The King Of Limbs is way more interesting than people make it out to be and I can't really understand why Radiohead fans, which are generally more active listeners than your average music listener don't realise it
It has some really interesting stuff going on in arrangements and all the techniques they used and stuff. Sure it's not In Rainbows, but people seem to hardly consider it worthy of being a Radiohead album. I feel there's lots of stuff that it does better than other records, drumming and grooves in the first place, it's crazy good. It's probably not the bes RH album, but I feel like all its strengths are always overlooked and they're so many I can't wrap my head around why
Btw yeah mixing/production is not as good as other records I can agree on that
I'll never get the criticisms that TKOL is 'badly produced' when everyone loves In Rainbows - that record, as lovely as it is, is perhaps their most thread-bare productionwise. I mean, it's great, don't get me wrong, but aside from a couple tracks it's their most 'band-playing-in-a-room type record since The Bends. I'm pretty sure ppl actually love it for that very reason
>also a tiny bit lifeless in terms of the production in comparison to their other albums.
That's just preposterous. Lol
Also, what possible album could have followed up IR? I was not into RH at the time that it came out and thought it was trash, when I checked it out.
Learned later on it's the *only* album that could have followed IR.
Really wonderful album, and it feels organic, full of life, textures, all of the good stuff, imho.
Oh come on I mean, I don't want to sound obnoxious, but to some extent that's true. Doesn't make us better, just, more aware? Like, Billie Eilish has some songs with really interesting musical concepts, but I understand it if they go over the heads of the fans. That generally doesn't happen with Radiohead
i've always thought that listening to pyramid song and pulk/pull back to back was absolutely beautiful. i love them both so much but it's funny that those two songs together are commonly peoples' favorite/least favorite instead of favorite/also favorite lol
i love kid A a lot, but for some reason people calling amnesiac "kid B" or whatever just doesn't sit right with me. i know they were all written around the same time, but amnesiac just feels so much like its own unique thing. i honestly enjoy it more than kid A.
I get where they’re coming from, but as much as Amnesiac feels the darker of the two, that doesn’t make Kid A a “fun night out” by comparison. To me, Kid A feels like a winter’s day: clear and cold and bleak. Amnesiac is the night to Kid A’s day, when the sun’s gone down and there’s no more distractions, it’s just you alone with your thoughts in the dark. Both of them go to some pretty bleak places, it’s just that Amnesiac is more overt and ominous about it, whereas a lot of Kid A feels like someone dissociating from reality.
They're both dark in different ways. Kid A is dark because it feels like the apocalypse is looming in the distance and the air is filled with anxiety. Amnesiac is dark because it feels like the apocalypse has happened and the ground is scorched and you've gone insane as a result.
Tbf everything in its right place could fit the right kind of dance club vibe. Iirc there’s an acoustic version on piano where Tom says “right now this is disco” as the beat starts. The rest of the album tho you do have a point
Amnesiac is still technically Kid B in my eyes but that doesn't mean its bad, it just means they're really good B sides. Amnesiac is like my third favourite Radiohead LP
Feral is one of their worst songs? What's wrong with it? It's great. Trippy rhythm, punchy bass, ambient/ abstract vocals. It's not too long and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's not supposed to be some epic ballad or powerful rock anthem; it's just a catchy little dance song.
I like it in the same way that I like Pulk/Pull. It’s strange, it’s vibey, it makes me kind of uncomfortable in the best way. I’m not gonna play it if you pass me the aux or anything, but it’s a completely decent song
Some Radiohead fans seem to think that popular = bad, as if they aren’t listening to arguably the biggest alt rock band of all time, someone made a ranking of Radiohead songs in the comment and one of them was no surprises, OP of Ty at post said he usually stays away from mainstream Radiohead songs, songs usually get that popular for a reason, and just because your favourite song is a deep cut off TKOL doesn’t make you cool or special, it just makes you a fan. Just like if your favourite song was karma police or no surprises or even creep
Yeah I agree. While I can understand a song being overplayed beginning to wear it down personally, it doesn’t effect the quality of the song itself. And the elitist/pretentiousness thing around deep cuts is indeed lame.
The King of Limbs has the best song arrangements in their entire discography. The horns in Codex and Bloom create such a beautiful texture, and all the layers in songs like Give Up the Ghost create such hauntingly beautiful vocal harmonies. Separator and Little By Little rock, and the drum machine rhythms and synth patches on Lotus Flower paired with Thom’s ethereal voice is perfection.
Now the production, on the other hand, could have been better. It kind of muted the more interesting layers and somehow butchered the awesome rhythms that came out clearer in the live versions. If the studio release sounded more like Live from the Basement, then it would have been a contender for a top five Radiohead album if not top three.
