I Was Wrong About Radiohead

I seemed to make it a point to rip Radiohead a new one on seemingly every other thread since 2001, when -- if truth be told -- I've come to not only respect them, but quite like them. I was wrong about Radiohead, and I apologize.

Beyonce, meanwhile, is still a tepid plate of indefensible shit.

you couldn't come up with a better punchline than that?

`Tisn't a punchline, but rather a statement of indisputable fact.

also plz share when the moment was when your ears perked up and you decided I WAS WRONG ABOUT RADIOHEAD

I was wrong about Birkenhead.

Bootle, meanwhile, is still a tepid plate of indefensible shit.

Repeated listenings of Kid A prompted by Chuck Klosterman's hypothesis that it eerily predicted 9/11 (which is claptrap, of course, but a nice theory all the same).

I too was wrong about Radiohead. I just can't be getting on with Yorke's snivelling slurring singing style these days, it grates.

you were wrong about radiohead, and you're even wronger about beyonce

have you notified the press association?

I was wrong when I talked about disliking anchovies on pizza back in 2002. Should I start a thread about that as well?

Absolutely.

I too was wrong about the anchovies. Maybe if enough of us step forward we could perhaps form a club. xpost

That makes a lot of sense but what about Killing Joke?

Repeated listenings of Kid A prompted by Chuck Klosterman's hypothesis that it eerily predicted 9/11

what on earth does this even mean?

If you play "Treefingers" backwards you can hear Thom Yorke going "WATCH OUT FOR THE 9th OF NOVEMBER"

Truly I tell thee, Thom Yorke is a prophet among men.

To be fair it's no http://www.dianamystery.com/

Or that one Showaddywaddy album that eerily predicted the career of Stan Collymore.

choosing radiohead over beyonce is really unfortunate :(

Depends whether you're after a darts team.

Hound Dogging I think it was called.

If you look closely at a CD copy of Dangerously in Love you'll find Osama Bin Laden's phone number etched.

His exact wherabouts at this moment in time are foreshadowed in Snooker Loopy.

xpost

Think that was a reference to Beyonce being a Beard.

choosing radiohead over beyonce is really unfortunate :(

I'd pick Radiohead over Beyonce, too, but I like Beyonce a lot (her singles, at least).

The first song on Kid A paints the Manhattan skyline at 8:00 A.M. on Tuesday morning; the song is titled "Everything in Its Right Place." People woke up that day "sucking on a lemon," because that's what life normally feels like on the Manhattan subway; the city is a beautiful, sour, sarcastic place. We soon move onto song two, which is the title track. It is the sound of woozy, ephemeral normalcy. It is the sound of Jonny Greenwood playing an Ondes Martenot, an instrument best remembered for its use in the Star Trek theme song. You can imagine humans walking to work, riding elevators, getting off the C train and the 3 train, and thinking about a future that will be a lot like the present, only better. The term KID A is Yorke's moniker for the first cloned human, which he (only half jokingly) suspects may already exist. The consciously misguided message is this: Science is the answer. Technology solves everything, because technology is invulnerable. And this is what almost everyone in America thought around 8:30 A.M. But something happens three and a half minutes into "Kid A". It suddenly doesn't feel right, and you don't exactly know why. This is followed by track three, "The National Anthem"

This is when the first plane slams into the north tower at 470 mph.

"The National Anthem" sounds a bit like a Morphine song. It's a completley different direction from the first two songs on KID A, and it's confusing; it's chaotic. "What's going on?," the lyrics ask. "What's going on?" It gets crazier and crazier, until the second plane hits the second tower (at 9:03 A.M. in reality and at 3:42 in the song). For a moment, things are somber. But then it gets more anarchic. (Reader's Note: You might want to consider playing KID A right about now, since I'm not always so good at explaining shit like this). Which leads into track four, "How to Disappear Completely." This is the point where it feels like the world is possibly ending. People try to convince themselves that they are not there. People keep repeating: "This isn't happening". People are "floating" (read: falling) to the earth. We are told of strobe lights and blown speakers; there are fireworks and hurricanes. This is a song about being burned alive and jumping out of windows, and this is a song about having to watch those things happen. And it's followed by an instrumental piece without melody ("Treefingers"), because what can you say when skyscrapers collapse? All you can do is stare at them with your hand over your mouth.

