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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: ggw on October 09, 2003, 12:56:00 pm
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IT'S RADIODEAD
By MAXINE SHEN
October 9, 2003 -- EVERYONE loves the British "art-rock" band Radiohead.
Except maybe your co-worker. The person sitting next to you on the subway. Your best friend. And 23-year-old Olenka Denysenko of Manhattan - who definitely won't be catching the band tonight and tomorrow at Madison Square Garden.
"I borrowed one of their albums from a friend when I was on a long bus trip," she recalls. "It was sleepy, mellow and a downer - I was about to slit my wrists."
Denysenko is among the growing number of music buffs who commit the alt-rock equivalent of sacrilege: admitting they don't like Radiohead.
The Internet is ablaze with people like her.
Check Google and you'll find nearly a thousand hits for phrases like "I hate Radiohead," "Radiohead sucks" and "Radiohead is overrated."
"Their music just scares me," says a blogger named Tiffany. "There's nothing so great about this band to me. Hell, to me, they're probably the worst band ever."
"I think they're boring," offers Erin Franzman, 27, an AOL city entertainment guide editor.
"To me, their last good song was 'Creep' because that was the last song that had a hook and was short. I don't like whiny, self-indulgent musicians, which is what I think they are."
The Oxford, England quintet first hooked up in 1987, but didn't put out their first album until 1993's "Pablo Honey," with the single "Creep" receiving considerable radioplay. They have since put out five more albums, each to rave reviews and commercial success.
Other "pop-aware" bands that follow in Radiohead's tradition include Coldplay and the (now defunct) Verve.
Spin Magazine writer Chuck Klosterman is a fan - but admits the band is divisive.
"In New York, everybody that likes music has an opinion about Radiohead," says Klosterman, author of "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto."
"You have to have a very concrete opinion about why you like or dislike Radiohead, and maybe a lot of people are afraid to say they dislike them because they're afraid that their only answer is going to be 'it seems too smart for me.' "
Or maybe too grim. A group of fifth-graders recently exposed to Radiohead in an experiment in San Lleandro, Calif., were asked to draw their reactions to the music. (Article (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2003-09-17/music.html/1/index.html)). One drew a graveyard scene with tombstones, a man who hanged himself and a booth offering "Free Suicides." Another drew a picture of a child standing on the mountain saying, "I hate my life."
Freelance Web producer Laura Young, 22, has a friend who threw up from excitement after meeting lead singer Thom Yorke. But she says, "I hate the fanaticism of it, it's a little bit too extreme.
"You can feel very intimidated if you're around a bunch of Radiohead fans, it's like they're speaking a different language."
But the tides, they are turning.
"Hating Radiohead is the hipster's dirty little secret," says Franzman, the entertainment guide editor.
"I work with two people who are going to the show, but were just saying that now Radiohead has reached such critcial mass and critical adulation that there's a backlash, so now it might be cool to hate Radiohead."
Spin's Klosterman agrees: "There's definitely now a symbolic value to saying you hate Radiohead - even Kid Rock makes a big deal about hating Radiohead. He even has a video where he's literally using toilet paper with the word 'Radiohead' embossed on it."
http://nypost.com/entertainment/7638.htm (http://nypost.com/entertainment/7638.htm)
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How can anyone like music with no melodies.....?
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To me, their last good song was 'Creep' because that was the last song that had a hook and was short. I don't like whiny, self-indulgent musicians, which is what I think they are."
that's a great review of them.............it is all just pretentious wank....................
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This isn't anything new. Wasn't it Johnny Rotten that wore a shirt saying "I hate Pink Floyd".
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I'm actually going to the Friday show at MSG, great seats too. I can't say I'm a fan, my girlfriend is, and its her first RH show ever, so she is really excited, and i am excited for her. But, I have to say, some of the things mentioned in the article are certainly true. And I know i'm smart enough for Radiohead. Some of their stuff....not so good. But I do like other stuff, and not just the older singles.
Still, it will be a good show, I'm excited for the experience. But those poor kids, drawing "free suicide booths", that's just wrong.
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Some might argue that Radiohead are this generation's Pink Floyd...could be, but I've got to admit that to my ears they perform some of the most interesting stuff being made today. I think it's hilarious though...any band, no matter how much credibility they have in the indie community, will always get trashed the minute they actually sell some records and make some money. I can see how some people don't have the patience for Radiohead, and that's cool. But it seems like most people don't have the patience for anything, really.
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I guess whoever wrote the article proved his point. Its not cool to like Radiohead anymore.
But they are still my favourite band. Hands down, and the best band of my generation (I'd say ours, but half of you are O-L-D!!)