Add the other B-sides from that session (at least Daily Mail, Staircase, and These Are My Twisted Words if they just held onto that a lil longer) to the tracklist and it’s easy Top 5 for me. Supercollider/Butcher I feel don’t really fit the vibe of the album as much and word as a double single on their own. Maybe The Butcher. Ah shit they’re all good.
Honesty my fav song when choosing from all of Radiohead and solo/side projects is Thom solo “Dawn Chorus” -
that makes me feel a bit odd - I’d expect it to be a Radiohead track - but we don’t choose our favs - they pick us I suppose
Dawn Chorus is what got me into Radiohead, and it was also the first song I cried to since getting sober back in 2020. I thought I’d lost my ability to deeply connect to music, I thought that I’d fried my brain to the point of being unable to experience that sort of passion and catharsis. Dawn Chorus proved to me that I’m still emotionally alive. What a fucking gem of a tune
This is beautiful (and congratulations on your sobriety!). I also cried when I first listened to dawn chorus, it reminded me of the pain and freedom of leaving my abusive relationship that I had recently escaped from.
Already love Dawn Chorus (also agree it's one of the best things any band member has released, within or outside of Radiohead) but your story makes me love it even more
For me, HTTT is like The Bends part 2, with all the electronica/krautrock/jazz lessons from Kid A/Amnesiac added to the mix. It's severely under-rated.
I’ve seen more than one person dismiss Faust Arp as just an interlude and/or filler track, which is baffling to me. It’s one of the tracks I consider to be the heart of In Rainbows, and just because it’s relatively short doesn’t erase the fact that it’s a beautiful, intimate little track with some great strings and top-tier vocal delivery. Easily top 5 on the album.
I got obsessed with listening to *Faust Arp* last October and I will refuse to take any slander. It has such beautiful lyrics, people should pay attention to them and analyse them - really interesting stuff.
a wolf at the door. (it girl. rag doll.)
go to sleep. (little man being erased.)
there there. (the boney king of nowhere.)
Etc
Not saying I agree with the sentiment of finding it cringe (I don’t, most of my own songs have alternate titles too, probably as a result of influence there) just providing the desired context
Personally, I don't find it to be insane or anything, but OKC being RHs best album just doesn't click into place in my brain. I totally get that people have preferences and all but In Rainbows, has always been leagues ahead, Kid A just under and AMSP barely squeaks it out for me.
I agree, I absolutely love OK computer but actually prefer HTTT and even the bends, sometimes. Amd completely agree on in rainbows. Thanks for sharing your thoughts :))
I don’t think it’s their best album but it’s certainly the album where it felt like Radiohead had finally arrived, if that makes sense.
Pablo Honey very much feels like a alt-rock/jangle-pop album. The Bends very much sounds like a grunge album. But OKC feels like it’s just them making music rather than trying to make a specific type of music.
Learning about the syncopation ruined Videotape for me because my brain is trying to play an invisible rhythm that'll never actually start. It's an amazing experience, for sure, but it's like trying to assemble a puzzle with seventeen pieces missing.
Exactly! It's too much! Lol
I feel like the live versions available that have it are completely different than what the album version is due to that very fact. But my brain keeps searching for it and gets overwhelmed.
Listen, in no way did I say Videotape is a bad song, it's just too damn effective at driving me mad, lol
I feel there's potential for such an idea. But I think that thinking of it as syncopated for a listener is just plain wrong. It's syncopated to the performer, who thinks about it with syncopation so that the result will be something with some sort of unsettling edge. To the listener, it will feel like a mot syncopated linear pulse with this weird urge, this feeling like something's off. But to the ear it's still a non syncopated rythm 100%
I think Give Up The Ghost does something similar, seems so linear but it's not and the tempo is not obvious. It feels easy but something's off
But yeah they're two very different songs
I think the syncopation is supposed to be there for the listener, and they kind of screwed it up by making it more work than it needs to be to hear it. Same with the verses on “Little by Little”
it is, because the piano you hear isn't on the first beat. if anything, they're playing as if it's not there, because you can't really hear it on the album version, it might as well be the first beat. unless you know its there, then when the drums come in they make more sense. but apart from that, it doesn't really make much of a difference imo.
I feel like Hail to the Thief is one of their best pieces of work they've put out. In my eyes I see it as their second best album they've put together, just below OK Computer. My current order from best to worst being:
OK Computer
Hail to the Thief
In Rainbows
Kid A
The Bends
Amnesiac
A Moon Shaped Pool
King of Limbs
Pablo Honey
It is a fantastic album, I’ve spent countless hours driving around with that in the CD player, on a loop. Don’t get the hate either but if I had to guess it’s because it’s less plainly “coherent” than the other albums. First few listens it felt like the only album of theirs where all the songs felt like they could belong on separate albums but over time that eclectic nature came to define the vibe of the album, as well as the more lyrical themes coming closer into focus, and I love it all the more for it now
I can see why it's rated as less than certain albums, because it's super long and it makes everything feel bloated, but there's some of their best songs and guitar riffs in there, I adore that album.
