Me and Radiohead Down by the Schoolyard
Well, I'm a little excited. The new Radiohead album "The King of Limbs" is coming out this weekend - this after little to no warning from the band except "coming soon." I thought I'd share my simpleton fanboy musings on what I find to be one of the most interesting bands of our generation.
I'm sure most people's introduction to Radiohead came with the heavy radio play of "Creep." That is, most Americans - their debut Pablo Honey was released to little fanfare in their native UK. The band had named themselves after a Talking Heads song, and it was hard to see the relation. Pablo Honey was generic grunge fare, and most of the singles are really worth a second listen these days. But "Creep" itself is a monster of a single. The lyrics are simple and a bit childish(but fun to belt out), but the song itself has an unignorable pull and the soaring vocals and dagger-sharp guitar lines were a clarion call at the time. At least, it seemed pretty important at the time. "Creep" was a distillation of the soft-loud-soft trope that The Pixies perfected and Nirvana popularized, and it was very much the right song to come out at the right time. But beyond that single, that album (deservedly) didn't make much of a splash, outside of the US. Pablo Honey is very much an album of its time, and it's hard to look back on it as more than a curio.
The Bends came shortly after and commercially did a touch better in the UK and internationally. "Street Spirit", "High and Dry", etc... all achieved a modicum of success in the US. This was the beginning of the increasing isolationism of the band - they shied from the popularity and sought to do something very different. The Bends began to show the musical experimentation and virtuosity that Radiohead would later ride to much greater success. But in truth, the album was essentially guitar rock at its goddamn finest without a ton of studio wizardry. Most of the songs are in simple keys with standard progressions and are easy enough for a beginner guitarist to pick up. Nigel Godrich, who has produced everything since OK Computer, only officially produced one song off the album (though you can hear his touches as studio engineer everywhere). But The Bends didn't rely on any tricks to be a great album. Thom's lyrics were incisive and insightful, the and the simplest songs off the album were often the most devastatingly beautiful ones, but despite this the band's songcraft had immensely improved in a very short time. A lot of people look pretty fondly on The Bends, as do I - it was really the only pure guitar rock album Radiohead ever made, and it is magnificent.
(As an aside, I think its fun to listen to The Beatles' catalog from front to back and then realize that they produced that body of work and achieved that degree of musical maturity in less than a decade.)
OK Computer came shortly after that and Radiohead had officially arrived. I didn't hear the whole album until a few years later and it remains one of my favorites. For a while, it was just the CD that "Karma Police" was on, and that's how most people knew it at the time. But quietly, the album garnered all sorts of critical acclaim for its groundbreaking sound and vision. Ironically, they wrote some of these songs while touring with Alanis Morisette (WTF?). "Airbag" started the album off with a quiet roar that didn't let up until the closing microwave ding of "The Tourist." "Karma Police" is of course a stellar song, but the band's concepts of texture and space had become immensely more sophisticated and are probably best on display in "Let Down." I still get goosebumps when I hear Thom's mini-choir of voices stack on each other behind a swell of guitars and soft bleeps and bloops. "Paranoid Android" was a testament to the band's drive to experiment with their sound - it's essentially three songs mashed together into one (a trick they learned from The Beatles - listen to "Happiness is a Warm Gun." I think its a better comparison than "Bohemian Rhapsody"). It would, for better or worse, be the last time that Radiohead released an album that you could really define as a rock album.
