Do you ever feel like sometimes you are just not in on a joke? The way I loved Radiohead's "OK Computer" is not unlike having that best friend that you shadowed 24-7. The friend you wanted to do everything with and go everywhere with. Then one day, he just wants no part of you. You ask him why, but he just laughs and makes you look the fool. (See "Hail To The Thief," "Amnesiac," "Kid A," and "In Rainbows.")
I admit there are moments on Radiohead's last release, "In Rainbows" that don't make me want to punch them, but I don't think I'd be unreasonable if I asked them, "What did I ever do to you? I was your friend."
Even more frustrating is the continued loyalty from both critics and fans over music, that for the last ten years has become less and less accessible, and more like some selfish experiments gone awry.
As one friend put it, when finding out Radiohead was about to release "The King Of Limbs":
"I love the way they've made their own world and they live it in."
I agree and completely admire the band for doing what they want, both on the business end of matters and with the music. But what about that music?
"The King Of Limbs" continues to travel on that same convoluted path of blips, squeaks, textures, drones and gibberish that has made one of the great bands of our time seem more like a bunch of pretentious wankers taking the piss on everyone in their way.
I've listened to "King Of Limbs" three times, uninterrupted. And like each of the aformentioned post-"Ok Computer" records, I find myself straining to find melody, or something small to hang onto for any period of time. I want to love this record. Hell, I'd be happy to not mind this record. But again, Radiohead has handed us a collection of songs that at best, sound like outtakes or b-sides that would been better kept under wraps.
Songs like "Bloom" and "Feral" are the type of nerve-shredders Brian Eno used to compose in his sleep. Only underneath the random sounds of chaos, Eno also offered a melody, that on its own, could sometimes break your heart. I am also tired of the programmed drumming that sounds like a drunken Amtrak train. Even when the band stumbles onto something worthwhile like "Lotus Flower" or "Separator," the songs are immediately sabotaged by arrangements that draw your attention away from the fact that just maybe this band has run out of songwriting gas.
I'm a Radiohead fan, I have been since Day 1 and that was before anything had been released.
I can see why people like Radiohead, I can see why they don't. I can see why people liked Radiohead and don't now and vice versa.
I don't like their current output, it's not for me, but anyone who doesn't agree with me isn't a problem, because I can respect their view.
To accuse people of being pop or Kings Of Leon fans because they don't agree with your taste is condescending and strikes of 15 year old NME letter writers disagreeing with a review from the previous week.
I expected to see more reasoned comments and defence than some of the rubbish spouted on here.
It's only opinion and music. Sheesh!
us music obsessives in the first place. If we all liked everything we heard, or had the
same tastes it would be so much less fun. Insulting one's
knowledge or taste because you don't like a record I like is as illogical as
arguing over ice cream flavors. Just my opinion.
Personally, I love Radiohead, I think OK and Kid A are almost equally legit
masterpieces and every record since has had amazing moments ( also one of the
best live bands I've ever seen)
They're making music that they are feeling, and to my ears it's compelling,
emotionally rich music, but it's not meant to be everyone's cup of tea.
It's also no lack of taste on Sal or anyone's part if they don't personally care for
it. We don't all find the same people attractive, foods tasty, or art compelling
and resonant. You can't make yourself find a girl you're not attracted to hot no matter
how hot everyone else thinks they are.
I've spent hours debating music with Sal and even when I strongly
disagree I'll proudly vouch that he comes from a place of great
knowledge, broad tastes, hungry ears and an honest desire to like the next thing he hears.
No obsessed Rundgren fan could be said
to have limited scope. And I say that knowing he probably hates ten
of my favorite records.
Radiohead are great. They are not disposable pop. They push boundaries. They are not hipsters, they are artists.
Speaking of masterpieces, PJ Harvey's Let England Shake and Peter Doherty's Grace/Wastelands are the best CD's of the past 12 months, hands down.
I do not like when favorite bands eschew their own voice for those of others.. And radiohead's best new songs sound like run of the mill Can songs from 1972
but if by challenge, you mean...you dont like it....but you feel you SHOULD like it.....then I feel sorry for you.
