Radiohead - Pablo Honey POLL

There’s an acoustic version of blow out which makes it my favorite song in here. It ends with the radio host saying

“Now that was cool! Thanks you guys, that's Thom Yorke of Radiohead, joined by Posies' Jon Auer on drums, and Ken Stringfellow on guitar. And I guess don't be surprised any of you if you find like a bootleg of that..."

There’s also a Jonny and Thom only performance of “You” which I love.

I don’t care about “creep” at all nowadays but I’ll admit it made a strong impression when I heard it as a teen in the 90s.

Here’s “You” acoustic:

https://youtu.be/2-VAn_P6zMg

And blowout with the posies:

https://youtu.be/MpQO0bxXevc

I got into Radiohead in 1996 or thereabouts, when The Bends was their most recent album. My interest in the band pretty much stemmed from three things: seeing the videos to 'Just', 'High and Dry', 'Fake Plastic Trees' and particularly 'Street Spirit' regularly on MTV Europe, watching their performance of the title track on Later... With Jools Holland, and hearing the album played in full in the background of a record store I regularly frequented. So, I also came to Pablo Honey late, but not that late. I actually didn't hear 'Creep' until I'd heard the entirety of The Bends!

Even in 1996, Pablo Honey had a "reputation", but nothing compared to its reputation post-OK Computer after the popularity of the band went through the roof and negative opinions of the record became overblown. When I heard it for the first time, it sounded like what it is - the band indulging their American alternative rock influences (R.E.M., Pixies etc.) and honing their three guitar approach, and it didn't seem all that far away from The Bends at all, even though The Bends now has this reputation of being a huge leap forward. Maybe it terms of songwriting - certainly, the songwriting on The Bends is stronger, but stylistically - although there were some changes, albeit not particularly obvious ones - they didn't really change all that much.

(xxxxpost)

Blow Out

Honestly prefer this to The Bends, In Rainbows and A Moon Shaped Pool

― imago, Monday, June 3, 2019 7:14 PM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think it sounds fresher now because it's less played out than other Radiohead work. The Bends was the one that got me into the band, so I still retain a fondness for that record, and In Rainbows remains one of my favourites even though it's hard to believe it's now 12 years old. Pablo Honey is more likely to make it onto my stereo than A Moon Shaped Pool is.

Rather than the songwriting improving (which it did) I think the production is actually the factor that changed the game for them.

Yes, production was the other factor, particularly when they started exclusively working with Nigel Godrich who created an environment for the band where they'd be comfortable with experimenting more.

Having said that, the production teams they used on Pablo Honey and The Bends were no hacks. Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade would go on to produce Live Through This, and John Leckie has been involved in an almost embarrassing number of great albums.

Best version of Creep is by Prince. The one Radiohead fought to keep on Youtube "as it's our song"

I remember Moby doing a hilariously terrible version of it at Glastonbury in the early '00s. I think the reason he did it was because Radiohead were also playing that year and didn't have it in their set? I haven't heard it since, but I remember terrible vocals and scratching. Gonna see if it's on Youtube...

https://youtu.be/6-VY75Fzu9c

oh dear lord

Christ, that was exactly how I remembered it.

1. The notes are important, don't guess at them
2. Learn the words
3. Learn the guitar part while you're at it
4. Why is there a turntable in this
5. Nothing about this rendition screams "repeated coda", just end it already

Moby way ahead of his time with that cover choice

When I saw it at the time I thought it was comical, like "surely Moby is taking the piss here..."

Hoo boy I hate this album. “High and Dry” was a leftover from the Pablo Honey sessions and it’s miles better than anything here.

Would you like to expand on why you hate this album?

The tunes aren’t there, for one. Of course I haven’t heard it in years, so maybe I’m totally wrong. I think I’ll give it a spin tomorrow and report back.

Moby's Creep is comical in the extreme

I was confused as to why he was headlining in the first place, because if I recall his most recent album was 18 and... yeah, it sold on the back of Play, but it wasn't what I'd call a blazing success.

The tunes aren’t there, for one.

Yeah, I disagree with this - a lot of these songs are quite catchy and memorable, I think.

Moby was well into his New Jersey phase. I know he sang on that unsuccessful Animal Rights album, but did he on Play anywhere, at all? Recasting himself as a traditional frontman/all-round entertainer seems especially daft these days

Imho creep was missing the violin section and the turntablism.

Listening to this again, for me this is one of those albums where side two is better than side one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vdiiUSuxFs

I'm indifferent to a lot of this record these days, but I still enjoy the three-song stretch of "How Do You"/"Stop Whispering"/"Thinking About You" way more than anything the band has done post-Kid A.

stop whispering is v cool

I like 'Stop Whispering' a lot, and feel that R.E.M. or U2 could have done a really neat cover of it. I love it when Thom emotes on this song. His vocals would only get better after this album, but even at this early stage he's still able to achieve a vocal that gives me goosebumps.

Moby was well into his New Jersey phase. I know he sang on that unsuccessful Animal Rights album, but did he on Play anywhere, at all?

