I like their albums.

Indeed Kid A is played at least once a week lately in my Ipod.

But I don't understand why they're always marked as works of "Genius". Amazon reviews are all raving and I've seen alot of enthusiam here as well for Radiohead.


So, being that I casually like them--that I like their songs, and the mood their albums envoke, can someone (hopefully a die hard knowlegable fan) please break down the genius of Radiohead, and what I should be listening for?

OK Computer and Kid A/Amnesiac are genius work.

All Hail To The Thief's pretty good too

I've tried to get into OK Computer a dozen times and, despite "Airbag" and "Paranoid Android" being one of the greatest one-two punches I've ever heard, the album bores me from there.

That said, Yorke and the boys are first-rate musicians/experimenters/songwriters in my book, no matter how I personally feel about the music itself.

Radiohead and/or Thom Yorke, you either love or you hate. I don't think there's too much in between. I was never a fan until a couple years ago when I stumbled upon Kid A. I've been hooked since. I think being into Bjork kinda help me in the process. I think newbies should really check out Hail To the Thief. It's got a good variety of styles (Radiohead wise) and might ease one into the greatness of their other albums.

If you want to talk about experimental, Bowie was doing similar stuff in the early 80's. Radiohead is a great band and for this time period they ARE pretty experimental, but they aren't doing anything that hasn't already been done before.

That said, i definitely give them props for being able to do the kind of stuff they do and be commercially successful at it.
[Edited 7/15/06 21:53pm]

guitarslinger44 said:

eh, nobody's doing anything that hasn't been done before. its all in what you add to it, where are their signatures on these sounds, etc. every musician or band starts with a canvas that's been provided but the genius lies in what colors and textures you add to the canvas.

radiohead is doing their thing and the genius of the band can be seen in the perfect execution of all their work. you don't have to get it, you don't have to like it even. it just is.
[Edited 7/15/06 22:07pm]

I think they're the sort of band the Beatles are always hyped as being.

I think they're that good, far more original (despite the Sexy Sadie-ness of Karma Police) and able to credibly move between the worlds of electronica and rock without sullying either genre.

Not bad for a group of classically trained boys.

Radiohead is crap.

Dude you've got no taste

Dewrede said:

Radiohead is crap. End of discussion.

ThreadBare said:

FuNkeNsteiN said:

I really got into them while dealing with some depression. They were like the soundtrack for my life at that time. Now I have to be in sort of a down mood to listen to them. But they are the best for when you feel that way. I also like listening to them at night. I guess you could call it mood music for me. And they just seem to get better with each album in their own unique way. What do they have like 5 or 6 albums now and all of them are great? They are huge!

Dewrede said:

Hmmmm.
Yes!
Like I said, you either like Radiohead or you don't. Simple as that.
It took me a minute, but I "got it".
They are now, one of my fave bands.

I bought Hail to the Thief back in 2003, kinda liked it, even loved some of the songs (Where I end and you begin; I Will), bought OK Computer, liked most of it too, but since then Radiohead is never on heavy rotation on my cd player. Maybe it's Thom's voice, or the overall depressive mood, but for me it's neither love nor hate, it's just like/respect.

Renato said:

Disco! That's precisely how i feel about them. I have most of their albums but I dont' think they really deserve some of the praise heaped on them. They're a great band but they dont' fall into the genius category. Sorry!

FuNkeNsteiN said:

Radiohead are crap. And they're not. So there.

CarrieMpls said:

Hey, sis!

Just listened to The Eraser last night. And, kept interrupting a phone conversation I was having to say: "Dang, this is so good... I'm sorry -- what were you saying?"

Their music took a huge jump in quality from Pablo Honey to The Bends. When Creep came out I think in general, they were just viewed as some MTV friendly one-hit-wonders. The Bends caught people by suprise, the songwriting was much better. OK Computer just has an "epic" sound to it, and it came out at just the right time as the internet exploded. It's such a meticulous and detailed album, and was almost like a soundtrack to the whole tech boom in the late 90s. I don't think they would even refer to themselves as genius, thats a label the fans sometimes slap on them. But they are a great band.

ThreadBare said:

It's on my pile from my record shop extravaganza on Friday but I haven't gotten to it yet. I'm excited, though.

Let's boil it down to this. Get their first album, Pablo Honey, then compare it to the Bends, then compare that to OK Computer, then compare that to KidA. They grew artistically like a frankenstinian monster on full charge

ugh.. i think they are allowed to skip that dreadful pablo honey...

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Sdldawn said:

No, they need to listen to that garbage to see just how hardcore the Bends is in comparison. I bought Pablo Honey based only on Creep cuz I loved that song so much and I hated that album but when the Bends came along, I still bought it to see what they were up to and I went

This band deserves all the praise they get

tell them to download it.. not buy it..


they'll never buy a radiohead album again... its that bad

Sdldawn said:

Well yeah, I wouldn't say buy it. Ask for a copy. the only thing worth having on there is creep

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

And even so - my favorite version of "Creep" is the one found on the "My Iron Lung" import