elmer said:

OK Computer [Capitol, 1997]

My favorite Pink Floyd album has always been Wish You Were Here, and you know why? It has soul, that's why--it's Roger Waters's lament for Syd, not my idea of a tragic hero but as long as he's Roger's that doesn't matter. Radiohead wouldn't know a tragic hero if they were cramming for their A levels, and their idea of soul is Bono, who they imitate further at the risk of looking even more ridiculous than they already do. So instead they pickle Thom Yorke's vocals in enough electronic marginal distinction to feed a coal town for a month. Their art-rock has much better sound effects than the Floyd snoozefest Dark Side of the Moon. But it's less sweeping and just as arid. B-

Robert Christgau

Love both albums but OK Computer gets my vote. I love its self-regard and joylessness.

TEN, hands down... OK Computer is way overrated. I understand why people thought it was cool and innovating but the songwriting and chemistry on Ten in unparalleled in that era...

lezama said:

TEN, hands down... OK Computer is way overrated. I understand why people thought it was cool and innovating but the songwriting and chemistry on Ten in unparalleled in that era...

I could not get into OK Computer. Not a bad album, just didn't appeal to me. Loved Pearl Jam's Ten, but I think the follow-up Vs. is better.

afro75 said:

lezama said:

TEN, hands down... OK Computer is way overrated. I understand why people thought it was cool and innovating but the songwriting and chemistry on Ten in unparalleled in that era...

I could not get into OK Computer. Not a bad album, just didn't appeal to me. Loved Pearl Jam's Ten, but I think the follow-up Vs. is better.

Yeah, VS was amazing too. I think I'm biased towards Pearl Jam because they got me thru high school. Radiohead didn't really blow up (besides Creed) until I was in college and my tastes had changed lot by then..

afro75 said:

lezama said:

TEN, hands down... OK Computer is way overrated. I understand why people thought it was cool and innovating but the songwriting and chemistry on Ten in unparalleled in that era...

I could not get into OK Computer. Not a bad album, just didn't appeal to me. Loved Pearl Jam's Ten, but I think the follow-up Vs. is better.

The songs are more immediate on Vs. My fave of theirs.

mynameisnotsusan said:

elmer said:

AlexdeParis said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

Maybe not as straightforward as first appears

1. Air Bag vs Once

2. Paranoid Andriod vs Even Flow

3. Subterranean Homesick Alien vs Alive

4. Exit Music[For A Film] vs Why Go

5. Let Down vs Black

6. Karma Police vs Jeremy

7. Fitter Happier

8. Electioneering vs Oceans

9. Climbing p The Walls vs Porch

10. No Suprises vs Garden

11. Lucky vs Deep

12. The Tourist vs Release

It's a tie, yay! I knew it

[Edited 8/14/11 20:49pm]

I would pick Radiohead in every instance. Ten's strongest tracks to me (Jeremy, Alive, Black) are all up against better competition. This is as one-sided as it gets for me.

That's very unreasonable of you Pre-year 2000 I would've agreed but I had a little Pearl Jam thing for awhile when they brought all those live albums out

I do think a better comparison would be The Bends vs Ok Computer and Ten vs Vs

[Edited 8/15/11 16:38pm]

mynameisnotsusan said:

Stratosphere? Really?

AlexdeParis said:

I don't get the Bono comparison at all, but I do know that Radiohead's joylessness is dwarfed by Christgau's self importance.

Oh I don't either, but I do like how sharp and unusual his reviews can be. Like this one:

Grace [Columbia, 1994]
Although Tim's vocal traces are in his genes as surely as John's are in Julian's, it's wrong to peg him as the unwelcome ghost of his overwrought dad. Young Jeff is a syncretic asshole, beholden to Zeppelin and Nina Simone and Chris Whitley and the Cocteau Twins and his mama--your mama too if you don't watch out. "Sensitivity isn't being wimpy," he avers. "It's about being so painfully aware that a flea landing on a dog is like a sonic boom." So let us pray the force of hype blows him all the way to Uranus. C

[Edited 8/15/11 17:20pm]

AlexdeParis said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

That's very unreasonable of you Pre-year 2000 I would've agreed but I had a little Pearl Jam thing for awhile when they brought all those live albums out

I do think a better comparison would be The Bends vs Ok Computer and Ten vs Vs

[Edited 8/15/11 16:38pm]

Not unreasonable. Like someone said, it's just a different level. PJ isn't even in Radiohead's stratosphere, so to compare what is arguably Radiohead's best album? I just don't see it.

