OK Computer named best album of the past 25 years by Q readers

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Apparently the Arcade Fire worship has not spread across the pond, poll indie kids in America and they'd have your 1, 2 and 3.
 
Surprisingly, I own 21 of the albums listed. I'm glad to see Muse made the list, however I would have placed Origin and Absolution much higher than Black Holes. :shrug:

Saracene said:
Pretty strange pick for The White Stripes though, I wouldn't have thought that White Blood Cells would be that popular.
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I would have expected Elephant, mostly because that was on a lot of the "Best of..." lists that I read last year.
 
Opening up pandora's box, and aimed at the masses not individuals: I'll never get the love of Muse, technically impressive and entertaining, but there's nothing there emotionally... unless you too are a paranoid delusional.
 
Yeah, agreed. I think they're fun, but none of their songs have lyrical heft. It's all pretty silly (and, over the course of an entire album, exhausting).

But we've both picked on Muse in this thread, so let's move on.
 
powerhour24 said:
Opening up pandora's box, and aimed at the masses not individuals: I'll never get the love of Muse, technically impressive and entertaining, but there's nothing there emotionally... unless you too are a paranoid delusional.
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I couldn't possibly disagree with this more. Nothing there emotionally? I just don't know how one could listen to Exogenesis or Stockholm Syndrome and say there's no emotion there. I just hear them giving everything they've got.

I really don't know what to make of the 'paranoid delusional' comment.

LemonMelon said:
Yeah, agreed. I think they're fun, but none of their songs have lyrical heft. It's all pretty silly (and, over the course of an entire album, exhausting).

But we've both picked on Muse in this thread, so let's move on.
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Without getting into a debate about the quality of the lyrics, I'd just say that to me, if the music is good, the lyrics don't really matter as much to me, as long as they're not awful. This is especially true with the kind of music Muse makes. IMO.

Catman said:
And here I thought that I was the only one who felt this way :hug:
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I'm honestly surprised. I really thought Muse had become one of those nearly-infallible B&C bands, like Radiohead or something(not that I'm comparing Muse to Radiohead).
 
Muse would be alright if they didn't let their horrid rock opera tendencies get in the way
 
I am a Muse fan. If I'm able to see them live I definitly will, but I just think that they aren't good at making albums. Absolution is my favourite cos that's their most consistent but every Muse album has a few great tracks and a few absolute stinkers. The Resistance is my least favourite because that's even more bombastic than their other stuff.
 
I know I'll get flamed for this but I am tipsy and I feel I must say that I'd be embarrassed if one of my favourite bands released Undisclosed Desires and that other song.
 
namkcuR said:
I couldn't possibly disagree with this more. Nothing there emotionally? I just don't know how one could listen to Exogenesis or Stockholm Syndrome and say there's no emotion there. I just hear them giving everything they've got.

I really don't know what to make of the 'paranoid delusional' comment.



Without getting into a debate about the quality of the lyrics, I'd just say that to me, if the music is good, the lyrics don't really matter as much to me, as long as they're not awful. This is especially true with the kind of music Muse makes. IMO.



I'm honestly surprised. I really thought Muse had become one of those nearly-infallible B&C bands, like Radiohead or something(not that I'm comparing Muse to Radiohead).
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And I argue the blatant worship of RH as well, I enjoy them, but they are not the be all end all of rock music, and they have yet to come near the originality of The Bends->OK Computer again.

When I say there's nothing there emotionally, I'm saying I don't in any way connect with their lyrics, sure they can wail on vocals and play with ever-changing dynamics, but there's no soul to what they're saying. It's the reason why U2 is my favorite band, sure I love their sound and their evolution, and Bono & Edge put a lot into their performance, but the vast majority of the time (recent lead singles aside) you know there's emotional weight behind what they're singing, and a lot of the time it's something I can connect with. So that in addition to an exciting sound makes for a much more potent combination than pure technical ability or even technical creativity. For me, I'm not belittling anyone's interest in them, merely explaining why they never rise beyond background listening for me.

As for not understanding the paranoid delusional comment, that definitely shows that you're not into lyrics and/or haven't read much about Matt Bellamy (please don't take this as me railing on you, I'm not trying to), it's all over their music and his personality.
 
powerhour24 said:
they have yet to come near the originality of The Bends->OK Computer again.
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I realize that Kid A has its influences (as much as people who hail the album like to ignore them), but I would say that, for Radiohead, the album is completely left-field. It's after Kid A that Radiohead stopped breaking any sonic ground.
 
I don't dislike Kid A, I am just really bothered by what you just mentioned, everyone hails it as so damn special simply because they only listen to RH and the latest indie minute sensation. It seems the world was more ready to embrace a rock band taking an electronic sidetrip in 2001 than they were in 1993 for Zooropa, which I rate higher for it's cohesion, content and conciseness. Whoa, I did not intend for those criteria to all start with C.
 
Thank you, PH. I disagree slightly about Cockropa being more cohesive than Kid A; the latter creates an atmosphere and wallows in it perfectly for that running time. It's very much of a piece. However lyrically it falls way short; especially when one knows that Yorke mostly threw a bunch of random overheard crap together. There's a palpable vibe, but it goes no deeper than that. Boner, on the other hand, is much more interesting in looking at how that oppressive modern world/technology permeates the different corners of our lives, how we interact with it and each other because of it.

