Obligatory Radiohead Thread #1

[Kieran McConville]

Ok, Calluna will have my guts for garters if I don't contribute something (and rightly so), so here are a few thoughts for the day:

Amnesiac seems to get a bit of bad press, possibly more so than Kid A. However, I think it contains some of Radiohead's most gorgeous music to date. In fact I will go out on a limb and say that Pyramid Song and You & Whose Army may be their most hair-raising endeavours ever. Any thoughts?

And the future, what of that? I think they will surprise many people. I think they will circle back to a band approach, but that it will not sound like a 'return' to anything, least of all the Bends. The Bends was very very fine, but it was also basically mid-90s angst rock with the volume turned up to ten.

 

[Sicy]

Amnesiac is #5 on my list right now. I dont know why.

I know the Bends will not return but I can be dillusional cant I?

I wonder what it would be like if Radiohead made happy music.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Radiohead do make happy music. Though if you mean 'happy' in the sense of cheerful, since when have they ever been that?

Anyway, what's to be happy about?

 

[Calluna]

Yay, Another Amnesiac fan! I'm really not alone!

Well, Kieran. Good work and I have to say that I agree with you wholeheartedly on this particular topic. At the risk of repeating myself, there are many songs on Amnesiac that I cannot live without. You already mentioned Pyramid Song and You and Whose Army but also, Like Spinning Plates, Dollars and Cents, I Might be Wrong, Knives Out, these are all very strong songs in my opinion. I am not really sure why the album has gotten such a bad rap but I equate it to the situation when U2 came out with Achtung Baby and alienated a segment of their fans in the process because those fans could not relate to their new sound. But then that is not quite right either because OK Computer or Kid A would probably have been Radiohead's Achtung Baby. Maybe Amnesiac is their Zooropa??

And as for the future, we covered alot of that territory in Wanderer's thread already. The Bends was a great and there are alot of songs I love from that album too but I don't want them to repeat themselves and I do like the direction they are headed. I don't know, I just relate to the newer music more but the thing I like most of all is their live material. I feel the same way about U2. I love to listen to the songs live, they take on a whole new dimension. Since yesterday, I have been downloading the Oxford show from Sicy's ftp site and I am really enjoying it. It is interesting to hear the live versions of some of the older songs. I love the live version of Airbag and My Iron Lung but I only have half of the concert downloaded so far so I will have to get back to you on that one. Did that make any sense or am I just rambling???


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We plants are happy plants.

 

[DebbieSG]

I'm listening to it right now. I hope I'm bugging the people living downstairs.

 

[Sicy]

I just said I wonder what it would be like.

I didnt say there was anything to be happy about.

 

[The Wanderer]

Amnesiac is stellar, "dollars & cents" and "knives out" are as good as it gets, I admit I was a bit indifferent to this album when I was first introduced to it (last spring when i downloaded several of the songs from the internet that were either live versions or demos), so I have known these songs for almost a year now, and honestly Amnesiac has surpassed Kid A for me, even though I think the latter was more difficult to make, I simply enjoy listening to Amnesiac the most of any radiohead albums right now, and I had always considered OK Computer their best (and still do), anyway, what I am saying is that Amnesiac is far better than people are giving it credit for

and the live version of "like spinning plates" is so gorgeous and haunting, i defy anyone to tell me otherwise, same with the previously unreleased "true love waits"

 

[Kieran McConville]

Calluna: Yeah, I've since become aware of the other 'next album' thread, and of course I should have posted my thoughts there. Oversight on my part.

Sicy: I was referring to the music, and it was not an attack on you. I guess I meant 'what's to be happy about?' in the sense that to me at least, Radiohead's music is about the, er, emotional current of society at large. And in that sense, I mean it: what is there to be happy about, musically and artistically, when you tackle the themes that Radiohead do?

 

[Kieran McConville]

Good point there: maybe Amnesiac is their Zooropa (which imo alienated a lot more people than Achtung Baby, which was, like OK Computer, basically the work of a shit-hot rock band with some interesting production work thrown in).

If so, it should be considered of a pair with Kid A. Those two albums are Radiohead's Zooropa. I'm eagerly looking forward to Radiohead's POP. If this is the party, imagine what the hangover will sound like.

 

[Salome]

Originally posted by The Wanderer:
and the live version of "like spinning plates" is so gorgeous and haunting, i defy anyone to tell me otherwise, same with the previously unreleased "true love waits"

I love all Radiohead's unreleased stuff
they should unrelease more songs, maybe even an entire album

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

 

[The Wanderer]

how dull salome, i sure couldn't see that coming...

 

[Salome]

I knew you would have been disappointed if I wouldn't have posted that

and I don't believe in "their unreleased stuff is some of the best they have" statements re. any band

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

[This message has been edited by Salome (edited 01-26-2002).]