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But who are my real friends? Have they all got THE BENDS?

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Got my first Radiohead album for Christmas, The Bends. I know, I know. How can someone with such a diverse taste in music like me not have heard a Radiohead album before now? Let's just say that I was in my metalhead phase when this band was big and despised all things popular in music.

My first impression of the album was that it's boring stuff. With the exception of the first dreamy underwater track, nothing really clicked with me. After a few listens I finally got the genius of this recording. Radiohead deserves all the praise they get on this board. The Bends does, at least.

Is Amnesiac any good? I'm looking to pick up that and Hail to the Thief after OK Computer and Kid A.
 
^2

That was the plan. :) OK, then Kid A. Just wanted to know if Amnesiac was good... I won't pick it up if it has filler. I can't stand albums with filler in my music collection.
 

Desperado

Member
Her mind is Tiffany twisted
She's got the Mercedes bends
She's got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
That she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget
 
The Bends isn't really that good. Everything after it is leagues better. I mean, yeah it has "Street Spirit," "Nice Dream," "Just," and a few others... but it has crap like "High and Dry" as well. It's all run of the mill, generic brit-pop. They've done much better.


And, Amnesiac is amazing... even if it does have filler. OK Computer has 'filler' ("Fitter Happier", though it works amazingly in the context of the record), Kid A has 'filler' ("Treefingers)...
 

LakeEarth

Member
In my eyes, every song on OK Computer is good, except that one with the robot voice... and I know people who liked THAT ONE!
 
Star Power said:
The Bends isn't really that good. Everything after it is leagues better. I mean, yeah it has "Street Spirit," "Nice Dream," "Just," and a few others... but it has crap like "High and Dry" as well. It's all run of the mill, generic brit-pop. They've done much better.


And, Amnesiac is amazing... even if it does have filler. OK Computer has 'filler' ("Fitter Happier", though it works amazingly in the context of the record), Kid A has 'filler' ("Treefingers)...

I hated "High and Dry" at first. It grew on me. Kinda like the whole Meddle album by Pink Floyd. (how I hated them both at first then liked them, not that they sound similar)

ARGH! I hope you're wrong about the filler on the other albums. Something about filler just ruins albums for me. There can be 12 fantastic songs on an album, but if it has a couple of filler tracks it just bugs me to have it in my collection. I usually end up throwing the album away or giving it to somebody... or selling it.
 
Being facetious for a moment, I'd like to thank Radiohead for unleashing Keane on the world :lol :lol :lol

I know there are many singers that do Thom Yorkisms (who in turn was doing Bonoisms (who in turn was doin Rotten/Strummer/Daltrey delete as appropriat-isms) but goddamn the Keane singer is the most bare-faced and annoying of the bunch.

I feel better now.
 
Raoul Duke said:
THANK YOU, NOW GO LISTEN TO SOMETHING OBSCURE TO PROVE HOW HIP YOU ARE.
hehe okay dude

I don't particularly like Radiohead, but I didn't say anything about that in the thread. I was just commenting on how I think Hail to the Thief is particularly bad. If you're a fan of the Radiohead thing, I personally think Kid A is their best.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
gollumsluvslave said:
Being facetious for a moment, I'd like to thank Radiohead for unleashing Keane on the world :lol :lol :lol

I know there are many singers that do Thom Yorkisms (who in turn was doing Bonoisms (who in turn was doin Rotten/Strummer/Daltrey delete as appropriat-isms) but goddamn the Keane singer is the most bare-faced and annoying of the bunch.

I feel better now.
Actually, Keane just sounds like a Travis clone (who were at one point called Radiohead clones). It came on the radio and I thought it was a new Travis song. Lots of clones in England.
 

LakeEarth

Member
People have told me Kid A was better then Ok Computer. I found it for cheap and I bought it. They are WRONG AS HELL!

There are only like 3 songs in that album that are any good, and only 5 pieces I would consider songs. Everything else is just ambient sounds with occasional lyrics.
 
Keane is a great new band. I don't understand the hate. They have some beautiful songs on their CD, and some great pop/rock songs as well. I love Tom Chaplin's voice. It is quite lovely.

