

I don't think I've ever said this before, but there's a really good article on Pitchfork that helps to frame up A Moon Shaped Pool in the Radiohead cannon.

Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool: The 5 Most Important Things To Know

The first question most people ask when they first put on a new Radiohead album is: “So what’s new?” Because they both defined and stigmatized the curveball album between 1997’s OK Computer and 2000’s Kid A, Radiohead albums now arrive with the inherent promise of “something new.” Hail To The Thief was heralded as a return to their rock roots, In Rainbows was lauded as a shift away from their rock roots, and The King of Limbs was hailed as, I promise, something that sounds way better live. At this point in their career, the phrase “new direction” seems quaint, as if you were applying it to the concept of a human lifespan...

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1140-radi ... s-to-know/

[Cubfan06]

Probably the greatest British group of the 2000's, from Kid A onwards. Most of the albums before that are "meh" at best imo

The Bends is one of the most overrated albums of all time in my book. OK Computer could have been great, several great tracks, but has more filler than you'd think from it's reputation.

I was going to write a long diatribe about calling The Bends "one of the most overrated albums of all time in my book" a bullshit statement. But I'm holding back for this reason....I am admittedly ignorant how it was acclaimed in Scotland. In the United States when it came out, it wasn't viewed as any big shakes. My first two Radiohead shows occurred on The Bends and they were opening for R.E.M. at an outdoor Amphitheatre and also playing a really small club in Chicago called The Metro. In Europe they might have been huge on that album. In the US, not so much. Radiohead even played The Riviera (roughly 3,000) when OK Computer first came out before it was recognized as a critics darling.
Me personally, I love The Bends. It contains so much raw emotion and to me songs like Planet Telex and My Iron Lung are toe the line of how "spacey" (for a lack of a better term) they would become on OK Computer and even further with Kid A. So fuck you Linkous

I really like the new album. It's difficult for me to rate it though. A particular direction that Radiohead chooses to go on a particular album usually catches me off-guard and they are almost always growers. I highly disliked The King of Limbs when it came out and although it still rates lower on one of the strongest catalogs of bands on the planet, it really grew on my over a 6 month period.

The other thing that I'd like to interject in is that everyone is talking about studio Radiohead. How about the fact that musically and visually one of the greatest live bands of my lifetime?




P.S. Hail to The Thief is my personal favorite album of their catalog

[Tequila Cowboy]

The other thing that I'd like to interject in is that everyone is talking about studio Radiohead. How about the fact that musically and visually one of the greatest live bands of my lifetime?

Ok, so I haven't wanted to post in this thread much because anything I say is just pissing on someone's parade, I mean almost everyone who's musical opinion I respect loves this band, but how is their live show so exciting? I've seen them live twice and I was bored to tears.

[Zip City]

The show I saw was unbelievable

[Cubfan06]

The other thing that I'd like to interject in is that everyone is talking about studio Radiohead. How about the fact that musically and visually one of the greatest live bands of my lifetime?

Ok, so I haven't wanted to post in this thread much because anything I say is just pissing on someone's parade, I mean almost everyone who's musical opinion I respect loves this band, but how is their live show so exciting? I've seen them live twice and I was bored to tears.

Of course music is subjective TC. I'm still struggling to find greatness in the new Brent Best album.
Firstly what album or era did you see them? If it was post Kid A, they have evolved tremendously live as a band. Perhaps it was always the Devil's Lettuce, but I find all of the intricacies in the music translated live astounding. Their rhythm section is so on point while the guitars and keys hit so many intricate notes. And they have one of the greatest light and screen shows in the business. Thom Yorke is an atypical front man in the sense of the rock term, but the way his body quakes to the music always gets me revved up. And he hits the notes to a "T" while doing so.