Also, on a song-for-song basis I find Cockropa more impressive. IMO, there isn't anything on Kid A that hits the heights of the title track, LANCEMOM, or Serve (Faulted, So Close!)

And it should also be noted once again that Cockengers goes just as far from standard rock as Kid A does, and whaddaya know--it came out five years EARLIER.

But of course, critics like the assholes at Pitchfork don't care to mention that.
 
I, too, enjoy Zooropa more than Kid A, but I find it difficult to properly compare the two. Kid A is far more cohesive musically, while Zooropa takes more care in delivering a message through the lyrics, haphazard though the songs may feel together. Zooropa reaches greater heights in quality, but the lows are definitely there, and I must say that I don't dislike anything on Kid A, really. They're both terrific records, I just prefer one to the other, and not simply because it does a better job of achieving its goals (I'm not positive that it does).
 
Yeah, the cohesion I referred to was lyrical and thematic, though other than 2 tracks (Some Days..., and The First Time) none create much of a musical hiccup in the flow.
 
I think one has to take a lot of the paranoid ramblings of Muse's lyrics with a massive grain of salt. Their music is supposed to be over-the-top and weird, so I just accept that the lyrics are part of that whole attitude/persona. The band members can believe whatever the heck they want, doesn't mean I'll necessarily agree. It's all in goofy fun for me. And that's the biggest reason why I like Muse. They're fun. They go all out and don't apologize for it (not many rock bands who are willing to risk doing a song like "I Belong To You", which I freely state I love. A lot). And I personally have felt some emotion from their songs, as well :shrug:. It's no secret what album of theirs I'd personally put as high as would be necessary in that list, but eh, I like Black Holes, too, so it's cool.

All this being said, I can fully understand why Muse may not be to everyone's liking, so to those of you who aren't fans, that's fine, you're completely entitled to your opinions. I'm not going to freak out on you about it :hug: :).

As for the rest of the list, eh, not too bad-perhaps some switching around of order, maybe an artist or two that could perhaps be changed out, I dunno, but still, some good stuff nonetheless.

Angela
 
I am a fan, but begrudgingly in the face of the ridiculous amount of acclaim they get, just like my attitude with RH, they are not groundbreaking or deeply engaging, but I do enjoy their music on a listening level, most of the time.

For awhile I assumed the paranoia thing was an act/part of the band's image, until I started noticing pretty much any article about the band or Bellamy having quotes that proved he's really like that.
 
LemonMelon said:
I, too, enjoy Zooropa more than Kid A, but I find it difficult to properly compare the two. Kid A is far more cohesive musically, while Zooropa takes more care in delivering a message through the lyrics, haphazard though the songs may feel together. Zooropa reaches greater heights in quality, but the lows are definitely there, and I must say that I don't dislike anything on Kid A, really. They're both terrific records, I just prefer one to the other, and not simply because it does a better job of achieving its goals (I'm not positive that it does).
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Well if we're talking low points, there's nothing on Cockropa I actively dislike, as opposed to How To Put People To Sleep Completely.

Perhaps songs like Racquetcase* or Some Cocks Are Bigger Than Others seem minor, but they're pretty perfect if slight futuristic pop gems. And that Beatles-sounding backwards guitar solo on the latter is one of the album's high points IMO, as is the line "some days have referees that won't call it In".




*"Fisher Price Baby Racquet"? That's all you came up with?
 
Numb is a pretty bland song, for all of its pretensions, and I've never liked the album version of The Wanderer...the vocals are great, but the synths are horrifying. The live version lacks them while still giving the passion, so I'll take that one any day. I love Some Days Are Better Than Others, so no need to defend that one to me. Babyface is stupid, but I find the melody pleasing. Most everything else is classic U2 IMO.
 
LemonMelon said:
Numb is a pretty bland song, for all of its pretensions, and I've never liked the album version of The Wanderer...the vocals are great, but the synths are horrifying. The live version lacks them while still giving the passion, so I'll take that one any day. I love Some Days Are Better Than Others, so no need to defend that one to me. Babyface is stupid, but I find the melody pleasing. Most everything else is classic U2 IMO.
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Isn't the whole point of Hedge's vocal delivery on Net to be bland/monotonous? Ok, it's not a song I love to hear all the time, but it still sounds pretty damned cool.

And what live version of The Wandering Cock are you talking about? The one that was played once, on the Johnny Cash tribute? It was fun to hear but I think they altered the whole nature of the track; the novelty of it is that it's this country song dressed up in bubbly electronics. Always had a nice little Christmasy feel to me, personally.
 
lazarus said:
Isn't the whole point of Hedge's vocal delivery on Net to be bland/monotonous? Ok, it's not a song I love to hear all the time, but it still sounds pretty damned cool.

And what live version of The Wandering Cock are you talking about? The one that was played once, on the Johnny Cash tribute? It was fun to hear but I think they altered the whole nature of the track; the novelty of it is that it's this country song dressed up in bubbly electronics. Always had a nice little Christmasy feel to me, personally.
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And that's my issue: as much as I like Numb, I rarely am in the mood to hear it, which makes it one of the lesser tracks by default. Cool song, but not a great one.

Yeah, I was talking about the tribute version. I love it. It's such a good song, and I feel you discover that once you strip the novelty away.
 
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