Radiohead’s Best of compilation has been out in stores for a while now. And while I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad idea to put their hit songs all in the one and same place, it’s just jarring to see it actually happen. I mean, the actual idea of a hit compilation seem to go against all kind of Radiohead aestetic and ideology.
So what is the deal? Was it just something they made to break free from a record deal contract or is it some kind of ironic gesture?
Their record contract expired after they released Hail To The Thief. In response to their self-release (and on XL) of In Rainbows, EMI released both the box set and Best Of. It was a cash grab by EMI.
"Not unlike EMI’s previous Radiohead cash grab, the discography box set, this Best Of comes in multiple formats to maximize money milking potential. We have the single-disc version, comprising 16 tracks (including “Pyramid Song”, woo!). We have the double-disc version, containing the first disc plus a second CD packed with 13 more tracks. And we have the 4xLP limited edition box set, containing the material found on both discs spread across, yes, four pieces of vinyl.
Also not unlike that discography box set, Radiohead did not sanction this release."
“Members of the band have expressed their disapproval of the compilation; they once stated in an interview in 2003 that they would never release a greatest hits collection. Radiohead: The Best of was prepared soon after they decided not to re-sign with the label. In 2008 singer Thom Yorke said, “We haven’t really had any hits so what exactly is the purpose? There’s nothing we can do about it. The work is really public property now anyway… It’s a wasted opportunity in that if we’d been behind it, and we wanted to do it, then it might have been good”.”
I see. It all makes sense.
I just started to listen to the CD in question. It feels… Wrong. Very wrong. I’m not a big fan of greatest hits compilations anyhow (I prefer to listen to the standout original albums), but it’s especially strange in this case. It’s like a legal bootleg.
However you feel about this kind of commercialism, I’ve got to admit, that is a very good selection. I would make almost no changes to it.
Maybe
2+2 = 5 -> (nice dream)
Idioteque -> The National Anthem
If they never had any hits, how come I heard “Creep” so many times in the '90s that it got to the point where I actively despised that damn song?
(Don’t take that to mean that I dislike Radiohead - I love them - but goddamn, did that song get burned out!)
It would make sense to buy it for a 14 yr old who was just getting into decent music.
For all their posturing about being independent, leftfield they were signed to EMI. Their anti-advertising shows in 2000 while entertaining were bullshit. We paid more for our tickets so we could drink watery Bud that had its taps obscured.
To be fair, they played it so many times in the 90s that they despised the song too. (They may still I don’t really know.) They have a couple of other radio hits, Fake Plastic Trees, High and Dry, you know, the songs that make people think they sound similar to Coldplay.*
Stuff like Parinoid Android, National Anthem, Knives Out…the good stuff, never really got radio play.
*Don’t get me wrong, I love The Bends as an album, but listening to those two cuts + Creep in isolation, I kinda get why people think they don’t like Radiohead.
I recall Paranoid Android getting a lot of rotation on MTV, at least.
I didn’t watch a lot of MTV. I know PA was considered too long to ever get played on the local alternative radio station outside of special “Block Party Weekends” where they would play 3 songs in a row of a particular artist. It was occasionally played then (though usually it was the Creep/Fake Plastic Trees/High and Dry set.)
Take this with the grain of salt that I live in Los Angeles and local radio has sucked hard for a long time. There was a brief period that ended at the start of this year where we had one really good radio station, but otherwise even our Alternative station plays a top 40 version of alternative.
I think Thom has blocked out all memories of Pablo Honey. He detests that album. It’s not a bad Brit-Rock album but it sucks as a Radiohead album.
Aside from Creep, the highest charting Radiohead single was Nude at 37. What?! That surprises me.
According to the Billboard 100, these were the Radiohead singles that hit the charts:
Creep - 34
High and Dry - 78
Fake Plastic Trees - 65
Karma Police - 69
Nude - 37
Reckoner - 121
I’m sure it’s a good business move, with games like Rock Band including one of their songs (“Creep”), their audience is expanding to housewives, teenagers, and more.
I just hope this Best Of doesn’t have the obligatory live version of one of their hits. :rolleyes:
Haha. What the hell.
Even so, this is a “best of” and not a “greatest hits”, I’m sure the distinction is more than semantic.
Well, there’s nothing particularly wrong with releasing a Best Of Radiohead if you take into consideration that you lose the cohesion and greater musical construct of the album, which means you don’t get the essence of the band but rather the part that produces good stand-alones. But Radiohead has a shit-ton of great stand-alones (even if quite a few work really well in a bigger musical picture), and a collection of great stand-alones makes for a kick-ass disc no matter what.
However, I do agree with Yorke that they should have had the band make the tracklist to give it at least some semblance of that bigger Radiohead feel.
If they did though, they would probably want to include way more from their later albums than the critics and listeners prefer. As it is, this seems like a perfect compilation to me.
I don’t think the band would have wanted to work with EMI to do put out a release that competed with their own new album. Yorke’s quote says it would have been better with the band’s involvement but he doesn’t say they were actually interested in doing it.
Hah, I can only imagine the “creative output” Radiohead would give in the release of something against their will.