'Boy' vs Radiohead's 'Pablo Honey'

[Hallucination]

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

Creep, Anyone Can Play Guitar, Thinking About You, Stop Whispering, Ripcord etc etc. What's not to like?

Not to offend anyone but I find the high praise of Kid A to be a bit pretentious and overexagerated. I've always found that Radiohead fans seem to purposely favor the Radiohead material that strays furthest from "mainstream" almost in an attempt to legitimize thier own independent musical taste. I'm a big Radiohead fan and own all their albums but honestly Radiohead fans are the worst in my opinion. Always thinking they are better and more intellectual than every other music fans out there and always dismissing those who don't choose the more recent material as thier favorites. So many times I've been criticized for likeing Pablo Honey cause it was Top 40. Haha well excuse me.

just ranting here..... sorry.

 

[youarenotimmune]

Boy

like someone else said, there wasn't anything that special about Pablo Honey, but Boy was an incredibly unique album for its time.

Radiohead's my second favourite band after U2, and I've been a fan since O.K. Computer, and for me In Rainbows is their best album. One of the albums of the decade imo

 

[LemonMelon]

OK Computer > all U2 albums. It's probably my favorite album not released by The Beatles.

But every U2 album > Pablo Honey, Hail To The Thief.

 

[whackjester]

Radiohead haven't made an album as poor as HTDAAB for example,

I love Radiohead, but I would venture to say that Hail to the Thief was on par with How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. I believe both albums had a few great songs and the rest wasn't too bad, but definitely not up to potential.

 

[cobl04]

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.

who compared kid a and october?

you can't really compare the two bands, they're worlds apart.

and to an cat gav, Amnesiac is so much worse than hutdab words can't even describe. i haven't heard pablo honey.

why is it you dislike httt so, elmel?

 

[LemonMelon]

why is it you dislike httt so, elmel?

Thom's voice is at its all-time worst, I only enjoy 4-5 songs on it, and the album is a bit scattered sonically. Production pales to OK Computer too.

But I'm used to being in the minority regarding this album. I just really think it was a step backwards for them.

 

[mama cass]

i like HTTT - not my fave Radiohead album, not up there with The Bends, OK Computer or In Rainbows imo, but i listen to it more than HTDAAB (which isn't exactly hard though lmfao)

i love Radiohead, probably one of the bands i listen to and love the most... and there is always at least one knockout song for me on every album - Creep on PH, i couldn't be without "You and Whose Army" even though Amnesiac can send me screwy lmfao, i do love Kid A - Everything in its right place was so beautiful when i saw them live, and How to Disappear Completely is like heaven to me, i think there are some good tracks on HTTT - that was the tour i saw and it was really mind-blowing - i think some of the individual tracks are stunning and worked beautiful live (2+2=5, Sit down Stand up, Backdrifts and especially There There - my fave), but i guess In Rainbows, The Bends and OK Computer come up consistently as my fave Radiohead albums as a whole, gorgeous songs i need to hear often

 

[mama cass]

I only enjoy 4-5 songs on it

only 4-5 songs? - if i enjoy that many songs on an album it's love i tell ya! haha

on just about every album i listen to, there's always songs i have to skip, even on the best of them...

 

[Saracene]

Boy, no question. Pablo Honey overall is IMO quite average, though I do like Thom Yorke's vocals on it. Not a big fan of his post-Bends singing style.

 

[mama cass]

just listening to PH now though, and i have to say the rhythms etc are pretty sophisticated and the musicianship is quite brilliant... the rhythms/timing on You for instance... Johnny Greenwood always was a bit of a musical genius... i like how he is able to reach out beyond the bounds of his classical training and get creative and crazy with it too

i don't think Boy/PH should be compared - it's like apples and oranges really... two very different bands and approaches... U2 started out v. raw, just really going for it with a passion, but were kind of quite limited technically initially (sorry guys) obviously apart from The Edge's genius, and sometimes i wonder where they would be today without The Edge... but the band worked well together as a whole and they had the chemistry and the balls to really go for it didn't they (luckily for us eh)...

i mean, U2 seemed to achieve certain things by gut instinct and almost unconsciously - i remember when Bono was interviewed about Window in the Skies and was going on about how he'd been having music lessons and discovered this 6/8 timing and wanted to use it in a song, and i kind of thought of other songs like Acrobat, and Love is Blindness for example, and wondered well aren't they 6/8 timing as well?? and it's like they'd been using all these different rhythms and timings in their work all along unconsciously and instinctively and not contrived... i really liked that... whereas Radiohead always had the "technicalities" under their belt so to speak, but used it freely and creatively, which i also like...