Time passes. It's afternoon. KID A's side two, if you have it on vinyl. Action is replaced by thought. The song is "Optimistic, " a word that becomes more meaningful in its absence. It has lyrics about Ground Zero ("vultures circle the dead"), and it offers a glimpse into how Al Qaeda members think Americans perceive international diplomacy ("the big fish eat the little ones, the big fish eat the little ones/Not my problem, give me some"). Track seven, "In Limbo" is about how the United States has been shaken out of its fantasy, with "nowhere to hide," finding only "trap doors that open, I spiral down"......

I was wrong about Radio Gaga btw.

that dude needs to stop smoking pot

Thinking we should start an album conspiracy thread.

If you follow the link to where it shows the kid a artwork... scroll down to "Episode 15". The bear on "CNN" is saying some symbols.
Straight up, one of them is 9/11.

Holy shit.

Posted by: justin | February 10, 2009 at 08:15 PM

the "A" in "Kid A" actually stands for "Al-Qaeda."

"al-qaeda" means the base in arabic, and "kid a" is basically a pretty good album

Radiohead - a new new collapsing buildings for our time.

Album conspiracy thread is a GRATE idea.

Eerily Prescient Albums

Beyonce, meanwhile, is still a tepid plate of indefensible shit.

Still OTM.

beyonce has better melodies than radiohead

then it's even more egregious that she does so little with them.

Full disclosure:

http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2005/07/klostermans_the.html

beyonce has better music than radiohead

She has better music? I've never perused her disc collection.

beyonce is a better person than alex in nyc

Quite possible, I've never met her. But certainly not if her music's anything to go by.

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/chuck-klosterman-0109-fb-32960733.jpg

Welcome to Club Radiohead

at least beyonce doesn't sound like a whining baby all the time

beyonce could def beat up radiohead

Pretty sure those dudes in that picture could beat up Radiohead.

nah that bald drummer dude is a lot tougher than you think i bet

radiohead is goth is one thing abt them

Yorke looks like he's gone a few rounds.

one of the shins used to be in scared of chaka, so he's tough

beyonce is def not scared of chaka

beyonce

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/chuck-klosterman-0109-fb-32960733.jpghttp://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/chuck-klosterman-0109-fb-32960733.jpghttp://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/chuck-klosterman-0109-fb-32960733.jpg

ok can someone explain plz to me what is the deal w/all these klostermans

or is that the radioheads i dont know

thats the decemberists isnt it

no im pretty sure they wear lil robin hood hats

what's the deal with the pic? i know the dude being bunny ears'ed

thats alex in nyc iirc

I have a nice Amnesiac-era-art Radiohead shirt altho I haven't listened to the Radioheads since then.

The Klosterman's are an optometrist's dream.

i got so many klostermans on my mind
refuse to lose

I was wrong when I talked about disliking anchovies on pizza back in 2002. Should I start a thread about that as well?

― Enormous Epic (Matt DC), Wednesday, 15 April 2009 14:14

Poll Thread maybe...

Mozzarella, meanwhile, is still a tepid plate of indefensible shit.

"beyonce could def beat up radiohead"

she's free to beat me up anytime.

beyonce vs. an anchovy

Brideshead! Yeh, Brideshead. Is the one I've probably been wrong about. But I amn't 'pologising just yet. For not sure whether my rongness is a bad or a good thing.

PS: Beyonce's beauty is fuller; Readiohead's 's ...drier.

radiohead > beyonce >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> getting kicked in the nuts >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> klosterman

this thread had potential but only served to remind me that klosterman is a tepid plate of indefensible shit

"And it's followed by an instrumental piece without melody ("Treefingers"), because what can you say when skyscrapers collapse? All you can do is stare at them with your hand over your mouth.

Time passes. It's afternoon. KID A's side two, if you have it on vinyl."

i have it on vinyl. "treefingers" is the last track on side 2 of the double 10" LP. dood needs to quit fronting and STFU.

beyonce has better melodies than radiohead

IFRadiohead=KidATHENOTM

Can we not make this a beyonce/radiohead debate on this thread? I want to know more about this bespectacled band called The Radioheads.

Beyonce was okay before she ruined Jay-Z

Kid A didn't predict 9/11. Klosterman must have had it confused with Stereolab's Sound-Dust

I was right about alex in nyc

then it's even more egregious that she does so little with them.

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:52 AM (5 hours ago)

ha just saw this. wtf are u on about

"The National Anthem" sounds a bit like a Morphine song.