No melodies, well, whatever, I will discredit my musical knowledge saying that i dont believe that A) without melodies, music is bad and B)I think they DO have melodies, just not ones lasting throughout the whole song.
Take the last record for instance, the perfect high octane "2+2=5" is whining and flying with Thoms voice in the beginning and then breaks into the thrashing end, just to abruptly stop. As if to wake everyone up from their 3 years of Kid A and Amnesiac. "Sit Down, Stand Up" is a great piece of work, and one of thier best songs...with the common Radiohead "we can wipe you out anytime" line, to the almost drum and bass-esque electronica at the end "the raindrops".
Sail To The Moon is a lullaby that sung by Sigur Ros would have praise from ALL of the hipsters and sung by Coldplay would be on the radio 6 times a day.
Backdrifts sounds much like an improved song from The Bends and Go To Sleep has the crassness and darkness of an OK Computer song.
I wont go thru every song, but if There There doesnt have a melody, than whatever you wanna call that is pure music satisfaction. Myxamatosis almost sounds like an Underworld song and the final song closes the album wonderfully.
With Thom's vague phrase-ism wording that seems to not fit together untiil you hear it all at once, and the bands, undeinable musical talent, the new CD is nothing short of genius and i think the only reason you wouldnt like it is if you were afraid of change (the Pablo Honey syndrome), too old, or just like pop music and you would more enjoy the Supergrass opener.
I think they ARE the Pink Floyd of our time, but I think in todays world, society is too fickle for another Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin or the Beatles to ever happen again.
Hate them all you want, but I listen to music 12 hours a day and theres nothing i would rather hear, ever.
So call me not cool, or musically inept....attack me as you will, and i will just feel sorry for you , that you cant hear what i hear when Radiohead is playing.
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I feel like we should all stand up and clap!
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Originally posted by redsock:
I feel like we should all stand up and clap!
I hope that wasnt sarcastic. Sorry, i have been known to get all worked up about Radiohead, as i am sure you all know. I apologize for the length of that spiel.
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Originally posted by sonickteam2:
Originally posted by redsock:
I feel like we should all stand up and clap!
I hope that wasnt sarcastic. Sorry, i have been known to get all worked up about Radiohead, as i am sure you all know. I apologize for the length of that spiel. [/b]
No, not sarcastic at all....it was a very Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman" moment. Hey, you don't need to convince me, i'm trekking to go see them.
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Originally posted by redsock:
Hey, you don't need to convince me, i'm trekking to go see them. [/QB]
and i am VERY jealous of you. We had tickets to the Toronto show and it got cancelled and rescheduled and i cant go next week. So i got to see them in NYC at Field Day and at Merriweather, and i guess two out of three aint bad. But I didnt but tickets for MSG cause i was going to Toronto.
I would love to see them indoors, the lighting they have is definitely very very cool.
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Well, I'm certainly not a hipster because I love Radiohead. They're my most favorite band. Hell, I'm even wearing a Radiohead shirt as I type this from work.
(PR turns to see poorlulu puking in the corner)
Sure hun, go right ahead! hehehe.
I've never cared what elitist music reviewers, or elitist music store employees or the like think about what bands are 'in' or 'out'. I always follow my inner musical sense.. and that musical sense still tells me that Radiohead is still a band that's at the top of their game.
But there's a problem with Radiohead--it's not 'entry level' rock music. Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail To The Thief are predomantly experimental, 'art-rock' records, and certainly no records I would play to someone who's never heard the band before and wants a sample. And that bit about the kids in school drawing funereal pictures after listening to some Radiohead doesn't surprise me in the least bit--the sounds of their recent records has been downbeat, distant, and dread-inducing... but that's what the band chose to capture in those records. So is that evidence that the band is 'awsful'? No.. It's simply proof that the band's not interested in 'happy rock' music.
Perhaps all these 'hipsters' who dislike Radiohead should be reminded that the aim of rock music is not to sound happy or upbeat or 'rocking' all the time. The medium can be used to induce all sorts emotional states and discuss all manner of issues, from revolution to depression, from love to hate, from birth to death.. and according to what an artist wants to capture the music will sound accordingly. Radiohead's just not currently interested in craking out 'shiny, happy people' tunes.
Also, keep in mind that musical artists evolve through time.. It's either that or they die and become known as one-hit wonders. It's the mark of a great musical artist just how good, relevant or emotionally/intellectually resonant they continue to be as their musical evolution continues--Radiohead has kept good pace on this mark. They're evolving.. So did The Beatles, Pink Floyd, David Bowie--all considered great musical artists.
