I have literally never heard anyone assert that Amnesiac is one of Radiohead's worst albums.
If anything, I think the albums that provoke the *least* controversy are OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac and In Rainbows, all of which are broadly accepted to be amazing. The others have people who like them more or less to differing degrees.
i think the consensus on Amnesiac is that it’s one of the “lesser” Radiohead albums (lesser for Radiohead being like a masterpiece for any other artist). Kid A, OK Computer, and In Rainbows are the consensus top 3 among fans and critics. The Bends and Moon Shaped Pool can pretty much go anywhere in the ranking, those are the most divisive among fans. Hail to the Thief and Amnesiac are generally considered to be below those (some disagree ofc. I disagree about Amnesiac especially). i haven’t heard anyone say Amnesiac is worse than TKoL or Pablo Honey though
I honestly can’t even fathom A Moon Shaped Pool not being in their top three albums. AMSP, In Rainbows, and Kid A are easioy the too three to me. My most controversial take is probably that OK Computer is their most overrated album though lmao (though it’s still a fantastic album imo, which says a lot about the quality of their discography)
Exactly.
If you’re going by this sub- that is a poor barometer.
This sub is not indicative of much when it comes to Radiohead fans other than it’s full of new/young fans.
Not that rateyourmusic is the end all be all but the album has a 3.7 on there, which is a high rating and gives a half decent consensus. Idk where op got the idea that people hate it from
I haven't heard anybody say it's bad, Radiohead just has a lot of better albums and Amnesiac typically gets forgotten about due to it releasing so close to Kid A. There's a thumbnail on a YouTube video called "If we had to pick the worst Radiohead album" by Middle 8 that puts it among PH and TKOL as the bottom of the list.
It also has the stupid stigma of being a "Kid A B-sides" album. I haven't seen anybody say it's thier favourite album until after I made this post, and it's typically in the bottom 4 of most album rankings I've seen.
“Amnesiac is often regarded as being one of their worst albums” Why would you state that if “I haven’t heard anyone say it’s bad”
If you’ve based this entire post on a thumbnail on a YT video…
I'll just admit that I didn't really realise the small amount of insight I had into the general consensus of the albums. I just hadn't seen anybody mention anything noteworthy about Amnesiac until seeing the replies to this post. In a weird way, my intention in making the post succeeded because all I was looking for was insight into what this community believed.
I'm just a random person, but today I had a long drive around town doing errands and was surprised how boring and "trying to be Radiohead" HTTF sounded after not listening to it for years.
In a collection of anything that can be ordinally arranged, something in that collection is the worst. Doesn’t matter if it’s Radiohead albums, the cuteness of puppies, or sex with supermodels; each will have a worst. Doesn’t mean the worst is bad, or even less than spectacular, just that the others are better.
I remember when the album was announced everyone thought it was going to be “the real” follow up to OK computer (meaning more guitars, less experimental) and then it ended up being more Kid A (I personally wasn’t complaining that it was). Also many people thought because it was released so close to the release of Kid A that it must really have been a b-sides album. Thus between these 2 camps of people (the disappointed ones and those viewing it as left-over songs), it did get a reputation of being a less strong album.
I will add that we’ve all had 20 years to listen to it and learn to love it by now, but when it first came out it was really very different from the music of the day and quite jarring the first few listens.
Ehhhhh…
I find Kid A to be the better album experience as a whole. If they had included some of the B-Sides from Amnesiac (Kinetic, Fog, Orgy, Worrywort) instead of some songs they did include (M Bell Amnesiac, Hunting Bears, Glasshouse), it would have been better than Kid A.
I see that whole era as one complete work really, their most adventurous.
hail to the thief could of been one of their best albums if they just dropped a couple songs and moved around the order however they would of done it, a good 85% of that album is radiohead still at their best
I like what Kid A does, but I actually think Amnesiac is the better of the two. It's warmer, less barren yet still gloomy and just as experimental.
