achtung baby vs. ok computer

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manu0872

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Two of the biggest albums (in terms of art) of the 90's. Most popular magazine rankings show both albums in high positions, Rolling stone's 500 best albums of all time has achtung at position 62 while OK is at 162.
At rateyourmusic.com the difference is kind of ridiculous, Ok computer comes in as third best album of all time, AB is at postion 1508...When only the 90's are considered, Ok is at position 1, AB ranks 273rd. WTF?
While Ok computer has evident artistic merits, Achtung baby is at least equally good and should actually be up there with the best albums of all time. My personal all time best list has the top positions fluctuating between Achtung Baby, Blue Bell Knoll / victorialand (cocteau twins), revolver/abbey road/white album/sgt pepper, and sorry about this one, The soul cages by STing, which has outstanding production and is sort of a non-commercial concept album.
 
Rankings like this are nonsense. All it proves is that Radiohead has a fanbase that came of age with computers and ranking. I love both of these albums, but I find that AB is deeper, and in the end, warmer. OK is great, but it is detached, and cold...but it's supposed to be.
 
well what question are you asking?

i love both albums to death, but Achtung Baby is far superior to me, and i think that just comes down to me be more affected by U2's music and liking them more than i do Radiohead.

i think it's also worthwhile remembering that OKC was released six years after AB, so it pertains to a younger crowd who are more likely to use the internet and sites like rym. i'd be willing to bet that a huge percentage of people who like AB would likely never have even heard of rym, so the results aren't exactly surprising. being U2 fans, especially fans who were of age or so when AB came out, there certainly wouldn't be as much interest for them in using the internet to boost the overall rating of one of their favourite albums.

cue the "radiohead r shit!" remarks!
 
OK Computer. Every day. The Joshua Tree beats OK Computer, though. Abbey Road destroys them both.

Hell, I even think The Soft Bulletin is superior to Achtung Baby.
 
Achtung Baby is my favourite album OF ALL TIME, but OK Computer is still an excellent album (even if a tad overrated.).

cobl04 said:
well what question are you asking?

i love both albums to death, but Achtung Baby is far superior to me, and i think that just comes down to me be more affected by U2's music and liking them more than i do Radiohead.

i think it's also worthwhile remembering that OKC was released six years after AB, so it pertains to a younger crowd who are more likely to use the internet and sites like rym. i'd be willing to bet that a huge percentage of people who like AB would likely never have even heard of rym, so the results aren't exactly surprising. being U2 fans, especially fans who were of age or so when AB came out, there certainly wouldn't be as much interest for them in using the internet to boost the overall rating of one of their favourite albums.

cue the "radiohead r shit!" remarks!
Click to expand...

What? I never knew Radiohead had haters? I thought everyone (bar a few) worshipped them? :scratch:

I concur with your post wholeheartedly, though.
 
Hell, I think OK Computer is Radiohead's second or third best album.
I know I'm in the minority on that one.

Achtung probably doesn't have the same impact with the younger crowd because the innovation of U2's sound doesn't come across. If I'd first heard that album in...hell, you could probably say as early as 1995 or so (and certainly after) I don't know that it would have the same impact. The songs are the songs but the presentation is paramount the later you go back (1997 was the first big year of the digital music age in recording).

And let's face it, Ok Comp was mastered in the digital age and still sounds rather good (especially for generations who know nothing of analog but in retrospect) and Achtung was pure analog, and in addition was also mixed to obscure the trademark U2 sound, which buried the guitar.

Whatever, these comparisons do nothing constructive.
 
Inner El Guapo said:
Hell, I think OK Computer is Radiohead's second or third best album.
I know I'm in the minority on that one.
Click to expand...
:yes:

Achtung Baby is my favourite U2 album and as of now I haven't heard any album that I like better than it. So Achtung wins even though OKC is awesome too.
And rym is pretty anti-U2 so I wouldn't bother with those lists.
 
the tourist said:
OK Computer. Every day. The Joshua Tree beats OK Computer, though. Abbey Road destroys them both.
Click to expand...

This is almost exactly what I think, although JT might be a hair below OK Computer.

Not that it really matters though. I'm just some asshole on the internet with an opinion, no different than the people who make all of these lists. Which says a great deal about said lists.
 
cobl04 said:
i think it's also worthwhile remembering that OKC was released six years after AB, so it pertains to a younger crowd who are more likely to use the internet and sites like rym. i'd be willing to bet that a huge percentage of people who like AB would likely never have even heard of rym, so the results aren't exactly surprising. being U2 fans, especially fans who were of age or so when AB came out, there certainly wouldn't be as much interest for them in using the internet to boost the overall rating of one of their favourite albums.

cue the "radiohead r shit!" remarks!
Click to expand...

true, very true.
i don't hate RH, in just don't "get" their music. i remember everyone at school being so into them when they first hit the scene, but i just didn't get it. then again i didn't "get" any off the bands that supposedly speaks for my generation.
 
radiohead suck.




(actually, i don't subscribe to this opinion. i think they've got some crappy albums, ok computer not being one of them, though. but no one had actually said it yet, so i figured it might as well be me)
 
Thank you for taking one for the team, IWB. :love:


:)

(also doesn't subscribe to that opinion, but thinks that Achtung Baby is better than OK Computer)
 
to be honest i haven't listened to either (band or those particular albums) in so goddamn long, and still really have no desire to hear them. this thread doesn't make me want to listen to either of them, and i still don't really understand why we're comparing them. how 'bout them apples (and oranges)?
 
Achtung Baby any day. OK Computer is brilliant, it too a masterpiece and one of my all-time favourite albums.

I can't see Radiohead as being capable of creating an album that I'd find as enjoyable as Achtung Baby, An album full of Reckoners might come close though?

U2 might overwhelmingly be the commercial behemoth, but Radiohead seem too distant, detached and cold to really resonate with me. I don't find Ok Computer to be all that believable, lyrically. Maybe Bono is easier to trust and comes across as more authentic than Yorke, I dunno?

Achtung Baby is just a much warmer, reassuring, accessible and powerful listening experience, despite the relatively bleak themes... It's more enjoyable to listen to, I get a lot more out of it. That's all that matters on a personal level.
 
Achtung Baby is my favourite album of all time and I think it is probably one of the best ever, OK Computer isn't as good but it's not that far behind.
 
Neither album is the best by the respective bands.

I probably like them equally. If Achtung Baby sounded more like the live versions of those songs it would win.
 
Achtung Baby. I like Radiohead and respect what they do, but I still have not been able to "get" OK Computer.

I finally "got" Kid A years after it came out, but OK Computer? Not so much.
 
I never "got" why people say "get" in terms of music. You either like it or you don't and if you end up liking something that you didn't initially, it just means that your tastes have evolved to that point. There's nothing to "get", in my revered opinion.
 
That's why I put it in quotes, because I know it's a goofy thing to say.

But you know, I don't care all that much if it's goofy. I have no problem saying "I don't get it" in lieu of "I don't understand the hype for it, because I don't like it all that much."
 
PhilsFan said:
I understand "getting" it. It took me a while to get Radiohead, but I eventually did. It was definitely worth it.
Click to expand...

corianderstem said:
That's why I put it in quotes, because I know it's a goofy thing to say.

But you know, I don't care all that much if it's goofy. I have no problem saying "I don't get it" in lieu of "I don't understand the hype for it, because I don't like it all that much."
Click to expand...

corianderstem said:
Sometimes it takes a while for something to click with me. That's "getting it."
Click to expand...

I "get" it, too, but being the insufferable jackass I am when it comes to language, I can't help but think, 'I don't get it.'
 
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