Right: this is totally true but would never have occurred to me.

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/chuck-klosterman-0109-fb-32960733.jpg

Alex did you start this thread so that all the dudes who think they're breaking out original material by goin LOL ALEX IN NYC KILLING JOKE LOL would have a place they could gather? an alternative "gathering," so to speak? if so you are a stand up guy for doing so and I salute you.

because you gotta worry about being original to match up with alex in nyc waht

This thread has spawned the Eerily Prescient Albums thread, Beyonce vs Radiohead, a yellow card for LJ, Radiohead slash and some sterling conspiracy theorizing. Content = brought.

i'm on about if she's got the better melodies, why do her songs do nothing for me? bar a couple here and there.
i got the over/under on 5 yrs for when it's cool again to like bands like radiohead over pop stars like beyonce.

And all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

ok.
i've liked the majority of her singles, but her album tracks go from merely boring to maudlin to nails on a chalkboard annoying.

so just listen to the singles wtf

boring to maudlin to nails on a chalkboard annoying.

this seems to be a description of the radioheads tho

so just listen to the singles wtf

I do wtf. It's like damn can I complain about a place's shitty appetizers even though their entrees are great?

Could be a description of Radiohead, yeah obv. But even their boring is more interesting than Beyonce's boring to me, their maudlin is less maudlin, etc.

okay no way is Radiohead's maudlin less maudlin than Beyonce's maudlin

maudlin maudlin maudlin

maudlin

it is cause it's way easier to not pay attention to yorke's lyrics.

that's true

but radioheads whole thing is maudlin

I do wtf. It's like damn can I complain about a place's shitty appetizers even though their entrees are great?

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Thursday, April 16, 2009 10:42 AM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

shes a singles artist her album tracks dont really matter - even tho sasha fierce is straight fire

being a "singles artist" is a crock of poop. if 90% of the music she realeases is shitty filler, than i'm gonna say she 90% sucks.

Would you say that about the Supremes?

^^yeah idk if people who actually like beyonce (like me) would agree she's a 'singles artist', though i've got no problem w/ people listening to just her singles, which are great

(xp cr?m)

being an 'abum artist' is the first sign of gtf away from my ears

ha the only Supremes I have and have heard is the #1 singles collection.

But, by your logic, they suck 90% of the time because their "albums" as such qualify as contract fulfillment.

granny hongro

the album tracks have gotten progressively better but her singles are still most important - like crazy in love + single ladies is if u really need to know the pith

But, by your logic, they suck 90% of the time because their "albums" as such qualify as contract fulfillment.

yes, they do then. so? they've got roughly 10 more singles that I like than Beyonce does.

Saying that an artist sucks 90% of time because they record album filler is a pretty fucked up way of assessing them. You make your peace with their weaknesses and move on.

Elvis sucks 90% of the time too amirite

He already has, it's everyone jumping up and down on his jock who needs to make peace and move on!

And yes, Elvis does suck 90% of the time.

i would say 95%

eh, you say alotta things

Saying that an artist sucks 90% of time because they record album filler is a pretty fucked up way of assessing them. You make your peace with their weaknesses and move on.

Sorry I guess I should assess everyone using YOUR criteria, jump on the whole poptimist bandwagon, my bad. I have more love for artists who put out more good shit, I don't see what's so "fucked up" about that. Was Marvin Gaye "a singles artist"? Cause he had some really good all time classic singles but he also had quality album tracks. Stevie, Curtis, et al. I don't look at it as album vs singles. It's all output.

why don't you put their quality work to one side, their crap to another, forget whether these were album tracks or singles, and go from there?

No bandwagons here, poptimist or otherwise; I'm just having fun. As for Marvin Gaye, he started, like Smokey and Stevie W, as a singles artist until he started recording terrific full lengths baited with great singles.

that's what i do. i'm not the one who brought up the whole "singles artist" thing.

xp

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AKe0MFDqL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

if someone would rather just release four songs that theyre really into but cause of industry marketing bullshit is forced to make an album they dont really give a shit abt then why should u

tbh whats going on is not great aside from the title track

and radiohed sux balls all the time

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/klostermanarshavin.jpg

if someone would rather just release four songs that theyre really into but cause of industry marketing bullshit is forced to make an album they dont really give a shit abt then why should u

Because it's my money.

Saying that an artist sucks 90% of time because they record album filler is a pretty fucked up way of assessing them. You make your peace with their weaknesses and move on.

