HTDAAB Vs. Hail to the Thief

[GibsonGirl]

I'm more of a casual Radiohead fan. I absolutely adore OK Computer (it's almost up there with Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree - but that's where it will stay). I think Kid A is okay, only because there is a little too much electronica going on in it for my taste. And when HTTT came out, I was pleased. The songs had structure, and some (particularly 2+2=5, Where I End And You Begin, Myxomatosis, and A Wolf at the Door) were really good.

However, I simply cannot compare HTTT to HTDAAB. In fact, to even begin to compare the two is ridiculous. U2 seem FAR more comfortable with where they are at this point in time, and it therefore shows in their music. Every single song on HTDAAB is strong (and some are brilliant), while I only consider those four aforementioned HTTT songs to be strong. So it's definitely no contest for me.

 

[JOFO]

just want to say that amnesiac has some great songs on it:
pyramid song
I might be wrong
knives out
you and whose army
the rest is...eh.

HTTT also has some keepers:
there there
sail to the moon
2+2=5

 

[If you shout...]

I guess that I'm in an infinitesimally small minority, here...but I think that Hail To The Thief is so infinitely better an album than is How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb that it's not really even worth spending time considering. U2 is my second-favorite musical act of all time (behind only The Beatles...and not by much, I might add), but Radiohead is, for me, the best band in the world. Since '00, I don' t think that anybody has managed to come anywhere close to where this band is. I don't think that Amnesiac is too strong of a record (it sure does have its moments, but it is deeply flawed and uninspired), I thought that Hail To The Thief was pretty much a masterpiece.

When I first heard "A Wolf At The Door" with the lyrics right there in front of me...I just wept. I cried and cried and cried. I didn't think that somebody could ever so perfectly sum up exactly how I felt about the world--"Walking like giant cranes,/And with my x-ray eyes/I strip you naked/In a tight little world:/And are you on the list?/'Stepford Wives'--who are we to complain?/Investments and dealers,/Investments and dealers,/Cold wives and mistresses/Cold wives and sunday papers,/City boys in first class/Don't know we're born./Just know someone else is gonna' come and clean it up--/Born and raised for the job./Oh, I wish you'd get up, go over,/Get up, go over, and turn this tape off..."

While I realize that it's very figurative and could be interpreted in several ways (or just seen as gibberish--it's possible, if that's how you want to read the text), that final verse of the song just blows me away, even today. It says everything that I want to say about the world, politics, etc....and it does it in just a few lines. Fuckin' amazing.

I saw Radiohead live at Alpine Valley during their tour in the Summer of '03, and I knew it--I was seeing the best band since U2's peak. I was seeing a band capable of taking on The Beatles at their prime. Their command of the stage, their material, the audience and themselves was just paralyzing. It was a fairly simple stage set-up, nothing too fancy...but it was fucking amazing in every way. I've posted it before: when those bright blue letters spelled out a neverending loop of "F-O-R-E-V-E-R" after the band fucking ripped "Everything In Its Right Place" to shreds in a blistering finale' to the show, all I wanted was for that night to last forever. I can't remember the last time I felt that way about U2, unequivocally. It was amazing, it was stupefying, it was one of the more spectacular moments of my life.

I do get the feeling that Radiohead isn't gonna' be around a lot longer (Thom Yorke has even said that he thinks they might be done with LPs...just EPs and some touring, from now on, maybe...), but I still think that their last album trumps U2's new one easily. I love 'em both....but I think that Radiohead's was AMAZING, to put it too lightly.

Ha ha ha! Sorry for rambling...!!!!

 

[TheWanderer]

As a hardcore fan of both (my top 3 bands are U2, RH, and The Smashing Pumpkins) - I feel this a is pretty worty topic for me to comment.

I would top HTDAAB in U2's top 5 albums. I would put HTTT as Radiohead's worst. In fact their Airbag, Itch, & Iron Long EPs are better.

I though Pablo Honey was a pretty good melodic rock record. Then The Bends blew me out of the water with excruciating pain, depression, & melody wrapped up into excellent songs and production. Then OK Computer took those lessons into larger production values, experimental sounds, and different song structures - successfully. It took me a few years to warm up to Kid A but now appreciate it's brilliance. And I like 1/2 of Amnesiac (the good 1/2 being as good as anything out here) - but the other half is garbage. But HTTTF is like somone else said, desperately unfocused - with 14 songs and about 5 or 6 good ones, they seem confused. I feel Radiohead should make their next album unapologetically brilliant - or simply stop making albums.

U2, again as someone else said, seem to have found their place and are comfortable in the skin they have. They no longer feel any need to prove themselves or get away from what feels natural. Remember, U2 admitted to that during Achrung/Zooropa/Pop if sounded "too-U2" and simply came out of the four of them jamming it usually didn't make the cut.