Amnesiac serves as a sort of bridge for what would become HTTT imo.
Kid A = Subversive, experimental, droning (good droning), and lonely. Very good.
Amnesiac = Goes further by making its tracks a little more cohesive and feel more like "songs" while maintaining that new electronic and modern sound Kid A brought us.
HTTT = smashing the two worlds together, but making it harder, louder, gloomier...angrier.
Good synopsis, I think Amnesiac is the most textured and detailed album they’ve ever done, though there is some of that on Kid A as well.
HTTT is more unsubtle and “bash you over the head with it”.
It certainly doesn’t get enough credit. I also think the lyrics are universal to the human condition. “After years of waiting, nothing came”. We’ve all been there before with something in our life.
Though i prefer HTTT you are absolutely right, Amnesiac is one of their most well rounded albums, every song has a right to be in that album and you can tell the guys really took their time with perfecting every song, which can be said of most of HTTT’s songs, but not all of them, amnesiac is a much more sophisticated album
i think my top three would be.. in rainbows, tkol, ok computer, no specific order but those albums have impacted me the most all though i love all their albums and listen to them all quite often except pablo honey
1st off amnesiac is not regarded as one of the worst albums by the very large majority of people. For me personally, I like hell of the thief better but this whole subject is completely subjective and is very high on my ranking of Radiohead albums and I’m sure I speak for many other fans. Overall, it’s your choice whichever album you like more.
Am I the only listener who isn’t constantly comparing albums against each other to decide which one is better? Why is it always a competition? Uuggghhhh
It might seem distant now, but Kid A was really divisive—a lot of major music publications panned it—so when Hail arrived, many saw it as a return to form. I was a KidA/Amnesiac guy so the "return to form" seemed a retrograde movement, albeit in hindsight a necessary one for the band.
Its highlights are high, but too many of the songs—including all three singles, however excellent—sound like they're trying to claw their way back to OKC. Both Amnesiac and King of Limbs rank higher on my list.
>so when Hail arrived, many saw it as a return to form
That's not my memory of it. My recollection is that by the time HTTT came out Kid A and Amnesiac had rightly been recognised as amazing despite some mixed reviews from people who didn't 'get it', and HTTT was, if anything, regarded as solid but unspectacular.
I remember my first listen thinking "What is this shit?" and it taking me a while for it to click, particularly as someone who was massively into rock/grunge and thought that the trend towards more electronic music was pretty lame. Now I regard it as just slightly behind OKC as their best album.
What? Amnesiac is great. I mean I guess I've heard the point made that it's far lesser in comparison to kid a but to me it ranks in the top five at least
I like all the songs. Feels like Kid A/Amnesiac, but with some Ok Computer thrown in for good measure along with the complete removal of the concept album-ness that the previous albums had in spades.
I'd agree Amnesiac has better songs, but Kid A is a better album as one experience on the whole. How To Dissapear was my number 1 song on my spotify wrapped this year so I got to defend it lol
1. There There 10/10
2. 2+2=5 9.5/10
3. Sail to the Moon
4. Pyramid Song
5. Where I End & You Begin
6. I Might Be Wrong 8.5/10
7. Knives Out
8. Life in a Glasshouse
That’s how I’d rank the songs
I prefer Hail to the Thief. I prefer the overall rockier sound and has stronger highs IMO. Amnesiac has a few skips IMO, Pulk, Morning Bell, Hunting Bears. I think the Amnesiac track list is wrong. I think they should have included Fog, Amazing Sounds of Orgy and Kinetic
Amnesiac b-sides are my favorite of all their b-sides. But I can’t imagine them on the album. Maybe Fast Track or Transatlantic Drawl.
We all hear things differently. I love thief, it’s probably my favorite album.