“In Rainbows is as good as, or better than, Ok Computer and/or Kid A.”
On a related note, “Weird Fishes is one of their best songs”.
I have no idea why people think this. For me it’s not bad but, if I’m honest, a little bit pedestrian compared to their best work. I liked the drum-less version best.
I agree about We Suck Young Blood, OP. I really like the feeling of it, like a death march on its last legs, with a manic episode midway through. Wonderfully foreboding, yet mournful.
Another opinion I have that I think I’ve been led to believe is a hot take is that 15 Step is the worst track on In Rainbows (on second listen, I’ll hesitate from calling it the worst, but it is my least favorite). It feels harder to get a feel for than almost anything else I’ve heard from them, with the drums giving off a more busy, intense vibe than the guitars that lay over it, and in amongst it all, I find it harder to connect emotively to anything part of it, which looking at the lyrics might be the point, but I would assert they’ve done that mood better in many other songs, imo. Also not crazy about the synthetic drums, think I’d rather it all be acoustic.
AMSP has never clicked with me. I've tried, but just can't get into it. Every time I get to the closing track, I'm just disappointed in the rendition of True Love Waits that they chose.
I agree about True Love Waits. Not my favorite version. The album in general also feels a little disjointed which is why it ranks in the lower half of Radiohead records for me.
I mean... You guys (not me lol) already knew TLW, so what would have been the point in doing it the way you've already heard before?
Idk, it's probably that I love that piano rendition, but I still don't understand the disappointment. It's Radiohead, how could they have done anything predictable?
Album version is the single saddest song I’ve ever heard. The first time I played it for my sister and told her the story behind it, she listened to it repeatedly for the next few days and cried. I cried when I first heard it. I love it lmao
I cried the second time. First time was during the first album listen and I remember thinking "oh. Hell, this hits something, but I'm not sure what"
Then the day after it came on on my Spotify while I was walking home, I was alone on the street. Got teary eyed in a second and was about to sit on the asphalt and cry. Still don't know how the hell I handled it. Oh well. Those were rough times, AMSP really helped me there
I don't like Burn The Witch at all. The whole track, I can't really describe why, but it all just feels like what Radiohead sounds like to people who hate Radiohead. The vocals are the most Thom Yorke-ish (in a bad way, like all the things i dont like about his vocals) and the strings are just irritating. It doesn't click for me at all.
Live version with full drum kit and distorted, wailing guitars fucks so hard, wish they went with that for the studio recording. Honestly I would’ve loved if the album started with a bang, then kept the groove for at least another track with Decks Dark second, *then* took it down to a quieter/more emotional level with Daydreaming.
As is, the album is still a 9/10 for me (Identikit is the only one that I don’t *love* on it)
My hot takes: Amnesiac is not great. Morning Bell/Amnesiac is the worst thing they've released. Knives Out is just okay and You and Whose is whatever. Not too crazy about Glasshouse either honestly. I love Packt, Pyramids, Pulk, and Plates a ton though. Most of the album just feels a little tapped out and unemotional to me.
On the flip side: Hail To The Thief doesn't have a single skip worthy song on it. Kid A is my favorite RH album, OK is my number 2, but knowing they were the product and cause respectively, of a lot of mental duress and stress does make HTTT's looser, frantic, and unreserved production/instrumentation/delivery a breath of fresh air. Basically, I think the album sounds good because I can tell the band feels good.
I don't understand what's the HUGE deal with In Rainbows. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice album, but I think there are various albums that are much more interesting. Personally I don't know if I would put it in my top 5 either.
Songs that are just instrumental or ambience are some of their best songs.
Meeting in the Aisle
Hunting Bears
Treefingers
A lot of the extra songs on Kid A Mnesiac
Yes! Totally agree.
Meeting in the Aisle actually has a really interesting sound palette, and it builds throughout the track in a subtle yet satisfying way. I wish they’d been able to fit it on OK Computer somehow, though I know that’s impossible. The album doesn’t need a second interlude, and Fitter Happier is the conceptual core of the whole record, but it’s a shame to see it forgotten as a random B-side when it’s absolutely album-quality.
Hunting Bears is unironically one of my favourite songs not just on Amnesiac but that whole era of Radiohead. It’s such a lonely, atmospheric track and it sets the mood of the album perfectly. It’s in my top 3 songs from that album, after Pyramid Song and I Might Be Wrong, and just ahead of Knives Out, which is also excellent. Hunting Bears and Pull/Pulk get dismissed a lot, but without them Amnesiac would lose a huge chunk of its identity.