And yes, Keane sound much more like Travis to me than Radiohead. "Somewhere Only We Know" reminds me a lot of "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?"
 
LakeEarth said:
People have told me Kid A was better then Ok Computer. I found it for cheap and I bought it. They are WRONG AS HELL!

There are only like 3 songs in that album that are any good, and only 5 pieces I would consider songs. Everything else is just ambient sounds with occasional lyrics.


You're daft.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Kid A is better than OK Computer (alot better) and so is the Bends. But theyre all three 5 star albums, one of the best trifecta of album releases ever.

If Amnesiac was an EP and HTTT shortened by maybe 4 songs...or erased all together, that streak wouldnt have ended :/
 

fart

Savant
kid a has moments that are better than anything on ok computer, but okc is the more refined album by far. everything after that is crap
 

Meier

Member
Matlock said:
HttT is Radiohead's finest album.

Yeah except not. Easily their worst release and it's hard to be worse than Amnesiac. OK Computer and The Bends are examples of music at its finest though.
 

IJoel

Member
Meier said:
Yeah except not. Easily their worst release and it's hard to be worse than Amnesiac. OK Computer and The Bends are examples of music at its finest though.

.

Though, OK Computer >>> The Bends

OK Computer is easily one of the best albums ever released.
 

Bob White

Member
Hey LakeEarth, do yourself a favor and listen to that shit some more. Kid A is great. Takes a few listens to really get it, i guess.

Oh, and Morning Bell is fucking perfect.
 

Shazapp

Member
I don't have HttT, but I really like OK Computer and The Bends. Kid A is good, but I never got into it like the other two. Pablo Honey is OK, but doesn't give you much of an idea of the band's eventual genius.
 

Eminem

goddamit, Griese!
Raoul Duke said:
THANK YOU, NOW GO LISTEN TO SOMETHING OBSCURE TO PROVE HOW HIP YOU ARE.

:lol :lol :lol :lol


And yeah, I'm not the biggest Radiohead fan, but OK Computer is their best by far, IMO. I didn't like HttT very much at all.

Idioteque is still my favorite Radiohead song.
 
Meier said:
It is. By a lot.


Oh come on. HTTT is not THAT bad, really. "2+2=5," "There, There," "Where I End And You Begin," "A Wolf At the Door," and "Scatterbrain" are all excellent, and there are a few other good ones. Sure, I could have done without "Backdrifts" and "Go to Sleep," but the album isn't horrible by any means. Pablo is their worst by far.
 
You guys are mad. The Bends is a fantastic record, and my personal favourite (objectively I'd probably say OK Computer is their best, but I enjoy The Bends the most). Hail to the Thief is a good record, but in context of Radiohead's other material, it's really just a compilation of all their different styles...it's not very fresh or original, and it has the least depth of all of Radiohead's cds.
 
The Bends is great, but I wouldn't call it "fantastic" or "brilliant." Anywho, I agree that Hail to the Thief is sort of a 'retrospective,' but it's a damn awesome one.
 

LakeEarth

Member
Bob White said:
Hey LakeEarth, do yourself a favor and listen to that shit some more. Kid A is great. Takes a few listens to really get it, i guess.

Oh, and Morning Bell is fucking perfect.

I guess it's one of those albums you have to listen to one song after the other. Since I don't have the time to do that, I guess it just didn't click with me. I'll try again, but I'd really rather Radiohead go back to songs that sound like songs.
 
OKC
Kid A
HTTT
The Bends
Pablo Honey
Amnesiac


I'm judging their respective places based on the album as a whole. For instance, Amnesiac has a few excellent songs, but some real turds too. That brings it down quite a bit. It should be noted that I place HTTT ever so slightly above The Bends. It's damn close. If nothing else, "Where I End And You Begin" makes that entire album for me.

HTTT has "There There", "2+2=5", "Sail To The Moon", "A Wolf At The Door", "Scatterbrain", "Where I End And You Begin", "I Will"... It's a freaking marvelous album. A Classic.
 
I kind of wish Radiohead went back to The Bends. Don't get me wrong though, I love most of their songs but I'd kill for another Bends-like album.
 

