I'm getting tired of reading how great Radiohead is/was when I've never even heard one of their songs (or know that I have) or albums. Can anyone tell me if they are really good and what their best album is (so I can look for it on the newsgroups)...Thanks!

Try OK Computer and Kid A.

The latter album is more abstract, and not guitar oriented like OK Computer. But both are excellent.

I don't really listen to them tons but I have a couple of their albums on my computer and I've been to see them in concert and they are a great band. Part of it is that they're so artistic and doing things on their own terms and being so successful at it. Although having said that I think another side of it is a lot of critics and people who feel cool just saying, "Yeah i'm really into Radiohead. Theyre so EXPERIMENTAL!" like it's almost dangerous to be listening to them, when in fact, they don't really "get" the point of it all in the first place. but who can say? They are a very good band though and you should at least check out OK COmputer.

"The Bends"

There's good stuff on all their albums. Pablo Honey (their debut) is a little bland compared to what came after it but all the rest are well worth investigation.

minneapolisgenius said:

Yeah. Their one good proper album, and the only listenable one in my opinion.

1p1p1i3 said:

Cloudbuster said:

Cloudbuster said:

Well, OK Computer was alright, but a bit up it's own arse. And since then, as my dad might say, "It's just noise"!

I liked The Bends though.

1p1p1i3 said:

Cloudbuster said:

i say start with 'the bends' and, if you like that one, work your up chronologically.

In my opinion, "OK Computer" is one of the monumental masterpiece albums of my lifetime. I'm on my third copy of the thing, because I wore my first copy out and then foolishly loaned out my second one. I really enjoy "The Bends" and I like the stuff they've done post-OK Computer (I don't have the live one - I can't be bothered for some reason), but OKC is one of those ever-more-rare examples of a pop group getting successful by way of putting out a really original, really fresh sounding piece of music. It's like when U2 hit with Joshua Tree, or when REM exploded...only somehow, OK Computer managed not to get played all over the radio and MTV, and so the music has been saved from becoming too worn-out and ubiquitous. It's been a good formula for them, whether intentional or not.

Alright...I'll track down "The Bends" And "OK Computer" and if I don't like those, I'll conclude that I don't like Radiohead. But at least I'll know what all the fuss is about.

TonyC said:

Oh please... There is no concluding about those two albums.. if u make ure mind up about radiohead because of those albums, u truely havent heard the brilliant side of radiohead. U are forgetting 2 of thier best cd's..

Look, Start off with OK Computer, and then get these two masterpieces...

Kid A

Amnesiac

Both are from the same session.. it is an amazing experience.. both of these albums, eclectic experimental.. Definantly two of the best albums that have come out of 00's yet.. Truely brilliant stuff.


and if u dig those.. try hail to the thief.
[This message was edited Sun Dec 7 22:39:54 PST 2003 by Sdldawn]

minneapolisgenius said:

im a radiohead beginner. just got my copy a few weeks ago.

Christopher said:

Actually, I got all my Radiohead albums completely out of order, and The Bends was one of the last ones I bought.

minneapolisgenius said:

i think next on my list is Ok Computer...i dunno if im ready for the others yet

Christopher said:

it's about damn time you joined the party!



go get OK Computer!!!

www.pitchforkmedia.com has posted their top 100 albums of the 90s and guess what number one is?? Not that I agree with any of their list, especially when Radiohead ranks above My Bloody Valentine!! But its an interesting site none-the-less.

001: Radiohead
OK Computer
[Capitol; 1997]

The end of the 90s will be seen as the end of the album. The rise of MP3 technology and file downloading returned pop music consumption to collective pre-Beatles mindset, where songs are judged as singles. Radiohead's Kid A and Amnesiac were shallowly criticized as B-side collections because they were downloaded and assembled as such on home computers. "Treefingers" and "Hunting Bears" were torn apart, not a piece of a 60 minute or so record, but as worthwhile 34-minute download times (this, remember, was right before DSL/Cable). The resurgence, and arguable final entrenchment, of manufactured Pop Stars by their handlers over supposedly more artistic fare-- and more importantly the acceptance of such common pleasures by critics-- razed the significance of the complete album. Which is why OK Computer, and it's Best Albums Ever companion Loveless, eternally top these polls: somehow we doubt we'll ever see their like again.