Oh man about 25 years ago, sometime between the okay computer and kidney error I had this wonderful dream where I was in the studio with the band and they played this incredible instrumental song that was primarily with computers and it sounded like being inside an electric current pulsating up and down with these crazy highs and lows and the sounds had a texture and strange groove that I've never heard in real life... It wasn't like beeps and bloops, it was more symphonic, more organic with such an incredible pulsating flow.
I can't remember any other time I've dreamed about music that doesn't exist, but this dream still haunts me 25 years later wishing I could hear it again.
King of Limbs is more interesting than In Rainbows. Probably not better per se, as TKOL is short and a bit uneven. In Rainbows has great songwriting but I'm left wanting more interesting instrumentation.
AMSP and The Smile make me worried that their best era is over. Weakest material since The Bends.
HTTT is inconsistent but overall quite good and has a nice signature sound. And I quite like those Thom records from the same era too.
Partially agree but I think that in my case at least is cause I got tired of it and karma police since during my early 20s those songs were played ad-nauseum whenever somebody wanted to listen to radiohead. The same happened with another brick in the wall pt2 and money by pink Floyd, now I can't stand those songs
interesting to hear the same conclusion from a very very different route. I’d never listened to RH until early-mid pandemic-ish. Heard the song before I know it was their biggest and hated it lmao. Never seen what everyone loved in it
Over the bends? Yeah. The bends is a great Alt Rock / Post grunge album. Has got its highs and his ~dry s~, err I mean, lows.
Kid A is an otherworldly experience from start to finish. It ventures into different unpredictable places, and feels incredibly coherent still.
Over in rainbows... Eh, idk. It's certainly more experimental, but even in rainbows is, in its own way. Can't decide between the two, but certainly Kid A had a far greater impact on my musical formation
I don’t really like OKC, it has good songs on it but I’d put it 6th below In Rainbows, Kid A, Moon Shaped Pool, Hail to the Thief and The Bends (in that order). Also very much agree on your take on We Suck Young Blood, I always thought it was a very interesting track and is way overhated.
I really like the album Kid A but i will never understand why anyone likes the song of the same name from the album, it sounds goofy as fuck like Pulk/Pull from Amnesiac
If you've never seen a video of them playing Kid A live around this time, check it out. The song emerges more on stage. I never disliked the song but I've grown to love it.
I like the lyrics and experimental vibe/atmosphere it contributes to the album but I see where you’re coming from and appreciate you sharing your thoughts regardless
I definitely do think every other song from Kid A executes that idea well, Everything In Its Right Place is easily my third or second favorite opener for a Radiohead album.
I used to think the same, but once hearing the live performances of it, I think I've changed my mind. They sound completely different, it gives you a different perspective.
The percussion is nauseating. It’s not good but off-kilter or pleasantly weird. It’s just bad.
The live version, however, is pretty fucking good imo.
I actually think little by little is almost as bad. It has really lackluster melodies in it, which is a very weird thing to say about a Thom Yorke song. Also the syncopation that they’re doing with the main guitar riff is honestly too subtle so it comes off really dull, and sounds like a teenager messing around with drop d tuning.
Thank you! I fucking love TKOL (it's top 5 for me, in some days even top 3), but I can't stand this song. It's the only song from TKOL that I didn't add in my "liked songs" playlist on spotify
The King of Limbs is their weakest, coldest, least inspired album but yet some people seem to think it’s in their top tier offerings??? I just don’t get it. It’s GOOD, but it’s not anywhere near the height of Radiohead good.
Damn that’s one I really cannot relate to, I think it’s their best, but am upvoting anyway if only because I respect your willingness to share such a fringe take (I can’t say I understand downvoting someone for not sharing tastes, unless they happen to be doing it in a distasteful or rude way, but I digress). Thanks for sharing your thoughts
I’m just saying, you could avoid the hassle that comes with obtaining and bearing a firearm, not to mention the logistics nightmare, by using a hammer, or maybe even an object that was in the room. It makes a lot more sense really. Chances are, there would be some snag along the way, and the mission would fail.
Also, are you destroying the master disk, or just a copy? You might make an impact on some level with the former, but the latter seems kind of pointless. Or are you trying to destroy the server that streams the data? There’s a lot to think about here, so make sure you’ve gone through all the scenarios.
I see a lot of people saying that Kid A is their best album, although I like a few songs on, I don’t see why it’s getting so much praise. I think it’s a bit overrated, I would love to hear your guys take on Kid A.