South Side and Porcelain, at least

it's been so long since i heard any of this album. I traded bootlegs of shows by mail in the 90s - the Pablo Honey shows were always the most loose and fun (and screamy... Stop Whispering, holy crap)

Just had a play through. Got to be Creep. Of course. Should be mentioned here that they do play it sometimes now and seem to enjoy it.

It's not a regular fixture in their live set or anything, but in all honesty they've never really stopped playing it. I can recall performances during the OK Computer, Kid A/Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows eras. I don't think they played it at all during The King of Limbs era, but they've certainly played it since then.

Also, as much as I like 'Creep', it would be kinda neat if there was some discussion regarding the other 11 songs on this album.

voting for "creep," love the part where the guitar goes chugga... chugga chugga

I remember how thrilling that part was at first, but over time its effect has diminished the more I've heard it. There's so many more great moments on this record, though. The way the album begins with those chiming arpeggios before Selway cuts in and 'You' just bursts into life, for one. Superb. 'Blow Out' is great moment after great moment. There's some genuinely beautiful guitar work on the likes of 'Vegetable' and 'Lurgee', and 'Ripcord' remains one of the bands most underrated tracks. Also, also, also, when 'I Can't' drops down to just Colin Greenwood's bass lick and then Selway cuts in announcing the end stretch of the track, it's quite thrilling.

'Prove Yourself' is a fine slab of '90s alternative rock, too. I love how the vocal melody ascends in the verses and particularly how intense the second verse feels in comparison to the first, the solo section, and that neat little guitar lick during the final chorus, and of course, Thom's cry of "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?" at the end.

"Blow Out" by a mile.

"I'd like to think that we're now at a point in time that people have calmed their tits regarding this band"

"even when morons on the internet during the '90s/early '00s were all like "waaahhh,"

Why stuff like this?

I'm just afraid I'll give the wrong answer.

you belong

voting for "creep," love the part where the guitar goes chugga... chugga chugga

Yes!

"blow out" is as good as anything on the bends, and "stop whispering" isn't far behind.

Add a few reverbed sounds effects or an ondes martenot or something and 'lurgee' could be an ok computer b-side (cf. a reminder, melatonin).

Got to be Blow Out

This is a really good rock album, massively eclipsed by what was to come. But I think I rate about 80% of what's on it.

oh god, the scratching on that Moby cover. The only good thing is that his voice reminds me of Tiny Tim, which would be an actually perfect cover were he still alive.

Not the biggest fan of the Morose Warbles, but not a hater either. I see them as an artsier variation of that 90s angst for angst sake subset that I never could get behind fully.

Had a mix tape of my favorite songs from the first two albums that I enjoyed, and also remember liking 'Hail to the Thief' as an album length listen.

Voted "stop whispering"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1qKy4cMPUI

OK, after a listen to the spiffy 2CD Deluxe Edition I have to go with the consensus view of “crap debut, went on to greatness”. “How Do You” and “Pop Is Dead” are the two worst Radiohead songs of all-time. I do like the U.S. Version of “Stop Whispering” though. And as someone upthread said, it is nice to see them already fucking with strange time signatures in “You”.

"blow out" is as good as anything on the bends, and "stop whispering" isn't far behind.

― J. Sam, Tuesday, June 4, 2019 11:59 AM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yep, I couldn't agree more with this. I'd add 'Ripcord' and 'I Can't' to that list as well.

Add a few reverbed sounds effects or an ondes martenot or something and 'lurgee' could be an ok computer b-side (cf. a reminder, melatonin).

― The Pingularity (ledge), Tuesday, June 4, 2019 12:22 PM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They played 'Lurgee' on the Hail to the Thief tour if I remember, so the band obviously thought it was worth digging out to play ten years after the release of the album. Y'know how 'Lift' was supposed to be the great lost Radiohead song and a studio version of it has come out on the OK Computer reissue recently? Well, 'Lurgee' is better than that, IMO.

“How Do You” and “Pop Is Dead” are the two worst Radiohead songs of all-time.

In the case of 'Pop is Dead', it's not really relevant to the discussion as it's not on Pablo Honey to begin with, but I'll agree that neither of these songs are great. However, I'd argue there are worse songs than these two amongst the Pablo Honey b-sides. The other 11 songs on Pablo Honey are, of course, head and shoulders above these tracks.

Lurgee is great, and I was lucky to be at one of those hail to the thief shows where they played it. (I think they only played it once or twice on that tour?)

Do yourself a favour and go somewhere elese.

I've just finished listening to this album again, looking for something positive to say about 'How Do You?' and I really enjoy the way the three guitars gradually pile on top of each other during the intro. No, it's not the best use they'd make of their three guitar setup, but there's something thrilling about how the guitar sound gradually beefs up.

Also, this being a music forum I'd like to think that any and all music/lyrics, regardless of who wrote it/made it, is on the table to be quoted/ripped apart/critiqued/whatever. Particularly if it's relevant to the discussion.

