Radiohead: Are They Overrated? Let's Discuss
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ต.ค. 2023
- Radiohead are a band described by The Irish Times as 'Unfathomable' - but is it all whining and looped cyborg farts? Or maybe it is pure artistic genius? Answers on a postcard.
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The overrated/underrated debate is always an interesting one. I'd actually say they're generally properly rated. It's hard to deny how talented they are, especially Jonny Greenwood. Their albums are so diverse that two of them might resonate with one person and two completely different ones might resonate with another, and I think that diversity is what makes them great. Being a Radiohead fan, I personally think they are probably the best band of their generation, but I'm not surprised when someone else doesn't see it that way.
I'm glad you gave "In Rainbows" a listen, and I totally agree about Reckoner. It's a song that keeps moving towards the top of my favorites.
As a Brazilian I can say here everyone here agrees with you
Watch King of limbs from the Basement and then ask yourself are they overrated.
At the risk of coming across as “main stream” my love lies with the first 3 albums alone. I’m borderline obsessed with “Ok Computer” & equally enthralled with tracks like “Just” from “The Bends”. Hauntingly melancholic indulgence at its very best. I have no love but respect what came after & it doesn’t take away from the seminal brilliance that came before. I’m just happy the stuff I love so much exists & nothing can take those tracks away.
I absolutely adore Radiohead and I do not care what other people think or say about Radiohead fans. The only album I have an issue with is King of Limbs but all the others would appear in my top 20 albums of all time. I must add that I was in I.T and my home is pretty organised. However, I am in a long term relationship and not a geek 😂 in fact I have never played a video game. 4:07 For me, I am attracted to music, films and books that may be described as surreal, dark or slightly depressing (The Hours is a film favourite and that is not the happiest film ever) listening to Radiohead does not make me depressed, it lifts me spiritually. Also, I hate Oasis with all my heart.😂
The King Of Limbs from The Basement totally makes justice to the album
By no means are they overrated. Except their first album which is not properly focused they have not made a bad album yet (let’s leave KOL out). In my opinion, after albums like The Bends, OKC, In Rainbows, KidA/Amnesiac or A Moon Shaped Pool they deserve all the praise they have been given. What other band can showcase such huge talent these days?
Some great points. I should stick with them perhaps
Live version of King of Limbs (from basement) is much, much better than album version IMO. I guess some of experimental ideas they had didn't pan that well on the album.
I was surprised you didn't like Thief more as that was a partial but significant step back towards rock music. The closing Wolf at the Door is absolutely brilliant & one of their most underrated songs imho .
If we carefully look at their whole discography,I think we can make a parallel with Talk Talk...bands with the will to go ahead,not repeating a formula,embracing the idea of unknown territories...so how to expect the same level of appreciation album after album?...after "ok computer" they were stuck...how to escape a beast like that?...let's see if we can write something from that blank page... challenging yourself is in my opinion the heart of true artists...a question of honesty too...different albums...different emotions...colors...thoughts...lyrics...to my ears,Radiohead has captured something essential of the modern chaos ...hard to explain...but I can feel it...non-sens,desparation,sadness,violence ,all the s**t...they've helped me in this life...in a big way when I was in a s***ty situation ...between 1996-2001 thank you Tom Yorke and Coe,you've looked at the world as it is and speak about it in a powerful way
Well spoken and from the heart. I'm not a huge Radiohead fan, but if that's what they're music means to you, and it moves you in that way, and has helped you through rough times, then i'm 100% in agreement with everything you said.
I'm a die hard RH fan and I think Kid A is bemusingly overrated. I like its bold rebelliousness, but it's nowhere near their best. But as a band, are they overrated? No I don't think so. Every album has at least 1 song that most other bands can only dream of writing.
I never understood why they thought the electronic thing on Kid A was original, I think thom heard Aphex Twin and was completely brainwashed.
He admits their influence. Aphex Twin, though, doesn't rate them much.
Great video. I'm in my 50's and love Radiohead but I totally get where your coming from. I think they do attract a lot of fans (?) for whom the band are more of a lifestyle choice, than them actually caring for the music. The sort of people who own Kind Of Blue and a couple of Coltrane albums so they can tell people they like Jazz
Kind Of Blue never really did it for me but Coltraine was a monster. I found Bitches Brew more engaging and interesting.