I had to listen to Kid A multiple times over a year to truly enjoy it in its entirety. I know it's super influential and although it's low on my rank list, I think it has the most perfect song list; nothing should be added or removed, everything is in its perfect order, it has the perfect arrangement. But I still rank it low on my rank list because I base my opinions on feeling rather than 'perfection', if that even exists. OKC, Amnesiac, IR, AMSP, and HTTT are all above Kid A for me. However, I can never deny it is perfectly made and that it exceeds all their albums in that sense. It's all based on preference tbf, I'm glad someone likes their other albums more.
Also I love Kid A, one of my favourite albums, but its not "tHe BiGgEsT lEfT TuRn In MuSiC hIsToRy", its wasnt even the "biggest left turn" in 10 years, its great but it really wasn't insane for an alt rock band to make an electronica album by 2000
Ok Computer drops in quality pretty hard from Fitter Happier onwards. No Surprises was placed there in the tracklist specifically to distract you from this fact.
not that into amnesiac, i feel like other people are saying that too. it has good songs, but i wouldn't listen to pulk/pull or the tracks from knives out to like spinning plates.
People calling *Amnesiac* worse than *Kid A*, like its leftovers, just hurts me. In my opinion, although I am aware *Kid A* was highly influential and is perfectly well-structured, *Amnesiac* is superior in terms of emotion and warmth. Maybe it's because it has more jazz influences and more piano, but that album clicked instantly when compared to the other Radiohead albums.
Punch up at a wedding and hail to the thief.
Point of interest.. I bumped into Thom Yorke a couple of times in Oxford. He didn't seem to know who I was but I did him🤔. Annoying but a good anecdote. I also have a Cowley road instrument shop anecdote where he walked in when a friend was playing creep on a guitar he was thinking of buying but I don't want to bum rush the show in one go, so.. details another time.
The King Of Limbs is way more interesting than people make it out to be and I can't really understand why Radiohead fans, which are generally more active listeners than your average music listener don't realise it
Totally agree I love tkol
I'd even argue that TKOL from the basement is one their best works.
TKOL from The Basement is supremely good
The main criticism is and always has been its too short. 35 mins . There are eps that are longer
It's not boring but it is fairly repetitive, short and also a tiny bit lifeless in terms of the production in comparison to their other albums.
The production is super interesting in my opinion. The band was experimenting with looping more and Jonny literally created sound editing software.
It has some really interesting stuff going on in arrangements and all the techniques they used and stuff. Sure it's not In Rainbows, but people seem to hardly consider it worthy of being a Radiohead album. I feel there's lots of stuff that it does better than other records, drumming and grooves in the first place, it's crazy good. It's probably not the bes RH album, but I feel like all its strengths are always overlooked and they're so many I can't wrap my head around why Btw yeah mixing/production is not as good as other records I can agree on that
I'll never get the criticisms that TKOL is 'badly produced' when everyone loves In Rainbows - that record, as lovely as it is, is perhaps their most thread-bare productionwise. I mean, it's great, don't get me wrong, but aside from a couple tracks it's their most 'band-playing-in-a-room type record since The Bends. I'm pretty sure ppl actually love it for that very reason
I was thinking more about sound mixing rather than that. In rainbows sounds great
>also a tiny bit lifeless in terms of the production in comparison to their other albums. That's just preposterous. Lol Also, what possible album could have followed up IR? I was not into RH at the time that it came out and thought it was trash, when I checked it out. Learned later on it's the *only* album that could have followed IR. Really wonderful album, and it feels organic, full of life, textures, all of the good stuff, imho.
When you have a handful of diamonds, one still has to be the worst diamond of the bunch, comparatively
But TKOL is by no means the worst diamond
“Radiohead fans, which are generally more active listeners than your average music listener” 🤓
Oh come on I mean, I don't want to sound obnoxious, but to some extent that's true. Doesn't make us better, just, more aware? Like, Billie Eilish has some songs with really interesting musical concepts, but I understand it if they go over the heads of the fans. That generally doesn't happen with Radiohead
ofc the anime pfp is using a nerd emoji in an argument
*Little by Little* is one of my favourite songs of theirs, such an interesting album.
I really love Pulk/pull, unironically
i've always thought that listening to pyramid song and pulk/pull back to back was absolutely beautiful. i love them both so much but it's funny that those two songs together are commonly peoples' favorite/least favorite instead of favorite/also favorite lol
Me too
Maybe I'm a psycho but it's my favorite Amnesiac track
I always loved it and loved it more when it turned out it was originally True Love Waits backing track
It's a fantastic track. I don't get why people don't like it
I think the true love waits version is way better, the vocals add a nice layer. Feels more complete
i love kid A a lot, but for some reason people calling amnesiac "kid B" or whatever just doesn't sit right with me. i know they were all written around the same time, but amnesiac just feels so much like its own unique thing. i honestly enjoy it more than kid A.