Its ok to like what you like and dislike what you dislike. We should stop acting like our appreciation of music or lack thereof defines us as individuals.
Incidentally, this album, imo, is just as good as anything since kid a. I was not a fan of radiohead until they started to experiment. And I love that they have since given up on their past pop status. There is so much more depth to their later music. Weather you appreciate it or not. And if you dont.....that doesnt make you a bad person =P
But when people say that the best band ever became less and less accessible, I say that:
A band that was actually quite similar to other boring pop artists, found a streak of personal creativity that they have chosen to express more and more as time has passed. And in so doing, they have developed one of the strongest more introspective, layered, textured bodies of music that I have ever heard.
I am trying to teach myelf to not feel put down upon by critics.
And I really hope that Radiohead continues to shun the pressure of what critics think they should sound like.
I want to see where radiohead goes with their ideas. I love it. weather or not king of limbs is my favorite, it is indeed another expression of these guys' personalities and it resonates deeply with my feelings.
Good job, Radiohead. Please keep up the good work. You are well received.
Give up the ghost?? Come on. Sheer beauty!
But I do know that when I first heard "In Rainbows" in my local Barnes and Noble, I was immediately fascinated. I immediately bought it, and have loved it ever since. If this new one is anything like that, I am sure I will be adding it onto my playlist!
Try less challenging stuff like, um, Kings of Leon or something. They'll be very predictable for you. Seriously, if you had just disliked this album at first but were an actual fan, this might be an interesting read. But clearly, you haven't liked anything they've done since OK Computer, even though Kid A is widely considered one of the best albums of the past 15 years. I don't love and worship everything they do or anything, but you are just asking incredibly successful artists to simply tread water because it would make you feel more comfortable about your inability to enjoy and understand eclectic or off-kilter music. Which is not really interesting to read about.
Did you ever think that this isn't about you? That groups like Radiohead don't make music for fans (unlike the depressing careers of most bands into their 3rd decade of productivity) but for themselves? Your Eno comparison was spot on, but you were describing an Eno album from the 1970s. Everything that Eno has done since 1982 has met with derision either from his rock/pop fan base, who would love to see him make another "Another Green World" or his experimental fan base, who think he hasn't made an interesting piece of music since "On Land". Groups like Radiohead and artists like Brian Eno make music that interests them at a particular point in their lives...like most real artists do. This isn't some apology for lazy, difficult, pretentious music but the truth regarding artists who take their work seriously. To paraphrase the now (in)famous title of profile of the recently departed electronic music composer Milton Babbitt (an artist Radiohead must certainly know): Who cares if you listen?
Music isn't some background music for the perpetually average; it's as necessary as water.
Personally Amnesiac is great to me, I Might Be Wrong, is a favorite of mine, and their live version is my favorite live song, and so much different from the albums version.
Hail to the thief had tons of melody, but their music is so layered it doesn't come across to me until i've spent a lot of time with the album, There There is great, so is 2+2, and Go to Sleep are on rotation quite a bit.
I didn't care for In Rainbows for about 6 months, and after listening many times now I really like it, i keep finding different things I like about each song.
What I love about Radiohead, is that I never know what to expect, and they don't adhere the same model that made them famous, they really are trying to do something different, love how they take those blips and squeaks and try to do something musical with them, like they are playing with sound.
That why I like them, they really are one of the only bands out their not playing to conventions, not making music based on any market model. They are kind of like the Stanley Kubrick of music, "what? why are there apes running around for the first 20 mins of this movie! Can you just make a normal movie!"
I ask, has Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or any of the other big 90s rock bands done anything remotely interesting in the past 10 years? I don't think so. The King of Limbs is the band's next logical step forward. If anything In Rainbows showed the band as standing in place, almost too comfortable for Radiohead. The King of Limbs starts a new decade of Radiohead music, just as Kid A did 10 years ago. I for one am excited with each and every new release this band makes, as they continue to surprise and inspire their fans and other artists.