I'm a big Radiohead fan. I at least "like" every album. They are always musically challenging, and aesthetically challenging, which I appreciate in the same way I enjoy challenging books or films. I thought every album from the first one to Hail to the Thief advanced in some way. I felt that after the kind of arena rock we heard on the first two, and then the deepening experimentation on the next three, Hail to the Thief really blended the rock nature of the early stuff with the electronica and weirdness of Kid A and Amnesiac. I can never decide if OK Computer belongs more with the Bends group or with the Kid A group. And then In rainbows was a real highwater mark, post-OK Computer. An improvement of Thief, but of a similar ilk. I found the subsequent ones interesting, but King of Limbs was a little opaque even for me. My daughter loves it! And Moon Shaped Pool is good music, enjoyable listening (especially "Daydreaming") but then I was starting o miss a little of the heavier qualities of the odler stuff. As a good friend of mine said, "Would it hurt them to rock a little?"
I feel much the same as you do, Barry. I was managing a CD store when "Pablo Honey" was released, and most of my staff and myself thought it was interesting, and an overall enjoyable addition to the in-store playlist. We all loved "The Bends", and I specifically went nuts over "OK Computer". I have not liked anything since. Unlike yourself, I have found that (given my age) my attention span is waning these days. I do not have the patience to listen to something multiple times through, before (hopefully) it potentially "clicks" with me. Unfortunately, I give most new albums even less time now than I ever did in the past. I rarely circle back and try to "force myself" to like something, if my initial impression is 'uninteresting'. I have not listened to all of Radiohead's further releases, as my "to be listened to pile" is perpetually growing, faster than I can keep up. Succinctly put, once a band deploys a turd, I'll give them 1 chance to grab my attention again. If they don't, they're dead. It would take someone such as yourself, or another friend or trusting acquaintance's "nudge" to get me to give the band in question another chance. Perhaps I'm also getting to be even more grumpy than you claim to be. With my list of annoyances numbering in the thousands, I'm strongly considering authoring a book... but I digress. Great review, as always!!! You hit the nail on the head... once again!!!
Rather immature and ineffective music sifting technique you have there.
@Andygee1991 You know nothing whatsoever about me.
@@ayeatropoulos1 I know the paragraph you wrote above and that you have 2 TH-cam accounts.
@@Andygee1991 So?
I don't think Radiohead are over-rated, per se, there's just a lingering critical misdirection towards the very, very good but not as very, very good as they could later be, OK Computer. The Bends was better than OK Computer. They're band that like a challenge and they rise to it most times - unlike the other band that liked a challenge, Pink Floyd, who most always met it with sterile, risk-free pabulum.
I’m 71. Best band since the Beatles. The Smile even better. Ever changing. Not for everybody obviously.
I'm not au fait with all their work, I just hear bit here and there. But "best band since the Beatles" is definitely my impression from the bits I've come across and is actually what I said to myself as I started watching this vid..
Someone who knows the smile, and agrees they are even better!!!!!! NO WAY!
Breaking Bejamine and TDG>>>>>
Very beautiful tree tunnel painting.
Radiohead are one of the best bands of all time, and Kid A syncs to the Wall-E movie.. even the cover looks like the Wall-E movie. That's a sign that they are important.
I wrote my masters thesis listening to The Bends and I still passed. Kid A totally shook me to the core. When I got it home and played it, I couldn’t get past How To Disappear Completely - it was so great. Kid A came out in 2000 (not 1999) and for me it remains the greatest album since all four digits changed. I should at this point admit to being a big fan of Joy Division and Kraftwerk and I enjoy artists such as Aphex Twin, so Kid A wasn’t such a big leap. Some Radiohead songs are incredibly beautiful. They have within their midst Jonny Greenwood who is a truly remarkable composer. So, to answer the question, it isn’t possible to over rate Radiohead.
I agree. I do understand (to some extent) why some people don't like Kid A or the later more electronic stuff but I adore it all.
👍💜
Radiohead is insanely overrated
No abuse here, it, as many say, are our differences of opinion that make the world go around. As a big progger and attracted to the avante garde, I completely dismissed thier first album as boring, however I was intrigued by The Bends, enthralled by Ok Computer and finally entranced by the majesty of Kid A. Amnesiac was actually a bridge too far for me, but I love the remainder of thier output. Not overated in my book.