This album is extremely unremarkable, tirrican, you should listen to better music

wait, no, listen to it again just to be sure. And please post your findings here

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Well, look at that. I'm not surprised at all that 'Creep' took it in the end, but look - every song on the album aside from two get a vote, and the ones that didn't aren't all that bad. So yeah, can't be that bad of an album.

Gee the one good song on the album won. Who would have thunk?

About 35 votes were not "Creep" and this is a larger vote spread than most would expect.

But that needn’t lead to the conclusion that it’s not a bad album. You could equally interpret the result as “four truly poor songs got 0-1 vote each (and one of them from the TS probably trying to be contrarian). The one good song won overwhelmingly, except that some people are so absolutely sick and tired of that one that they voted for one of the other mediocre ones instead. Poor to mediocre album.’

But it bears pointing out again that mine is the minority opinion there, and the idea itself that there is a consensus view that this is a bad album, or routinely thought of as ‘Creep plus filler’ is bogus. Contemporary and retrospective reviews have always overwhelmingly branded this an OK-to-good (3-3.5 stars, 7/10, ‘B’) album.

Still time for Erasure to sue

The real winner here is probably the number of FPs turrican got.

https://media.cbs17.com/nxs-wncntv-media-us-east-1/photo/2018/09/18/xWk95_1537274155392_56014414_ver1.0.gif

About 35 votes were not "Creep" and this is a larger vote spread than most would expect.

― billstevejim, Monday, June 10, 2019 4:05 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yup, exactly!

creep is a remarkable song and the rightful winner here. turrican is a dick.

Wow, Prove Yourself was robbed. Used to be my favourite. I Can't is very good too.

The only one I'm really not a fan of is Anyone Can Play Guitar

Surprised by all the hate for it. I always thought it was the most hooky, memorable song on here other than "Creep" (whose lyrics seem no less silly to me).

think it's just the lyrics, they kind of jut out in the same way as Pop Is Dead. Still, it's not awful. The song 'The Bends' is kind of a sequel to it in my mind.

'Faithless The Wonder Boy' is my favourite this-era Radiohead song

Hm, the "confusion"/"confusion" rhyme was a misstep but I actually find the lyrics kind of beautiful otherwise, at least in their musical context. They said more to me than the lyrics to "Creep", which struck me as juvenile even when I was 14-15. (I think the music makes it work despite this.)

Wow, Prove Yourself was robbed. Used to be my favourite. I Can't is very good too.

― frame casual (dog latin), Monday, June 10, 2019 2:06 PM(one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I agree, it's not a bad song at all!

the way thom sings along to the chorus guitar line like sad george benson might make it my least favorite radiohead song

like if scott stapp sang "can you TAKE me high-ER" over the buh-duh DEE duddle-UH guitar part in the chorus of the smash hit "higher" by creed. i mean he is singing the same notes as the guitar and everything.

and not singing during the rest of the chorus. that is the idea we are dealing with here.

He really wants to be Jim Morrison. He says so in the song.

Wait, I thought Sufjan was talking about "Prove Yourself"?

I voted for 'Everyone Can Play Guitar' (*ducks*).

Mainly for nostalgia reasons though - it was on an early 90's compilation called Loaded (sandwiched between the Auteurs 'Showgirl' and FNM's cover of Easy iirc) which was one of my entry points to discovering indie / alternative beyond Nirvana and whatever was on radio back when I was 12, and I wore the tape out in the absence of more pocket money to buy more music. In retrospect it is a dire lyric but great when you have no reference points to compare to.

I was trying to remember which compilation I first heard it on. Maybe that was it.

The "grow my hair/I want to be Jim Morrison" stuff is what everyone hates, then? I don't think it's genius or anything but I find it kind of cute/funny in its self-consciousness, especially the way "I am Jim Morrison" is followed by the deflating "I want to be, wannabe, wannabe Jim Morrison".

zig-a-zig ahhh

xxp my friend had that compilation when I was at school, I taped some songs off it, possibly including Anyone Can Play Guitar, but definitely including Start Choppin by Dinosaur Jr, having looked at the tracklisting

LOL, Willl, this is the compilation that got me into indie/alt music. Came free with Donkey Kong Country for the SNES. To this day, I've no idea what the music's got to do with Donkey Kong but I played it to death

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Go-Ape/release/1481263

and yes, Creep was on it

https://i.redd.it/w25zxt912u131.jpg

xxp I'd love to know the story of how that tracklist got approved :o

'We need to put together a CD to give away free with our new SNES game. Its ESRB rating is 'Universal' so its got to be suitable for all ages.
Any suggestions for suitable tunes?'

...

"Dealers keep dealin'
,Thieves keep thievin'
,Whores keep whorin'
,Junkies keep scorin'
,Trade is on the meat rack
,Strip joints full of hunchbacks
,Bitches keep bitchin'
,Clap just keeps a-itchin'"

'Yes that is perfect'

Also, Leaves & Sand is a totally bonkers tune to give away to 13 year olds.

Vegetable and Prove Yourself both totally robbed

Coming on with Blow Out, in 2018. First time they’d played it in ten years supposedly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s60nLTuz4k