Taking the most acclaimed albums, the levels are prog and classic rock.

Radiohead's emotional range stretches from what? Somber - reflective - melancholy. And it irritates me that Thom Yorke casts himself as some kind of enlightened individual amongst all the worker drones -Fitter Happier-.

Vedder, from Byronic macho Godhead to tender crooner, can write songs that hit people on a familial level rather than just the cryptic sociopolitical lyrics you hear on a Radiohead record, certainly the post-Bends ones anyway.

AlexdeParis said:

elmer said:

Ten struck a personal chord in my brain that I didn't know existed, probably my favourite of all times. Aside from nostalgic and sentimental ties, I can honestly say today they were well-constructed songs that fused accessibility with innovation, and mainstream appeal with artistic integrity.

OK Computer [Capitol, 1997]
My favorite Pink Floyd album has always been Wish You Were Here, and you know why? It has soul, that's why--it's Roger Waters's lament for Syd, not my idea of a tragic hero but as long as he's Roger's that doesn't matter. Radiohead wouldn't know a tragic hero if they were cramming for their A levels, and their idea of soul is Bono, who they imitate further at the risk of looking even more ridiculous than they already do. So instead they pickle Thom Yorke's vocals in enough electronic marginal distinction to feed a coal town for a month. Their art-rock has much better sound effects than the Floyd snoozefest Dark Side of the Moon. But it's less sweeping and just as arid. B-

Robert Christgau

I bought OK Computer when it came out and rated it pretty high, but it now ranks with Dark Side of the Moon and Sgt.Peppers in terms of its inflated reputation. There's a strain of self-regard and joylessness than runs through Radiohead's music that turns me away, lyrically they're hard to dwell on.

I don't get the Bono comparison at all, but I do know that Radiohead's joylessness is dwarfed by Christgau's self importance.

That is Christgau trying to sound different from everyone with useless comparisons. He is an old queen who loves to hate on some bands for silly reasons

elmer said:

Gunsnhalen said:

AlexdeParis said:

elmer said: I don't get the Bono comparison at all, but I do know that Radiohead's joylessness is dwarfed by Christgau's self importance.

That is Christgau trying to sound different from everyone with useless comparisons. He is an old queen who loves to hate on some bands for silly reasons

Christgau gets hated on because he trashes people's favourite records, but does it so obnoxiously as to make me like him a little even if I strongly disagree. I don't think he consciously refuses to conform to popular consensus to show himself as Mr Independed-minded, he gave Kid A an A-.

[Edited 8/16/11 6:35am]

AlexdeParis said:

elmer said:

Taking the most acclaimed albums, the levels are prog and classic rock.

Radiohead's emotional range stretches from what? Somber - reflective - melancholy. And it irritates me that Thom Yorke casts himself as some kind of enlightened individual amongst all the worker drones -Fitter Happier-.

Vedder, from Byronic macho Godhead to tender crooner, can write songs that hit people on a familial level rather than just the cryptic sociopolitical lyrics you hear on a Radiohead record, certainly the post-Bends ones anyway.

Eh, I just don't hear it. Nothing Pearl Jam has ever performed hits me on a familial level more than anything on The Bends or OK Computer. This is like comparing Blink 182 with the Beatles. I can certainly see how some people would consider them peers (or even prefer Blink), but I'll never be one of those people. Radiohead >>>>>>>>> Pearl Jam IMO

Well I couldn't say that I've ever heard a song by Blink 182, but comparing Lady GaGa to The Beatles would be just as valid. Ask someone who doesn't care for music about Radiohead and you'll get a blank stare, but they'll all know who GaGa is.

elmer said:

Gunsnhalen said:

That is Christgau trying to sound different from everyone with useless comparisons. He is an old queen who loves to hate on some bands for silly reasons

Christgau gets hated on because he trashes people's favourite records, but does it so obnoxiously as to make me like him a little even if I strongly disagree. I don't think he consciously refuses to conform to popular consensus to show himself as Mr Independed-minded, he gave Kid A an A-.

[Edited 8/16/11 6:35am]

I do read his reviews some are quite funny actually. I'm not hating on him just poking funa t him a bit, but he does hate some albums for the littlest stupid reasons , then tries to be prententious about it to make up for the fact he doesn't even seem to know why he dislikes it.

OK Computer. This thing was beyond good for it's time and still is.

I like the passion and of Pearl Jam, but they never did anything for me. Great rock band though. I hope to catch them live someday.

Radiohead is the rare band whose current music is as good as the earlier work. I still make sure I but every new release.