Jason

Member
Just listen to their b-sides + unreleased songs from the OK Computer/Bends era. That should satisfy you. :)
 
I love Radiohead's more 'experimental' music. It's far, far more enthralling and interesting. Kid A is the most emotional record I've heard. It's so detached and 'cold,' yet in some ways more 'human' than anything else they've done. How can "How to Disappear Completely" NOT move you?


And their Amnesiac era b-sides are easily the best. "Fog," "Worrywort," "Trans-Atlantic Drawl," "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy," etc. Some amazing stuff.
 

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer >> The Bends >> Kid A >> Amnesiac >> HttT >> Pablo Honey >> OK Computer ...
 
tree fiddy said:
I kind of wish Radiohead went back to The Bends. Don't get me wrong though, I love most of their songs but I'd kill for another Bends-like album.

As would I. HTTT was trying to be like OK Computer II. They need to try to make a Bends II. I'm sure it won't be as good, 'cause Thom will insist on putting some electronic shit in there somehow, but it would still probably produce some classic songs.
 
No... they need to shy as far away from the rock thing as possible. They're so much better than that.. why go BACK? have you heard their latest attempts at rockers? "Up On the Ladder" and "Reckoner," two 'new' songs, are pretty dull now that they're explored so much new ground with Kid Amnesiac. Why would anyone want them to revert back to that? I say go even further. Sure, "2+2=5" was a bit of a breath of fresh air, but I wouldn't want a whole album in that vein. They've done that before.
 
I really wish I could identify this live version of My Iron Lung that I downloaded back in '98. It is so great, better than the album version, I think. The weird reverb effect or whatever it is, is going off in the beginning before they start playing, and it makes the guitar sound sort of like a Hawaiian guitar. It's weird. But the best version I've heard, and I don't think it was ever officially released on a single or anything. Maybe I should just upload it.

[EDIT] Dammit, I can't find it on my hard drive. It's still on my computer at work though. Shit.
 

Malakhov

Banned
OK Computer is without a doubt, the best album ever made.

I like all of Radiohead's cds 'cept pablo honey, they're all brilliant.
 

Jim Bowie

Member
The Bends = OK Computer > HTTT > Kid A > Pablo Honey = Amnesiac

I like all of Radiohead's music, but I like their transitory period between rock and experimental stuff the best.

A Japanese rock group called Plastic Tree did a cover of My Iron Lung called Rika no Ki. It's super awesome!
 

kablooey

Member
Raoul Duke said:
Ok Computer and Kid A are the 2nd and 3rd greatest cds of all time, respectively.

And don't listen to Matlock. He lives in Ohio, and thus has a warped world view. HttT is good, not great, and certainly not Radiohead's best album.

HTTT is definitely a grower. I hated it at first, but now I'd say it's equal to, if not better than OK Computer. Kid A's their best album though, no contest. Amnesiac gets no love, unfortunately. :( I really do like it, genuinely, even the tracks that're uncool to like (Morning Bell/Amnesiac, Pulk/Pull, and Hunting Bears); it just has this sense of atmosphere that I've never heard in any other album, though it takes some time to realize. It works especially well if you think of it as a companion to Kid A (which it is, duh).

To the original poster, you can't go wrong with Radiohead, as long as it's not Pablo Honey. :p
 

Koopa

Member
You should try checking our other music that is like this, you could be surprised to what you might actually like aside from other radiohead albums.

Pavement is a good one with 2 of there members branching off to other bands like The Jicks (Stephen Malkmus Solo/group project) and Preston School of Industry (spiral Stairs group)
Guided By Voices, An Ohio based band
Modest Mouse, pre 'Good News for People who Love Bad News'
Postal Service
Built To Spill is another fablious band out of the northwest

Pavements last two albums were produced by the guy who did Ok Computer.

Of course I do smoke alot of dope and the music I usually listen too, these bands plus Velvet Underground, Led Zepplin and Early Rolling Stones. Its definatly music you can get lost in quickly.
 
I always thought, while listening to "Subterranean Homesick Alien", that it sounds like a song that someone would smoke pot and listen to.
 
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