Agree with you sir, enjoying your wit as always. (I'll ask again: is it you or Mrs. Classic Album Review who is the painter ?).
What do you think of The Smile? It would be great to see a review on here
They were never a favourite band of mine (as a Zappa devotee, could hear him snicker from beyond the grave!). 2nd and 3rd album - excellent, and for some reason Kid A really got its hooks into me, must have been my (herbally enhanced?) state of mind at 1st listen. Nothing since had anything like the same impact.
I like this band too much to ever call them overrated. They’re clearly not a band that’s going to appeal to everyone, but I find it hard to overlook the pure innovation of this group. Ok Computer is quite amazing, however I’ve discovered “ The Bends “ as being my personal favorite. I love the perfect balance between both the melancholy and accelerated edge of that album. And I’ve heard of “ In Rainbows “ but I really owe it to myself to explore that one in it’s entirety.
Watch the basement session for it it's an amazing show.
AMNESIAC is possibly my favourite Radiohead album up there with IN RAINBOWS and A MOON SHAPED POOL. An overrated band? I don't know. Definitely one of my favourite bands that dominated the music world from the 90s and beyond.
Yes, yes they are the Emperors new clothes.
I agree. In Rainbows is the best from their "electronic phase"
Any band this side of The Beatles that experiments like Radiohead did are bound to alienate some listeners.
For my part, both In Rainbows and A Moon Shaped Pool are both excellent, and Reckoner is a song for the alt.rock ages.
Also there are gems to be found here and there on virtually all of the albums... even the ones that try one's patience.
I loved your video and I love Radiohead sometimes bands just don't resonate with certain people. I love Yes and ELP and Rush but I never really liked King Crimson that much it was interesting musically but I actually find few of their songs all that engaging. I will say Radiohead define the grower catagory as far as rock bands go and seeing them live made a huge difference even Kid A and Amnesiac transfer really well to a live setting as does The King Of Limbs.
For me. Yes. Very.
Appreciate the discussion. I do enjoy talks about a band being under or over rated because a lot of it doesn't depend at all on the band's music, but partly on the start text they put forward and partly on how it's received and shared by fans. I would agree that they are overrated, and they're easily one of my favourite bands, but have put out some of my least favourite works as well. I think those who say that everything they do is genius and so deep and mathematical are simply trying to act as a sort of gate keeper, saying 'You must be this smart to enter.' I think fans of some like Tool, Zappa, and even Muse can be much the same.
I just say enjoy what you like, dislike what you dislike, and that doesn't make your opinion on a band any more valid, and it doesn't make the band any better than another.
Bends and ok computer are stunning and not overrated, however everyone since is and not to my taste.
Thought they were overrated until In Rainbows came out. Respect and love the break from their established style. Mature song writing and clever rhythms. And it flows as an entire album. Not one boring moment on it. The Basement recordings of it on TH-cam is outstanding.
Absolutely! That In Rainbows From the Basement video blew me away
Don’t think. So hombre … jeez one of the best bands ever!
Kid a isn’t for everyone, simply because people have different sensibilities, to me its the best they’ve done and the album is perfect from beginning to end. But then i’m someone who likes things when they are difficult to get into, usually the more mainstream the less interested i am.
Its my second favourite album of all time (first one being Vespertine by Björk) everyone comes from a different musical background as well.
Appreciation of music is of course subjective but there is still at some point a form of consensus to say when something is great, i don’t think RH is overrated, i think people are annoyed to hear them being praised because they put their own ego onto their work and cant see them for who they are. A lot of people believed that Kid A was just Radiohead trying to be clever, when of course people were not present during the process and dont know the intention behind, where it’s coming from. Its always funny to me these kind of comments, cause people saying that are only talking about themselves really, if it feels too clever to some.. well maybe it is, doenst mean it’s pretentious.
I believe these guys are humble people and are simply being true to themselves, i believe they work with authenticity.
The other half are people who are more « classic rock » aficionados and can’t get over the fact that a band has the freedom to drop their guitars and do something different, i think in general people should stop expecting things from artists or putting a label on what they do cause it prevents them to receive something new for what it is when in it comes out.
So i would say that RH isnt overrated, they are THAT great, they’re just not for everyone.