To each their own. My description may not be so apt. But I would assume that other Radiohead fans on here would agree.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I want to say I saw them in 2000 and 2003. Once was in St. Louis while I was visiting friends and the other was at Bonnaroo. The prog rock things comes in a little bit as I felt much like when I saw Yes as an adult (I saw them when I was 17 and loved the shit out them but I was 17). I'm going to dig into the music one more time though and see if it grabs me this time. It's been several years since my last attempt.

[Beebs]

First, I've never even remotely had the chance to see them live, ever. And I doubt I ever will. So F you guys.

Second, Radiohead doesn't fit my subjective idea of prog rock at all. Maybe they technically qualify on the basis of thematic albums and the like, but I see as many similarities between Yes and Radiohead as I do between DBT and Pink Floyd. Is this noteworthy or relevant to any of us? Probably not.

Third

P.S. Hail to The Thief is my personal favorite album of their catalog

No shit? Admittedly I haven't been particularly rigorous with Hail to The Theif or King of Limbs. I enjoy them. Then after a 6 months break in period I started to really appreciate them on their own merits. but I've never been deeply grabbed by them. So to hear someone who obviously knows their way around this band list HttT as favorite makes me think it's time to go back with fresh ears. Cool.

[Slipkid42]

I love this song, so Pablo Honey is not a 2/10:



And TC, this guy wants to be Jim Morrison. That's prolly why you don't like them.

[Zip City]

Only saw Radiohead live once (In Rainbows tour) but the set list was about as perfect as I could have asked for:

1. 15 Step
2. There There
3. Morning Bell
4. All I Need
5. Pyramid Song
6. Nude
7. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
8. The Gloaming
9. The National Anthem
10. A Wolf at the Door
11. Faust Arp
12. Exit Music (For a Film)
13. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
14. Idioteque
15. Climbing Up the Walls
16. Bodysnatchers
17. How to Disappear Completely

ENCORE 1

18. Videotape
19. Paranoid Android
20. Dollars and Cents
21. Reckoner
22. Street Spirit (Fade Out)

ENCORE 2

23. House of Cards
24. Lucky
25. Everything in its Right Place


In Rainbows - 10 (complete album)
Kid A - 5
OK Computer - 4
Hail to the Thief - 3
Amnesiac - 2
The Bends - 1

[Cubfan06]

Only saw Radiohead live once (In Rainbows tour) but the set list was about as perfect as I could have asked for:

1. 15 Step
2. There There
3. Morning Bell
4. All I Need
5. Pyramid Song
6. Nude
7. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
8. The Gloaming
9. The National Anthem
10. A Wolf at the Door
11. Faust Arp
12. Exit Music (For a Film)
13. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
14. Idioteque
15. Climbing Up the Walls
16. Bodysnatchers
17. How to Disappear Completely

ENCORE 1

18. Videotape
19. Paranoid Android
20. Dollars and Cents
21. Reckoner
22. Street Spirit (Fade Out)

ENCORE 2

23. House of Cards
24. Lucky
25. Everything in its Right Place


In Rainbows - 10 (complete album)
Kid A - 5
OK Computer - 4
Hail to the Thief - 3
Amnesiac - 2
The Bends - 1

That's a perfect setlist.

How great is The Gloaming live? I don't need the Devil's Lettuce to enjoy a Radiohead show, but it certainly never hurt. When they play that song live it is just a giant wall of sound and color. Last night I tried to pull up YouTube clips of that song to text to TC. But nothing with that deep driving bass, nothing I found online could do the experience an ounce of justice.

[linkous]

This album will take weeks to sink in totally.
My gut feeling though is that this is up there on the same high level as OK C, Kid A, and Amnesiac. The 2nd song, Daydreaming, is currently the greatest thing they have ever done imo, one of the most beautiful songs I have heard in a long long time.

[Dean]

the one show I saw on TKOL tour in DC was hands down the best arena show I've ever seen. Transcendent

also, I think Hail to the Thief is massively underrated. It has 3 or 4 of their absolute best tracks

[Iowan]

The only reason Radiohead (and subsequently some of their biggest fans) hate Pablo Honey is because people who don't get the rest of their career like it.

