Radiohead - I just don't get it

[xanakis]

They keep winning Best Band awards and coming top of polls of Best Band Ever.

But I just don't get it.

I keep listening to OK Computer and The Bends, supposedly (so I am told) their best albums and they're ok, some decent songs on there but nothing special.

And I want to like them!

But I just don't see what all the fuss is about. I've heard Kid A around on the radio (although I don't own it yet) and that sounds quite good, I admit.

But the other stuff, its so droney and whiney. Occasionally it works but most of the time its just boring.

Anyone else feel like this or is it just me?

Can any Radiohead fans explain clearly to me what I'm missing and what I should be looking for so that I can enjoy the music as much as you do?

Really, I want to like them but I just don't get it.

It's not that I don't like slow music, I like lots of "slow" bands eg Portishead.

All the Radiohead fans I know are generally sensible, well-adjusted people in other areas of their life but then they tell me, quite seriously, that Radiohead are one of the best bands that have ever existed.

When this is quite clearly nowhere near the truth. I wouldn't have them in my top 500 even. To me, they're ok but I don't see anything different or special that could make them rank alongside, for example, The Beatles or Pink Floyd.

Its like people have become possessed or something and I'm the only one who's remained normal.

They're a good band but not the best, nowhere near.

[Purd Werfect]

I wish I knew how to explain it. But I do rank them amongst the best modern bands of all time, right up there with The Beatles and Pink Floyd.

Everyone sees different things in art, and it depends upon the context of the appreciator's life as to what is seen or what will be meaningful. No doubt there are things that you find amazing which would be a mystery to me. Way it goes.

[Neurotik]

I agree completely xanakis. I know many people who feel that Radiohead is simply the greatest band ever. Top 5 all the way. When I ask why they think that, the most common response is that they are "innovative." Give me a break. Innovative how, I ask? Well, they use different instruments. I see, says I, but when they use these innovative instruments do they add anything substantial to the musical arrangement? Um, shut up and let me like my band is the next response. I think Radiohead is one of the most overrated bands in the history of music.

On a sidenote, have you heard that insane amount of raving that the British music press have given the Strokes? Another band heading up the most overrated ever. Quite frankly, after having listened to several songs I can say that in my opinion there is nothing original, complex, or in any other way impressive about this band.

[The Red Menace]

I think the reason I like Radiohead so much is that through their music they are articulating emotions and feelings that I don't hear being expressed anywhere else. Before OK Computer I'd never heard music so profoundly express the sense of desperation that runs through that album.

Musically, it's some very innovative stuff. Their use of electronics is incredible; where as other bands might hamhandedly use 30 year old synths simply to achieve a kitchy appeal (Smash Mouth, I'm looking in your direction here), in Radiohead's music it never seems forced. It's like all the "weird shit" they're using was designed for how they're using it.

Both these reasons I've cited are very subjective but I really don't know how else to explain it. There are a lot of reasons I love the band. These are just a couple.

[Freakunique]

Listen to them before you drift to sleep (Amnesiac, Kid A), listen to them when you're feeling angst or festering, listen to them when you want to chill. They are all things. Interpretation is the key.

They're probably not doing anything new but they're bringing it into the mainstream. I rather they experimented and evolved than churned out the same 'indie sound'.

[Kyomara]

Neurotik, they are not innovative for the instruments they use, but for how they use them. The layers of sound in their songs are very delicately laid on top of each other. A friend of mine once noted that all the instruments in a radiohead song "each occupy their own space." I don't really know a better way to describe it, and you'll either be impressed or dismiss it as wanking. Which I guess it is, after all.

As for the OP, I agree their not number one...their lyrics take care of that. I get bothered by the way Thom Yorke's delivery is so meaningful even when his lyrics are absolute crack (which I find to be the case...well, certainly not most of the time, but enough of the time that you notice).

What's so great about them is that the music is beautiful and haunting. I reccommend listening to it with headphones before you try to listen to it on your stereo. You'll notice lots more neat-o arrangements. And no one can sound like a disgruntled office worker better than Thom Yorke.

If you like Portishead, I'm surprised you don't like OK Computer...there seems to be a similar vein running through them when I think about it. WHat kind of music do you listen to otherwise?

Don't beat yourself up over it, though. The Beatles were vastly overrated as well.