My favourite Radiohead album is The Bends. On buying Kid A and a few listens in.... it was headed for the bin....one last chance was given and i stuck it on while painting a kitchen... maybe it was because i was concentrating on other things and not the music per se that it got into my head.... i drove my girlfriend to near distraction by my constantly singing bits of it.....especially the bit about lemons..... i now rate it as one of the most important and influential of releases... almost like a before Kid A and after sort of thing....are they overrated? Dont know...but The Bends, Ok Computer and kid A are 3 brilliant albums.....
After reading numerous reviews rating OK Computer as a classic, I gave it several listens. I was relieved when it was over each time. It did nothing for me. Then I read about the Kid A and the Kraftwerk influence. As fan fan of Kraftwerk/Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze since the mid-70s, I just didn’t see it in Kid A. And, I couldn’t stand the song, Creep.
I really need give them another try, but I was very unimpressed with these two albums so far. I’m probably missing something here…
Start with The Bends then work from there
Started listening to them rather late; picked up OK Comp when it came out and was floored. Loved it...Started working backwards and loved The Bends etc. Then when the next one was released (Kid A) I ran right out and bought it. Insert the sound of air leaking here. Boring noise...Tried the next one as well (Amnesiac); just as bad. My collection ended at OK Comp. I get the idea on anti-popular, anti-commercial, but it appears to be at the expense of anti-good music. What a bummer. As a side note, the video for live in Astoria is phenomenal...At the height of "good"..."great" and they all seem to be enjoying performing. Worth checking out.
Well lets put it this way, if I could only own 2 Radiohead albums, I know which ones I’d pick…
"Cyborg farts.." That was really funny lol. I'm definitely not one of those RH fans that gets defensive if someone criticizes them. Music is subjective afterall, and I totally get why they might not be someone's proverbial cup of tea..
I can confidently state that they are my favorite band and give my reasoning, though.
I've been listening/experiencing them since I had Pablo, Honey on a cassette tape. They are 1 of only two artists that I can keep on permanent rotation, never get sick of--and continue to discover new things within the compositions I'd never discovered before upon repeated listens..
This has been proven over many years for me, yet I continue to go back to them again and again and again. Isn't that sort of the test for something that is considered classic??
They have always hit me on an intellectual as well as emotional level and its rare for me to find music that does both, consistently over time..
Thanks for the video
XO
Well put! You have a way with words I find enjoyable!
Radiohead could have played it safe and continued making albums in the vein of OK Computer and The Bends but they instead chose to make the music they wanted to make. I only wish more bands would do this rather than repeating a successful formula for the $$. In Rainbows is my favourite, followed closely by Kid A and OK Computer.
I like some of their albums and I'm always keen to listen to any new releases. OK Computer, Amnesiac and In Rainbows are my 3 favourites. The Bends, Kid A and A Moon Shaped Pool are very good and I can take or leave the rest.
Thom York uses his voice so effectively - like a musical instrument. It always stands out to me. He raises a lot of their otherwise minor works to a whole other level.
Yes
In rainbows and Hail to the thief are for me masterpieces and if I play one I play the other straight after.
In Rainbows is one of the greatest albums of all time and much better than Ok Computer or The Bends, both of which old farts seem drawn to the most because they haven't yet strayed too far from what they are used to
I was unsure of Kid A on it's release but got to appreciate it much more after the release of Amnesiac which I loved. For me, they had become the best band of the new millennium.
I think some of their fans have a way of overhyping some of their catalogue and they have a bit of an issue with any band that has vague similarities to them but I love a majority of Radiohead's catalogue in spite of that. I do still view The Bends all the way through In Rainbows as a rather great six album, but it's not music for everybody and it's something you have to go in with a specific frame of mind. Kid A and Amnesiac surprisingly grabbed me pretty early on but I also was a bit later to the catalogue and I like some electronic music here and there so I lucked out on that front.
I have The Bends and OK Computer and they're both fine albums, but I very rarely feel the need to play them now. I'm not sure why that is.