Something else to note about both bands, and especially The Smashing Pumpkins - is that they have an AMAZING amount of non-album/b-side/unreleased material that could make up a few great albums equal to their mainstream masterpieces. This is a big aspect to respect as both a musician and listener - three bands write about 5 songs for each one they put on the album. Often time the other four being even better.

Radiohead, if only you had put Killer Cars, Lift, & True Love Waits (with organ & not live) on a true album...

 

[Dalton]

I guess that I'm in an infinitesimally small minority, here...but I think that Hail To The Thief is so infinitely better an album than is How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb that it's not really even worth spending time considering. U2 is my second-favorite musical act of all time (behind only The Beatles...and not by much, I might add), but Radiohead is, for me, the best band in the world. Since '00, I don' t think that anybody has managed to come anywhere close to where this band is. I don't think that Amnesiac is too strong of a record (it sure does have its moments, but it is deeply flawed and uninspired), I thought that Hail To The Thief was pretty much a masterpiece.

When I first heard "A Wolf At The Door" with the lyrics right there in front of me...I just wept. I cried and cried and cried. I didn't think that somebody could ever so perfectly sum up exactly how I felt about the world--"Walking like giant cranes,/And with my x-ray eyes/I strip you naked/In a tight little world:/And are you on the list?/'Stepford Wives'--who are we to complain?/Investments and dealers,/Investments and dealers,/Cold wives and mistresses/Cold wives and sunday papers,/City boys in first class/Don't know we're born./Just know someone else is gonna' come and clean it up--/Born and raised for the job./Oh, I wish you'd get up, go over,/Get up, go over, and turn this tape off..."

While I realize that it's very figurative and could be interpreted in several ways (or just seen as gibberish--it's possible, if that's how you want to read the text), that final verse of the song just blows me away, even today. It says everything that I want to say about the world, politics, etc....and it does it in just a few lines. Fuckin' amazing.

I saw Radiohead live at Alpine Valley during their tour in the Summer of '03, and I knew it--I was seeing the best band since U2's peak. I was seeing a band capable of taking on The Beatles at their prime. Their command of the stage, their material, the audience and themselves was just paralyzing. It was a fairly simple stage set-up, nothing too fancy...but it was fucking amazing in every way. I've posted it before: when those bright blue letters spelled out a neverending loop of "F-O-R-E-V-E-R" after the band fucking ripped "Everything In Its Right Place" to shreds in a blistering finale' to the show, all I wanted was for that night to last forever. I can't remember the last time I felt that way about U2, unequivocally. It was amazing, it was stupefying, it was one of the more spectacular moments of my life.

I do get the feeling that Radiohead isn't gonna' be around a lot longer (Thom Yorke has even said that he thinks they might be done with LPs...just EPs and some touring, from now on, maybe...), but I still think that their last album trumps U2's new one easily. I love 'em both....but I think that Radiohead's was AMAZING, to put it too lightly.

Ha ha ha! Sorry for rambling...!!!!

Hail to the Theif is crap. Lyrically and Musically. Jonny is as uninspired and dull and Thom seems lost. Now I agree wholeheartedly that Kid A kills ATYCLB, but I think Green Day's new album is better than HTTT.

 

[Dalton]

Radiohead, if only you had put Killer Cars, Lift, & True Love Waits (with organ & not live) on a true album...

This will serve as my AMEN to this line.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

U2's b-sides these days have been lacking IMO... ATYCLB - what we got so far...

 

[tomtom]

If you shout... - I find it very hard to relate to where you are coming from. HTTF a masterpiece? I know, its all subjective etc, but this is one of those times where my gut reaction, no offense is, what are you smoking? Scatterbrain, aside from that decent sounding arpeggio? Gloaming? Backdrifts? Crap is the first word that comes to mind (this from someone that loves I Might be Wrong, Packd Like Sardines...,Kid A, Life in a Glass House, In Limbo). Even Sail to the Moon, for its beauty has very little melody-just some minor chords. Even the better songs like 2+2, Sit Down Stand Up are uninspired to my ears. And believe me, it hurts to say this.

What bugs me more is that Radiohead's philosophy in this album seems to be that tune=cheese-they seem to be making a CONSCIOUS effort to avoid melody. And thats just pretentious.

Yes, those lines you quote are brilliant, but they're about the only lines on HTTT to compare with OKC or even Bends. Also, on those albums, the songs about alienation were inclusive and cathartic - they had an emotional resonance. Here, the songs themselves feel alienating. There's no angst, just gloom, and I feel shut out. "Everything is fucked and there's nothing we can do about it" is not what I want to be listening to all day, and thats the message I get from HTTT.

