The Guide to Radiohead (2008 update)
Submitted by lbangs on Mon, 05/23/2005 - 12:21
Tags:
- Pablo Honey (1993) - ** 1/2
- The Bends (1995) - *****
- OK Computer (1997) - *****
- Kid A (2000) - ****
- Amnesiac (2001) - *** 1/2
- I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings (2001) - ***
- Hail to the Thief (2003) - ****
Author Comments:
This appears just like my CC series, but there is one crucial distinction. This list is the combined opinions of me and the critics in the critical consensus series. My vote counted for one point just like the vote of each critic.
Essentially, this is simply an update of the CC series with my little voice tossed in as a drop in the critical pool.
Scale:
***** - Masterpiece
**** 1/2 - Classic
**** - Great
*** 1/2 - Good
*** - Above Average
** 1/2 - Average
** - Below Average
* 1/2 - Bad
* - Terrible
1/2 - One of the worst albums ever
Radiohead rule, i agree with your ratings here, the bends is my favourite, for me that was radioheadat their best. i ahven heard Amnesiac or Pablo, but they are both going for £6.99, so i'll have to get them. i also like Hail to the thief, i see it as a nice mix of KID A and aspects of The Bends
I'm very happy you dig the list, though I can't take too much credit for it. The ratings are simply an averaging of the opinions of my favorite critics, with my own opinion added in equal weight to each critic.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Muse are also great.
Fans of Radiohead should also check out   Magazine   - email me   for a sample.
Thanks for the advice! I've heard some Magazine, and I remember liking what I heard, but I probably should seek out some more.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Man! Hail to the Thief is so overrated to me! It's got some great stuff but as a whole?
The Bends? Okay, fine, I can live with that.
OK Computer? Yea, it's a classic.
Kid A? It used to make my spine tingle and eyes water so I can certainly sympathize.
But Hail to the Thief is a real drag to me. I purchased it at the height of my infatuation of Radiohead and to this day I just don't see how it can remain so highly regarded. It lacks verve, a sustained thrill of discovery, pinache, inspiration, penetrating emotions. It meanders about, nearly to the point of self-parody.
Have Radiohead become one of those bands that seems to be immune to criticism? With The Bends, OK Computer and Kid A did they buy themselves a free pass for the next decade? Should they just start making bush recordings or something, just to test the degree of blind acclaim?
A lot of substantive points in this post, but for some reason my brain has focused on the phrase "bush recordings" and won't let go. The most obvious explanation would be that it's an abbreviation of the term "bush-league," but since I've never heard that particular abbreviation before, I couldn't help hoping it was one of a number of other possibilities, such as: (1) you were suggesting that Radiohead get a small, leafy plant into the studio and record the noises that this shrub was making, (2) you were suggesting that Radiohead record the speeches of the current U.S. president and make entire albums with these recordings, (3) you were suggesting that Radiohead record any noises emitted from someone's pubic hair (and then thinking about Radiohead and pubic hair together reminded me of that South Park episode, you know what I'm sayin'?), (4) you were suggesting that Radiohead start producing Kate Bush's work and see if it starts winning over the critics, since none of her later work has been as acclaimed as Hounds of Love... etc. All of which would probably be awful ideas creating terrible recordings (except #4), so all of which would effectively make your point. Thank you for unintentionally entertaining me on this ridiculous Friday morning. I'm sure you can tell that I'm so ready for this week to be over that I'm getting loopy.
lol
the term was inspired by Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica. During one of the outtakes (a tack on to track 5 if I am remembering correctly), a couple of kids come up to he and the band after they just finished playing. After asking them what they think of it the Captain says (may not be perfectly quoted):
"We're recording a bush. It's a bush recording. The name of the composition is Neon Meat Dream of a Octafish. Oh wait no, it's Hair Pie."
Those last two sentences always crack me up.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Probably my favorite outtake along with: "What do you run on Rocket Morton? I run on beans. I run on laser beans."
It's amazing to me that an album so seemingly smitten by mere novelty can become with repeated listens one so overwhelmingly scarred and profound, jarring and apocolyptic.
It is a pretty amazing record, by turns playful and seemingly random, and then complex and extremely calculated. And, of course, very often both.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
As I noted, my vote was merely one of many critics consulted for this list (and I plan on updating this entire series of lists before year's end).
If you search around this site, I'm sure you'll quickly discover that I find Kid A and its follow-up to be extremely over-rated albums. Recorded at the same sessions, both essentially sound like a good album cut with a much weaker one. In the day of CD burners, I should probably combine the bits and see if I can't create the masterpiece dilluted in there!
Hail to the Thief is something of the band's All That You Can't Leave Behind; it steps back from the edge and recaptures the outfit's strengths after a few years of experimenting. To my ears, it is a fine listen, even if it is lacking the creative excitement and electric inspiration of the band's earlier pivotal discs.
The critical world obviously was quite blinded by the band post-OK Computer, a fact I brought up a-plenty at the time. I think the kids are settling down a bit now...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Makes sense. Thankyou.