I agree with Kid A onwards, but In Rainbows was good and the last LP Moon shaped pool. Live there a different animal, the Kid A stuff comes alive. I recommend finding them at Reading 2009 video, they tarilor there setlist to the rock audience, even start with Creep which they wont play normally. GREAT gid, as is Glasto ones
I'm one of those people who didn't like Kid A all that much when it came out (no one else did either at first). I gave them an extended break and happened upon the brilliant basement session for In Rainbows 8 years later or so. Now when I am in the right state of mind I can get into Kid A but it will never be my favorite. I do really like Hail To The Thief and I love In Rainbows I like IR even more than OKC. The King Of Limbs is not among my favorite records by them either although the basement session for it is pretty great. Music is subjective I will never understand why people get upset if their favorite band doesn't click with someone else. When I listen to the Beatles now it's a very different vibe than when I was in my early teens and it was almost all I listened to their older stuff sounds quite dated by overall it's still brilliant. I feel the same way about Radiohead in fact they remind me of the Beatles their musical evoloution is almost the same so I can understand why some people like the earlier stuff and some people think they did their best work after OKC.
I never got passed the first three albums. Very often play The Bends which is one of my favourite albums ever. Sadly lost interest with Kid A onwards
You made the right decision IMO, apart from a few songs on in rainbows.
Love them! But…not big fan Pablo Honey ‘tho. Why didn’t you include Moon Shaped Pool, it’s magnificent. A fair review that reflects some of my record collecting pals’ opinions. It’s a band you love or not, for many it seems.
I loved Radiohead up till In Rainbows. That was the album that made me give up on them..
Absolutely spot on appraisal 👍🕶
Amnesiac.I had forgotten about that album.
No I don't think Radiohead are overrated. I agree it would be nice for them to make a guitar album again like The Bends. Their side project The Smile use guitars more, who I also like.
I must admit Radiohead lost me after OK Computer. A bit too Clever-Cloggory (kudos for using this phrase) for me.
Like many I'm a huge fan of Radioheads first 3 albums and would comfortably put 'The Bends' in my top 10 albums of the 90s.
However, I never quite got the fuss over Kid A or anything the band has produced thereafter. I've found some parts of In Rainbows enjoyable but generally found very little to get excited about.
I suppose in some respects Radiohead's trajectory represents an inversion of the way Genesis' sound and style changed post Peter Gabriel. Instead of the complexity of prog we got more commercial pop-oriented material. On the flipside Radiohead went from a bit of a hit machine that everyone could get behind to the darling of critics and some slightly snobbish fans. Those of us who saw Kid A as an unwelcome departure from their previous sound are merely fodder for snark.
I think they heard that they inspired Coldplay and went, nope, not having that and made Kid A.
Loved the bends, couldn't find OK computer anywhere in my soul.
I do respect your opinions although not always agreeing with your summations but I attribute that to that positive effect of discourse on any subject. However as the possible progenitor of music heresy I disagree with your assessment of Hail to theThief. Perhaps its the result of sonic overload on my part but I consider this and In Rainbows their best work. Hail to the Thief incited me to buy all the previous work to that point and nothing struck me with the same impact. I do respect Thom York and co. companies efforts, especially Jonny Greenwood, to till unfamiliar territory but your assessment I believe is the result of daring to explore. Something I David Bowie was and is the patron saint of. Damn my Catholic upbringing is showing once again.
Peaked for me with The Bends, bits of OK Computer are not bad but since then they just disappeared down a black hole, seemingly becoming a Can tribute band at times...
Do i see the evidence of a fellow artist over your right shoulder?
As for Radiohead.... in the same 'bemused' drawer as Muse and, forgive me, Rush?
Sometimes true genius doesn't produce a perfect...constant quality work...anyway if you compose something as magical as "ok computer" I mean you can stop (lol)...job done...perfect ....you're in the Pantheon
Rating a band, and by extension considering them under- or overrated, never meant much to me personally. Except maybe when Bon Jovi got into the R&R Hall of Fame, that was a travesty, removing whatever small amount of respect I had left for that institution. Granted, the "rating thing" is a big part of your work on this channel, Barry, which I am quite fond of, because even your disses are done with a cheeky nod and a wink, signalling that you never take yourself all that seriously. Anyway, music, like all art, is so subjective. I love OK Computer, am very fond of In Rainbows, and the rest of Radiohead's output, I could really take or leave, other than a song or three on each album that I quite like. Even The Bends doesn't really click with me as a whole. But ever since Radiohead became the absolute favorite band of my son (now 18 years old), I've listened to a lot more of them, through his ears in a way, and they've grown on me... I think they're one of those bands that are really slow-growers, like say, Captain Beefheart, who took me many years and attempts to lock into, but now I'm all the way there. I say: follow your own tastes, everyone; indulge in the music you like, and who cares what anyone else thinks? You can always use headphones, if your choices are offending anyone you care about. And speaking of Beefheart, I anxiously await your ranking video for those albums, Barry!
