# Radiohead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969 "2003-06-10T21:34:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![arachnidlove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@arachnidlove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arachnidlove)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/1 "2003-06-10T21:34:28Z")
The only Radiohead CD I own is The Bends. I absolutely love this album because its so gloomy and beautiful sounding. My favorite songs are High&Dry and Fake Plastic Trees. I also like the others but I listen to those two songs the most. Now I’ve been thinking about going and getting OK Computer and Kid A. But I wanted to know…do you think I’d like it? I don’t want to dish out some cash for CDs that are crap. But I keep hearing raves about how great those CDs are. I have been listening to Karma Police alot these past few days. I really like that song. Is this a peek at what the OK computer is like? (I’m so behind in the times, I always buy my CDs late…heh) ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/2 "2003-06-10T21:41:32Z")
Buy **OK Computer** if all you know is **The Bends**. **Kid A** will just turn you off. ---
**Author:** ![Govindha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5fc32e/32.png) [@Govindha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Govindha)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/3 "2003-06-10T22:16:37Z")
Personally, I’d recommed Kid A if you like gloomy music.Hell, It’s filled with great music. Go to a barnes and noble type store where you can hear snippets to satisfy your own curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/4 "2003-06-10T23:17:50Z")
_OK Computer_ is a masterpiece, one of the 10 best albums of the 1990s. _Kid A_ and _Amnesiac_ are also excellent ( catch me in the right mood and I’ll tell you _Amnesiac_ is their best album so far) but are very different from the previous two albums. _Kid A_ can be compared with _In Utero_, the attempt of a band that had scored great commercial success to scare away fair-weather fans. Their latest album _Hail to theThief_ has just been released, so you’ll have to give me a few weeks to decide whether or not I want to recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/5 "2003-06-10T23:49:42Z")
I’d definately get OK Computer. Of course, I stated with Amnesiac, then went to Kid A, then to OK Computer, but OK Computer is my favorite of all. ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/6 "2003-06-11T01:21:39Z")
…And don’t forget their earlier _Pablo Honey_ which is closest in sound to _The Bends_. Personally, I loved _Pablo_, _Bends_, and _OK Computer_ but never got into the later albums. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/7 "2003-06-11T01:28:31Z")
_Hail to the Thief_ seems much more aligned to _Kid A_ than _OK Computer_. I was hoping for Thief to be a much less minimalist album than Kid A, and it is, but only slightly less so. I was hoping for a return to the lush orchestral sounds of OK Computer, but alas, still a lot of blips and beeps like we got in Kid A/Amnesiac. With each succeeding album from Radiohead, OK Computer seems to become a grander and grander achievement. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/8 "2003-06-11T01:41:55Z")
**OK Computer** is an amazing work of art. It goes a step beyond **The Bends** in production values, complex song structures and thematic sophistication, yet it still remains a recognizable rock album with musical influences ranging from _The Beatles_ to _Led Zeppelin_ to _Pink Floyd_. **Kid A** , on the other hand, is a complete and total sea change in direction from _Radiohead’s_ previous albums. The album is distant, abstract electronica in which song structure is often abanoned altogether in favour of jittery soundscapes and washes of noise. The passion that was evident in their earlier recordings is subsumed within the artifice of **Kid A** but the shear balls-out spirit of experimentation makes up for it. Afterall, **National Anthem** kicks just as much butt as **Paranoid Android** , just in a different way. All in all, I think **The Bends** , **OK Computer** , and **Kid A** are each fantastic albums and I don’t think I could choose a favourite but I’d definitely recommend getting **OK Computer** , first. BTW, I just picked up **Hail To The Thief** this evening but I haven’t had an opportunity to break the shrink-wrap yet. ---
**Author:** ![silenteyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@silenteyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenteyes)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/9 "2003-06-11T01:59:00Z")
**Amnesiac** , **Kid A** , and **OK Computer** are all great in their own way but it depends what you are looking for. If what you like about **The Bends** is that there are songs you can sing along with, I would reccomend getting \*\*OK Computer \*\* first but once again, all of their albums are AMAZING. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/10 "2003-06-11T02:15:07Z")
\*OK Computer \*and _Kid A_ are equally brilliant in my view. I also just picked up _Hail to the Thief_, and I think I may have to knock _The Bends_ out of third place now… while _HTTT_ lacks the perfect sequencing of the three studio albums before it, the individual songs are some of the best work Radiohead have ever done. It sounds like the Radiohead of old, but suffused with an energy and confidence that they were rarely willing to unleash previously. ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/11 "2003-06-11T04:01:24Z")