I even dare say this: Radiohead are The Beatles of our time.
So it might be 'cool' to hate Radiohead now? I say to that: Whatever. Many of the musical acts which I appreciate are attacked again and again by the 'hipsters', mainstream radio stations, music reviewers and the like. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard 'Radiohead sucks','The White Stripes Suck','The Strokes suck','Tool sucks','Wilco sucks','The Flaming Lips suck'..
There's something quite pathetic about elitists who use their hate of an artist to give themselves validity.
So, whatever, I'll keep loving Radiohead just fine. :D
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hey, i think maybe my stance is the sacrilegi-est. i do like radiohead but was just not all that impressed with hail to the theif. it just seemed like more of the same last two albums... i know, firing squad. ready, aim, fire.
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in the whole kids getting freaked out by Radiohead theme I seem to recall an episode of Father Ted where some character is having a terrible day or is suicidal or something and they get into a car and Radiohead is playing - it was a lot funnier than I'm making it out to be....
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i got in a huge, long email back and forth argument with my sister in NY and a power pop friend out in Portland, OR over Radiohead. I've never been into them, and in fact know very little of their music. I just have never heard a Radiohead album.
Power Pop friend used to like them, but quite eloquently explained how he lost interest when they lost melody.
The exchange got really heated and my sister said it made her cry to think I couldn't appreciate radiohead and I'm so stuck in my "bland, catchy pop shit."
Pretty funny, looking back. It all started over that Q Magazine best band list......aaah, the memories.
Originally posted by The Pariah:
How can anyone like music with no melodies.....?
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Originally posted by brennser:
in the whole kids getting freaked out by Radiohead theme ....
you ever see the south park where cartman is trying to get back at the school bully so he gets radiohead to come play at the school and then cartman killed the bully's parents, chopped them up, and fed them to him at the radiohead show
i remember being very disturbed after that...
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I don't "HATE" Radiohead...I just don't understand what all the hoop-la is about. I saw them at 930 a while ago and really enjoyed the show, but it's not something I feel I have to experience again before I die if you know what I mean.
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Originally posted by mankie:
I don't "HATE" Radiohead...I just don't understand what all the hoop-la is about. I saw them at 930 a while ago and really enjoyed the show, but it's not something I feel I have to experience again before I die if you know what I mean.
I know exactly what you mean,and agree wholeheartedly,but then again,I'm old.
;) :roll: Beatles of our time,come on now.
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Originally posted by mankie:
I don't "HATE" Radiohead
Aye, but your not a hipster.......
Oh and Radiohead are the ELO or genesis of our time.
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Beatles of our time,come on now.
Yeah, I do come on! :(
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Oh and Radiohead are the ELO or genesis of our time.
LMAO!!!!! :D
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Originally posted by PR_GMR:
Beatles of our time,come on now.
Yeah, I do come on! :D
I make the statement based on the contemporary relevance of both bands to the time periods in which they made their music.
[/b]
Wasn't picking on you,but where's the mass hysteria,#1 songs,copycat acts galore,etc. etc.This generations Pink Floyd maybe.But for the record,never was all that much of a beatles fan, but their popularity and influence on their contemporaries has never been parallelled since.
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Originally posted by SPARX:
This generations Pink Floyd maybe.
Is OK computer going to be as highly regarded in 20+ years as Dark side of the Moon is now? Wasnt Dark side on the American charts for years?
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I like them. I think they're talented and at time, original. They've done a lot for their genre.
People who don't like music for the sole fact that it "doesn't have a hook" are dumb.
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Originally posted by The Pariah:
Originally posted by SPARX:
This generations Pink Floyd maybe.
Is OK computer going to be as highly regarded in 20+ years as Dark side of the Moon is now? Wasn't Dark side on the American charts for years?[/b]
No & yes
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So are NYC hipsters now focused on bands like the Strokes and White Stripes or is it now hip to like J. Timberlake, hip-hop and to dance like Wade Robson?
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Originally posted by Mobius:
So are NYC hipsters now focused on bands like the Strokes and White Stripes or is it now hip to like J. Timberlake, hip-hop and to dance like Wade Robson?
In no place, here NY or even Paris, where everyone is gay, is it either hip or ok to dance like Wade Robson.
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Originally posted by The Pariah:
Originally posted by SPARX:
This generations Pink Floyd maybe.
Is OK computer going to be as highly regarded in 20+ years as Dark side of the Moon is now? Wasnt Dark side on the American charts for years? [/b]
We live in a different time now, and while no, OK Computer wont be on the charts for as long...you will never see DSOTM ranked higher on anyones list of all-time best albums.