I have never been a fan of Radiohead, i have tried to listen to Ok computer on multiple ocasions but it just doesn't gel with me,i always give up on the middle, i kind of liked Amnesiac even though is just a more electronic and cleaner version of Can's Ege Bamyasi.
Now the solo stuff, that's different, i loved Thome Yorke's Anima and Johnny Greenwood's movie scores are fantastic!
Listen to The Bends - it is excellent
@@badgasaurus4211 i'll give It a chance, i've also heare nice things about In rainbows, so that one goes to the playlist too
A heartfelt "Yea". One album does the trick for me, The Bends, a little of them goes a long way.
They showed real promise from the very beginning up to OK Computer.
By that time they were not overrated at all.
By Kid A they become a monster of their own making and became overrated. When they started to mess with electronics they lost their ground. They shaped the infamous post rock genre that continues to put me in an instant lethargic state. At that time they grew the fanbase we know now. The "fan" base that despises Pablo Honey and the significance that album had when it was released.
Not overrated but I'm in complete agreement with you on their post-OK, Computer recordings. Some infrequent gems that are almost lost amid a lot of electronic naval-gazing.
Whenever I listen to Radiohead I marvel at their creativity regardless of good I think the music is.
I think Radiohead veer between genius (The Bends and OK Computer) and garbage (Kid A and King of Limbs). They aren’t afraid to experiment andstrike gold on occasion which is to their credit. More recently I personally love In Rainbows and Moon Shaped Pool.
Great as a rock band. I love OK Computer. They lost me after that one to be honest.
The Bends was genius, the absolute epitome of All killer No Filler. Unfortunately my wife is a huge Radiohead fan and the only times I’ve heard the other albums is on long car journeys when she insists on singing along to them…kind of puts me off the rest of their oeuvre I have to say…
The Bends was excellent
Wow. That's like my wife's singing spoiling Captain Beefheart for me.
I feel your pain.
God YES!
No doubt about their talent. I went through a phase of listening to them a lot too. My issue with them is they do tend to take themselves far too seriously and there is only so much wallowing in self-inflicted misery that I can take before I question the real wisdom or authenticity of it.
Not overrated - misunderstood perhaps. kid A and Amnesiac are the first 2 albums by Radiohead that I heard - upon a recommendation from BBC Music magazine no less. I didn’t know they did rock music as well 🤣
I agree. I thought OK Computer was an absolute masterpiece and it's still one of my all time favourites. But I found Kid A practically unlistenable- dito Hail to the Thief, which I got for Christmas one year-wish I hadn't!
'Watching re-runs of Blakes 7 and Pornhub' - love it! I love Radiohead, especially Kid A and Amnesiac but over-earnest pomposity should be punctured from time to time
TALK TALK all done before Radiohead
And CAN
"The National Anthem", "How to Disappear Completely", "Pyramid Song", "House of Cards" 💜....
The masters of flog rock, and I love it.
I love Radiohead!!!! Overrated? Perhaps a smidge…
Very.
I never liked them, but did give them the benefit of the doubt and tried to listen to them. I couldn't hack them, they reminded me of Leonard Cohen with guitar riffs.
If I didn't already know and love them, the description "Leonard Cohen with guitar riffs" would compel me to check them out.
This man knows his onions.
Yeah, I think this band is just fantastic, they took a flight musically with albums like Amnesiac and In Rainbows. Not for anyone of course. I laughed my head off watching this comment. You have your way with words, great!
So many people like them. I do. There is a chance they can be 'over rated' but by who? Someone who doesnt like them very much?
The Bends nailed it for me-plenty of diversity in the songs,an learnt some fine chord voicings from Johnny-not enough credit put forward to his innovative guitar style
I agree with Barry's review-not always the easiest on the ears,an a few of their albums do tax yer lobes in the level of listening-on a par with the likes of Fripp an Eno's No Pussyfooting,an most of The early catologue of Tangerine Dream for example
Personally I like a the bends, ok computer, in rainbows and half of hail to the thief. The rest just doesn’t butter my parsnips. So I suppose in that sense I think they are overrated, or at least some of the albums are overrated in that there is an element of “The emperor’s new clothes” to them.