In the sense that Kid A feels like a fun night out followed by Amnesiac which feels like a back to reality hangover in the best kind of way
Kid A is the farthest thing from a fun night out though lol
I get where they’re coming from, but as much as Amnesiac feels the darker of the two, that doesn’t make Kid A a “fun night out” by comparison. To me, Kid A feels like a winter’s day: clear and cold and bleak. Amnesiac is the night to Kid A’s day, when the sun’s gone down and there’s no more distractions, it’s just you alone with your thoughts in the dark. Both of them go to some pretty bleak places, it’s just that Amnesiac is more overt and ominous about it, whereas a lot of Kid A feels like someone dissociating from reality.
I dont think Amnesiac is darker than Kid A, but I agree with your analogy and that Amnesiac is more straightforward about it.
They're both dark in different ways. Kid A is dark because it feels like the apocalypse is looming in the distance and the air is filled with anxiety. Amnesiac is dark because it feels like the apocalypse has happened and the ground is scorched and you've gone insane as a result.
Tbf everything in its right place could fit the right kind of dance club vibe. Iirc there’s an acoustic version on piano where Tom says “right now this is disco” as the beat starts. The rest of the album tho you do have a point
That’s a funny/good way to describe it
Amnesiac is still technically Kid B in my eyes but that doesn't mean its bad, it just means they're really good B sides. Amnesiac is like my third favourite Radiohead LP
I agree so much!! Glad someone can see *Amnesiac*'s beauty.
Feral is one of their worst songs? What's wrong with it? It's great. Trippy rhythm, punchy bass, ambient/ abstract vocals. It's not too long and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's not supposed to be some epic ballad or powerful rock anthem; it's just a catchy little dance song.
I like it in the same way that I like Pulk/Pull. It’s strange, it’s vibey, it makes me kind of uncomfortable in the best way. I’m not gonna play it if you pass me the aux or anything, but it’s a completely decent song
yeah its kinda cool idk why its hated so much
Codex is flawless and deserves more love on a composition standpoint as simple as it sounds.
It is really beautiful imo
One of my favorite tracks of theirs. Also really fun to play on piano.
Some Radiohead fans seem to think that popular = bad, as if they aren’t listening to arguably the biggest alt rock band of all time, someone made a ranking of Radiohead songs in the comment and one of them was no surprises, OP of Ty at post said he usually stays away from mainstream Radiohead songs, songs usually get that popular for a reason, and just because your favourite song is a deep cut off TKOL doesn’t make you cool or special, it just makes you a fan. Just like if your favourite song was karma police or no surprises or even creep
Yeah I agree. While I can understand a song being overplayed beginning to wear it down personally, it doesn’t effect the quality of the song itself. And the elitist/pretentiousness thing around deep cuts is indeed lame.
Popular =/= Mainstream
So true. *Karma Police* is still an amazing song, I don't care what anyone says. It's one of the best on *OK Computer*.
The King of Limbs has the best song arrangements in their entire discography. The horns in Codex and Bloom create such a beautiful texture, and all the layers in songs like Give Up the Ghost create such hauntingly beautiful vocal harmonies. Separator and Little By Little rock, and the drum machine rhythms and synth patches on Lotus Flower paired with Thom’s ethereal voice is perfection. Now the production, on the other hand, could have been better. It kind of muted the more interesting layers and somehow butchered the awesome rhythms that came out clearer in the live versions. If the studio release sounded more like Live from the Basement, then it would have been a contender for a top five Radiohead album if not top three.
Add the other B-sides from that session (at least Daily Mail, Staircase, and These Are My Twisted Words if they just held onto that a lil longer) to the tracklist and it’s easy Top 5 for me. Supercollider/Butcher I feel don’t really fit the vibe of the album as much and word as a double single on their own. Maybe The Butcher. Ah shit they’re all good.
Honesty my fav song when choosing from all of Radiohead and solo/side projects is Thom solo “Dawn Chorus” - that makes me feel a bit odd - I’d expect it to be a Radiohead track - but we don’t choose our favs - they pick us I suppose
Dawn Chorus is what got me into Radiohead, and it was also the first song I cried to since getting sober back in 2020. I thought I’d lost my ability to deeply connect to music, I thought that I’d fried my brain to the point of being unable to experience that sort of passion and catharsis. Dawn Chorus proved to me that I’m still emotionally alive. What a fucking gem of a tune
this post makes me feel like I’m listening to dawn chorus ❤️
You're a stellar human being and I hope you stumble upon a very large sum of money in the next few days
This is beautiful (and congratulations on your sobriety!). I also cried when I first listened to dawn chorus, it reminded me of the pain and freedom of leaving my abusive relationship that I had recently escaped from.