Sorry I guess I should assess everyone using YOUR criteria, jump on the whole poptimist bandwagon, my bad. I have more love for artists who put out more good shit, I don't see what's so "fucked up" about that. Was Marvin Gaye "a singles artist"? Cause he had some really good all time classic singles but he also had quality album tracks. Stevie, Curtis, et al. I don't look at it as album vs singles. It's all output.

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Thursday, April 16, 2009 11:36 AM (11 minutes ago)

lol U. R. OLD.

dan u know u dont have to buy albums now

http://bkmarcus.com/blog/images/TV/WhoMournsForAdonais.jpg
Zeus. Hermes. Hera. Aphrodite. You were right. Athena. You were right. The time is passed. There is no room for gods. Forgive me, my old friends. Take me. Take me. Take me...

dan u know u dont have to buy albums now

yes, but I WANT to buy albums and I'm not super-keen on shelling out more per song to avoid lazy bullshit

if she's putting out crap, i'm not gonna pretend i don't smell it. you people have some really low expectations, it's kinda sad.

sasha fierce is a dope album btw

it's pretty easy to avoid songs you don't want to hear

i'm not coming in here saying you're wrong and fucked up for disregarding album filler and judging an artist solely on their best tracks, so i don't get why y'all have to be opinion fascists about how I view things. LOL U YUNG.

im into the good stuff - im not judging bands w/great albums on their shitty ones either - jam out all nite to hot bliss dogg

great thread so far

if she's putting out crap, i'm not gonna pretend i don't smell it. you people have some really low expectations, it's kinda sad.

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Thursday, April 16, 2009 11:52 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'm not coming in here saying you're wrong and fucked up for disregarding album filler and judging an artist solely on their best tracks, so i don't get why y'all have to be opinion fascists about how I view things. LOL U YUNG.

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Thursday, April 16, 2009 11:54 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

LOL WAHT

lol U. R. OLD.

Haha. So am I. You will be, too.

sorry mr cream turnaround subtle sarcasm doesn't come thru in text i guess.

jam out all nite to hot bliss dogg
jam out all nite to hot bliss dogg
jam out all nite to hot bliss dogg
jam out all nite to hot bliss dogg
jam out all nite to hot bliss dogg
jam out all nite to hot bliss dogg
jam out all nite to hot bliss dogg

you don't get to be an old man in these parts by ignoring album tracks

http://thenastyboys.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/train-wreck.jpg

ok fair enough objection withdrawn xp

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/fez_/nooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo.gif

I was wrong about Radio City Music Hall btw.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3321/3280798158_2998eeefff.jpg

there's about 15 songs by Max Romeo that I think are great. Most were never released on proper albums. I like him. There's about 100 songs by Gregory Isaacs that I think are great. Most were never released on proper albums. I love him, I think he's a better artist than Max Romeo. That is so fucked up, right!

max romeo def has more than 15 good songs

he will chase u into outer space if u say otherwise

otm watch out

I was wrong about Radio Birdman.

You see, it was actually "radio burnin'"

he does have more than 15 good songs, but only about that many great ones. call off the hunt please, mr. romeo.

wth this all started by you saying it's "egregious" that beyonce "does so little" with her melodies, which doesn't really have anything to do with singles vs album tracks, or radiohead, it's just dumb

beyonce is pretty much the best imo

it's just as dumb to say beyonce has the better melodies, which was my point.

so hard to be flippant on this board w/o people pulling the lawyer act

lol

Somebody call?

than radiohead? radiohead aren't really a melody band, or at least they haven't been for a long time, how is that dumb?

xp so reading is a lawyer act now

ffs are you dudes talking like gier ironically or do you just not realize you're doing it

I gotta say "egregious" is a poor word to use in the context of flippancy, but that's just my reading of In NYC vs Madonna, 2003.

yah radiohead officially gave up melody during the final chorus of "Lucky", RIP

you: don't actually know what melodies are, y/y?

no offense dg but yr flippant game needs work - for instance u played the fu dorks card waay too late for believability

i appreciate the criticism guys and will work hard to improve my flippant remarks in the future.
haha xp!

radiohead aren't really a melody band, or at least they haven't been for a long time, how is that dumb?
radiohead aren't really a melody band, or at least they haven't been for a long time, how is that dumb?
radiohead aren't really a melody band, or at least they haven't been for a long time, how is that dumb?
radiohead aren't really a melody band, or at least they haven't been for a long time, how is that dumb?