 

[tomtom]

And yes, Lift and Killer Cars are incredible songs. Maquiladora and Wicked Child too.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

Radiohead could more or less make monkey noises and record them and they'd be considered 'avant-garde'. That annoys me.

But then again, if U2 had written 'With Arms Wide Open' everyone would be falling over to describe how spiritually emotional it is.

So I call a tie.

Back on topic, the answer is 'How To Dismantle'. Despite the crappier title and crappier artwork, it has the better music.

 

[Yahweh]

People like to call U2 pretencious but Radiohead beats them in that department 10 fold...Last good album Radiohead did as an album was OK Computer and an entire record of songs...the rest of the material has been pretencious drivil for the Radiohead "elitist" fans.

 

[Dalton]

People like to call U2 pretencious but Radiohead beats them in that department 10 fold...Last good album Radiohead did as an album was OK Computer and an entire record of songs...the rest of the material has been pretencious drivil for the Radiohead "elitist" fans.

I think this goes a bit far. Kid A may not be everyones cup of tea (my wife thinks it sounds like demonic clowns) but it is certainly a powerful collection of songs that show incredible musicianship.

 

[Aardvark747]

Not too keen on the last 2 Radiohead albums myself, so HTDAAB wins hands down for me.

 

[JOFO]

Radiohead could more or less make monkey noises and record them and they'd be considered 'avant-garde'. That annoys me.

But then again, if U2 had written 'With Arms Wide Open' everyone would be falling over to describe how spiritually emotional it is.

I believe there is truth in what you say there.

 

[JOFO]

"Everything is fucked and there's nothing we can do about it" is not what I want to be listening to all day, and thats the message I get from HTTT.

exactly.
I still love them, and they've written some songs that are better than some u2 songs for sure, but the last one came out at a time when everything was depressing and so was their album.

 

[bsp77]

I guess that I'm in an infinitesimally small minority, here...but I think that Hail To The Thief is so infinitely better an album than is How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb that it's not really even worth spending time considering. U2 is my second-favorite musical act of all time (behind only The Beatles...and not by much, I might add), but Radiohead is, for me, the best band in the world. Since '00, I don' t think that anybody has managed to come anywhere close to where this band is. I don't think that Amnesiac is too strong of a record (it sure does have its moments, but it is deeply flawed and uninspired), I thought that Hail To The Thief was pretty much a masterpiece.

When I first heard "A Wolf At The Door" with the lyrics right there in front of me...I just wept. I cried and cried and cried. I didn't think that somebody could ever so perfectly sum up exactly how I felt about the world--"Walking like giant cranes,/And with my x-ray eyes/I strip you naked/In a tight little world:/And are you on the list?/'Stepford Wives'--who are we to complain?/Investments and dealers,/Investments and dealers,/Cold wives and mistresses/Cold wives and sunday papers,/City boys in first class/Don't know we're born./Just know someone else is gonna' come and clean it up--/Born and raised for the job./Oh, I wish you'd get up, go over,/Get up, go over, and turn this tape off..."

While I realize that it's very figurative and could be interpreted in several ways (or just seen as gibberish--it's possible, if that's how you want to read the text), that final verse of the song just blows me away, even today. It says everything that I want to say about the world, politics, etc....and it does it in just a few lines. Fuckin' amazing.

I saw Radiohead live at Alpine Valley during their tour in the Summer of '03, and I knew it--I was seeing the best band since U2's peak. I was seeing a band capable of taking on The Beatles at their prime. Their command of the stage, their material, the audience and themselves was just paralyzing. It was a fairly simple stage set-up, nothing too fancy...but it was fucking amazing in every way. I've posted it before: when those bright blue letters spelled out a neverending loop of "F-O-R-E-V-E-R" after the band fucking ripped "Everything In Its Right Place" to shreds in a blistering finale' to the show, all I wanted was for that night to last forever. I can't remember the last time I felt that way about U2, unequivocally. It was amazing, it was stupefying, it was one of the more spectacular moments of my life.

I do get the feeling that Radiohead isn't gonna' be around a lot longer (Thom Yorke has even said that he thinks they might be done with LPs...just EPs and some touring, from now on, maybe...), but I still think that their last album trumps U2's new one easily. I love 'em both....but I think that Radiohead's was AMAZING, to put it too lightly.

Ha ha ha! Sorry for rambling...!!!!

I was at that show, it was amazing. Though it took three fucking hours to get out of the parking lot.

