"OK Computer" vs. "Mechanical Animals"

This is a great question and I adore both albums quite a lot. For that reason it's hard for me to decide -- I think I would have an equal propensity to listen to both at this stage. The 136 list ranked OKC higher for me, but now I just see them as both very accomplished records. Certainly Mechanical Animals remains Manson's high point, the spot where he started letting his arrangements take a multitude of different directions. Since Radiohead (to my ears) kept getting better after OKC, I guess I'll take MA as the better individual achievement.

Same here. I had MM chalked up as a sad 10th generation gawth metaller. I guess I didn't really get his schtick til "Dope Show".

yum

Radiohead are worse because they got tired of their job. That is to write songs. At least manson likes rock and keeps to it (his riffs are not good enough though and his lyrics are designed to seek attention- he easily gets it, of course!).

That Radiohead interview was shit. Their act has to be believed, really. These guys start by writing shit songs. They get rich. They then get bored of it (when they realize there's loads of music out there). As they've sold loads, they are given licence by their record company to 'experiment' (very loose description here).

These are the sort of people who like Miles davis mid-70s albums (rather than comedy records that were designed to sell more). They believe that Talk Talk's 'Spirit of Eden' is an incredible record (Mark Hollis' really feels, doesn't he, just listen to those vocals man!) rather than boring bollocks. Give me a break!

Radiohead don't need knocking down: They need to be locked up!

Give me a break, Julio. The ghetto of academia is just another ghetto. Miles knew that, and he didn't want that. What right do you have to call Miles' 70s stuff "comedy designed to sell records"? Any more than I have to call Anthony Braxton's music "art paff designed to gain highbrow cred"?

it would actually not surprise me to discover that braxton's records are designed to make people laugh and sell more: he is not a particuarly worldly or clued-in fellow... his notion of a "surefire sell-out" would be worth queuing up for

We must differ here, Adam. ;-) The early stuff just doesn't move me in the slightest, occasional cover version aside -- which should say something.

All this talk of Kid A and Amnesiac being 'experimental' was created by the media - and it seems to have become an albatross around Radiohead's neck, despite them never claiming to be experimental.

Which is a shame, as it seems to have pissed everyone right off. Lesson: don't listen to the music press, ho ho ho.

Comedy= As in the way he used the studio. I object the way these people used the studio to make these jamming sessions into a big lump of shit. And the jazz-rock stuff is a gimmick (if you get a horn in there and then you put a guitar= that's what you come up with!- the critics called it 'innovation'). And in that way this is similar to radiohead. A guitar band given access to equipment and agonizing as to how to get their shit together.

Sorry I didn't make myself clear as this wasn't a tirade against humour in music.

''Any more than I have to call Anthony Braxton's music "art paff designed to gain highbrow cred"?''

I never compared Miles to Braxton. for the record, Miles has a fantastic sound on that trumpet but I just never liked those jazz- rock albums. And listening to braxton has been a laugh.

True, Radiohead never had them.

And yes, the party line is that Miles sold out in the 70s, moved toward "jazz-rock" to sell records. If that's the case, WHY ARE THOSE ALBUMS SO "DIFFICULT" and

''Comedic'' as in 'It's a joke, isn't it?'

''And yes, the party line is that Miles sold out in the 70s, moved toward "jazz-rock" to sell records. If that's the case, WHY ARE THOSE ALBUMS SO "DIFFICULT" and''

i had never read any criticism of Miles' stuff but then again I've never read enough Jazz magazines. I'd always thought that it was an experiment that didn't quite do anything for me.

Is Bitches brew difficult? There is a certain level of density but I felt that the personality of the musicians did not communicate well.

I also mislead earlier when I said ''those jazz-rock albums'' as i only heard Bitches-brew and a couple of other tracks on other albums.

Could give it a go. What makes Dark magus work, where BB failed?

As for the topic at hand, I had an advance copy of OK Computer which I thought was little more than aural wallpaper, and didn't understand why by year end it was so highly praised, but I've had "Dope Show" stuck in my head quite a few times (pretty good, considering I don't think I've ever heard the whole song), so Mr. Warner gets the nod. But as asked in the final part of this thread's question, I certainly care aboot neither of these albums in 2002.

*Agharta the only other album to come out in the mid-1970's like most of Miles' other albums in the 1970's, was a live album.

Kisses,

Bob

Oh, who fucking cares abt dates. 'Sometime in the 70s it is' then.

You state my argument is flimsy= but where's the reasoning.

I won't back down on the point that BB is a dud and I equate it to what radiohead are doing (not that they've made a jazz album) in that they are both artists on major labels who have 'experimented' and failed to come up with the goods. And on Mclaughin, I just don't see what's so good abt his guitar playing, really.

And I started it. isn't it wonderful?

Radiohead piss on MM from a very, very great height.

Wow, this was a weird thread.

Relistening to Mechanical for the first time in a bit. Still fantastic. This might have been Michael Beinhorn's year as a producer (see also Celebrity Skin).

Mechanical may not be the best record but its by far more enjoyable to listen to. still love it.

NEW
NEW
NEW MODEL!

It's Mechanical Animals.

reminded today that this year also had Mansun - Six / Pulp - This Is Hardcore / Smashing Pumpkins - Adore / Eels - Electro-Shock Blues

it was a good music year for me to be a moody 14 year old in.

What a thread.

I was a moody 13 year old when Mechanical Animals came out and I remember liking it less than Antichrist Superstar.

^^ Same, was very disappointed by it.

'The Dope Show' was cool and all but it didn't send a transgressive teenage shiver down my spine like 'The Beautiful People' when I first heard it a year prior or the rumour according to which he'd removed one of his ribs to suck his own dick.

I was a moody 13 year old when Mechanical Animals came out and I remember liking it less than Antichrist Superstar.

― pomenitul, Friday, January 18, 2019 8:15 AM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

pretty sure time reveals that mechanical animals is just better all around from a songwriting standpoint

which, ofc, i haven't really been able to listen to any of his records since the jeordie white stuff came out

xp it's true, nothing says 'transgression'' to a teenager like triplets

That and the diabolus in musica.