You should definitely get **OK Computer** and **Kid A**. **OK Computer** is Radiohead’s best album, and if you like **The Bends** you will almost certainly like **OK Computer**. **Kid A** is just awesome. I can never just listen to one song on it. I get pulled all the way through. **Amnesiac** , on the other hand, you might want to avoid. I never listen all the way through it, I just skip to the few songs I want to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/12 "2003-06-11T04:30:04Z")
Am I the only one who likes _The Bends_ the best? In my mind, nothing beats the sheer emotion that some of the songs on that album convey. In fact, in an odd way one song on that album almost cost me my life… My beloved cat was run over by a car five days before Christmas last year, and I drove up to the cottage to bury her. It was a bleak grey day, and I foolishly put this album on while driving. When I listened to “Black Star”, particularly these lines: "i try to stay awake but its 58hrs since that i last slept with you. what are we coming to? i just don’t know anymore. i get on the train and I just stand about now that i don’t think of you. i keep falling over i keep passing out when i see a face like you. what am i coming to? im gonna melt down." They matched my mood of grief and pain so well, my eyes filled with tears and I came very, very close to swerving off the road because I couldn’t see. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/13 "2003-06-11T04:56:39Z")
Black Star blows me away, too; it was the first song on _The Bends_ that caught my ear and ran with it. 😉 I think it’s about time I rediscovered _OK Computer_ - I do think it’s the best, but it’s been a while since I’ve listened to it. I’d recommend you get _OK_ next, **arachnidlove** : go through the albums in order and you’re most likely to understand the changes and evolution of the band’s sound. There’s not a weak song on the record. They’re not all like Karma Police in terms of instrumentation, but I’d say they’re all about that good. (Karma Police is actually my favorite, but I enjoy most of the others nearly as much. I DARE you not to be haunted by No Surprises, for one.) I actually prefer _Amnesiac_ to _Kid A_. I think there are more top-notch songs - National Anthem and How to Disappear Completely are the only _Kid A_ tunes I’d consider **great** , though I like In Limbo a lot and really dig Treefingers. _Amnesiac_’s Life in a Glasshouse, You and Whose Army?, I Might Be Wrong, Like Spinning Plates, Packt Like Sardines, and Pyramid Song… sweet jeez, Pyramid Song… really do it for me. Anyway- The two albums are from the same recording period, but _Amnesiac_ is a little less far out into techo - there are more actual songs, and at times you can hear Thom’s voice. 😉 I don’t think anything so far matches _OK Computer_, but my first listen to _Hail to the Thief_ tells me it’s a mix of what’s come before (because _Computer_ **does** have a little bit of the techno thing going on). I like it that they’re continuing to evolve and using Thom’s voice more, and occasionally allow themselves to ROCK - more about the album I cannot say, as many listens are still forthcoming. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/14 "2003-06-11T05:06:08Z")
I bought the Bends on a stretch and the first time I heard it I was so bored. A few months later I gave it another try, and strangely enough I thought it was fantastic. Truthfully, I’ve never loved a radiohead song the first time I heard it. Buy an album, give it time. And you will see what the band is trying to really make you hear. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/15 "2003-06-12T05:57:48Z")
Anyone with further comments about _Hail to the Thief_? I thought there was another thread more specifically about it, but I can’t find it… I must’ve listened to it half a dozen times today, and I find I really enjoy dissecting Radiohead’s stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Major\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/16 "2003-06-12T07:58:59Z")
I don’t really have comments on Hail to the Thief other than it come out sounding great on surround sound. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Major\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/17 "2003-06-12T08:03:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyone with further comments about Hail to the Thief? I thought there was another thread more specifically about it, but I can’t find it… [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=189997&highlight=radiohead](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=189997&highlight=radiohead) ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/18 "2003-06-12T11:45:32Z")
Buy both Kid A and OK Computer immediately. They are amazing albums, exquisitely perfect and it is impossible to say one is better than the other. Or, Buy OK Computer if you listened to Radiohead and thought _At last! A rock band who matters, and I can sing along to in a stdium like they’re a contemporary Pink Floyd_ Buy both if you listened to Radiohead and thought _They’re doing really amazing stuff with sound and emotion and music in general._ What I’m saying is, both albums will appeal to you if you’re looking for a band that thinks and makes good music. If you’re just looking for a band that thinks and has loud guitars (not that there’s anything wrong with that) then get OK Computer. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radiohead/180969/19 "2003-06-12T14:43:24Z")
Thanks, **MajorKong**. I wonder why my searches didn’t turn it up. Anyway, **arachnidlove** , when and if you do choose, please let us know and what you think.