The everyone LOVES radiohead thread!

[tree_]

No need. Just preference. I’m over it.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[tree_]

No... what’s going on with you today trag?

[tragabigzanda]

[tree_]

You called me a simpleton for preferring a song with melodic structure. Seems like there's something going on with you.

[tragabigzanda]

[liebzz]

Divisiveness in the the age of Radiohead. We need a unifier. Listen to Pearl Jam. Then you can just howl at the dog in your best baritone.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

BArc

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[liebzz]

See!? We could achieve world peace with the right combination of Pearl Jam puns.

Will hopefully have a Hail to the Thief collection of thoughts soon.

[epilogue]

I feel like a great song should be able to translate to piano, guitar, whatever, and still be great, because it's well-written. Otherwise we're talking about like an effects showcase, not a "song".

I think this is a reasonable thought experiment when you're evaluating a very specific set of criteria within a song, but it doesn't really work for a song like "Pulk/Pull" unless you're expecting it to be something it was never meant to be. I expect "Packt Like Sardines" would hold up to this kind of exercise better than you're assuming it would, though -- there's not a lot of harmonic variation in it, but it's got a natural rhythm and melody that I don't think is as dependent on production effects as you think.

Personally, I like Amnesiac better than Kid A, which is full of songs I like but always feels a bit heavy-handed for me as a front-to-back listen. I like the breeziness of Amnesiac -- where Kid A is a record of intense, laser-focused vision, Amnesiac feels like an album made up of things you accidentally see in your periphery, and I always have a weird soft spot for albums like that.

Great analysis. I am not sure if it is because of familiarity or straight preference but I would take Kid A based on the strength of its songs, and it’s more cohesive single listening experience.

I mostly agree. As usual, KD is on the mark. I love describing Amnesiac as "things you accidentally see in your periphery." That's great. I don't know that "breeziness" is the right word, but I basically get the meaning.

Where I disagree in this conversation is that I don't think the overall songs on Kid A are stronger, nor do I think Kid A is a more cohesive listening experience. Amnesiac is far more cohesive, I think. Kid A has a point to prove and is abrasive in the delivery but I wouldn't call it cohesive. That might be the album's biggest issue, for me, actually.

[liebzz]

Interesting take. Without insulting Amnesiac, it felt more meandering to me, and Kid A a single statement. Granted I often see apparently disparate albums as more cohesive on their whole at times. I stand by my preference for the songs on Kid A.

[liebzz]

Hail to the Thief

This album is almost like a return to form. Rather than feeling like a distinct single package the way both Kid A and Amnesiac feel, this has the sense of being closer to a collection of excellent songs they put together without the pull to have to listen straight through. 2+2=5, Sit Down Stand Up, and Myxomatosis were songs I had loved 17 years ago or so when the album first came out and I had my moment with it and put it down for a long time. Picking it back up I similarly like this one much better, and appreciated Sail to the Moon in particular, along with Go To Sleep. Where I End and You Begin was also great on this listen, though what really drew me in was the run of the last four songs here: A Punch Up At the Wedding, Myxomatosis, Scatterbrain, and A Wolf at the Door which kind of run the gamut of the Radiohead experience thus far but drew me in more than the rest. I remembered this album seeming uneven but not on this listen. Consistently very good this time.

[epilogue]

Interesting take. Without insulting Amnesiac, it felt more meandering to me, and Kid A a single statement. Granted I often see apparently disparate albums as more cohesive on their whole at times. I stand by my preference for the songs on Kid A.

I think the two best songs on Kid A are probably better than the two best songs on Amnesiac. But I think the writing overall is stronger on Amnesiac. But you're certainly not alone in your preference for Kid A. I totally understand where you're coming from.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Hail to the Thief

This album is almost like a return to form. Rather than feeling like a distinct single package the way both Kid A and Amnesiac feel, this has the sense of being closer to a collection of excellent songs they put together without the pull to have to listen straight through. 2+2=5, Sit Down Stand Up, and Myxomatosis were songs I had loved 17 years ago or so when the album first came out and I had my moment with it and put it down for a long time. Picking it back up I similarly like this one much better, and appreciated Sail to the Moon in particular, along with Go To Sleep. Where I End and You Begin was also great on this listen, though what really drew me in was the run of the last four songs here: A Punch Up At the Wedding, Myxomatosis, Scatterbrain, and A Wolf at the Door which kind of run the gamut of the Radiohead experience thus far but drew me in more than the rest. I remembered this album seeming uneven but not on this listen. Consistently very good this time.

People love to complain about HTTT being long-winded and uneven.

But I've never had a problem with that album for a very simple reason....

I followed the early live versions of the songs very closely, and the finished album did not disappoint at all in that regard. It seems like they were very confident and focused at the time, and I was very happy with the results.

The same cannot be said for other albums, where they had the tendency to over-think, and they would take very promising "hit single" type-songs and completely ruin them. (see: Videotape, Four Minute Warning...etc...)

[epilogue]

I've never heard any early/live versions of Videotape so I can't speak to how the song changed. Having only heard the album version, I'll say that I can't imagine how the song's been ruined. It's one of my all-time favorite Radiohead songs.

[tree_]

The studio version sucks compared to its potential.. listen to some early live versions on youtube

[epilogue]

maybe later

[epilogue]

Hail to the Thief

This album is almost like a return to form. Rather than feeling like a distinct single package the way both Kid A and Amnesiac feel, this has the sense of being closer to a collection of excellent songs they put together without the pull to have to listen straight through. 2+2=5, Sit Down Stand Up, and Myxomatosis were songs I had loved 17 years ago or so when the album first came out and I had my moment with it and put it down for a long time. Picking it back up I similarly like this one much better, and appreciated Sail to the Moon in particular, along with Go To Sleep. Where I End and You Begin was also great on this listen, though what really drew me in was the run of the last four songs here: A Punch Up At the Wedding, Myxomatosis, Scatterbrain, and A Wolf at the Door which kind of run the gamut of the Radiohead experience thus far but drew me in more than the rest. I remembered this album seeming uneven but not on this listen. Consistently very good this time.

This album really has some fantastic songs on it. And you're not joking about that end run.