Modern thinking has led to debates and revisionism over the effect of tracks like "Electioneering" and "Fitter Happier" on OK Computer's importance, as if removing "Turd on the Run" and "Pet Sounds" would somehow make Exile on Main Street and Pet Sounds five-and-a-half-star albums. What's interesting in the case of "Electioneering" is that, at the time, it stood as the one track most similar to the beautiful guitar rackets of "Just", "Creep", and "My Iron Lung". The band even performed the song on The Tonight Show upon the album's release. Beyond its political intent, the song could have fit easily on Radiohead's two previous albums.

Regardless, any arguing or defending of the record seems pointless and redundant. Which is why it's here at the peak. It should be reiterated, however, just how much better OK Computer is than Loveless, and why people somehow forget this. Loveless, a masterpiece of form and noise, impresses the brain like stylized photography. Surely, it is breathtaking. It provides the senses with a romantic, heightened ideal of music, experienced through an unbreakable medium. The sound overwhelms to such an extent that multiple listens are unnecessary and taxing. OK Computer, in contrast, sounds crystalline and liveable-- a true, enterable aural landscape packaged with press-delivered mythology describing its creation (Thom Yorke singing on his back staring at Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman's castle ceiling).

Those overly familiar with this album's details doubt its brilliance only in the way a Loveless-like beauty sitting across the restaurant from your mate questions your life commitment. You haven't seen the armpit stubble, shower drain residue, high-school poetry, morning dental state, and Disney-induced tears of Loveless. Psychologically, one needs those fantastic diversions, but there has to be something real to return to again and again. OK Computer simply is the anxious, self-important, uncertain, technologically overwhelmed 1990s. --Brent DiCrescenzo

015: Radiohead
The Bends
[Capitol; 1995]

This-- the album that sprouted Radiohead's own branch on the cred tree-- washed our mouths clean of Pablo Honey's fractured rock aimlessness and served as an aperitif for what they had in store. An anthemic revival of sorts, it was the first in a series of 90-degree turns in terms of vision and style. Lacking any real agenda-- a trend to be developed later in the band's career-- the record simply exemplifies rock's sterile beauty. On The Bends, Radiohead are as much an eruptive force as they are an introspective and calculated machine as acoustic and electric structures commingle in perfect harmony. Stripped of all pretension, the straightforward yearning of "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" come off as crystalline products of Thom Yorke's innermost despair. "Just" threw a knockout punch into the air, and the stop/slow motion video for the enchanting "Street Spirit" replaced the Ouija board at late-night get-togethers. As accessible a first listen as it is rewarding a thousandth, this was the first glorious peek into Radiohead's psyche. --William Morris


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I bought OK Computer first, and it's my favorite. The combination of the guitar and cello on "Airbag" is awesome, and the "feeling" so to speak of "Climbing Up The Walls" is really chilling.

endorphin74 said:

i know im late as hell...but im catching up.

It really depends on your tastes. I love all their stuff, but they're not everybody's cuppa tea. They've gotten less commercial as their career has progressed, so it really depends on how avant garde you like your stuff.

Pablo Honey my least favorite of their discs. The most straightforwardly commercial of their endeavours. Best known for their huge hit "Creep"

The Bends Another fairly commercial album, it is nontheless fantastic. This is where Radiohead started to branch out.

OK Computer The album that will always be the defining moment for them, since this is where they finally got recognised for the geniuses they are!

Kid A/ Amnesiac Two ablums recorded in the same sessions, they are both truly brilliant. Neither of these albums contain anything that could remotely be considered commercial. The songs are sparse, yet jazz-like in their structure. These are the discs that marked them as the heirs to Pink Floyd's tripped-out legacy.

Hail To The Thief In many ways, this is the culmination of what they'd done since OK Computer. Many expected them to return to their "rock" sound, while others expected an even less commercial endeavour. They did both, or neither, depending how you choose to look at it. The songs here are more melodic than the previous two discs, but they remain tripped out. (Plus, I think its fantastic that these guys managed to get the phrase "Hail To The Thief" plastered all over the US).

JediMaster said:

I agree word for word.

Anyone else diggin on We Suck Young Blood?


beautiful

Sdldawn said:

yes...clap

btw their best song is Fake Platic Trees off of The Bends

rdhull said:

Tune!