Kid A and Amnesiac came a few years later, when I was in college. It baffled me at the time. It was a studio heavy album that was a drastic departure from anything they had released in the past. In effect, it reflected the increasing isolationism and hermeticism of the band itself. The sounds and textures were foreign and alien, discomforting yet alluring. I grew to enjoy it more and more as it's idiosyncracies became familiarities but it's funny that this was Radiohead's first US number one album, as it probably lost as many fans of the band as it gained in the short term. It was a dense album of textures and sounds and built on their concepts and understanding of space that they really displayed on OK Computer. "Everything in Its Right Place" is a microcosm of the album itself with its unsettling synths, Thom's modified voice, dub-influenced formless basslines, and its unconventional structure. Kid A was way ahead of its time - its only in the past two or three years that artists like Flying Lotus and James Blake have really experimented with the voice as an electronic instrument - I'm ignoring Auto-Tune because it's not really the same thing, and I'm jealous that I can't Auto-Tune my life. Amnesiac took most of the rest of the songs recorded in those sessions and as a result, the album itself is disjointed and disorganized. "Knives Out" and "Like Spinning Plates" are great songs in their own right and would do just fine side by side with the best songs on Kid A. But songs like "Push/Pulk Revolving Doors" were unnecessary experiments in a genre (IDM) that had essentially lost all its momentum by that time. And it wasn't a very good experiment either. It's a good album on its own right but was a pretty big disappointment after their string of hits. Probably the best song recorded in the latter half of these sessions is "True Love Waits," a simple and affecting song a la "Fake Plastic Trees." It's still one of my favorite songs that they've recorded.
As another aside, I find it interesting that Radiohead would bother emulating IDM other than the fact that it, too, was an isolationist genre. At its best (early Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, early Autechre) it encompassed beautiful alien soundscapes. At its quirkiest (Squarepusher, Amon Tobin), it recontextualized existing genres (hip hop, jazz) on its own terms. At its worst, it was noisy and unlistenable.
At any rate, they had backed themselves into a corner. Thom had become increasingly isolationist himself and had really distanced himself from the band with his instinct to control their sound to its most minute detail. The band took a step back and vowed to deliver to return to their routs and record a guitar rock album. What followed, the ridiculously titled Hail to the Thief, only partially cashed in on that promise. "2+2=5" rocks out with their best songs, and "Go to Sleep" is an amazing acoustic rocker, but it felt like the album was divided neatly into "electronic" and "rock" songs and their attempts at mixing the two were, well, mixed. The most notable exception to this was "There, There" which is one of the most unique songs in their catalog. "There, There" is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs that I have heard recorded by anyone and was a testament to the fact that Radiohead might be confused, but they hadn't lost their gift. Like Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief is a good album on its own terms, but it lacked the singular vision of their earlier work. Thom's politically charged lyrics are sometimes incisive but sometimes cringe-worthy and it seemed like the band hadn't figured out how to reconcile their past with their recent work.
And then the band took a break and disappeared from the spotlight amidst claims from Thom himself that they would never record another LP again, but would consider recording singles and EPs. They soon revealed that they were in the studio, but few other details emerged. They recorded a few awesome covers (Joy Division's "Ceremony," for starters, which is pretty freaking awesome) and toured sparingly, playing new songs live that would eventually appear on their next album in some form or other (usually very different from their early live counterparts).
In Rainbows was announced in much the same way that their new album was announced - without any prior fanfare, and to a thunderous response by their growing fanbase. The album was relaxed, natural, and mature. It seemed like Thom and crew had settled down, both with their own lives and musically. This was the work of a band that had gelled, that had built on experience and had learned that they could not force their sound to confirm to their vision. It seemed like they were finally comfortable again with each other as musicians. The songs flowed smoothly and without pretense. In Rainbows made a statement without ever trying to make a statement. It was a big middle finger to the record industry and it opened new avenues for artists to release their music without selling their souls to a giant corporation. And it was a huge financial success. They conned me out of my $80 or whatever to buy their fancy little box set... and I regret nothing! Its hard to find a standout from this album - "Reckoner" remains one of my favorite songs that they've recorded, but this is an excellent album from back to front.
By the way, if Radiohead recording Joy Division was pretty much the greatest thing ever... this comes in as a close second. Cee Lo doing his best Thom Yorke singing "Reckoner."
It's interesting looking back at their catalog in retrospect. Perspective is more than a snapshot; it's evaluation and re-evaluation by the inquiring mind, and Radiohead's music is really reflective of the story of the band itself and, excepting Pablo Honey, consistently innovative and iconoclastic.