Beyonce is really really really uninteresting and crap.

If only she was white, people'd be saying she "can't sing"

Beyonce Killing Joke, meanwhile, is still a tepid plate of indefensible shit.

Good thread

PS: Radiohead is still boring shit and this news probably reinforces this fact.

Cheerio to young HI DERE!

My opinion is meaningless to the point of being entirely moot. Ignore it, move on and get on with your respective lives. Never mind. Forget I've ever said anything.

I was right about Radiohead.

Don't let the light fade, Alex!

If my penchant for being slavishly pedantic knowitall is "light," then it needs to be extinguished.

The world of retro music appreciation needs factchecking sticklers to survive tho ;_;

http://gawker.com/5845443/is-radiohead-going-to-play-for-wall-street-protesters-today

Never liked Radiohead, but if they do this today, I will be a fan for life...

Further reports seem to confirm that it is happening. 4pm today.

whoa!

last night they announced there was gonna be a musical guest and they said it was gonna be jaw-dropping and they had to keep it quiet but I def wasn't expecting something like that...

Or not

Gothamist Was Wrong About Radiohead

Haha, its going to be RATM now, isn't it?

ratm acoustic would be pretty lame

did alex in nyc ever do an "i was wrong about beyoncé" thread?

(nb he was right about radiohead the first time round)

lex in london

as for this thing, oh this band and their wacky sticking-it-to-the-man guerrilla stunts! except when it would actually be sticking it to someone obv.

yep, Radiohead: white? check. guitars? check. lex hate? check.

tbf to lex, radiohead is a shit band

xpost -- A little hard to say that about him when Taylor Swift exists!

Its amazing how much time Radiohead haters make sure to remind us in every revive ever that they still hate them. I mean, I'm trying to picture the reaction on a Beyonce thread of a gun sounds thread if somebody kept popping up every other month to say "Beyonce is still shit" or "Gucci Mane is shit" w/out adding anything meaningful to the discourse.

But, then again, this is ilm and I am thinking too hard about it.

"Beyonce thread OR a gun sounds thread"

it has to be at least a year since i said that radiohead sucks

I'm not offended or w/e, just seems like Radiohead is the one band on ilm that consistently draws people out of the woodwork only to comment how much they remain hated.

radiohead are probably more loved even than beyonce on ilm, even if 3/5 of radiohead are white

it seems like only yesterday that Radiohead was sucking

I don't actively hate them or anything but their appeal has always eluded me

It'll be Midnight Oil instead.

I'm not offended or w/e, just seems like Radiohead is the one band on ilm that consistently draws people out of the woodwork only to comment how much they remain hated.

― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, September 30, 2011 1:46 PM

i like radiohead a lot yo, just ignore ppl

i would poll r vs b if ppl wouldnt insist on talking abt them rather than just voting like they should

It'll be Midnight Oil instead.

LOL

Some posts very much in character in this thread.

Sleep Now In The Fire. Lord knows my copy of The King Of Limbs deserves to, if only I wasn't such a hoarder.

Apparently the word is that while the public statements claim the show is "off" due to crowd concerns, it is in fact happening. Cue the snarky "what are their demands" or "why are they using apple laptops then" or "why don't they get jobs". This thing is taking off people, thanks in part to the jackbooted thug who pepper sprayed those protestors. "If it bleeds it leads" in the American media and that finally got some coverage.

Thom Yorke's voice sure is fun to imitate
but yeah i think all this "Radiohead sucks" talk is just backlash of their status, which for better or worse they deserve

I don't think Radiohead suck, but I don't exactly think everything they've released is manna from the Gods like their hardcore fans seem to. 'Amnesiac' and 'Hail To The Thief' remain flawed records to me, and 'The King Of Limbs' comes across to be as a sonic abortion with very little in the way of decent songwriting.

i like radiohead

amnesiac is my fave album by them

king of limbs has a few dope songs

I mean if you want to talk about bands that have gotten way more critical slobbering than they deserve, direct yourselves to the Neutral Milk Hotel thread

critics didn't really slobber all over that one

I definitely don't slavishly adore everything they've done, but I'm a fan. Its just interesting to me that these guys really draw out the haters.

i like radiohead

amnesiac is my fave album by them

king of limbs has a few dope songs

Ahh... I don't really agree, I'm afraid. I remember one of the big protests when 'Kid A'/'Amnesiac' came out was 'what happened to the songs?', and my answer was that, of course, the songs were still there. The songwriting hadn't really changed - it's just instead of working up the chord sequences and the vocal melodies into "rock band" arrangements (for want of a better term), they chose to embellish them in different ways and add some unusual things into the mix. Like, how they turned 'Motion Picture Soundtrack' from being an acoustic strum into the organ-and-harp samples thing it eventually became. Because of this, if you were to strip away those arrangements and separate them from the tracks, a lot of those songs would still stand up in their purest form.