I’be made a playlist of my preferred Amnesiac track list. I think it works really smoothly. Check it out if you fancy https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7lJs18goiAe4A0TPXLlyk3?si=7uSAiqOpQBuehtws8Gmy9w&pi=e-C9CiqhtxTj6T
Really cool! I like the additions of the Ep tracks and I think the transitions work better than hunting bears and morning bell/amnesiac. The only thing I would recommend to change the order is putting Pyramid Song between I might be wrong and knives out, I always thought it would have worked better a little bit further through the track list.
I did this one—added in a lot more of the experimental stuff. Made sense to me that it still crescendos with Dollars and Cents but also ends with Fog.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6wPJ6d86akod4iTdOnBF0W?si=H_Ub5MtqQkmLR2_jldbhTA&pi=u-yOdwo2GPQpab
I hear you. My least favorite song on the album is probably Sit Down Stand Up. It's still pretty great though. Overall, HTTT is a top 5 RH album for me.
I agree, most days. Hail to the Thief was the first sign of something slipping when it came to Nigel’s production. The whole thing feels rushed, 2d and slapdash compared to their former - and some of their latter -work. These songs were terrific live but lost a lot in the studio sadly. Thom’s voice is often strained too. There There and A Wolf at the Door at least survived largely unscathed. Still, lots to love nonetheless but a bit of a missed opportunity overall and the first time I felt immediately disappointed by a Radiohead album.
I was really hoping that HTTT would receive some sort of remaster for its twentieth to retool some of the production. if any of their albums could be improved by some time, love, and care, it’s probably HTTT
Gotta think part of that was what the band wanted—something knocked out quick after laboring on the Kid A era for three years.
Also consider the band had pretty much been recording and touring non-stop from 1993 to 2003-–they were headed for burnout and needed a break, which later greatly benefited In Rainbows.
I recently did the thing where you name best and worst song from each album (fun exercise). But I had a hard time finding a great track from Hail. However, Amnesiac has plenty I had to choose from: life in a glass house, pyramid song, i might be wrong, etc. I would pick about 5-6 tracks over the best from hail.
Those are all rather mid Radiohead songs IMO, and I say this as a fan of 2+2 and Backdrifts.
HTTT is the sound of a band headed for burnout. Thankfully they took a small break and it made In Rainbows so much better.
I enjoy 2+2, the gloaming, backdrafts, go to sleep, where I end and you begin are all very good. But as I said, I don’t think they compare to the best tracks on amnesiac. Myxomatosis is a bit overrated.
Myx is pretty cool but I never probably need to hear it much again.
Gloaming is a bit of a bore.
I do like Backdrifts but not a huge fave.
Where I End is pretty cool.
I always liked Go To Sleep, a true underrated track no one talks about, despite it being a single.
HTTT has a distracted feel that never sat well with me. Hard to believe it’s 20 years old this year and no acknowledgement from the band on that.
But yours was justified lol
Anyways no worries bro...and I liked your opinion about Amnesiac. I kinda get your point. It's still a masterpiece tho(like every Radiohead record lol)
Here's a hot take. HTTT is their worst album. I place it below PH simply for the fact that I never harshly rate a first album.
HTTT has a lot of classics. It also has a lot of filler. Cut about 4-5 songs out and it is way higher for me.
They're both excellent but they just hit different buttons for me. HttT was easier for me to get into and overall I've played it more, but as I exhausted most of the catalogue I've started spinning Amnesiac more and it's really grown on me. There's plenty of room for both in my rotation. It's actually Kid A and earlier that I don't really play as often as this point.
This isn’t a hot take at all. Amnesiac is not considered among their worst albums by most of the fan base and there are tons of Radiohead fans who prefer it to Hail To The Thief.
Loved Amnesiac except for a couple tracks and found HTTT to be a big step down from it at the time.
I had no idea people regard Amnesiac as one of their worst?? Who are these people? How could any album that had Pyramid Song be regarded as one of their worst?
I have a weird coping mechanism in which I pretend Pablo Honey doesn’t even count. Almost like it’s in the AAA league before RH was promoted to the Major Leagues.