[Tarmac]

Aside from "Creep" and all their fame in the mid-nineties, I was first introduced to Radiohead (Kid A) by a friend who raved much like the friends you mentioned in your initial post. This friend had done a fairly large quantity of "entertainment-oriented" street drugs and prescription medication, so I can't vouch for his adjustment to society, but for the most part he seems pretty decent. But when he popped the CD in and looked at me with head-nodding anticipation, I couldn't quite reciprocate. Like you, I thought it was good stuff but hardly worth the kudos heaped upon it by the music press. [See also author Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which somehow won the PEN award AND the Pulitzer and it's just... not that stellar.]

I have since purchased Amnesiac and Kid A, which were both recorded at the same time and released a year apart from each other, and have grown to love them immensely, though not with the messianic fervor that seems to bless their every utterance. Their appeal to me is the synthesis of electronic and acoustic sounds--the layering of vocals upon vocals upon guitars upon drum machines upon real drums upon synthesizers upon you get the picture. It's not so much that they've explored entirely new aural frontiers or done something never before heard in the music world, but more that they've done it more successfully than most of their predecessors. In a nutshell, I love their albums and definately rank them in my top drawer, but fail to be brought to my knees when attending the church of Yorke.

[grettle]

i just wish they wouldn't have published Amnesiac as a new sound, to me it is the B-side to Kid A. but i do think they are amazing and i was addicted to Kid A when it was released for at least four months it was all i listened to.
as for why they are one of the top bands of all time, they did create a new sound, as did the beatles and nirvana. they "revolutionized" one sect of the music industry (if you will). they were a good guitar band (OK Computer, the Bends. . .) and Thom has a distinct (if not a bit whiney) voice, but he is whiney and on key-there is charm to that. and they evolved their music with the times-from guitar to electronica. there is always the "perfect timing" element to a "revolutionary" band. granted, the big to do about their album ruined it for many who expected nothingless than divine inspiration, Radiohead got a lot of attention through their anti-marketing campaign, which is also a relation to their target audience. i commend them

[Jackknifed Juggernaut]

Um, I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with Radiohead being compared to the Beatles or Pink Floyd. As far as I'm concerned, the Beatles were the Backstreet Boys of their generation. I mean, they were pleasant enough to listen to, but I would never actually purchase any of their music. The only band that I would ever put in the same category as Radiohead would be The Smiths. No one else even comes close.

[Tretiak]

I love Radiohead and I do think they are one of the all-time great bands. But how can I explain why, we differ in our tastes?

[Wumpus]

I'm perplexed that the critics keep raving about how innovative Kid A is. It's a pretty good album, but I don't hear anything there that I haven't heard from various other mope-rock/prog-rock bands of the last 30 years.

What really irks me, though, is that the songwriting on Kid A is noticably inferior to that on The Bends and OK Computer, but no one seems to care. "Songs? Who needs songs when we have this cool retro electric piano and some psychedelic string arangements?"

[Niobium Knight]

i dont like Radiohead. i own OK Computer but never listen to it, and i used to own The Bends but sold it.

the problem i have with Radiohead is they're far too arty farty. some of their songs i like - Fake Plastic Trees is good.

the person who compared them to the Smiths. i disagree with you. i quite like the Smiths. they have a sense of humour for starters, and they like to have a bit of fun.

Radiohead are over-rated. i'm not saying the dont have any talent, but they are over-rated.

[Maeglin]

I don't understand Radiohead either, and I suspect that I am the kind of person who should really dig them. I just find their music less than compelling. If I am not grabbed immediately or even after several listenings by their music, why should I look any deeper to find their "musical space," or whatever?

I agree, there is no sense arguing over taste. I just want to hear more concrete reasons why people think they are so extraordinary, rather than the usual "this is the music of my soul" kind of answer.

[Dryga_Yes]

Originally posted by Niobium Knight
i dont like Radiohead. i own OK Computer but never listen to it, and i used to own The Bends but sold it.

the problem i have with Radiohead is they're far too arty farty. some of their songs i like - Fake Plastic Trees is good.

the person who compared them to the Smiths. i disagree with you. i quite like the Smiths. they have a sense of humour for starters, and they like to have a bit of fun.

Radiohead are over-rated. i'm not saying the dont have any talent, but they are over-rated.

Sure they have humor. I laugh my ass off every time I listen to Thom singing, with just too emotional delivery

Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon
Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon
Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon
A lemon



Anyway, I have to agree with the previous posters. The dense arrangements aren't INNOVATIVE, but they're... well, people have done it before, but never as good. It's taking already existing means of making music and literally achieveing PERFECTION with it. They may not be the new Beatles, but they have Pink Floyd beat by far.