When I try and imagine 'The King Of Limbs' stripped of all of its sonic quirks, I can't help but feel there is (for the most part) a bunch of very skeletal, underwritten songs underneath. Some might say that's what makes it unique in the bands discography, but given that this a band that are noted for their very strong songwriting (and let's face it - 'Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box', 'Idioteque' etc. etc. are all songs at the end of the day), I can't help but feel disappointed that they didn't come up with much this time around. 'Codex' is the one keeper for me, but even that comes across as a bit Radiohead-by-numbers. It feels a bit like 'Pyramid Song', even lyrically, but without 'Pyramid Song's jarring syncopated rhythms.

good post Turrican, that's exactly what bothered me about TKoL

ratm acoustic would be pretty lame

― iatee, Friday, September 30, 2011 1:37 PM (54 minutes ago) Bookmark

Q.E.D.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YTxGBfwsEMo/R87fdbQYBnI/AAAAAAAABAg/MOXKEtVYni0/s320/The+Nightwatchman-One+Man+Revolution+%282007%29.jpg

"This Guitar Kills Interest"

LOL one of my NYC twitter friends:

allyzay Ally Millar
GUYS I HEARD SPACEHOG IS PLAYING WATER STREET TODAY? CONFIRM/DENY? #occupywallstreet

i was right abt radiohead

jus one of yr 'nyc twitter friends'

Uh . . . yeah?

I think he means that we know who Ally is. lol.

The songwriting hadn't really changed

Because Idioteque sounds exactly like High & Dry.

Oh, haha, jesus. #eggonface

I should've anonymized it and made you all guess.

I have always strongly disliked Radiohead. I've just never understood what about then people seem to love so much. I don't think I've ever said that on ILM before today but I'm saying it now because I can and to piss Jon off.

Oh wait - I like Pablo Honey but that's it.

I wouldn't admit that in public.

Because Idioteque sounds exactly like High & Dry.

Yet, funnily enough, both sound like Radiohead. And why is that? Because as I stated above, the songs were worked up with different arrangements. Don't confuse arrangements with songwriting, they're not the same thing.

I would. They are boring and awful to listen to for the most part but PH has some kick ass songs. Whatever.

Pablo Honey has some songs I wish I'd never heard.

You're confusing arrangements with songwriting if you think that the arrangements are all that separate Idioteque and High & Dry, Turrican.

Yep, you beat me to it.

@Melissa:

'High And Dry' is a Radiohead song - with chord sequence, lyrics and vocal melody - arranged for guitar, bass, drums and voice.

'Idioteque' is a Radiohead song - also with chord sequence, lyrics and vocal melody - arranged for keyboards, drum machine and voice.

'Idioteque' could have easily been played with guitar, bass, drums and voice and still stood up - while they would have had to re-title it, it's still a song that could be recorded in a different arrangement and still hold water, since the tune itself is very strong.

I remember once I went to audition a drummer for a ska-core project of mine back in 98 or so. We tried playing together for about 45 minutes and then he tried to convert me to Radiohead fandom by putting in a videotape of their mtv stuff. I left during the third song.

Oh, I didn't realize this was about the subjective quality of "a choon". Carry on. x-post

Mm-hm. All opinions about music are subjective - I didn't realise that could possibly have been a revelation! Carry on :)

Actually, the structural songwriting differences between High & Dry and Idioteque are factual and objective. The quality of the two is subjective, sure.

Actually, the structural songwriting differences between High & Dry and Idioteque are factual and objective.

Hm-hm. But that's blatantly not what I was talking about :)

"ska-core project"

I have always strongly disliked Radiohead. I've just never understood what about then people seem to love so much. I don't think I've ever said that on ILM before today but I'm saying it now because I can and to piss Jon off.