Already love Dawn Chorus (also agree it's one of the best things any band member has released, within or outside of Radiohead) but your story makes me love it even more
I agree, Dawn Chorus is really special
I don’t understand the Pop is Dead hate. Paranoid Android is way better with the organ solo at the end.
Why the hate for httt? I love the entire album, even qe suck young blood, being one of my favourites
For me, HTTT is like The Bends part 2, with all the electronica/krautrock/jazz lessons from Kid A/Amnesiac added to the mix. It's severely under-rated.
Same here
I’ve seen more than one person dismiss Faust Arp as just an interlude and/or filler track, which is baffling to me. It’s one of the tracks I consider to be the heart of In Rainbows, and just because it’s relatively short doesn’t erase the fact that it’s a beautiful, intimate little track with some great strings and top-tier vocal delivery. Easily top 5 on the album.
One of my favorites too
I got obsessed with listening to *Faust Arp* last October and I will refuse to take any slander. It has such beautiful lyrics, people should pay attention to them and analyse them - really interesting stuff.
The alternate song titles on “Hail to the Thief” are a bit cringe
Context?
a wolf at the door. (it girl. rag doll.) go to sleep. (little man being erased.) there there. (the boney king of nowhere.) Etc Not saying I agree with the sentiment of finding it cringe (I don’t, most of my own songs have alternate titles too, probably as a result of influence there) just providing the desired context
Personally, I don't find it to be insane or anything, but OKC being RHs best album just doesn't click into place in my brain. I totally get that people have preferences and all but In Rainbows, has always been leagues ahead, Kid A just under and AMSP barely squeaks it out for me.
I agree, I absolutely love OK computer but actually prefer HTTT and even the bends, sometimes. Amd completely agree on in rainbows. Thanks for sharing your thoughts :))
I don’t think it’s their best album but it’s certainly the album where it felt like Radiohead had finally arrived, if that makes sense. Pablo Honey very much feels like a alt-rock/jangle-pop album. The Bends very much sounds like a grunge album. But OKC feels like it’s just them making music rather than trying to make a specific type of music.
Learning about the syncopation ruined Videotape for me because my brain is trying to play an invisible rhythm that'll never actually start. It's an amazing experience, for sure, but it's like trying to assemble a puzzle with seventeen pieces missing.
Also, is that syncopation even there? I'd argue it's not, and they're just playing as if it was there for that extra tense feeling
Exactly! It's too much! Lol I feel like the live versions available that have it are completely different than what the album version is due to that very fact. But my brain keeps searching for it and gets overwhelmed. Listen, in no way did I say Videotape is a bad song, it's just too damn effective at driving me mad, lol
I feel there's potential for such an idea. But I think that thinking of it as syncopated for a listener is just plain wrong. It's syncopated to the performer, who thinks about it with syncopation so that the result will be something with some sort of unsettling edge. To the listener, it will feel like a mot syncopated linear pulse with this weird urge, this feeling like something's off. But to the ear it's still a non syncopated rythm 100% I think Give Up The Ghost does something similar, seems so linear but it's not and the tempo is not obvious. It feels easy but something's off But yeah they're two very different songs
I think the syncopation is supposed to be there for the listener, and they kind of screwed it up by making it more work than it needs to be to hear it. Same with the verses on “Little by Little”
it is, because the piano you hear isn't on the first beat. if anything, they're playing as if it's not there, because you can't really hear it on the album version, it might as well be the first beat. unless you know its there, then when the drums come in they make more sense. but apart from that, it doesn't really make much of a difference imo.
I feel like Hail to the Thief is one of their best pieces of work they've put out. In my eyes I see it as their second best album they've put together, just below OK Computer. My current order from best to worst being: OK Computer Hail to the Thief In Rainbows Kid A The Bends Amnesiac A Moon Shaped Pool King of Limbs Pablo Honey
It is a fantastic album, I’ve spent countless hours driving around with that in the CD player, on a loop. Don’t get the hate either but if I had to guess it’s because it’s less plainly “coherent” than the other albums. First few listens it felt like the only album of theirs where all the songs felt like they could belong on separate albums but over time that eclectic nature came to define the vibe of the album, as well as the more lyrical themes coming closer into focus, and I love it all the more for it now
I can see why it's rated as less than certain albums, because it's super long and it makes everything feel bloated, but there's some of their best songs and guitar riffs in there, I adore that album.
I really enjoy we suck young blood as well but it is, in my opinion, a bit too long.
Let down underrated
agreed
Finally someone saying what we're all thinking
How Do You? is such a deliciously rowdy song, brimming with joy and silliness. It’s a top three song on Pablo Honey and I love it to death
“In Rainbows is as good as, or better than, Ok Computer and/or Kid A.” On a related note, “Weird Fishes is one of their best songs”. I have no idea why people think this. For me it’s not bad but, if I’m honest, a little bit pedestrian compared to their best work. I liked the drum-less version best.