 

[mellow moog]

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

Sorry mate but you are way off base here.

The Bends and OK Computer are masterprieces and as much as I love a lot of October , it's certainly not a great album.

 

[UberBeaver]

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

I actually prefer Pablo Honey to the Bends....

 

[Jdelbove]

clearly boy - twilight, IWF, another time another place etc all 8 or 9 out of 10 but how about something more recent

what about In rainbows v. NLOTH - thats a hard one

 

[nielsgov]

clearly boy - twilight, IWF, another time another place etc all 8 or 9 out of 10 but how about something more recent

what about In rainbows v. NLOTH - thats a hard one

That's NLOTH for me but the difference isn't that big.

 

[Clawgrabber]

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

i am with them. i love Radiohead, have everything they've ever recorded, but getting through Pablo Honey is, for me, a chore.

Most bands have that moment of coming into their own. i think its rare for a band to have as strong a debut as U2 did, and that's why for the most part, i consider radiohead's true debut to be The Bends, because that was when they fully realized what they were capable of.

i wouldn't rate any of radiohead's other albums below 3.5 stars (out of four) but i'd probably give Pablo a 1.5 at best.

 

[UberBeaver]

just listening to PH now though, and i have to say the rhythms etc are pretty sophisticated and the musicianship is quite brilliant... the rhythms/timing on You for instance... Johnny Greenwood always was a bit of a musical genius... i like how he is able to reach out beyond the bounds of his classical training and get creative and crazy with it too

Thom and Johnny get all the acclaim in Radiohead, but I got two words to sum up, like, 40% of what makes them great: Phil Selway. As far as finding rhythm in a song goes, he's unreal. At times I wish he'd lay off the electronic stuff, but goddamn, he's real good at that too.

 

[GibsonExplorer]

Thom and Johnny get all the acclaim in Radiohead, but I got two words to sum up, like, 40% of what makes them great: Phil Selway. As far as finding rhythm in a song goes, he's unreal. At times I wish he'd lay off the electronic stuff, but goddamn, he's real good at that too.

In Rainbows was Selway at the height of his powers.

 

[65980]

i find it hard to compare U2's first album with that of most bands of the last 20 years simply because U2 were so damn young -- they seem like schoolkids on Boy, and so it seems almost unfair (though it's a great debut) to compare that to albums by more mature people. Yorke was 24 when Pablo Honey came out, which is Bono's age at Unforgettable Fire, which is U2's 5th LP.

Anyway, what I will say about these two album is not which is better, but just that I think Boy was more successful on its own terms. Boy is recognizably "U2" sounding like U2, and is a great start to a great recording career. Pablo Honey is more like a slight mis-step before greatness by Radiohead. I think they've even disowned it, somewhat, haven't they?

If we went on to the second album, obviously 99% of fans would rank The Bends much higher than October, but again if you look at their ages, by then Radiohead are like U2 on Joshua Tree.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

i find it hard to compare U2's first album with that of most bands of the last 20 years simply because U2 were so damn young -- they seem like schoolkids on Boy, and so it seems almost unfair (though it's a great debut) to compare that to albums by more mature people. Yorke was 24 when Pablo Honey came out, which is Bono's age at Unforgettable Fire, which is U2's 5th LP.

Anyway, what I will say about these two album is not which is better, but just that I think Boy was more successful on its own terms. Boy is recognizably "U2" sounding like U2, and is a great start to a great recording career. Pablo Honey is more like a slight mis-step before greatness by Radiohead. I think they've even disowned it, somewhat, haven't they?

If we went on to the second album, obviously 99% of fans would rank The Bends much higher than October, but again if you look at their ages, by then Radiohead are like U2 on Joshua Tree.

I do agree on the age aspect that you're talking about. It makes Boy all the more greater seeing as it had been recorded by 4 boys barely out of school in my opinion.

 

[mama cass]

Thom and Johnny get all the acclaim in Radiohead, but I got two words to sum up, like, 40% of what makes them great: Phil Selway. As far as finding rhythm in a song goes, he's unreal. At times I wish he'd lay off the electronic stuff, but goddamn, he's real good at that too.