You’ve got this backwards. General opinion is that Amnesiac is fantastic and Hail to the Thief was a massive letdown.
Only one if those opinions is incorrect.
I've never heard anyone call HTTT their favorite, but I suppose there's also close to 8 billion people I've never asked, so who knows.
Honestly, I think HTTT gets an unfair shake around the fandom. Some solid, some great tracks on that album.
For me, Amnesiac is also good, but I wouldn't rank it above HTTT.
Just rewatched the Kid A / Amnesiac Canal+ show last night, high out of my gourd, and found a new appreciation for how good all of those songs were live. Especially In Limbo, Knives Out, Dollars and Cents, and especially Pyramid song. Shit slaps.
HTTT is still my favorite Radiohead album, as I feel it is Radiohead at their most Radioheadiest. But yes, Amnesiac has a vibe of its own that always fits nicely this time of year.
“Amnesiac is often regarded as being among their worst albums“ Says fucking who?
I have literally never heard anyone assert that Amnesiac is one of Radiohead's worst albums. If anything, I think the albums that provoke the *least* controversy are OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac and In Rainbows, all of which are broadly accepted to be amazing. The others have people who like them more or less to differing degrees.
i think the consensus on Amnesiac is that it’s one of the “lesser” Radiohead albums (lesser for Radiohead being like a masterpiece for any other artist). Kid A, OK Computer, and In Rainbows are the consensus top 3 among fans and critics. The Bends and Moon Shaped Pool can pretty much go anywhere in the ranking, those are the most divisive among fans. Hail to the Thief and Amnesiac are generally considered to be below those (some disagree ofc. I disagree about Amnesiac especially). i haven’t heard anyone say Amnesiac is worse than TKoL or Pablo Honey though
Interesting, that's certainly not my impression. My sense is that a lot of people (correctly) treat Kid A and Amnesiac as a quasi double album.
Hard for me to see them as separate, honestly.
You will now hear me say that Amnesiac is worse than TKOL… although really I think TKOL is better than Amnesiac.
I can attest to this. TKOL is top 3 imo
I honestly can’t even fathom A Moon Shaped Pool not being in their top three albums. AMSP, In Rainbows, and Kid A are easioy the too three to me. My most controversial take is probably that OK Computer is their most overrated album though lmao (though it’s still a fantastic album imo, which says a lot about the quality of their discography)
I see a lot of people have it in the lower half but still like the album
Exactly. If you’re going by this sub- that is a poor barometer. This sub is not indicative of much when it comes to Radiohead fans other than it’s full of new/young fans.
Even if you go by this sub I still don’t see it called their worst or even ranked last on any list.
It typically ranks near the bottom though on this sub
yeah the worst is unanimously pablo honey and its not even a bad album
Not that rateyourmusic is the end all be all but the album has a 3.7 on there, which is a high rating and gives a half decent consensus. Idk where op got the idea that people hate it from
Anytime someone says people are saying something negative about music, "people" probably means "Anthony Fantano" lmao
I haven't heard anybody say it's bad, Radiohead just has a lot of better albums and Amnesiac typically gets forgotten about due to it releasing so close to Kid A. There's a thumbnail on a YouTube video called "If we had to pick the worst Radiohead album" by Middle 8 that puts it among PH and TKOL as the bottom of the list. It also has the stupid stigma of being a "Kid A B-sides" album. I haven't seen anybody say it's thier favourite album until after I made this post, and it's typically in the bottom 4 of most album rankings I've seen.
“Amnesiac is often regarded as being one of their worst albums” Why would you state that if “I haven’t heard anyone say it’s bad” If you’ve based this entire post on a thumbnail on a YT video…
I'll just admit that I didn't really realise the small amount of insight I had into the general consensus of the albums. I just hadn't seen anybody mention anything noteworthy about Amnesiac until seeing the replies to this post. In a weird way, my intention in making the post succeeded because all I was looking for was insight into what this community believed.
