Radiohead

They are for me my favourite band hands down and what I consider the best. It's no shock that I love nearly all of their 160 odd songs including many great b-sides. They cover every sound I love and look for in music, from hard rock, soft rock, electro, dance, pretty much any sounds they have made through out their career. Not even Pink Floyd or The Beatles had this range of sounds, The Beatles never truly rocked as hard as they could. They don't have songs such as Paranoid Android, Just, There There, 2+2=5, My Iron Lung et cetera...

Then there is the lyrics, the meaning is also there, they aren't just making these sounds for the sake of it like some bands do because they need a change. Like when you hear the song Kid A, they actually made the song sound like a kid. They also have a ton of beautiful songs through out their albums, Fake Plastic Trees, No Surprises, Exit Music, Nude, Weird Fishes, Daydreaming, Codex, Sail To The Moon, How To Disappear Completely; the list goes on and on I assure you.

There's just so much to write about, astonishing body of work from Radiohead, even with their latest album A Moon Shaped Pool, with the cinematic strings and sounds. Still pushing themselves 24 years on after making albums. May it continue for a few more albums I hope.

I'm afraid to post what I really think of Radiohead on here because everyone who has mixed feelings about them immediately gets downvoted on this site. Some people are entitled to not love something more than others, okay?!!!?

That being said, I was very hesitant to get into this band because I didn't understand the hype and thought they were wrongly categorized in alternative rock since they're very 'out there'. I still think some albums should fall more under psychedelic rock or indie-electronic, but I'll admit that they have some solid alt-rock within their art.

At this point, I've only listened to four of their albums (Started with In Rainbows, then The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A). I felt the four albums would provide me with enough variety and thesis to make an informed decision.

I really enjoyed OK Computer and In Rainbows upon first listen and have favorite songs solidified in my head upon further listens. I want to listen to The Bends again to put it in a "before-OK" mentality. However, I think Kid A is overrated. I understand the electronic/synth/artsy-sound wasn't popular at the time and this album bridged it with rock, but it is so hard to grab onto. I enjoy How to Disappear Completely, Optimistic, and Morning Bell, but I just felt the rest was meh though layered nicely. Still, after multiple listens, I really don't like that this is "the album of the 2000s". I feel that Rolling Stone (who, may I remind everyone, gave this 4/5 stars) and Pitchfork are wrong giving this album that moniker. I think Is This It?, Everything You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, or Sound of Silver are better albums to define the 2000s.

Radiohead is definitely not garbage, but I will say that some of their stuff is overhyped (especially on this site) and they do have some low points in their great albums. That being said, the art-rock genre should clearly be led by them and I respect most of what they do.

Favorite songs so far are:

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

Airbag

Electioneering

Karma Police

Let Down

Bodysnatchers

Do not downvote me for having an opinion. Just because you don't agree with me doesn't mean my opinion should be considered unhelpful.

From HiImViibes 06/01/2015 03:10 | #142780

I feel unfit to post my opinion of Radiohead. I've been listening to them for just over seven months. If it were up to me, I would have every album of theirs by now, and I would've bought them in order of release date to listen to their progression. Alas, I started with OK Computer. I listened to it all the way through, and wasn't immediately in awe of it, but after just one more listen, I was hooked. So far I own (in order of my personal favourites), OK Computer, Kid A, Hail to the Thief, and Pablo Honey. After listening to OK Computer for four months straight, I then listened to Hail to the Thief five or more times before listening to Pablo Honey around the same amount, now I own Kid A. After listening to each of these albums, I only have one thing to say to anyone who has not listened to Radiohead before; look up the style of each of their albums, then decide the best one for your taste, then buy that album. It's best to listen to an entire album, rather than the singles because you become more immersed in the music, and can appreciate it more easily. For the most part I think that people who say Radiohead are overrated, or just flat out terrible, don't really listen to their music, and don't listen to it enough. I'll be honest, the first time I listened to Kid A, I wasn't sure what to think of it, then, I really made myself listen to the music, and I found more appreciation for it with each listen through. Radiohead isn't a surface band, they aren't pop, where everything is spelled out for you, you have to really think of where they're coming from, and try to relate it to yourself. That's the only input I feel fit to give at this point, but I don't feel like I should need to give my input, their music speaks for itself, you just have to listen closely enough.

From Johnny Flynn 08/11/2010 06:25 | #14206

Top 5 greatest bands ever. No question. To call them overrated is nonsense.

From HyperBully 03/30/2010 08:24 | #10118

Love them or hate them, you have to admit that Radiohead is one of the most important bands of the last two decades. Personally, I feel every album they did bar Pablo Honey is great. How the Best Of was placed on any charts I'm not quite sure. This place is (mainly) for real albums, not unauthorized and weak Greatest Hits albums.