Nice to have someone else defend HTTT, it is a great album.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I saw Radiohead live at Alpine Valley during their tour in the Summer of '03, and I knew it--I was seeing the best band since U2's peak. I was seeing a band capable of taking on The Beatles at their prime.

ahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

It really bugs me how some feel Radiohead can be added to that elite group of bands/musicians...their catalogue isn't remotely as strong as the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin etc, in terms of the overall strength of the albums themselves, but also the individual songs. How mahy Radiohad songs can be seen as memorable classics? a dozen tops, maybe..the bands I mentioned prior have at 2 to 3 or even 4 times as many.... Also Radiohead aren't as experimental as their fans like to think, either..theyhaven't changed music. Heck, I still think U2 need one more masterpiece besides the new one, JT and AB to be evn thought of with the very best bands, and yet they are leagues ahead of the Oxford miserabilists

 

[bsp77]

ahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

It really bugs me how some feel Radiohead can be added to that elite group of bands/musicians...their catalogue isn't remotely as strong as the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin etc, in terms of the overall strength of the albums themselves, but also the individual songs. How mahy Radiohad songs can be seen as memorable classics? a dozen tops, maybe..the bands I mentioned prior have at 2 to 3 or even 4 times as many.... Also Radiohead aren't as experimental as their fans like to think, either..theyhaven't changed music. Heck, I still think U2 need one more masterpiece besides the new one, JT and AB to be evn thought of with the very best bands, and yet they are leagues ahead of the Oxford miserabilists

He was just talking about how powerful they are live. Respect his opinion and don't be an ass.

Some of you U2 fans are as bad as the Radiohead fans you ridicule. BTW, just for perspective, U2 is my favorite band, Radiohead my second.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Thanks for the personal attack.

I got the impression that he was referring to Radiohead in anoverall sense, not just their live performance, and the Beatles weren't all that great live anyway, they were studio magicians, several orders of magnitude beyond Radiohead.


And for the record, I don't feel Radiohead is a terrible band, they were my favourites '97-'99, but now I feel that their die-hards want to equate them with The Beatles..."Radiohead are today's Beatles" I have heard that so many times...if that were true they'd have to have about 5 albums the quality of OK Computer, not to mention that little "changing music forever" thing, and inspiring entire genres of music with single songs.

 

[JOFO]

..."Radiohead are today's Beatles"

I swear Justin Timberlake said this in a press quote in 2002.

*doesn't know what else to say*

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I swear Justin Timberlake said this in a press quote in 2002.

*doesn't know what else to say*

 

[yimou]

This thread reminds me of how long it is since i listened to Radiohead... Ok computer, where are you ???

 

[GibsonGirl]

Ok computer, where are you ???

OK Computer was brilliant. I'd love to say I'd want Radiohead to make another one just as good, but that's like wanting U2 to make another Achtung Baby.

It's the highlight of Radiohead's career - as with Achtung Baby, there is only one song I truly dislike. Everything else is perfect.

 

[bsp77]

Thanks for the personal attack.

I got the impression that he was referring to Radiohead in anoverall sense, not just their live performance, and the Beatles weren't all that great live anyway, they were studio magicians, several orders of magnitude beyond Radiohead.


And for the record, I don't feel Radiohead is a terrible band, they were my favourites '97-'99, but now I feel that their die-hards want to equate them with The Beatles..."Radiohead are today's Beatles" I have heard that so many times...if that were true they'd have to have about 5 albums the quality of OK Computer, not to mention that little "changing music forever" thing, and inspiring entire genres of music with single songs.

I didn't mean it too personally, I don't think you are an ass, just that you were behaving as one. We all do from time to time, maybe I just was as well.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Its ok 77 I forgive you

 

[Lancemc]

I love Radiohead, and when I say that I mean I loooooooove them. But to say they are even close to having the impact on music that the Beatles did is just stupid. It's not stupidity, it's ignorance.

That aside, I feel that Radiohead CAN save themselves from self-destruction. What they have to do is make a sincerely great album this year (2005). I'm not suggesting they make another OK Computer of KID A, But they need to make something that can just totally blow us away. By us I mean the music world. Radiohead have been trying for years to be as anti-commercial as possibly, and all it's done is hurt them creatively. They got away form creating passionate interesting music to making experimental farts like "Backdrifts" and "I Will". It's time to stop being such cowards and make some truely great music again.

 

[gareth brown]

Hail to the Thief Wins for me.

(Mods- don't delete this post...you seem to have a habit of deleting ANY post I make just because it's too quick or to the point...! Sorry I don't write ESSAYS about U2...! )

 

[Dalton]

Originally posted by
Hail to the Thief Wins for me.

(Mods- don't delete this post...you seem to have a habit of deleting ANY post I make just because it's too quick or to the point...! Sorry I don't write ESSAYS about U2...! )

I think it is wonderful that the deaf are getting into music ...

 

[tomtom]

That was funny Dalton but mean...

 

[Dalton]

That was funny Dalton but mean...

It was a joke. All of my posts need to be taken with a smile.