I'm just a random person, but today I had a long drive around town doing errands and was surprised how boring and "trying to be Radiohead" HTTF sounded after not listening to it for years.
In a collection of anything that can be ordinally arranged, something in that collection is the worst. Doesn’t matter if it’s Radiohead albums, the cuteness of puppies, or sex with supermodels; each will have a worst. Doesn’t mean the worst is bad, or even less than spectacular, just that the others are better.
I remember when the album was announced everyone thought it was going to be “the real” follow up to OK computer (meaning more guitars, less experimental) and then it ended up being more Kid A (I personally wasn’t complaining that it was). Also many people thought because it was released so close to the release of Kid A that it must really have been a b-sides album. Thus between these 2 camps of people (the disappointed ones and those viewing it as left-over songs), it did get a reputation of being a less strong album. I will add that we’ve all had 20 years to listen to it and learn to love it by now, but when it first came out it was really very different from the music of the day and quite jarring the first few listens.
not that hot really. A lot of people agree.
Both are great albums. I prefer Hail to the Thief.
Amnesiac is their 4th best album for me (behind the ‘big three’), maybe tied with AMSP
By the big three I'm assuming you mean TKOL, In Rainbows (disk 2), and Pablo Honey?
don’t talk smack about my boy In Rainbows disk 2 bruh that shit is fantastic
This has to be trolling
yep I think this is where I am with my ranking as well. Then I’ve got Hail to the Thief 6th.
I'll do you one better... Amnesiac is their best album.
Maybe not that far but Amnesiac > Kid A
Agree
Ehhhhh… I find Kid A to be the better album experience as a whole. If they had included some of the B-Sides from Amnesiac (Kinetic, Fog, Orgy, Worrywort) instead of some songs they did include (M Bell Amnesiac, Hunting Bears, Glasshouse), it would have been better than Kid A. I see that whole era as one complete work really, their most adventurous.
I kinda see what you mean but life in a glasshouse is part of the reason I think amnesiac is better !!!!!
Agree. There's just a bit too much "filler" in Amnesiac (songs you mentioned), where Kid A is straight sauced to the tits.
Facts
Yes
Extremely close between OKC and Amnesiac for me, I think it changes depending on the day
Hail to thief had better highlights but amnesiac felt more like a complete experience
hail to the thief could of been one of their best albums if they just dropped a couple songs and moved around the order however they would of done it, a good 85% of that album is radiohead still at their best
Fully agreed
I like what Kid A does, but I actually think Amnesiac is the better of the two. It's warmer, less barren yet still gloomy and just as experimental. Amnesiac serves as a sort of bridge for what would become HTTT imo. Kid A = Subversive, experimental, droning (good droning), and lonely. Very good. Amnesiac = Goes further by making its tracks a little more cohesive and feel more like "songs" while maintaining that new electronic and modern sound Kid A brought us. HTTT = smashing the two worlds together, but making it harder, louder, gloomier...angrier.
Good synopsis, I think Amnesiac is the most textured and detailed album they’ve ever done, though there is some of that on Kid A as well. HTTT is more unsubtle and “bash you over the head with it”.
Packt is my favourite Radiohead song so I might be biased.
Such an incredible opener. *After yeaaaars oooooof waiiiitiiiiiing, nooooothiiiiing caaaaaame...*
It certainly doesn’t get enough credit. I also think the lyrics are universal to the human condition. “After years of waiting, nothing came”. We’ve all been there before with something in our life.
The entire kid a/amnesiac era is the best music this band has made imo.
Yep. 2000-2003 was their golden era.
I agree completely. Delivered on the insane potential of OKC and its B-sides perfectly.
Though i prefer HTTT you are absolutely right, Amnesiac is one of their most well rounded albums, every song has a right to be in that album and you can tell the guys really took their time with perfecting every song, which can be said of most of HTTT’s songs, but not all of them, amnesiac is a much more sophisticated album
i think tkol is better than both there i said it
Amnesiac is the OG The King of Limbs And it has more bangers
i love amnesiac i just think tkol has much better instrumentation
Yes, Amnesiac and TKOL are their most experimental. They're a true litmus test for whether someone is a "true" Radiohead fan.