The Bends and OK Computer are damn near perfect albums that sit at the perfect intersection of the obviously accessible nature of Pablo Honey and the alienating experimentation of their more recent stuff.

I'll get around to the new one. I'm guessing it's the type of album I won't listen to a ton, but will sound pretty great when I'm in a situation where I have to drive late at night. That's the vibe I got from "Burn the Witch".

[Beebs]

I think Hail to the Thief is massively underrated

I've been revisiting it. I know I was into it when it was released but it didn't stick to me the way their previous stuff had. This probably has more to do with me and what I was listening to/what was going on in my life than it has anything to do with the album itself. I'm having fun getting back in touch with it after a long break. It's like hooking up with an ex girlfriend.

The only reason Radiohead (and subsequently their biggest fans) hate Pablo Honey is because people who don't get the rest of their career like it.

I've always thought it was great. It's definitely a lot less refined than everything to come after it but it's still a solid album on its own merits. And I always like anything that demonstrates how great music (bands, albums, whatever) came to be.

[Iowan]

I think it's a good snap shot of where they were at that point in time and just a good 90's guitar rock album. They took a massive leap with The Bends, stylistically, and have never looked back.

[Zip City]

In a most predictable turn of events, linkous' favorite song is my least favorite. All is normal at 3dd

[Duke Silver]

Haven't gotten around to the new one yet, but I watched a bunch of live videos last night. A couple favorites:

[Cubfan06]

I was happy to see that after years in and out of Radiohead's live rotation that a studio version of True Love Waits finally saw the light of day as the new album's closing song.

[Cubfan06]

I found a show I saw from 2012 in Tinley Park on YouTube, from The King of Limbs tour. The audio is good enough and the video work is solid. It doesn't do the experience complete justice. It does somewhat demonstrate the imagery of Radiohead's lighting and stage design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shjo_OL2fmQ

I have for years been unsuccessful in posting YouTube videos. I figured you would just embed the link via the youtube option in the post above, but apparently not.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I found a show I saw from 2012 in Tinley Park on YouTube, from The King of Limbs tour. The audio is good enough and the video work is solid. It doesn't do the experience complete justice. It does somewhat demonstrate the imagery of Radiohead's lighting and stage design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shjo_OL2fmQ

I have for years been unsuccessful in posting YouTube videos. I figured you would just embed the link via the youtube option in the post above, but apparently not.

To post a YouTube clip, highlight the part of the URL that I've bolded (everything past the = sign) and wrap it in the YouTube tags. If you're still not sure, you can quote this post to see what I did. Hope that helps.

[linkous]

In a most predictable turn of events, linkous' favorite song is my least favorite. All is normal at 3dd

Phew!

[Markalanbishop]

Leave it to Noel (from late last year):
In an interview with Esquire UK, Gallagher was asked if he was “aware” of the hierarchy of UK bands. He responded, “I’m aware that Radiohead have never had a fucking bad review. I reckon if Thom Yorke fucking shit into a light bulb and started blowing it like an empty beer bottle it’d probably get 9 out of 10 in fucking Mojo. I’m aware of that.”

[Zip City]

I love Noel's music, but he's an idiot.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Leave it to Noel (from late last year):
In an interview with Esquire UK, Gallagher was asked if he was “aware” of the hierarchy of UK bands. He responded, “I’m aware that Radiohead have never had a fucking bad review. I reckon if Thom Yorke fucking shit into a light bulb and started blowing it like an empty beer bottle it’d probably get 9 out of 10 in fucking Mojo. I’m aware of that.”

just Noel bein' Noel god love him

[Iowan]

I love Noel's music, but he's an idiot.

He's fucking hilarious.

He's not wrong on this either. I don't think Radiohead sounds like Thom Yorke shitting into a light bulb, but I have a high level of confidence that if he did that, it would be lauded by music press.