Anyway, I can't wait for The King of Limbs. I have no idea what it will sound like, and in some sense I don't mind. The questions are sometimes more interesting than the answers.
...
Who the hell am I kidding I want it now :)
I'm sure most people's introduction to Radiohead came with the heavy radio play of "Creep." That is, most Americans - their debut Pablo Honey was released to little fanfare in their native UK. The band had named themselves after a Talking Heads song, and it was hard to see the relation. Pablo Honey was generic grunge fare, and most of the singles are really worth a second listen these days. But "Creep" itself is a monster of a single. The lyrics are simple and a bit childish(but fun to belt out), but the song itself has an unignorable pull and the soaring vocals and dagger-sharp guitar lines were a clarion call at the time. At least, it seemed pretty important at the time. "Creep" was a distillation of the soft-loud-soft trope that The Pixies perfected and Nirvana popularized, and it was very much the right song to come out at the right time. But beyond that single, that album (deservedly) didn't make much of a splash, outside of the US. Pablo Honey is very much an album of its time, and it's hard to look back on it as more than a curio.
The Bends came shortly after and commercially did a touch better in the UK and internationally. "Street Spirit", "High and Dry", etc... all achieved a modicum of success in the US. This was the beginning of the increasing isolationism of the band - they shied from the popularity and sought to do something very different. The Bends began to show the musical experimentation and virtuosity that Radiohead would later ride to much greater success. But in truth, the album was essentially guitar rock at its goddamn finest without a ton of studio wizardry. Most of the songs are in simple keys with standard progressions and are easy enough for a beginner guitarist to pick up. Nigel Godrich, who has produced everything since OK Computer, only officially produced one song off the album (though you can hear his touches as studio engineer everywhere). But The Bends didn't rely on any tricks to be a great album. Thom's lyrics were incisive and insightful, the and the simplest songs off the album were often the most devastatingly beautiful ones, but despite this the band's songcraft had immensely improved in a very short time. A lot of people look pretty fondly on The Bends, as do I - it was really the only pure guitar rock album Radiohead ever made, and it is magnificent.
(As an aside, I think its fun to listen to The Beatles' catalog from front to back and then realize that they produced that body of work and achieved that degree of musical maturity in less than a decade.)
OK Computer came shortly after that and Radiohead had officially arrived. I didn't hear the whole album until a few years later and it remains one of my favorites. For a while, it was just the CD that "Karma Police" was on, and that's how most people knew it at the time. But quietly, the album garnered all sorts of critical acclaim for its groundbreaking sound and vision. Ironically, they wrote some of these songs while touring with Alanis Morisette (WTF?). "Airbag" started the album off with a quiet roar that didn't let up until the closing microwave ding of "The Tourist." "Karma Police" is of course a stellar song, but the band's concepts of texture and space had become immensely more sophisticated and are probably best on display in "Let Down." I still get goosebumps when I hear Thom's mini-choir of voices stack on each other behind a swell of guitars and soft bleeps and bloops. "Paranoid Android" was a testament to the band's drive to experiment with their sound - it's essentially three songs mashed together into one (a trick they learned from The Beatles - listen to "Happiness is a Warm Gun." I think its a better comparison than "Bohemian Rhapsody"). It would, for better or worse, be the last time that Radiohead released an album that you could really define as a rock album.