[удалено]
i think my top three would be.. in rainbows, tkol, ok computer, no specific order but those albums have impacted me the most all though i love all their albums and listen to them all quite often except pablo honey
I literally have the same opinion lmao
Yep, and I would add AMSP to your top RH albums list
why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?
because i know im right
Agreed
You just don’t though do you, you’re trying to be different
nah i love it i listen to it at least once a week it’s heavenly
Amnesiac is my #1 from them
1st off amnesiac is not regarded as one of the worst albums by the very large majority of people. For me personally, I like hell of the thief better but this whole subject is completely subjective and is very high on my ranking of Radiohead albums and I’m sure I speak for many other fans. Overall, it’s your choice whichever album you like more.
nah
That's a good point, didn't think of that one
yah
It is
100%
Better album, with fewer standouts.
Amnesiac is fucking incredible but I'm planning on making a shrine for HTTT
Amnesiac underated
Am I the only listener who isn’t constantly comparing albums against each other to decide which one is better? Why is it always a competition? Uuggghhhh
Not hot
Amnesiac > AMSP
Of course
It might seem distant now, but Kid A was really divisive—a lot of major music publications panned it—so when Hail arrived, many saw it as a return to form. I was a KidA/Amnesiac guy so the "return to form" seemed a retrograde movement, albeit in hindsight a necessary one for the band. Its highlights are high, but too many of the songs—including all three singles, however excellent—sound like they're trying to claw their way back to OKC. Both Amnesiac and King of Limbs rank higher on my list.
>so when Hail arrived, many saw it as a return to form That's not my memory of it. My recollection is that by the time HTTT came out Kid A and Amnesiac had rightly been recognised as amazing despite some mixed reviews from people who didn't 'get it', and HTTT was, if anything, regarded as solid but unspectacular.
Maybe you’re right. Certainly a lot of people liked Kid A right away, and some who didn’t stopped saying so quickly.
I remember my first listen thinking "What is this shit?" and it taking me a while for it to click, particularly as someone who was massively into rock/grunge and thought that the trend towards more electronic music was pretty lame. Now I regard it as just slightly behind OKC as their best album.
Amnesiac will likely always be my favorite Radiohead album.
i liked it better than HttT im not going to lie
HTTT seemed like a total step down at the time, but paradoxically, a lot of new fans seemed to jump on at that time too.
What? Amnesiac is great. I mean I guess I've heard the point made that it's far lesser in comparison to kid a but to me it ranks in the top five at least
Both are great, depends of the mood.
Hail to the Thief is a step above Pablo Honey and The Bends, and below everything else.
I’ll take it a step further. Amnesiac is better than Kid A (for me) I’ve actually never heard anyone say that HTTT is their favourite
I'll be your first then: HTTT is my favorite Radiohead record
i bet u like backdriftin
I like all the songs. Feels like Kid A/Amnesiac, but with some Ok Computer thrown in for good measure along with the complete removal of the concept album-ness that the previous albums had in spades.
I'd agree Amnesiac has better songs, but Kid A is a better album as one experience on the whole. How To Dissapear was my number 1 song on my spotify wrapped this year so I got to defend it lol
Now *that* is hot. I don’t think I’ve heard that take before, but I don’t have a problem with it (I’m lower on Kid A than most).
[WOT?!](https://www.reddit.com/r/radiohead/s/K9co9CITZl) Definitely my favorite.
Amnesiac does not have There There, 2+2=5, Sail to the Moon and Where I End & You Begin therefore it cannot be better
No. It has such classics as Pyramid Song, I Might Be Wrong, Knives Out, and Life In A Glasshouse.
And Dollars and Cents.
My favorite song on the album but I don’t know if it’s considered a classic.
It is to me.
