Radiohead: are they any good?

[pozorvlak]

Today I shall be mostly listening to Radiohead, in an attempt to find out if they're as bad as I remember

Comments

[elvum]

Isn't it "Pulkt/Pull Revolving Doors", or some such?

[pozorvlak]

*Googles*

"Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors", AFAICT. My Radiohead mp3s were horribly mis-tagged, though I've mostly fixed them up now. Thanks!

[pozorvlak]

If I were listening via Spotify, why would I decide in advance to stop at Amnesiac? I think these were all ripped from wormwood_pearl's CD collection - unlike me, she's a Radiohead fan.

[pozorvlak]

You missed the extremely high-profile release of In Rainbows with its pay-what-you-like pricing model? I considered downloading it for 0p and deleting it without listening to it, but decided that the minimal extra load on their servers was insufficient punishment for it to be worth the bother.

[penumbra]

I considered downloading it for 0p and deleting it without listening to it, but decided that the minimal extra load on their servers was insufficient punishment for it to be worth the bother.
It's nice that you're approaching this 'experiment' with an open mind, though.

[pozorvlak]

I'm finding it hard to be as open-minded as I'd like, unfortunately - too much conditioning over too long :-(

[penumbra]

I don't really understand what the point of this is, then. You seem to enjoy hating Radiohead and specifically Thom Yorke a great deal.

[pozorvlak]

Believe me, I don't enjoy hating things at all. The less hatred there is in my life, the better. The outcome I was really hoping for was "Wow, I've spent fifteen years needlessly dissing this great band! How embarrassing. But now I have lots of new music to like, and don't need to leave the room if I hear a snatch of a Radiohead track!"

But (particularly on the most-exposed albums, ie The Bends and OK Computer) I'm finding it genuinely hard to tell "I don't like this" from "I would like this if it weren't for the overexposure". I don't know if it was clear from what I wrote, but the parts about experiencing physical stress reactions were in no way metaphorical, and I found listening to The Bends and OK Computer surprisingly stressful - despite really liking some of the music. On the albums I don't know so well, I'm finding some tracks that I like and some that I don't: but it's all still coloured by my (conditioned? or genuine?) reaction to Thom Yorke's highly distinctive voice.

[penumbra]

You just seemed to be kind of invested in not liking them (for 'overexposure' or whatever reason). I often feel like my favourite aspects of a given Radiohead song (e.g. "Pyramid Song") are subtleties which are quite easy not to hear if you don't want to like it or don't approach it with an open mind.

I honestly don't think that Thom Yorke's voice is all that distinctive or off-putting -- but ymmv I suppose.

[pozorvlak]

As the LessWrongers would put it, "If Radiohead is a great band, then I desire to believe that Radiohead is a great band; if Radiohead is not a great band, then I desire to believe that Radiohead is not a great band". Insofar as a band's greatness can be measured objectively, of course. Any emotional attachment I may have to a conclusion formed on faulty or insufficient evidence is a problem to be worked around, and it seemed to me that my dislike of Radiohead deserved a re-examination.

Interesting what you say about subtleties. So my opinion of Pyramid Song might improve on subsequent listenings?

[pozorvlak]

By the way, thanks for stopping by and sharing your knowledge and opinions. And sorry about the continual dissing of a band that obviously means a lot to you.

[penumbra]

No problem.