"OK Computer": Classic Or Dud?

Push It Out >>>>> everything on OK Computer.

Now that I've got my mind right, Spiritualized is a really good reference point, and a decent way to challenge the idea of Radiohead's single-handed game-changingness.

Spiritualized is the one I always use (and generally get shot down for).

The big three progressive Britpop/rock albums of 97 in the UK were Radiohead, Spiritualized and The Verve; while I now pretty much dislike The Verve's effort, at the time I ranked the Sp, Verve, RH. Now Sp, RH, Verve. I think BSS does something RH have never managed.

mark s is a monumental douchebag and this thread is as good an exhibition as any.

Reckoner would be beautiful but there's no intimacy to it, it's fake. I can't buy into it. I don't think that Yorke means anything, I don't think the band care. It's like a beautifully designed car that no can ever drive.

It's like they got all these elements together that I love individually and would like to see sitting next to each other, like Louis' idea of how music ought to take in EVERYTHING, express and progress and performance and production and all at once, and Radiohead DID IT but when they hold it out in front oif me I just go "oh" instead of "wow" because it's like a big impressive equation that I can respect because I could never manage to make it balance myself but that i also, simply, really, deep down, just do. not. give. a. fuck. about.

I remember my mate Adam... bumped into him in WHSmiths just before Kid A came out, there was a review in Uncut or something, and he was all like "wow, look at this" and read out the description and said "doesn't that sound like the best record ever?" and yeah it kind of did when you broke it down but then you actually listen to it (I actually listen to it) and, no, I still prefer Drawn From Memory by Embrace, which is a vastly inferior and massively less popular record in many ways, but which moves me and excites me precisely because it's broken and short-sighted and wrong-headed. You like people for their talents but love them for their failings, maybe.

it's fake. I can't buy into it. I don't think that Yorke means anything, I don't think the band care. It's like a beautifully designed car that no can ever drive.

-- Scik

You like people for their talents but love them for their failings, maybe.

-- Scik

Radiohead are about being in love with failure, but they're too perfect to love.

Are we talking about a band or a mid-life crisis?

Aye. They're not just singing about Fake Plastic Trees, they ARE fake plastic trees.

Yorke's vocals on Videotape are fucking horrible, the way they're mixed. He sounds like clogged sinuses feel. He makes my sinuses ache. Uergh.

Not having emotional resonance to the music is perfectly valid, but I’m not so sure how valid it is to try to make liking their music seem disingenuous.

Thus the general reception (a literate proclamation of "OMG!" by people who, often, don't listen to that much music besides)

What I find particularly condescending and arbitrary, though, is how a lot of music critics tend to base their invective toward RH exclusively on some Extramusical Straw Man Radiohead --- emphasizing attributed "intentions" or "true colors" (not only RH's, but also their fans'). This is not only just a really severe case of missing the point, it’s offensive in its assumption that the necessary premise to liking their music is musical ignorance.

So you've got a Big Cock Record Collection, good for you. Not everyone listens to music like it’s a dick-wagging contest. Just sayin'.

What I find particularly condescending and arbitrary, though, is how a lot of music critics tend to base their invective toward RH exclusively on some Extramusical Straw Man Radiohead... So you've got a Big Cock Record Collection, good for you. Not everyone listens to music like it’s a dick-wagging contest.

-- Turangalila

Strawman Radiohead vs. strawman critics FITE!

Radiohead aren't damaged, schiz or playful enough (on the whole) to fit into my roster of very favourite bands. I'm glad Foetus got a mention because his later stuff (concurrent with RH) goes to places Radiohead haven't touched, for all their super songcraft. In these respects I'm with Nick. They still give me a buzz of excitement, though. Hail To The Thief, I maintain, is the record where they come closest to a damaged, schiz, playful reinvention of themselves as popular rock harlequins.

radiohead is just about as good as it's possible for a very popular major label type rock band to be in the current climate. (i know they are not on a major anymore but they are a major label band always have been)

overall they are good. they are sort of underrated and overrated in a way.

What's weird is that I don't see any connection between how good I think an album or band is and whether or not the album/band is classic. Fish vs. fowl.

I do, because I rule the universe and you must all agree with me.

Radiohead aren't damaged, schiz or playful enough (on the whole) to fit into my roster of very favourite bands. I'm glad Foetus got a mention because his later stuff (concurrent with RH) goes to places Radiohead haven't touched, for all their super songcraft. In these respects I'm with Nick. They still give me a buzz of excitement, though. Hail To The Thief, I maintain, is the record where they come closest to a damaged, schiz, playful reinvention of themselves as popular rock harlequins.

-- Just got offed,

what the fuck?? this reads like 'theyre just too pop for me' but with a lot more words. like theyre 'damaged/schiz/playful' but with an emphasis on 'super songcraft' & somehow thats inferior in your eyes, which seems retarded to me

I think JGO is just saying that Radiohead aren't to his/her tastes. And that's always okay, whatever the justification might be.

Yeah, I don't really see an issue with that. LEAVE LOUIS JAGGER ALONE! :)

his/her

Yeah, not like I've been saying how much I like them. Also, deeznuts, please learn to parse.