However I do like listening to each new release, nor because I’m hoping for The Bends 2 but because im curious to see what they will do next. The only album I truly didn’t like was King of Limbs
I am a Radiohead fan but sometimes I wonder if Thom and Jonny have had too much of a say. Having said that, Jonny's interest in scoring music in other contexts does transfer well to the band setting. I hope they haven't used all the best bits for The Smile. Then again, those could be the worst bits. Thankfully, such a confusing band.
The title was enough for me to comment. I never saw the attraction. The band hates the song creep, but it’s the best thing I’ve heard from them personally. history will forget Radiohead.
Appropriately rated. Follow-up band, The Smile, underrated
This review made me smile. (Pun intended). I just saw The Smile. Kid A has magical moments. Radiohead have 6 great albums or so. Kid A is one I still listen to regularly.
I'd 100% agree they are overrated. Does that mean I think they are bad? Not really. As a prog fan I'm often amazed at the love they get from the prog community. They are not prog to me, I like your comparison to Kraftwerk, sort of like if that band added some other instruments to the electronica (I probably like Kraftwerk better just because they don't try to be more than what they are, Autobahn is an absolute classic [also not prog though]). That's not to say I don't like any of their music, I've come a cross a few Radiohead tunes on Sirius XM that I quite liked, but anytime I've put a whole album on (OK Computer included) I've found myself pining for some Pink Floyd or maybe even some Gentle Giant if I really want some skilled instrumentation. I think I've actually enjoyed Thom York's solo stuff above the Radiohead stuff that I've heard but I have not done any extensive dives into either tbh
I think they suffer (for better AND worse) from a weird case of overserious perception. Kid A is, by and large, an experimental album, very obviously resulting from anxiety over the enormous success OK Computer had. Radiohead themselves never presented it as the second coming of Christ, just the result of trying to find inspiration in a different direction from what they became famous for. So the most hardcore fans treat it as some kind of Mona Lisa it was never intended to be, and the most vicious haters treat it as the most pretentious album of all time.
I just see it as the first step in radical experimentation that, for once, happened under the limelight. It continued with Amnesiac and its B-sides, and then they slowly returned to their rock roots, incorporating learnings from those experiments, first on Hail To The Thief, which is bloated with a bit too many ideas, then finely really refined on In Rainbows. Seen as a whole, that run of five albums (from OK Computer to In Rainbows) makes perfect sense to me.
Of course, Kid A is disjointed because it tries to juggle fully-formed songs and experiments that are more akin to interludes, but the actual songs, my oh my! If How To Disappear Completely doesn't move you...
I think Amnesiac is even superior, even though it's even weirder. But maybe that's precisely why.
We can't really fault a band for not meeting any expectations when they were precisely trying to break free from them.
The King Of Limbs is unbearable to me, though.
I like the band very much but I don't like all of their output. I regard The Bends, OK Computer, Kid-A and Amnesiac their best work. Unlike you, I consider Kid-A to be their masterpiece but I can dig why you might not like it. For me, it creates a world of its own that is almost immaculate. Amnesiac is also a favorite of mine. After this album, I noticed a decline in their output. Their music was still enjoyable but not quite on the pulse as it had been. The King of Limbs was a major disappointment and I doubt whether they will ascend to the heights of old ever again. A good review and a fair one.
I lost interest after seeing them play Warrington in 2000….days before Kid A had even come out…and in typical Radiohead style…the set consisted of loads of Kid A songs and even a couple of Amnesiac ones…which no one had even heard…we came away underwhelmed at the time..and it was years until I listened to them again…oh, and now that 2000 set list looks absolute classic
If you like roots in your music, and I do, they don't have a tremendous lot to offer you.
Radiohead are often compared to Pink Floyd. Now they sound nothing like Floyd but where they are similar is that they make unconventional conventional music. Well they did with The Bends and OK Computer.
i'm with you. First three and I'm out.
Yes. Besides the first 6 songs of OK Computer and a smattering of other tracks, York’s unintelligibility and the pretentiousness of the music just makes it fail to have an emotional connection for me.
Dont care much for them,but its all down to choice, i dare say some of the stuff i listen too people dont like, but never got into this band to arty farty