In Rainbows was Selway at the height of his powers.

yeah absolutely! he is a fantastic musician! i mentioned Johnny Greenwood because i know he does a lot of work in the background on the compositions as well... but yeah i agree the drummer is outstanding and his execution is awesome, and obviously he's the one that deserves the credit for those lovely rhythms... he certainly does shine on In Rainbows especially...

 

[financeguy]

i find it hard to compare U2's first album with that of most bands of the last 20 years simply because U2 were so damn young -- they seem like schoolkids on Boy,

In the last 20 years, that's probably true enough. That said, it isn't that unusual for bands to bring out debut albums at 20 or younger. Some members - most members in the case of the former - of Ash and Supergrass were still in their teens on the release of their respective debuts, for example.

In terms of U2's contemporaries, the members of Duran Duran were aged between 19 and 22 on the release of their debut album. Simple Minds were around 19 or 20 on the release of theirs. Paul Weller had released three records with the Jam before turning twenty, although the other two members were a couple of years older.

 

[Aardvark747]

Creep and Anyone Can Play Guitar are excellent, but Boy is better overall.

 

[The_acrobat]

While I think OK Computer is a good album, I do not understand the universal praise it gets. OK Computer has some great songs, but there are also, IMO, some songs that are quite average.

And I agree with whoever questions why Kid A is regarded as such a great album. I really don't get it. About half of the album is just wishy-washy "art for art's sake" music. I like the album for what it is, but I guess it's just not what I go to for music. All the songs from it sound better live.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

In the last 20 years, that's probably true enough. That said, it isn't that unusual for bands to bring out debut albums at 20 or younger. Some members - most members in the case of the former - of Ash and Supergrass were still in their teens on the release of their respective debuts, for example.

Just tossing another one out there...the Arctic Monkeys were all 19 years of age when their highly acclaimed and successful (and fucking brilliant) debut LP was recorded.

 

[financeguy]

While I think OK Computer is a good album, I do not understand the universal praise it gets. OK Computer has some great songs, but there are also, IMO, some songs that are quite average.

And I agree with whoever questions why Kid A is regarded as such a great album. I really don't get it. About half of the album is just wishy-washy "art for art's sake" music. I like the album for what it is, but I guess it's just not what I go to for music. All the songs from it sound better live.

I agree with you. I rate both the Bends and Hail to the Thief higher than those two.

 

[nielsgov]

While I think OK Computer is a good album, I do not understand the universal praise it gets. OK Computer has some great songs, but there are also, IMO, some songs that are quite average.

And I agree with whoever questions why Kid A is regarded as such a great album. I really don't get it. About half of the album is just wishy-washy "art for art's sake" music. I like the album for what it is, but I guess it's just not what I go to for music. All the songs from it sound better live.

Well I think that those two albums are just brilliant and on the same level as U2's best albums.

OK Computer doesn't have a weak song and Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Lucky... are all great. I even like Fitter Happier.
I didn't like Kid A at first but it has really grown on me. For one I think that Idioteque and HTDC are two of the best songs ever. And all the other songs just fit together so well. It's really an album.

 

[mysterious_jen]

you would be better of ranking Boy agaisnt Silverchair's debut Frogstomp, they were like what 14 or 16 when that came out, same rawness

i still think Boy is an outstanding debut with a certain essence about it , and one of my fave u2 albums.

 

[The_acrobat]

you would be better of ranking Boy agaisnt Silverchair's debut Frogstomp, they were like what 14 or 16 when that came out, same rawness

i still think Boy is an outstanding debut with a certain essence about it , and one of my fave u2 albums.

That is a good comparison. Hard to believe the same band that made Neon Ballroom, Diorama and Young Modern made Frogstomp. Truly an underrated band. Caught them live in Cleveland in 07, and it was amazing.

 

[intedomine]

Just tossing another one out there...the Arctic Monkeys were all 19 years of age when their highly acclaimed and successful (and fucking brilliant) debut LP was recorded.

Which maybe makes them best positioned to achieve the superstardom U2 have accomplished.....who knows....

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Alex Turner is a hell of a talent - Arctic Monkeys + Last Shadow Puppets. Who knows where the Arctic Monkeys will go, but you can probably bet that he's going to be a very interesting/diverse talent for some time.