I don't think you get my point, I don't care if you dislike 'em or hate 'em, I've just never understood the need for people to be vocal about their hatred for this particular band. I mean, I hate Gucci Mane so I just stay off threads where people are talking about him. This isn't just an ILM thing, but it seems like Radiohead haters go out of their way to voice their dislike. Is it just that people think the critical consensus is so powerful that they are just compelled to constantly make sure the world at large knows that not everyone loves them?

But I guess this is something I think about in general, I don't understand people that post on the internet at any venue just to say "this sucks" or "I hate this" wrt anything. Seems like such a pointless waste of time. Then again, I don't get the appeal of trolling either, so its just me.

Is it just that people think the critical consensus is so powerful that they are just compelled to constantly make sure the world at large knows that not everyone loves them?

― jon /via/ chi 2.0

I can't speak for all Radiohead 'haters', but I think this may partly be the case. Another reason is that across music discussions on the internet, there's a high quantity of Radiohead 'lovers' who are equally vocal about their love for the band, and while I do understand their enthusiasm, I often find they go way over the top in their praise, and for some maybe it is a reaction against that. I can't say for certain what their exact reasons are and I can't speak for everyone.

Personally, all of the best conversations I've had about this band with lovers of music and Radiohead fans have been the type of people who have a very balanced view of the band and their output. Certainly, I get just as tired as seeing over the top praise for the band as I do people relentlessly bashing the band - it all seems incredibly extreme, not to mention very tiresome to read.

x-post - I didn't realize they had that effect on ppl but maybe you're right. In any event I was just giving you a hard time. I mean I still don't like them but, you know.

a ska-core project of mine

eh. say what you want. I don't listen to skapunk anymore either, but I'd still take it over radiohead.

Nabisco has opinions about this.

lostmythos

What is the point of this article? Radiohead is awesome and much better than 100 per cent of the bands in NYC playing that night. Vulture, oh Vulture. Tons of crap about crap like Odd Future but you gotta slam the best band in the world to be cool. So sad.... Nitsuh you gotta get a little bit older maybe and refine your taste.... nice try at a different kinda piece though, gotta give you that at least...

lostmythos

"Beyonce, meanwhile, is still a tepid plate of indefensible shit."

True then, truer now.

And now they've both headlined Glastonbury.

I definitely don't slavishly adore everything they've done, but I'm a fan. Its just interesting to me that these guys really draw out the haters.

― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, September 30, 2011 2:29 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

it's basically because of how exalted they are held by people who do love them. I feel indifferent to them, liked OK Computer, played Kid A a few times. but to more casual music fans they represent the pinnacle of 'serious music'

other bands I would lump into the same category with radiohead: tool, wilco, pavement

The inherent snobbery in the idea that anyone whose favorite band is Radiohead are "more casual music fans" kind of kills me tbh. I mean sure, true for some, hardly true for all. It's as ridiculous as saying that anyone whose favorite composer is Bach or Schubert is inherently a casual classical fan, when obviously that does not hold true at all.

this is ILM! but point taken.

The inherent snobbery in the idea that anyone whose favorite band is Radiohead are "more casual music fans" kind of kills me tbh

I don't think dayo said this!

i like radiohead

i also sort of like having some bands to like that are at least of a moderate degree of popularity and known to most ppl, at least by name

like bjork or wilco or tool are kind of in that realm too...soundgarden, i dunno stuff like that

i love radiohead and feel a little bad i've never managed to see them live

otoh if i had to choose between "surfin bird" or the entire radiohead catalog being stricken from the record, i would be comfortable with my choice

it makes conversation easier like when someone asks what you've been listening to say the new radiohead instead of "oh this album 'the alchemist' home, they were an early 70s band, it's a weird concept album, think like a more pastoral, country rock version of argus by wishbone ash"

i mean what a fuckin' dickhead i am

kinda like how when i'm listening to my ipod in public and anyone asks what i'm listening to i always say "the rolling stones."

The inherent snobbery in the idea that anyone whose favorite band is Radiohead are "more casual music fans" kind of kills me tbh. I mean sure, true for some, hardly true for all. It's as ridiculous as saying that anyone whose favorite composer is Bach or Schubert is inherently a casual classical fan, when obviously that does not hold true at all.

― Melissa W, Friday, September 30, 2011 3:30 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark

I like radiohead and have seen them live and shit but if someone says their fav band is radiohead I will def silently judge them

"alternative rock music"

if someone asks me what I'm listening to I take my headphones off and ask them what they're listening to and then when they tell me, I usually go "oh, then you'll probably be into [some band from the 70s]"

no one ever asks me what i'm listening to.

sometimes they really don't want to tell me what they're listening to it gets really awkward but I push it

do people really ask you guys what you're listening to?

