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[Jennings]

Have been listening to Radiohead since their debut, but didn't fall in love with them till OK Computer.

This latest album is a total slog, and has no get-up-and-go whatsoever. Sounds like a bunch of b-sides. It actively makes their discography worse due to its sheer existence. They have their collective heads way too far up their own asses on this one. Too much effort to please themselves with no regard to its listenability or entertainment value. It's a very selfish record.

 

[Xun]

Everyone always over rates Kid A honestly. It's good, and I used to think it was amazing, but when I break it down into individual songs it doesn't hold up for me. You have crap like Treefingers lingering around, and I dont really care for much of the tail end of the album (except Idiotech). Great mood throughout the album, but when it comes to the actual tracks Amnesiac is better!

AMSP is great indeed, but I actually usually find myself finished after Present Tense. Last couple don't really do it for me.

Kid A isn't to be listened to individually, more so than their other records.

Perhaps I'm crazy, but for me the opening to Everything In Its Right Place was essentially a spiritual experience.

Also I just don't understand the hate for Treefingers. It's a great transitional song in my eyes!

If we've got any newbies coming into the thread interested here's a handy guide for anyone who has yet to ever really try listening to radiohead:

http://i.imgur.com/syMTjsm.png

A worthy guide to Radiohead.

 

[Randy Monk]

Have been listening to Radiohead since their debut, but didn't fall in love with them till OK Computer.

This latest album is a total slog, and has no get-up-and-go whatsoever. Sounds like a bunch of b-sides. It actively makes their discography worse due to its sheer existence. They have their collective heads way too far up their own asses on this one. Too much effort to please themselves with no regard to its listenability or entertainment value. It's a very selfish record.

I agree with this, would rank it slightly ahead of Pablo Honey.

 

[ratcliffja]

I really love the album. It fits well into their discography. I think the string-oriented approach is really nice to have, so that sets it apart from most of their other stuff.

I think my rankings of Radiohead stuff would be:
1. The Bends
2. In Rainbows
3. OK Computer
4. Hail to the Thief
5. A Moon Shaped Pool
6. Amnesiac
7. Kid A
8. Pablo Honey
9. The King of Limbs

I haven't heard King of Limbs, but this list mostly jives with mine. Kid A just isn't that good. I'd probably switch Moon with Hail though.

 

[dcdobson]

Loved the album. I'd say it's their best since HTTT. Present Tense was my favorite track during my first few listens, but its since been surpassed by Tinker Tailor.

 

[maomaoIYP]

I didn't like it. Like a poster said a few posts back, nothing sticks. The only track I like is Identikit.
In Rainbows is my favourite RH album followed by Ok Computer.

 

[KingK]

I still think I need to listen to AMSP again, but as of now I'd rank it above TKOL and Pablo Honey, but below everything else.

Side note, Life in a Glass House is my submission for underrated song.

 

[31GhostsIV]

Have been listening to Radiohead since their debut, but didn't fall in love with them till OK Computer.

This latest album is a total slog, and has no get-up-and-go whatsoever. Sounds like a bunch of b-sides. It actively makes their discography worse due to its sheer existence. They have their collective heads way too far up their own asses on this one. Too much effort to please themselves with no regard to its listenability or entertainment value. It's a very selfish record.

Bands should make the albums they want to make, not pander to their fans. To me, that's the difference between 'art' and 'product'.

I'm glad Radiohead never made 'The Bendier' or 'It's Still OK, Computer!".

And compared to Kid A (which I love) it's a very accessible record.

For me, the Radiohead album that doesn't stick is Thief. I only remember There, There from that record, it just lacks something. Maybe I should give it another go.

 

[345triangle]

Wtf is this garbage?

1) Kid A
2) In Rainbows
3) OK Computer
4) A Moon Shaped Pool
5) King of Limbs
6) Amnesiac
7) Hail to the Thief
8) The Bends
9) Pablo Honey

And they're all great. 5 and 6 could easily switch for me and the entire list shuffles every few years. But the top 3 will probably never change if they don't make any more albums.

this is my list too, maybe with some shuffling between 6/7/8.

king of limbs gets real short shrift in this thread, but i love it. lotus flower is their best pop tune since the 90s.

Have been listening to Radiohead since their debut, but didn't fall in love with them till OK Computer.

This latest album is a total slog, and has no get-up-and-go whatsoever. Sounds like a bunch of b-sides. It actively makes their discography worse due to its sheer existence. They have their collective heads way too far up their own asses on this one. Too much effort to please themselves with no regard to its listenability or entertainment value. It's a very selfish record.

insane attitude to the creation of art

 

[isaacnukem]

I'm glad they proved they still got it. The only songs I don't like from this record are "Ful Stop" and "Glass Eyes", everything else is great.

 

[Oreoleo]

Some of the songs in the middle do kind of bleed together in a bad way, and having no "get-up-and-go" songs is a valid criticism, but it's a pretty damn good album. After King of Limbs I was worried the band wouldn't be able to get "it" again but they proved me wrong. The last 3 songs in particular (Present Tense > Tinker Tailer > True Love Waits) is a great medley on par with just about anything they've done, and I could listen to that segment of the album over and over.

 

[CoffeeExpress]

The Bends is such an under-rated Radiohead album

 

[Xun]

The Bends is such an under-rated Radiohead album

Most definitely.

It's not as finessed as Ok Computer, but it's a great record.

 

[31GhostsIV]

The Bends is such an under-rated Radiohead album

I dunno - if you lived in the UK in '95 you couldn't escape it. OK Computer may have been their international breakthrough, but it was The Bends that did it here.

Or maybe Creep did it first? I remember The Bends being the first sign that they would go on to be one of the greats.