[Kyomara]

jkbelle, please tell me how in God's name Nirvana revolutionized anything at all. Not to be confrontational or anything...well, okay, to be very confrontaional, I guess...but I have heard this ever since Nevermind and I cannot figure out what they did that was so great, other than being the first to get signed. They were really cool, don't get me wrong, but they were pretty sloppy and lyrically spotty. What's the big deal?

Jackknifed Juggernaut, I've been thinking a lot about the Beatles lately, and while I agree they were overrated for some of their later stuff (although when they were good in those years they were really good), I think it is really their early straight-ahead rock music that put them on the map. When the Beatles came along, the radio was in the same state it is now: full of crap. They came in with a new sound and basically created a scene that wasn't there before. And they were smart. Have you ever read an interview with the Backstreet Boys?

And I was going to agree with Niobium Knight, but Dryga_Yes set me straight. Yeah, Radiohead are all big Pixies fans, so I'm sure they are aware of how ridiculous Thom Yorke's lyrics are sometimes. "He used to do surgery/for girls in the 80's???" "The panic/the vomit??" Bleah.

[Kyomara]

Having thus defended the Beatles, I take back what I said about Nirvana halfway. But only halfway.

[bouv]

Hmm...Radiohead, no sir, I don't like them. To me, all of their songs I have heard sound the same, annoying. That singer has that whiney voice, and does he have to make EVERY word sung five seconds long? Honestly, to me, it all sounds like he's reading the following, real slowly:

Laaaaa-naaaaa-aaaaaahhhhhh-iiiihhhhhh-maaaaaaaahhhhhh.

[kabbes]

Because nobody else has ever managed to isolate pure pain, distil it, bottle it and forcefeed it through a microphone.

The only band that can actually, on occasion, make me cry.

pan

[London_Calling]

Just an opinion:

Maybe analogies with people like Jackson Pollock or van Gogh might help. Whatever Radiohead might be, what they do is art so you might try considering their work using a visual art vocabulary.

[Niobium Knight]

i did - "arty farty"

[TwistofFate]

Radiohead are more Damien Hirst than Jackson Pollock.

Some people get the joke, some people don't.

[TwistofFate]

Niobium Knight-

Van Gough is not, and I repeat NOT, arty farty. If you are ever in Amsterdam, I recommend the Van Gogh museum. Christ, that opened my eyes.

[kabbes]

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaain dooooooooowwwwwwwn

::deep breath::

agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain

[D_Nice]

I would consider myself to be an immense Radiohead fan. I am also a great fan of classic rock. The music that was created by bands like The Who, Zeppelin, The Door, etc. can't be topped IMHO. That music was innovative for it's time much like Radiohead's music is now. I would place Radiohead in my list of top bands of all time. Radiohead released two albums that were popular to their release time (Pablo Honey and The Bends). Whereas they were great albums, they weren't what Radiohead really wanted to put out. Time and time again Thom has publicly ridiculed his own work with Creep, one of their most popular songs to date. OK Computer has been my favorite album to date. It was the first step that Radiohead took towards getting away from mainstream music and producing what they wanted to craft. I found OK Computer to be a perfect blend between traditional sounds and more experimental electronic sounds. Kid A went a bit to far IMHO and they stepped it back nicely again with Amnesiac.

Now since I have finished with that incredibly boring timely and personal reflection upon the band, onto my reasoning behind enjoying the band quite so much. By nature I am a fairly somber person. Thom's aching voice and droning lyrics seem to effect me greatly. The blending of sounds is powerful and gripping. OK Computer is chaotic, serene, and suspenseful all at different times and together at others. I missed the opportunity to catch them in concert in NJ, but was lucky enough to catch a show in GA and I was completely moved. It is music to be depressed with.

Cliff notes: My love for Radiohead steams from how it moves me emotionally.

[Niobium Knight]

Originally posted by TwistofFate
Niobium Knight-

Van Gough is not, and I repeat NOT, arty farty. If you are ever in Amsterdam, I recommend the Van Gogh museum. Christ, that opened my eyes.

i never said Van Gogh was arty farty i said Radiohead was, like Damien Hurst.