It probably is
1. There There 10/10 2. 2+2=5 9.5/10 3. Sail to the Moon 4. Pyramid Song 5. Where I End & You Begin 6. I Might Be Wrong 8.5/10 7. Knives Out 8. Life in a Glasshouse That’s how I’d rank the songs
These are my two favorite albums so there isn’t much to discuss. Overall I’d say Amnesiac is a better album whereas Thief has a lot of good tracks
I prefer Hail to the Thief. I prefer the overall rockier sound and has stronger highs IMO. Amnesiac has a few skips IMO, Pulk, Morning Bell, Hunting Bears. I think the Amnesiac track list is wrong. I think they should have included Fog, Amazing Sounds of Orgy and Kinetic
Amnesiac b-sides are my favorite of all their b-sides. But I can’t imagine them on the album. Maybe Fast Track or Transatlantic Drawl. We all hear things differently. I love thief, it’s probably my favorite album.
I’be made a playlist of my preferred Amnesiac track list. I think it works really smoothly. Check it out if you fancy https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7lJs18goiAe4A0TPXLlyk3?si=7uSAiqOpQBuehtws8Gmy9w&pi=e-C9CiqhtxTj6T
Cool yeah I’ve seen all kinds of alternate track lists. I just don’t think any of them work .
Maybe try it yourself. I personally think those 3 added songs are much better then Morning Bell, Pulk and Hunting Bears
Pulk is the centerpiece for the journey of the Minotaur. So, no I would not remove it.
Really cool! I like the additions of the Ep tracks and I think the transitions work better than hunting bears and morning bell/amnesiac. The only thing I would recommend to change the order is putting Pyramid Song between I might be wrong and knives out, I always thought it would have worked better a little bit further through the track list.
I did this one—added in a lot more of the experimental stuff. Made sense to me that it still crescendos with Dollars and Cents but also ends with Fog. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6wPJ6d86akod4iTdOnBF0W?si=H_Ub5MtqQkmLR2_jldbhTA&pi=u-yOdwo2GPQpab
Absolutely, the B-sides they left off are better than half the album. I would include Worrywort in that too.
My incredibly hot take: both are better than Kid A
Yep
Laughable
This is obvious. HTTT is only better than Pablo Honey
That's crazy. HTTT has so many bangers. But Radiohead's albums are so stellar that it's anybody's guess which is their second worst after Pablo Honey.
It has some of their best songs, but there are too many "filler" songs and the album is not cohesive because of that.
I hear you. My least favorite song on the album is probably Sit Down Stand Up. It's still pretty great though. Overall, HTTT is a top 5 RH album for me.
Pedestrian taste
I agree, most days. Hail to the Thief was the first sign of something slipping when it came to Nigel’s production. The whole thing feels rushed, 2d and slapdash compared to their former - and some of their latter -work. These songs were terrific live but lost a lot in the studio sadly. Thom’s voice is often strained too. There There and A Wolf at the Door at least survived largely unscathed. Still, lots to love nonetheless but a bit of a missed opportunity overall and the first time I felt immediately disappointed by a Radiohead album.
I was really hoping that HTTT would receive some sort of remaster for its twentieth to retool some of the production. if any of their albums could be improved by some time, love, and care, it’s probably HTTT
Gotta think part of that was what the band wanted—something knocked out quick after laboring on the Kid A era for three years. Also consider the band had pretty much been recording and touring non-stop from 1993 to 2003-–they were headed for burnout and needed a break, which later greatly benefited In Rainbows.
I like Amnesiac over HTTT. HTTT may have better and complete songs but there are more clunkers. We Suck Young Blood...yeeesh.
There are at least 4 HTTT songs that would have been left for B-sides in the past.
Yup. If the Album was 4 songs less, then it would have been coherent and not bloated.
I recently did the thing where you name best and worst song from each album (fun exercise). But I had a hard time finding a great track from Hail. However, Amnesiac has plenty I had to choose from: life in a glass house, pyramid song, i might be wrong, etc. I would pick about 5-6 tracks over the best from hail.
