'Boy' vs Radiohead's 'Pablo Honey'

[financeguy]

Which is the better debut?

I think 'Pablo Honey' is slightly better, because of 'Stop Whispering'. Of course Radiohead were a few years older than U2 were at the time of 'Boy', so it may not be a fair comparison. If 'Stop Whispering' was left off Pablo Honey, then I think 'Boy' is the better album.

 

[Zoots]

Boy, definitely! But Stop Whispering is probably my favourite song on Pablo.

 

[SeattleVertigo]

Radiohead is one of my favorite bands, but I'm not a huge fan of Pablo Honey.

I like Boy much better.

 

[financeguy]

Ok, Boy's probably better now that I think of it. Boy is consistently pretty good, Pablo Honey only has three standout tracks. But The Bends knocks October into a cocked hat. It took U2 four albums to get to that level of brilliance.

 

[Axver]

Ok, Boy's probably better now that I think of it. Boy is consistently pretty good, Pablo Honey only has three standout tracks. But The Bends knocks October into a cocked hat. It took U2 four albums to get to that level of brilliance.

Radiohead wish they could make an album as good as October.

 

[Zoots]

It's hard to compare like this. But The Bends is top notch quality!

 

[digitize]

Radiohead wish they could make an album as good as October.

Err... Kid A is an amazing album, but it's really hard to compare it to something like October. They're so different... October wins lyrically, by far (I consider it Bono's best overall pre-TUF album), but the music styles are really hard to compare. I'd probably take October, though, if only because I have a much stronger emotional connection to it than Kid A, an album designed to pull away from such lowly human emotions.

 

[financeguy]

Radiohead wish they could make an album as good as October.

Well, they do now, perhaps. I wouldn't rate October above their best material myself, but each to their own.

 

[PookaMacP]

Radiohead v U2 is an interesting one. Not too keen on Pablo Honey myself - I'd take Boy any day - but The Bends, while flawed (the middle section, since you ask), is miles better than Pablo Honey, and if you take it by progression, those who would argue that War is better than OK Computer are surely few and far between. (Interestingly, however, Thom Yorke has been known to wear a War t-shirt in concert. Pop fact.)

The Kid A v October argument is ludicrous. Kid A is one of the best records ever made and October is, well, October. 'Ice age coming/Let me hear both sides' v 'We watched as he watched us get back on the bus'. Different times, but no contest. Kid A wins.

Anyway, comparing bands seems like a futile exercise really. Each to their own, etc.

 

[The_acrobat]

Pablo Honey really is generic 90s alternative rock done very well. But that's all it is. Boy is a unique album born out of the fact that none of the members had formal, conventional training in how to play their instruments, and never were successful in playing covers. It is a truly unique and original sound.

Now, once Radiohead made The Bends, they started to come into their own, and it was a delightfully wild ride from there. Clearly the band feel this way too, because nothing off Pablo Honey makes it into Radiohead's setlists, except the occasion "Creep", and that's only when they feel like it.

 

[digitize]

Radiohead v U2 is an interesting one. Not too keen on Pablo Honey myself - I'd take Boy any day - but The Bends, while flawed (the middle section, since you ask), is miles better than Pablo Honey, and if you take it by progression, those who would argue that War is better than OK Computer are surely few and far between. (Interestingly, however, Thom Yorke has been known to wear a War t-shirt in concert. Pop fact.)

I love OK Computer, but I have a really hard time finding anything as spellbindingly beautiful as Drowning Man on it... again, two totally different records that are difficult to compare.

 

[financeguy]

The Kid A v October argument is ludicrous. Kid A is one of the best records ever made and October is, well, October. 'Ice age coming/Let me hear both sides' v 'We watched as he watched us get back on the bus'. Different times, but no contest. Kid A wins.

But Kid A was their fourth venture, so the appropriate comparison by numbers with U2 is UF. Which features the similarly apocalyptic lyric "And if the mountain should crumble/Or disappear into the sea".

 

[financeguy]

Pablo Honey really is generic 90s alternative rock done very well. But that's all it is. Boy is a unique album born out of the fact that none of the members had formal, conventional training in how to play their instruments, and never were successful in playing covers. It is a truly unique and original sound.