[gex gex]

it's hard to find a definitive reason why radiohead are so respected in the music industry and adored by fans; apart from issues of personal taste, the music they've produced throughout their career is marked by it's variety. but, i'll try...

pablo honey
this is the one that had 'creep' on it. it's generally considered by the band and it's fans to be their poorest album, very patchy in places. 'creep' was a big hit because of it's theme of self-loathing (very popular in the early 90's grunge era), it's catchy chorus and it's striking aggresive guitar, already displaying signs of jonny greenwood's potential. personally, i think pablo honey is good; it has some fine pop moments such as 'anyone can play guitar', 'thinking about you', etc, but it is nothing particularly special.

the bends
this is a vastly underated album - it lacked the immediate hit of pablo honey and the experimental feel of ok computer, but it more than makes up for this in it's songwriting and emotion. was this revolutionary? - i'm not sure, but it seems to me that radiohead popularized the concept of showing humanity and emotion emmersing from, (or drowning under) a world overun by technology. this can be seen particularly in 'fake plastic trees' and 'black star'.

another feature of the bends that is seen as part of radiohead's appeal is their ability to distill emotion into musical sound. this is of course, completely objective. while some people can feel the absolutely devastating loneliness and fear in a song like 'street spirit', others may just hear a minor-key arpeggio guitar line and some useless whining over the top. this is partly why it is difficult to explain the appeal of radiohead; one of the things that makes them so loved by their fans is the emotional response they draw, and unfortunately, if you don't feel it, it's pretty hard to make yourself feel it. that's why i was surprised to hear that you liked portishead but not radiohead. songs such as 'roads' and 'numb' also share this quality.

ok computer

this is the album where radiohead can first really be appreciated for their musical prowess. it's probably radiohead's best complete work to date - while moments of kid a and amnesiac are as good or better, ok computer works so well as one unified vision.

musically, it's astounding. jonny greenwood and ed o brien's guitar tops even their best moments on the bends - it moves from angry, distorted and aggresive to soft gentle and lulling in a single song (paranoid android is a great place to start a love of radiohead) and songs such as 'airbag' and 'climbing up the walls' are heavily influenced by electronica, containing samples, drum loops etc, but still remaining firmly rock. (and by the way... does anyone else think that climbing up the walls is one of the scariest songs ever?)

another appeal of radiohead strongly illustrated on ok computer is thom yorke's unique peculiar phrasing, at times bordering on the ridiculous.

kid a and amnesiac

while these aren't innovative to those who are aware of indie-electronica pioneers such as bjork and aphex twin, the sounds on these two are very new to rock'n'roll and new to a mainstream audience. while such aural experiments as
'pulk/pull revolving doors' and 'like spinning plates' can be seen as either brilliant or wank, radiohead's desire to keep pushing the boundaries affords them a great deal of respect. as well, there are some really killer songs - try 'life in a glasshouse', 'idioteque' and 'motion picture soundtrack' for tracks worth hearing for their experimental brilliance and musical prowess.

there are other aspects that have afforded radiohead their elevated status. a moody, enigmatic frontman is always useful for creating thousands of obsessed fans (other bands that have benifitted from this include r.e.m. and the cure), their angsty themes (depressive music often induces a cult audience, especially when it's expressed semi-cryptically) and even the subtle humour prevalent (the hitchhikers references in 'paranoid android', for instance, or the title of pablo honey. then again, they aren't for everyone.

[Niobium Knight]

i think it would help me understand them more if i knew what Yorke is like as a person. it would help me understand his songs more.

[xanakis]

Thanks to all who have responded to my OP. Ill keep listening to them and keep trying and I will bear in mind all that you have said.

I don't dislike them, I just don't get why they are quite so popular.

It may be that they will one day just suddenly click into place in my head. Sometimes I find that happens with bands - I listen and listen but just don't get it then one day it clicks into place and I can suddenly understand why people like them.

I remember this happened with The Smiths. I hated them for the first year after they came on the scene, didn't understand what all the fuss was about but then, one day, something just clicked into place and I thought they were great after that.

As regards Thom Yorke, I (briefly) went out with a girl who used to go out with him before Radiohead became famous. I remember she told me that he was very anti-drugs. She used to do loads of acid and grass but Thom wouldn't touch anything.

Whether this makes you have more respect for him or less depends on your own perspective.

Now I think about it, deep down, this may help explain my mental block towards Radiohead. Not the drugs thing but the fact that he was an ex-boyfriend of my girlfriend. I think guys always like to think that their girl's ex-boyfriends were all jerks. Even when its obviously not true.

Something to do with the fragile male ego perhaps.

[Kyomara]

Originally posted by xanakis
Something to do with the fragile male ego perhaps.

There's a Radiohead song in there somewhere...