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Originally posted by redsock:
In no place, here NY or even Paris, where everyone is gay, is it either hip or ok to dance like Wade Robson.
anyone see the snl last week with jack black? they did a wade robson sketch. . .
i think dark side of the moon was on the top 200 charts for like 15 years. . .radiohead is not a new version of elo, but maybe an early genesis, when peter gabriel dressed up in all sorts of fancy outfits.
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Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
Originally posted by redsock:
In no place, here NY or even Paris, where everyone is gay, is it either hip or ok to dance like Wade Robson.
anyone see the snl last week with jack black? they did a wade robson sketch. . .
i think dark side of the moon was on the top 200 charts for like 15 years. . .radiohead is not a new version of elo, but maybe an early genesis, when peter gabriel dressed up in all sorts of fancy outfits. [/b]
RADIOHEAD IS THE NEW "WIZARD"!!! THOM YORK IS ROY WOOD
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I don't hate Radiohead either, but.....! I've bought most of their albums but never seem to play them more than a couple of times. I really have to be in the mood to enjoy them. If I were on Prozac they'd probably be my favorite band.
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Originally posted by sonickteam2:
Originally posted by The Pariah:
[qb] you will never see DSOTM ranked higher on anyones list of all-time best albums. [/b]
Are you crazy? Its higher on my list of all time best albums for a start. Stop reading Q magazine.
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Originally posted by The Pariah:
Originally posted by sonickteam2:
Originally posted by The Pariah:
[qb] you will never see DSOTM ranked higher on anyones list of all-time best albums. [/b]
Are you crazy? Its higher on my list of all time best albums for a start. Stop reading Q magazine. [/b]
Listen here "NME boy" .
I am 100% positive that YOU read a great deal more magazine articles than about music and "lists" than me. So quit your "quit reading such and such magazine", cause thats just the pot and the kettle. Besides, you quoted a magazine to begin with (or whoever started with Billboard)
and i think we all know that record sales dont have all that much to do with how good an album is. esp not these days.
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Originally posted by sonickteam2:
We live in a different time now, and while no, OK Computer wont be on the charts for as long...you will never see DSOTM ranked higher on anyones list of all-time best albums.
Put down the crackpipe and step away from the keyboard.
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Originally posted by sonickteam2:
and i think we all know that record sales dont have all that much to do with how good an album is. esp not these days.
but dark side was on the charts beginning in 1972 through the 80s. . .that sounds like a good indication of how good the album is. . .or a lot of stoners simply misplaced their earlier copy.
correction: as of dec. 1, 2001 dark side was on the billboard charts for 1,285 weeks, or roughly 25 years.
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Hey...
I disliked Radiohead before it was cool!
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Originally posted by sonickteam2:
Listen here "NME boy" ......
........... Besides, you quoted a magazine to begin with (or whoever started with Billboard)
and i think we all know that record sales dont have all that much to do with how good an album is. esp not these days.
But you can hardly call 25 years a flash in the pan though. There really might be something to it, dont you think?
I said the charts, I didnt bring up any magazines, although I am pretty sure most reviewers would say DSOTM is better than OKC.
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
- even Kid Rock makes a big deal about hating Radiohead. He even has a video where he's literally using toilet paper with the word 'Radiohead' embossed on it."
If Kid Rock hates Radiohead then, hell, they must be doomed.... :roll:
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Maybe I should start liking Radiohead.
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DSOTM was Pink Floyd's 7th album or something like that....which meant, Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother and Meddle were thier OK Computer, The Bends and Hail To The Thief. That means Radiohead still has yet to record thier Dark Side Of The Moon.
hmmmmm.
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Difference is The Floyd started out experimental and finished more poppy, although still experimental. Radiohead seem to be on a on way path from regular pop rock into wank.
So far I would contend that OK comp is radioheads best...wank with tunes. DSOTM is probably floyds best.
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i've always liked wish you were here more than dark side.
so, sonick has gone from comparing ok computer with dark side, to now saying that radiohead haven't made their dark side. . .that's creative.
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Originally posted by samanthaalison:
People who don't like music for the sole fact that it "doesn't have a hook" are dumb.
People who say that people who don't like music...[cuz] it doesn't have a hook or dumb.
There are many reasons, ways and motivations to listen to and love music, and the one thing I hope I've never done is say someone's way of listening is wrong. I may disagree to a band's "intrinsic" worth, if that's measurable, but you can't say I'm dumb because I usually prefer melodies.
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So maybe the next Radiohead album will be secretly timed to a movie like Dirty Pretty Things.
Note to self: Must listen to recent Radiohead albums with various movies, to attempt to discover any point to their recent music.