"people"

"people" do

I just say "e-40" and there's usually a 50% chance I'm not telling a lie

no one ever asks me this. unless my music is bothering them at work.

lol dayo

The inherent snobbery in the idea that anyone whose favorite band is Radiohead are "more casual music fans" kind of kills me tbh. I mean sure, true for some, hardly true for all. It's as ridiculous as saying that anyone whose favorite composer is Bach or Schubert is inherently a casual classical fan, when obviously that does not hold true at all.

― Melissa W, Friday, September 30, 2011 3:30 PM (33 minutes ago)

if u were a more causal music fan u would probably use say, reich/rachmaninov rather than bach/schubert in that analogy

man I havent listened to rachmaninov in a long time

the phil selway of the concert grand

kinda like how when i'm listening to my ipod in public and anyone asks what i'm listening to i always say "the rolling stones."

You realise you're going to need to update this response to "Superheavy" now?

I like radiohead and have seen them live and shit but if someone says their fav band is radiohead I will def silently judge them

― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Friday, September 30, 2011 6:05 PM

Good for you?

if u were a more causal music fan u would probably use say, reich/rachmaninov rather than bach/schubert in that analogy

― diouf est le papa du foot galsen merde lè haters (nakhchivan), Friday, September 30, 2011 6:12 PM

idek what you're trying to say here.

i constantly get asked what i'm listening to! it's like, jesus, people, if i have headphones on while riding public transportation it's because i am trying to block out reality until i return to my hole to avoid a panic attack.

i say i'm listening to a computer studies course lecture notes and then the person usually goes away

I feel like I'm the opposite of a hater with them. It's not that I think they're less good than their fans believe. It's that I think lots of other bands are way better than some of Radiohead's fans believe. There are people commenting on that Vulture post who seem MAD at the suggestion that any other musician in the world might even be nearly-as-good as Radiohead. (I don't know why you wouldn't be pleased to believe that, unless you really just wanted to declare yourself as having impeccable taste, and admitting that other good music might exist infringes on that.)

do you look really cool & listen to music really loud strongo?

i look like a mental defective and listen to music at the appropriate volume

maybe u just look like youre really enjoying it

was it on this forum where someone would record themselves screaming and walk to their college classes listening to it

I was right about Wrongiohead

I think a lot of radiohead hate comes from their changing style from a hugely popular and accessible album like the bends to a slightly more experimental/challenging album in ok computer through everything since which is basically trolling anyone who likes chords

www.geir.ie

Lolled

these radiohead guys are pretty good

i think i might just give them a chance

why do people enjoying hating radiohead: its cause theyre mopey and ponderous and when you point this out their fans are all NO WAY CHECK OUT TRACK 6 OK COMPUTER

also like the titles of their albums 'ok computer' 'kid a' do not exactly inspire confidence

radiohead fans feel inherently guilty abt liking the band and everyone can tell

a shroud of shame hangs over the radiohead empire

otm

No guilt.

the only thing 'wrong' with radiohead being your favorite band is that it's as boring as the beatles being your favorite band and 1/100th as justifiable

it's about the same level of justifiable imo but i guess the Beatles had more variety, fuck off to them

serious sliding scale

All of this only confirms what I thought about Radiohead. Boring.

and...
i also sort of like having some bands to like that are at least of a moderate degree of popularity and known to most ppl, at least by name

Oh do you? ha! ha!

nothing like the same level of justifiable tbh

xpost idg what was funny there

i have opinions about radiohead

Hey chromecassettes, suck my dick ha! ha!

wirelesstoilet

OK! Ha! Ha!

Hey chromecassettes, suck my dick ha! ha!

― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

loool

does loool stand for laugh out out out loud? Is that a reference to that band Shout Out Out Out Out? If you like Radiohead you might like them as well.
HIJACKED!

pls don't be a sock

Are your cassettes made out of chrome?

Oh whoops sorry about that SNA-ers!

did alex in nyc ever do an "i was wrong about beyoncé" thread?

I was never fucking wrong about Beyonce.

http://www.closeronline.co.uk/Assets/Image/100204_beyonce1_lead.jpg

Surely they should have released a 'song' called 'Witchdoktors' by now