Indeed. Pablo Honey is perhaps a good argument for the thesis that if you want to have original ideas, university is a complete waste of time.

 

[Axver]

Well, they do now, perhaps. I wouldn't rate October above their best material myself, but each to their own.

I'd rate ATYCLB and HTDAAB below most of Radiohead's work, but I'd rate pretty much the rest of U2's catalogue above Radiohead's best work.

October may not be one of the best albums ever (I rank it in my U2 top five, but U2 are lucky if more than their top three albums get in my top fifty of all time), but I'd say it surpasses the much-lauded OK Computer and Kid A. I can dig a few Radiohead songs, but in general, I find their music unremarkable and their vocalist poor.

 

[OrARoundabout]

Boy

 

[dan_smee]

Boy /discussion

 

[financeguy]

I'd rate ATYCLB and HTDAAB below most of Radiohead's work, but I'd rate pretty much the rest of U2's catalogue above Radiohead's best work.

October may not be one of the best albums ever (I rank it in my U2 top five, but U2 are lucky if more than their top three albums get in my top fifty of all time), but I'd say it surpasses the much-lauded OK Computer and Kid A. I can dig a few Radiohead songs, but in general, I find their music unremarkable and their vocalist poor.

I agree with a good deal of this. Radiohead's music is far from innovative - never has been - and I do not find the vocal tones of Mr Yorke particularly appealing, when judged by standards of melody. Radiohead fans in general bore me even more than the more obsessed variant of 'U2 can do no wrong' U2 fans. That said, in my view, you've completely missed the point of Radiohead (which you're fully entitled to do, of course). Dismissing Yorke as just a vocalist would point me to this conclusion, for a start.

 

[LemonMelon]

I actually enjoy Pablo Honey, but the answer has to be Boy. It's far better realized and the lyrics are much stronger.

 

[LemonMelon]

Radiohead wish they could make an album as good as October.

Oh, you.

 

[mikal]

Radiohead is one of my favorite bands, but I'm not a huge fan of Pablo Honey.

I like Boy much better.

this.

 

[mama cass]

tough one because Creep is one of my fave songs...

taking into account each album as a whole i would say Boy as there's a couple of songs on there i really love, and i like Boy as an album better than Pablo Honey overall

but, if i had to choose on the basis of my favourite song, then i would have to take Creep over everything else i'm afraid - it is an immense song... to have written a song like Creep for a debut is pretty awesome i say... "you're just like an angel, your skin makes me cry" is so beautiful and intense, and the whole composition is just amazing...

 

[Galeongirl]

I don't care much for radiohead, so I'd go with Boy...

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Pablo Honey

 

[An Cat Gav]

Boy stomps all over Pablo Honey. that's an easy one. However it gets a bit more tricky if you start comparing the other albums. Radiohead haven't made an album as poor as HTDAAB for example, OK Computer is in the same league as U2's best and Amnesiac, Kid A, In Rainbows and The Bends compare well with U2's output.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Boy ftw. Especially since it came from 4 somewhat inexperienced musicians at the tender age of 19/20.

Radiohead wish they could make an album as good as October.

QFT.

I agree with a good deal of this. Radiohead's music is far from innovative - never has been - and I do not find the vocal tones of Mr Yorke particularly appealing, when judged by standards of melody. Radiohead fans in general bore me even more than the more obsessed variant of 'U2 can do no wrong' U2 fans. That said, in my view, you've completely missed the point of Radiohead (which you're fully entitled to do, of course). Dismissing Yorke as just a vocalist would point me to this conclusion, for a start.

Wait wait wait, these sorts of U2 fans actually exist?

Although I do agree with your opinion regarding Radiohead fans.

 

[AcrobatMan]

i like RH

but BOY is a better album ( as per my musical taste)..


U2's Joshua Tree Vs Radiohead's OK Computer is going to be tough for me..

 

[xtrmx]

Here we go again...

 

[gman]

Radiohead is one of my favorite bands, but I'm not a huge fan of Pablo Honey.

I like Boy much better.

Ditto for me!

 

[Hallucination]

As much as I love U2 and Boy I gotta give it to Pablo Honey. Pablo Honey is Radiohead's best album(if it's not the Bends) in my opinion.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

wow, someone likes Pablo Honey? Not even Radiohead likes Pablo Honey...