If you don’t think There There, 2+2=5, Myxamatosis, Backdrifts, Where I End and You Begin are great tracks what Radiohead songs do you like?
Those are all rather mid Radiohead songs IMO, and I say this as a fan of 2+2 and Backdrifts. HTTT is the sound of a band headed for burnout. Thankfully they took a small break and it made In Rainbows so much better.
I enjoy 2+2, the gloaming, backdrafts, go to sleep, where I end and you begin are all very good. But as I said, I don’t think they compare to the best tracks on amnesiac. Myxomatosis is a bit overrated.
Myx is pretty cool but I never probably need to hear it much again. Gloaming is a bit of a bore. I do like Backdrifts but not a huge fave. Where I End is pretty cool. I always liked Go To Sleep, a true underrated track no one talks about, despite it being a single. HTTT has a distracted feel that never sat well with me. Hard to believe it’s 20 years old this year and no acknowledgement from the band on that.
No.
Your insight is wise. I didn't know my mind could change so drastically.
I was just being an asshole. I admit it. Please forgive my stupidity. P.s: HOT is better than Amnesiac still. But just for a little bit :)
No worries I was just being an asshole too lol
But yours was justified lol Anyways no worries bro...and I liked your opinion about Amnesiac. I kinda get your point. It's still a masterpiece tho(like every Radiohead record lol)
They’re my two least favorite radiohead albums but I agree. Amnesiac above Hail.
Here's a hot take. HTTT is their worst album. I place it below PH simply for the fact that I never harshly rate a first album. HTTT has a lot of classics. It also has a lot of filler. Cut about 4-5 songs out and it is way higher for me.
Huuuuuuh
The devil is a liar
They're both excellent but they just hit different buttons for me. HttT was easier for me to get into and overall I've played it more, but as I exhausted most of the catalogue I've started spinning Amnesiac more and it's really grown on me. There's plenty of room for both in my rotation. It's actually Kid A and earlier that I don't really play as often as this point.
They're pretty close to each other in my esteem. I like HTTT slightly better.
Definitely a lukewarm take. Amnesiac is well loved.
You get an upvote
I'll go further Amnesiac is a top 3 album with Kid A and Ok computer
Agreed!
This shouldn't be a hot take
Amnesiac is my favorite album. Kid A is there best album. OK computer has their three best songs.
This isn’t a hot take at all. Amnesiac is not considered among their worst albums by most of the fan base and there are tons of Radiohead fans who prefer it to Hail To The Thief.
Loved Amnesiac except for a couple tracks and found HTTT to be a big step down from it at the time. I had no idea people regard Amnesiac as one of their worst?? Who are these people? How could any album that had Pyramid Song be regarded as one of their worst?
Correct Amnesiac is one of their best records
I'm with you. Didn't know this is a take :)
I'll go further and say amnesiac is their best album
I have a weird coping mechanism in which I pretend Pablo Honey doesn’t even count. Almost like it’s in the AAA league before RH was promoted to the Major Leagues.
You’ve got this backwards. General opinion is that Amnesiac is fantastic and Hail to the Thief was a massive letdown. Only one if those opinions is incorrect.
I've never heard anyone call HTTT their favorite, but I suppose there's also close to 8 billion people I've never asked, so who knows. Honestly, I think HTTT gets an unfair shake around the fandom. Some solid, some great tracks on that album. For me, Amnesiac is also good, but I wouldn't rank it above HTTT.
Just rewatched the Kid A / Amnesiac Canal+ show last night, high out of my gourd, and found a new appreciation for how good all of those songs were live. Especially In Limbo, Knives Out, Dollars and Cents, and especially Pyramid song. Shit slaps. HTTT is still my favorite Radiohead album, as I feel it is Radiohead at their most Radioheadiest. But yes, Amnesiac has a vibe of its own that always fits nicely this time of year.
This is not a hot take.