ADP #2 Kid A by Radiohead - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

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Gender: Female
Age: 38

sethmadsen wrote:

I agree, but in the instance of U2, it was trend running away? In the 80s they were wearing ripped jeans and flannel when the trend was to be flock of seagulls or twisted sister, and then in the 90s when the trend was ripped jeans and flannel, they were mocking glamour rock stars (macphisto and the fly look) and even further with cartoonish features of themselves in Pop (I mean the whole concept of the Pop album was mocking, yet an attempt at pop music).

I don't know that much about the history of bowie though.

Still overall agree with what you said.

yeah that seems more accurate for U2, they're a weird case but they're probably a big part in the subject of this dramatically changing band archetype in the context of this specific moment, need to think more on this.

oh also I always thought the "getting away from rock entirely" narrative like what Yorke gives in the wiki quotes on the last page were really funny since a very large chunk of the album (national anthem, optimistic, in limbo, morning bell) feels pretty solidly located in the rock sphere. like I remember reading entertainment weekly at the time and there was a quote from courtney love about how betrayed she felt by the whole thing and it all seemed really blown out of proportion.

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

Wikipedia wrote:

Troubled by new acts he felt were imitating Radiohead,[2] Yorke believed his music had become part of a constant background noise he described as "fridge buzz",[3] and became openly hostile to the music media.[1][4] He began to suffer from writer's block, and said: "Every time I picked up a guitar I just got the horrors. I would start writing a song, stop after 16 bars, hide it away in a drawer, look at it again, tear it up, destroy it."[5] He said he had become disillusioned with the "mythology" of rock music, feeling the genre had "run its course".

Based on this, I'd say Kid A wasn't so much a product of ego, but moreso Radiohead following their artistic instincts.

Tap wrote:

oh also I always thought the "getting away from rock entirely" narrative like what Yorke gives in the wiki quotes on the last page were really funny since a very large chunk of the album (national anthem, optimistic, in limbo, morning bell) feels pretty solidly located in the rock sphere.

Interesting, this could go to show Thom Yorke had a comfort zone which he didn't want to, or couldn't, completely get away from. Or it could mean the rock elements on Kid A were essential to making the music as good as possible.

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Tap wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

I agree, but in the instance of U2, it was trend running away? In the 80s they were wearing ripped jeans and flannel when the trend was to be flock of seagulls or twisted sister, and then in the 90s when the trend was ripped jeans and flannel, they were mocking glamour rock stars (macphisto and the fly look) and even further with cartoonish features of themselves in Pop (I mean the whole concept of the Pop album was mocking, yet an attempt at pop music).

I don't know that much about the history of bowie though.

Still overall agree with what you said.

yeah that seems more accurate for U2, they're a weird case but they're probably a big part in the subject of this dramatically changing band archetype in the context of this specific moment, need to think more on this.

oh also I always thought the "getting away from rock entirely" narrative like what Yorke gives in the wiki quotes on the last page were really funny since a very large chunk of the album (national anthem, optimistic, in limbo, morning bell) feels pretty solidly located in the rock sphere. like I remember reading entertainment weekly at the time and there was a quote from courtney love about how betrayed she felt by the whole thing and it all seemed really blown out of proportion.

Agreed.

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Thanks for the discussion peeps.

It's the first time I looked at Amnesiac in a different light than the b-sides of Kid A. Thanks for correcting my ignorance.

I think I'd also agree that while the title track is one of the more unique songs/song structures I heard as a kid, there are some more playful/unique things going on with Amnesiac.

Also this album I feel has lost a bit of shock value, so reviewing it in 2017 is different than had I been writing about when it came out. When it first came out, and all I listened to was Smashing Pumpinks, Nirvana, R.E.M., U2, Radiohead... the typical alternative scene in the 90s... it was sonically different than anything I'd really listened to. The Doors and The Beatles were the only groups I heard with any type of experimentation whatsoever. I only really had heard the hits from Pink Floyd, so some of their more experimental stuff I had yet to experience/compare with. It was possibly a whole new audience/first timers with this album. And it was accessible.