Kid A and Amnesiac came a few years later, when I was in college. It baffled me at the time. It was a studio heavy album that was a drastic departure from anything they had released in the past. In effect, it reflected the increasing isolationism and hermeticism of the band itself. The sounds and textures were foreign and alien, discomforting yet alluring. I grew to enjoy it more and more as it's idiosyncracies became familiarities but it's funny that this was Radiohead's first US number one album, as it probably lost as many fans of the band as it gained in the short term. It was a dense album of textures and sounds and built on their concepts and understanding of space that they really displayed on OK Computer. "Everything in Its Right Place" is a microcosm of the album itself with its unsettling synths, Thom's modified voice, dub-influenced formless basslines, and its unconventional structure. Kid A was way ahead of its time - its only in the past two or three years that artists like Flying Lotus and James Blake have really experimented with the voice as an electronic instrument - I'm ignoring Auto-Tune because it's not really the same thing, and I'm jealous that I can't Auto-Tune my life. Amnesiac took most of the rest of the songs recorded in those sessions and as a result, the album itself is disjointed and disorganized. "Knives Out" and "Like Spinning Plates" are great songs in their own right and would do just fine side by side with the best songs on Kid A. But songs like "Push/Pulk Revolving Doors" were unnecessary experiments in a genre (IDM) that had essentially lost all its momentum by that time. And it wasn't a very good experiment either. It's a good album on its own right but was a pretty big disappointment after their string of hits. Probably the best song recorded in the latter half of these sessions is "True Love Waits," a simple and affecting song a la "Fake Plastic Trees." It's still one of my favorite songs that they've recorded.
Click to viewAs another aside, I find it interesting that Radiohead would bother emulating IDM other than the fact that it, too, was an isolationist genre. At its best (early Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, early Autechre) it encompassed beautiful alien soundscapes. At its quirkiest (Squarepusher, Amon Tobin), it recontextualized existing genres (hip hop, jazz) on its own terms. At its worst, it was noisy and unlistenable.
At any rate, they had backed themselves into a corner. Thom had become increasingly isolationist himself and had really distanced himself from the band with his instinct to control their sound to its most minute detail. The band took a step back and vowed to deliver to return to their routs and record a guitar rock album. What followed, the ridiculously titled Hail to the Thief, only partially cashed in on that promise. "2+2=5" rocks out with their best songs, and "Go to Sleep" is an amazing acoustic rocker, but it felt like the album was divided neatly into "electronic" and "rock" songs and their attempts at mixing the two were, well, mixed. The most notable exception to this was "There, There" which is one of the most unique songs in their catalog. "There, There" is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs that I have heard recorded by anyone and was a testament to the fact that Radiohead might be confused, but they hadn't lost their gift. Like Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief is a good album on its own terms, but it lacked the singular vision of their earlier work. Thom's politically charged lyrics are sometimes incisive but sometimes cringe-worthy and it seemed like the band hadn't figured out how to reconcile their past with their recent work.
And then the band took a break and disappeared from the spotlight amidst claims from Thom himself that they would never record another LP again, but would consider recording singles and EPs. They soon revealed that they were in the studio, but few other details emerged. They recorded a few awesome covers (Joy Division's "Ceremony," for starters, which is pretty freaking awesome) and toured sparingly, playing new songs live that would eventually appear on their next album in some form or other (usually very different from their early live counterparts).
In Rainbows was announced in much the same way that their new album was announced - without any prior fanfare, and to a thunderous response by their growing fanbase. The album was relaxed, natural, and mature. It seemed like Thom and crew had settled down, both with their own lives and musically. This was the work of a band that had gelled, that had built on experience and had learned that they could not force their sound to confirm to their vision. It seemed like they were finally comfortable again with each other as musicians. The songs flowed smoothly and without pretense. In Rainbows made a statement without ever trying to make a statement. It was a big middle finger to the record industry and it opened new avenues for artists to release their music without selling their souls to a giant corporation. And it was a huge financial success. They conned me out of my $80 or whatever to buy their fancy little box set... and I regret nothing! Its hard to find a standout from this album - "Reckoner" remains one of my favorite songs that they've recorded, but this is an excellent album from back to front.
By the way, if Radiohead recording Joy Division was pretty much the greatest thing ever... this comes in as a close second. Cee Lo doing his best Thom Yorke singing "Reckoner."
It's interesting looking back at their catalog in retrospect. Perspective is more than a snapshot; it's evaluation and re-evaluation by the inquiring mind, and Radiohead's music is really reflective of the story of the band itself and, excepting Pablo Honey, consistently innovative and iconoclastic.
Anyway, I can't wait for The King of Limbs. I have no idea what it will sound like, and in some sense I don't mind. The questions are sometimes more interesting than the answers.
...
Who the hell am I kidding I want it now :)