During my four years or so on GAF, i've seen countless threads that have turned into Radiohead album ranking fests - but never for individual songs! I'm going to try that now and live to regret it.

1) Reckoner
2) Karma Police
3) In Limbo
5) Let Down
6) I Might Be Wrong
7) House of Cards
8) Pyramid Song
8) Just
10) Paranoid Android
11) Codex

Like Spinal Tap, this one goes to eleven.

 

[Blader]

In case anyone hasn't heard it yet, the outtake Ill Wind is a pretty slick, jazzy track.

 

[Xun]

In case anyone hasn't heard it yet, the outtake Ill Wind is a pretty slick, jazzy track.

Brilliant track.

It's a shame this and Spectre were the only B-sides, but perhaps there's a reason for that...

Spoiler

LP10 2017, right?

 

[Fallout-NL]

The Bends is such an under-rated Radiohead album

Yup, I don't think it's their best, but it's easily my favorite.

 

[Frost_Ace]

I think I'm the only person in the world who loves Desert Island Disk, no one seems to talk about it.

 

[jdw_b]

I've thought about this album a lot in how it relates to Thom and his lifelong partner, Dr. Rachel Owen, who passed away shortly after making the record.

As I interpret it, it's very much a break-up album. Much of the content in the lyrics and overall melancholic sound of the album as a whole lends credence to this, in my opinion. The news came out that the had separated around the time of the albums release. As I had mentioned, she passed away from cancer not long after the album was created and released. This isn't some hidden mystery, either, I mean I read about it all as it happened.

What I can't help but wonder is, why did they breakup? Did he know she was going to pass away? Did that have an effect on their decision to breakup? Of course none of it is my business. I admire Thom Yorke for being a relatively quiet person when it comes to his personal life, but given how much I listen to this mans work, I can't help but wonder what the impetus was for that chain of events.

In hindsight, Decks Dark and Daydreaming both give credit to the idea that they knew her condition long before it happened and this was probably the reason behind them breaking up. It makes both those songs quite sad really...maybe it's just a forced interpretation but the lyrics certainly go down that route. I'd guess that the break up was sort-of a mutual thing. But heyho, privacy and all that.

Anyway, still listen to the album a lot. Bought it on vinyl a couple of months back and it sounds incredible with some good headphones. Especially the Numbers and True Love Waits

 

[Blader]

Not AMSP, but Staircase rocks. A real underrated jam.

In hindsight, Decks Dark and Daydreaming both give credit to the idea that they knew her condition long before it happened and this was probably the reason behind them breaking up. It makes both those songs quite sad really...maybe it's just a forced interpretation but the lyrics certainly go down that route. I'd guess that the break up was sort-of a mutual thing. But heyho, privacy and all that.

Why would they break up because she had cancer?

 

[Rien]

Have been listening to Radiohead since their debut, but didn't fall in love with them till OK Computer.

This latest album is a total slog, and has no get-up-and-go whatsoever. Sounds like a bunch of b-sides. It actively makes their discography worse due to its sheer existence. They have their collective heads way too far up their own asses on this one. Too much effort to please themselves with no regard to its listenability or entertainment value. It's a very selfish record.

Wow... disagreeing with everything in this post lol

 

[HotHamBoy]

Have been listening to Radiohead since their debut, but didn't fall in love with them till OK Computer.

This latest album is a total slog, and has no get-up-and-go whatsoever. Sounds like a bunch of b-sides. It actively makes their discography worse due to its sheer existence. They have their collective heads way too far up their own asses on this one. Too much effort to please themselves with no regard to its listenability or entertainment value. It's a very selfish record.

It's a break-up album. That's a given.

Also, at what point does a band as accomplished as Radiohead earn the right to make an album just for themselves?

Fuck, I mean, what do you think art is supposed to be, a marketable commodity to be consumed?

Your post actively makes this thread worse by its sheer existence. You're calling them selfish for not pandering to what you want and expect out of a Radiohead album.

 

[2Smashed4U]

When it came out last year, I was fairly convinced it was the best Radiohead record.

Not so sure now, but it's definitely up there. I would say it's just a step below OK Computer/Kid A/In Rainbows, all of which are basically tied for the best album to me.

 

[robotrock]

I think I'm the only person in the world who loves Desert Island Disk, no one seems to talk about it.

dude it's great

 

[Blader]

Desert Island Disk is my least favorite track on the album, but it sounds cool live.

 

[robotrock]

wake it up from shutdown

nearly a year later, my least favorite track is still "the numbers". the way the strings come in with "the people have this power" is pretty dumb to me

 

[Rien]

I think each track is strong

 

[CrocoDuck]

Desert Island Disk is my least favorite track on the album, but it sounds cool live.

Agreed. I think all of the tracks are strong, and sits well with their discography.

My favorites are Ful Stop, Present Tense, Tinker, and Identikit. Decks Dark is also excellent. The final 30 seconds of strings in Burn the Witch is soooo eargasmic.

 

[2Smashed4U]

The worst thing about the album is that they didn't record Lift and put it on there like they hinted they might

 

[phinious]

This album is so great!

 

[Rien]

Agreed. I think all of the tracks are strong, and sits well with their discography.

My favorites are Ful Stop, Present Tense, Tinker, and Identikit. Decks Dark is also excellent. The final 30 seconds of strings in Burn the Witch is soooo eargasmic.

The final 30 seconds are nearly the same as the final 30 seconds of Nude. Well, in my opinion offc.
I think the structure of BTW sounds a lot like Default by Atoms for Peace.

Tinker is one of my favourite Radiohead songs. That grimy oldschool hiphop synth loop with Thom's vocal is briliant. The strings are outta this world on that song

 

[Bob White]

OP is spot on about Decks. One of the most beautiful songs they've ever done. There's just something so fucking real during the middle part that just hits the chest so hard.