....and what's the deal with Radiohead - Music

samistake2ice
General Grievous Angel

Gender: Male
Age: 37
Location: Houston

I don't have a problem with the band on principal, there are a few songs and a couple albums that I like. However, I don't understand how or why they have been catapulted into the conversation among the greatest bands of all time. It makes me question the median age of the users of this site. I have a hard time believing that there are a lot of 40+ year olds who consider Radiohead to be in that same category.

OK Computer is, according to this site, the best album of all time by a margin of more that 10,000pts and close to 200 charts.

I think it's odd.

I'm not criticizing the band or there work, I'm sure they deserve a lot of the accolades that have come their way.

Please respond and make your case for why Radiohead (and other Thom Yorke projects) are automatically given a path to the top of every list on this site.

try not to get defensive, I don't mean to attack your music tastes.

meccalecca
Voice of Reason

Gender: Male
Location: The Land of Enchantment

ryanbrun1 wrote:

I don't have a problem with the band on principal, there are a few songs and a couple albums that I like. However, I don't understand how or why they have been catapulted into the conversation among the greatest bands of all time. It makes me question the median age of the users of this site. I have a hard time believing that there are a lot of 40+ year olds who consider Radiohead to be in that same category.

OK Computer is, according to this site, the best album of all time by a margin of more that 10,000pts and close to 200 charts.

I think it's odd.

I'm not criticizing the band or there work, I'm sure they deserve a lot of the accolades that have come their way.

Please respond and make your case for why Radiohead (and other Thom Yorke projects) are automatically given a path to the top of every list on this site.

try not to get defensive, I don't mean to attack your music tastes.

see the other 500 Radiohead threads...

But seriously I think it comes down to this. Radiohead is a very good but who's also internationally popular. Many of their fans are diehards who are going to rank their albums at the top of their charts. Top rankings translate to a lot more points than say ranking them #20. So their albums get a lot of their points from top rankings on BEA. In my own case. I love the band dearly. Their albums have always resonated with me and their live shows are some of the best I've ever seen. There's quite a few bands I love just as much whose albums can barely crack the top 50,000 albums, but it's this more universal love for Radiohead that puts them on top.

Looking into the 2013 charts you'll find some albums rather high on the list though they've only appeared in one or 2 charts. Meanwhile there will be albums that appear in 30 charts but manage to be ranked below them. It's definitely not a perfect system, but I love Radiohead being on top. I think they exist in a pretty similar place to the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Zeppelin in that they've been both critically respected and commercially successful.

I'm also just happy that #1 isn't Mumford & Sons.
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http://jonnyleather.com

Dingerbell

Gender: Male
Age: 27

Firstly, there's a million of these topics already.

Secondly, they repeatedly out-do themselves when their expectations are already ridiculously high. Following up OK Computer with Kid A was astounding for many reasons- it's difference from OK Computer was astonishing- but the most astounding thing was how it was pretty much up to standards with it. That hasn't really happened since the Beatles era, following one of the most renowned albums in the world with another directly after it. Both Kid A and OK Computer are both in the top ten, which is only matched by Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's, really.

Also, the thing is, the more music you listen to- well, for me at least- the more and more you begin to appreciated and like Radiohead's albums. For example, Kid A, for me, I thought had a few decent songs, but nothing spectacular, and I thought it had a lot of filler. Leaving it for a few months, and re-listening, I suddenly thought it was one of the greatest albums I had heard. This happened with most of Radiohead's albums for me, and I guess it came about when I listened to shuffle on my iPod and became familiar with the songs, before listening to them in album form. Even the songs that I didn't like on their own seemed to fit so well with the albums, and I began to appreciate them as one piece of music.

OK Computer's so high up, not only because many have it as their favourite, but it seems to be in many more charts than the others in the top ten- nearly 200 more than Dark Side of the Moon. I imagine this is because many people on this site have heard it and thought it was pretty good, and put it somewhere near the bottom of their chart. Over time, it probably crept up the person's chart until it gained more and more points. And also, it's a fantastic album. Wink

Balance

They sound great etc

Guest

Dingerbell wrote:

Following up OK Computer with Kid A was astounding for many reasons- it's difference from OK Computer was astonishing- but the most astounding thing was how it was pretty much up to standards with it. That hasn't really happened since the Beatles era, following one of the most renowned albums in the world with another directly after it.

Public Enemy followed up Nation of Millions with Fear of a Black Planet, I think you'll find.

Dingerbell

Gender: Male
Age: 27

lethalnezzle wrote:

Public Enemy followed up Nation of Millions with Fear of a Black Planet, I think you'll find.

Neither of those albums are in the top ten of all time on this site, let alone both of them, which is why I was saying it was significant. There are many artists who have one or two incredibly renowned works, and less often in a row. There aren't many who have an album in our top ten, so having two is ridiculous.

meccalecca
Voice of Reason

Gender: Male
Location: The Land of Enchantment

Dingerbell wrote:

Neither of those albums are in the top ten of all time on this site, let alone both of them, which is why I was saying it was significant. There are many artists who have one or two incredibly renowned works, and less often in a row. There aren't many who have an album in our top ten, so having two is ridiculous.

In all fairness, those 2 Public Enemy records could easily be 2 out of the 10 best hip hop records ever, so it's pretty incredible
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http://jonnyleather.com

Guest

Here's a list of artists, since The Beatles and prior to OK Computer, who have released two of the world's most highly regarded albums, one after the other (in no order):

Stevie Wonder: Talking Book, Innervisions
David Bowie: Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust
Pink Floyd: DSOTM, Wish You Were Here
The Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill, Paul's Boutique
Talk Talk: Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock
Weezer: Weezer, Pinkerton
Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie
Pixies: Surfer Rosa, Doolittle
A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasure, Closer
Michael Jackson: Off The Wall, Thriller
Can: Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi
Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run, Darkness
Neil Young: After The Gold Rush, Harvest
The Smiths: take your pick

I dunno, I could go on but blah.

Dingerbell

Gender: Male
Age: 27

Dingerbell wrote:

Neither of those albums are in the top ten of all time on this site, let alone both of them, which is why I was saying it was significant. There are many artists who have one or two incredibly renowned works, and less often in a row. There aren't many who have an album in our top ten, so having two is ridiculous.

Guest

If another album was on top of the overall chart then someone else would come and make a thread like this about that.

Last edited by Guest on 06/06/2013 19:51; edited 1 time in total