'their songcraft is just too good for my tastes'

XP

Actually, contenderizer, you have a point in that they're not EXACTLY to my tastes, but then very very few bands are, whatever those tastes might be, which is a whole lotta murk in itself. For the most part, they ARE to a broader "taste" defined by "do I like and listen to this music". Argh, STFU me already.

all the people of the world have the right to like radiohead the amount that is appropriate for them. if you're a teenager and feeling confused, we suggest you consult your school counselor or clergyman. they might be able to help you sort out your feelings.

Not having emotional resonance to the music is perfectly valid, but I’m not so sure how valid it is to try to make liking their music seem disingenuous.

Thus the general reception (a literate proclamation of "OMG!" by people who, often, don't listen to that much music besides)

What I find particularly condescending and arbitrary, though, is how a lot of music critics tend to base their invective toward RH exclusively on some Extramusical Straw Man Radiohead --- emphasizing attributed "intentions" or "true colors" (not only RH's, but also their fans'). This is not only just a really severe case of missing the point, it’s offensive in its assumption that the necessary premise to liking their music is musical ignorance.

So you've got a Big Cock Record Collection, good for you. Not everyone listens to music like it’s a dick-wagging contest. Just sayin'.

-- Turangalila, Tuesday, August 19, 2008 11:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

I didn't so much mean 'fans' with this comment as, literally, mainstream non-music media; i.e. BBC Breakfast News getting music journalists (who I've never heard of) on TV at 7.30am to go "omg Radiohead new album omg" at millions of people.

Sorry if this is a daft criticism, I can only say why I don't really care about them, it's just that their pathos feels so abstracted and heavy, the pain of someone who reads too much Benjamin and doesn't get the jokes. It never winks at its own histrionics.

if you've ever seen "You and Whose Army?" performed live, then maybe you'd think differently. the most heavy, serious & unwinking of Radiohead songs is turned into something subtly hysterical... and quite literally, winking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQwsB_Aonmg

though to be fair, that (you and whose army) schtick is new, and radiohead's attitude is much more affable now than it was a decade ago.

You can't get much cooler than dissing Radiohead

That's true. I diss Radiohead primarily because it's cool, and only secondarily because they suck.

I only refer to them these days as Gaydiohead--but I do this out of a deep-seated affection for them, as though they were a younger brother. This is probably an unnatural way to feel about a band.

I get on my friend's nerves by calling them "The guys that sound a lot like Coldplay"

though to be fair, that (you and whose army) schtick is new

wrong! i saw it live in 2001... as well as in 03 and 08.

2 disc deluxe edition, disc 2:
1) polyethelene (parts 1 & 2)
2) a reminder
3) pearly
4) melatonin
5) meeting in the aisle
6) lull
7) climbing up the walls (07 mix)
8) climbing up the walls (fila brazilla mix)
9) palo alto
10) how i made my millions
and a bunch of live shit

i like paranoid android a lot, even the 'heavy' section. karma police is excellent too, except the high parts. not sure about the rest. i think there's a good slow song between those two though.
― ethan, Monday, May 7, 2001 8:00 PM (7 years ago)

lol

I think somewhere in "Meeting People Is Easy" they play part of this slower sounding demo version of "Paranoid Android".. does anyone know where to find that?

I was listening to the deluxe disc 2 material yesterday. The stuff that was on the Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP still holds up pretty well. I remember that "Lull" used to be sort of a fan-fav b-side back in the day, but listening to it again it sounds like the last gasp of Bends-era Radiohead, in a not very good way.

The "bunch of live shit" kamerad mentions is pretty much totally worthless imo. For reference the live tracks are:

Airbag (live in Berlin)
Lucky (Live in Florence)
Climbing up the Walls (BBC Radio 1)
Exit Music (BBC Radio 1)
No Surprises (BBC Radio 1)

I remember that even back in the day the Airbag & Lucky tracks were disappointing because they sounded like mediocre audience recordings. The BBC stuff is a tad better but doesn't really differ that much from the album versions, apart from the wicked bass fuzz in Exit Music.

meh the only track i love on that list is How I Made My Millions.

Yeah.. that might have been cool if they included a few songs that weren't b-sides.. unless there's nothing else I guess..

singlehandedly redefines the genre of "dud"

that second disc might be better than OKC but then I am an Airbag EP stan

i have all these songs already and i'm not fussed about live shit.

There's a version with a DVD also.

The OKC DVD has six live on TV tracks, of which 2 are repeated songs.

The Bends one has loads.

I didn't play OKC much when I got it. It only became interesting to me after Kid A, which I love. So then I go back and see it as a stepping stone to a favorite album.

Here's some other interesting three album progressions.

Talking Heads - More Songs, Fear Of Music, Remain In Light
Wire - Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, 154
Magazine - Real Life, Secondhand Daylight, The Correct Use of Soap
Simple Minds - Real To Real Cacophony, Empires And Dance, Sons And Fascination
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Organisation, Architecture & Morality, Dazzle Ships
Martha and the Muffins - Metro Music, This Is The Ice Age, Danseparc
Gary Numan/Tubeway Army - Replicas, The Pleasure Principle, Telekon

This is a brilliant thread.

Dud.

Satans favorite album.. I couldn't even get 10 seconds into this mess without pressing my hands into my ears. This album is a disgrace to America and all that we stand for. Tonight I will say a special prayer for this band.

uh