Don't get me wrong, I love Radiohead. I think they are the best band in the world, period, and have been for nearly 10 years - since The Bends.

But... is it me, or do *many* Radiohead fans have an irritatingly smug superiority complex when it comes to their favorite band? I mean, the condescending attitudes if someone dares suggest that Radiohead isn't to their taste, or might be overhyped a bit. Tell a typical Radiohead fan that Thom Yorke and company are overrated, and you'll get a long-suffering sigh, a vastly superior look, and a "you just don't GET their music."

So many Radiohead fans I've talked to automatically assume that if someone doesn't like Radiohead, they are mentally defective or something.

Am I wrong here? Has anyone else noticed this? And is Radiohead the only band whose fans act this way, to this obnoxious degree??

Again - i love Radiohead. I just think that people take them a wee bit too seriously sometimes.

(Not trying to generalize - i'm sure there are many, many Radiohead fans who don't have this attitude - but it DOES seem to me that there is a LARGE contingent of Radiohead fans that feel this way.)

I also find Radiohead fans obnoxiously condescending... but then again I like some Radiohead

JonSnow said:

Tell me about it, they kind of remind me of Prince fans
*see Prince music and more

Meloh9 said:

I was going to write the very same thing. Take the word "Radiohead" out of the orginal post and insert "Prince" instead and well, it's a pretty accurate description of a great number of Prince fans and their attitude/s.

That's just how it is, though, for practically anybody who is an extremely enthusiastic fan and appreciator of *any* artist or group. I don't take it personally. They're just defending the artist or group the love so much, and they honestly can't fathom the idea that other people don't see the greatness THEY see. What's amusing to me is when folks can't realize or recognize that behavior in themselves, but don't like it when other people display that same behavior for another artist or group...

I am a Radiohead fan and I don't have said attitude. I haven't tried to push my love for the group upon anyone, I feel that's just to pretensious. I actually think that their CD's after OK Computer, mainly Kid A & Amnesiac are way too weird for pop mentalities. I no longer care what pepople like, let love rule.

I think it's only natural to
try to convince people that don't agree with you about
something/someone you think is great
I think i'm like that too
I'm also a big Radiohead fan
(tho i'm not like the arrogant fans you discribed)


Guess i am when it's concerning Prince ,tho ;
I always try to convince people that Prince is great when they're
like ;"no i don't like him" , i just hate it when people think
that , and then i feel the need to proove them wrong !


I can see why some people might not like Radiohead , because usually
their music is quite gloomy , not what one would call joyful music ,
tho it is beautiful to me
[Edited 1/27/05 21:21pm]

SnowQueen said:

I see what you are saying, and I agree to an extent.

But... i think some Radiohead fans are particularly bad about this. I think it has to do with the fact that there music can be quite cerebral and "different", and if people don't like it, they just don't "GET" it. Also, i think the fact that Radiohead is so widely hailed and fawned after in the press and by critics, helps feed this attitude.

But I agree, there are a certain # of fans like this for probably every artist. I just feel like Radiohead has more than their share

When a band is seen as "avant garde" by a good number of the population, I think that their fans feel smarter or that they have a better developed taste in music than the general populus. I think this is symptomatic of a lot of Radiohead fans. I myself am a pretty big fan of Radiohead, but I don't consider them the be-all end-all of music.

I also hear plenty of REM in Radiohead's sound, and that kinda makes them less Godlike to me.

Still they ARE the best band since The Beatles to me

Radiohead is nothing like "avant-garde".

I think radiohead could release an album of farting and the die hard fans would say it was fantastic, and look down their noses at anyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I think The Bends is the best album of the 90's and OK computer was not far behind, but since then, the output has been very mixed.

I think Kid A really is poor. It smacks of loss of ideas. I don't mean the use of sound, thats very unique, I mean the songwriting. It is very very poor.

Amnesiac is better, and indeed contains my favourite Radiohead song, Spinning Plates, but it is again very weak in places.

As for the last Album. Its not bad. It is trying to find the middle ground, but as a result, fails at both.

But yes, my fellow radiohead fans refuse to except Kid A is anything but genius!

Funny thing is, you know it will be featured in a Q article in 10 years time under the title "Follow up albums that really sucked", right next to TTD's "Neither Fish Nor Flesh".

SquirrelMeat said:

That's my fave of theirs.

I wouldn't say I'm a fan but I like the music, sometimes it's just amazing. But does anyone else get annoyed about the singer sometimes? I mean he ALWAYS sings in this whiny style. At least on OK Computer and KID A.

Cloudbuster said:

That makes sense!

SquirrelMeat said:

Cloudbuster said:

ass

TheRealFiness said:

Pig rimmer.

Radiohead are the most pretentious, faux-meaningful claptrap.
Like they want to be Pink Floyd without the talent or the lyrics.
Most of their fans are condescending tools also.

MrSquiggle said:

This coming from a Yoko fan. No offense, but I find your description of Radiohead and their fans to be a DEAD-ON description of Yoko and hers. "Pretentious and faux-meaningful claptrap" sums her stuff up quite well.

Cloudbuster said:

pissflute

It's not a feeling of superiority but I have told people on occasion
that they "just don't get" Radiohead.

But only if it's people who listen to 10 seconds of "Idioteque" and
say it's happy happy vibe music and make funny faces to it.



That freaks me out

If someone makes a conscious effort to listen to a couple of their
songs that I really like and then says "Hmm, I still don't think I
like them". Than that's just different taste.

Doesn't mean they don't know music. I found that the biggest problem
other people have with Radiohead is usually Thom's voice.

Just like most people who are not into Bjork have a huge problem with
her vocals.

I can understand that.

However, I still think they're a-musical cunts for it

Right on, IstenSzek.
Hey, if a person doesn't like Bjork or Radiohead, than it's obvious that they suck. Why do we 'get" them, and others don't? Because we're better than them. Gosh!

IstenSzek said:

Nah, it's because he's a fucking creep.

OdysseyMiles said:

hey, shall we get our "better than others" batches laminated
this weekend? that would be like, soo cool. we could like
put them on our non-logo sweaters for all to see. But I bet
most of them are far too dumb to notice what they are hahah

FunkMistress said:

"he's a weirdoooh....."

FunkMistress said:

Actually he's not. He's a very nice guy, and a father
to a really lovely son Noah. The way he talks about
his girlfriend and his son make it pretty clear that
he is anything BUT a creep.

He just has different taste in music and in making
music. Ain't nothing wrong with that. If people are
considered snobs or weirdos for making bold and new
and unconventional types of music than we should
also label Prince a weirdo and his fans snobs.

Oh, wait, he is, and we are

But I guess writing a song with the lyrics
"I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo" didn't help put
him in a better light.

OdysseyMiles said:

Yeah, that's all I meant, Isten.

IstenSzek said:

True that.

FunkMistress said:

I knew it!!

FunkMistress said:

I knew that.