[D_Nice]

Originally posted by xanakis


It may be that they will one day just suddenly click into place in my head. Sometimes I find that happens with bands - I listen and listen but just don't get it then one day it clicks into place and I can suddenly understand why people like them.

that can very well be the case indeed. I can honestly say that I never really picked on on Kid A that much. It took a while for amnesiac to really grip me. After listening to the album straight through a couple time, then I was very hooked on it. Give it a shot. Not everyone can always come together to agree on one band or style of music. I could never say anything bad about another band or genre of music other than 'that's just not for me'

[Spit]

I agree with bouv on this.

Perhaps in the middle of "Laaaaa-naaaaa-aaaaaahhhhhh-iiiihhhhhh-maaaaaaaahhhhhh" is a subliminal message of sorts, that only affects the artsy-fartsy types.

I can't remember which month it was...Maybe the one where radiodead was on the cover...But the editor of Rolling Stone wrote (Which I found surprising for artsy-fartsy RS) a fairly scathing Op-Ed on them, confirming that yes indeed.......They suck.

[Spit]

"Radiodead"

LOL

I didn't mean that really. Perhaps it was a subliminal thought on my part.

[Niobium Knight]

i had another few listens to OK Computer and it still doesnt work for me. i cannot connect with the songs in the way i can with the Smashing Pumpkins.

[D_Nice]

Originally posted by Niobium Knight
i had another few listens to OK Computer and it still doesnt work for me. i cannot connect with the songs in the way i can with the Smashing Pumpkins.

To each their own really. Different music effects different people in different ways. Giving it the chance by listening to a few times, is more than most would do when they aren't initially enthralled by music.

[Lateralus]

Wow.


Being a huge Tool fan, I can honestly say you can substitute "Radiohead" for "Tool" in this thread and it would still make perfect sense.

And yes, I would rate Tool as one of the top 10 bands of all time. They are so far ahead of their time that people still have yet to realize it .

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to a lot of Radiohead.

[Dr_Paprika]

I like Pablo Honey. You're a creep.

[Alessan]

I like Radiohead. They've got a tight rhythem section, cool riffs, some nice hooks and a lead singer whose voice doesn't clash with the music. That's all I really need from a band.

[Mofo Rising]

It's one of those things, like everything else. Either you buy into it or you don't. It's as simple as that.

The only reason Radiohead gets so much press is that so many people buy into it, along with so many music critics.

Who cares if you don't "get it". If you don't, listen to something else. If you're offended by the lavish praise put on them by music journalists, stop reading the articles. I'm a huge Radiohead fan, and I stringently avoid any "music journalist" article on them. They always proclaim something like "Radiohead is saving rock and roll by destroying it". That's music journalist's job. They're pretty much useless, so they have to write crap like that.

When you're expecting hype, nothing ever delivers.

So if you're proud of "getting" Radiohead, or proud of "not getting" Radiohead, shut the hell up. It's always just been people's personal taste in music. If you don't like it, listen to something else and stop reading the hype. If you do like it, more power to you. Listen and feel happy.

I'm sorry. If you're really considering liking something because the press and hype tells you you should, you're lost.

[D_Nice]

I completely agree with Mofo Rising. Listen to something because it effects you or is very catchy, not because someone sai dyou should like the band for X reasons.
One reason that some people that I know of don't get that hooked on Radiohead, is because they have trouble understanding Thom. I admit, it took me a while to get used to his voice and fully understand what he is saying.

For no other reason than wanting to do so, here are the lyrics to the Radiohead song that seem to effect me the most. I think its the final verses of this song that get to me so severely:


Fake Plastic Trees

A green plastic watering can
For a fake chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth

That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself

It wears her out, it wears her out
It wears her out, it wears her out

She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns

He used to do surgery
On girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins

And it wears him out, it wears him out
It wears him out, it wears him out

She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love

But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run

And it wears me out, it wears me out
It wears me out, it wears me out

And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time, all the time

[Kyomara]

Gawd. Can Thom Yorke's lyrics really suck a fat one sometimes or what? I was listening to OK again the other night and was particularly struck by the way self-consciously alienating bit about the Yuppies Networking. Still, I don't think he isn't in on the joke...

Perhaps all the hype over Radiohead is due to the fact that they are really good. Not necessarily the saviors of rock, but just really good. And how often do really good bands become famous and sell a lot of records? Exactly. So when everyone else in the field sucks, it's easy to look like the best just by being really good.