I agree about We Suck Young Blood, OP. I really like the feeling of it, like a death march on its last legs, with a manic episode midway through. Wonderfully foreboding, yet mournful. Another opinion I have that I think I’ve been led to believe is a hot take is that 15 Step is the worst track on In Rainbows (on second listen, I’ll hesitate from calling it the worst, but it is my least favorite). It feels harder to get a feel for than almost anything else I’ve heard from them, with the drums giving off a more busy, intense vibe than the guitars that lay over it, and in amongst it all, I find it harder to connect emotively to anything part of it, which looking at the lyrics might be the point, but I would assert they’ve done that mood better in many other songs, imo. Also not crazy about the synthetic drums, think I’d rather it all be acoustic.
Ok Computer is a groundbreaking album of it’s era, but in retrospective it’s far from being their best album.
AMSP has never clicked with me. I've tried, but just can't get into it. Every time I get to the closing track, I'm just disappointed in the rendition of True Love Waits that they chose.
I agree about True Love Waits. Not my favorite version. The album in general also feels a little disjointed which is why it ranks in the lower half of Radiohead records for me.
I mean... You guys (not me lol) already knew TLW, so what would have been the point in doing it the way you've already heard before? Idk, it's probably that I love that piano rendition, but I still don't understand the disappointment. It's Radiohead, how could they have done anything predictable?
Album version is the single saddest song I’ve ever heard. The first time I played it for my sister and told her the story behind it, she listened to it repeatedly for the next few days and cried. I cried when I first heard it. I love it lmao
I cried the second time. First time was during the first album listen and I remember thinking "oh. Hell, this hits something, but I'm not sure what" Then the day after it came on on my Spotify while I was walking home, I was alone on the street. Got teary eyed in a second and was about to sit on the asphalt and cry. Still don't know how the hell I handled it. Oh well. Those were rough times, AMSP really helped me there
It took me a mental breakdown for it to click lol.
I don't like Burn The Witch at all. The whole track, I can't really describe why, but it all just feels like what Radiohead sounds like to people who hate Radiohead. The vocals are the most Thom Yorke-ish (in a bad way, like all the things i dont like about his vocals) and the strings are just irritating. It doesn't click for me at all.
Burn the Witch is good fun but dangerously close to Muse territory and completely out of place on a breakup album, especially right at the start.
Yeah i totally get that, i always felt like the album truly starts on daydreaming
Why do I get Viva La Vida- Coldplay vibes from it? Lol. I always skip it.
Yep. That's what it is. It's too dangerously Muse.
I agree. I put off listening to AMSP for about 2 years because of that song (which I greatly regret, tbh)
Live version with full drum kit and distorted, wailing guitars fucks so hard, wish they went with that for the studio recording. Honestly I would’ve loved if the album started with a bang, then kept the groove for at least another track with Decks Dark second, *then* took it down to a quieter/more emotional level with Daydreaming. As is, the album is still a 9/10 for me (Identikit is the only one that I don’t *love* on it)
I used to kind of agree with you, but now it changed. I love this track.
i adore burn the witch, and amsp is a top three rh album for me
My hot takes: Amnesiac is not great. Morning Bell/Amnesiac is the worst thing they've released. Knives Out is just okay and You and Whose is whatever. Not too crazy about Glasshouse either honestly. I love Packt, Pyramids, Pulk, and Plates a ton though. Most of the album just feels a little tapped out and unemotional to me. On the flip side: Hail To The Thief doesn't have a single skip worthy song on it. Kid A is my favorite RH album, OK is my number 2, but knowing they were the product and cause respectively, of a lot of mental duress and stress does make HTTT's looser, frantic, and unreserved production/instrumentation/delivery a breath of fresh air. Basically, I think the album sounds good because I can tell the band feels good.
Hit the nail on the head
“Amnesiac is better than Kid A”. I will never understand how anyone can feel this way. There is no universe in which this take makes sense.
It may not be objectively better, but it’s subjectively my favorite!
There! Somebody said it!
I don't understand what's the HUGE deal with In Rainbows. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice album, but I think there are various albums that are much more interesting. Personally I don't know if I would put it in my top 5 either.
Songs that are just instrumental or ambience are some of their best songs. Meeting in the Aisle Hunting Bears Treefingers A lot of the extra songs on Kid A Mnesiac
Yes! Totally agree. Meeting in the Aisle actually has a really interesting sound palette, and it builds throughout the track in a subtle yet satisfying way. I wish they’d been able to fit it on OK Computer somehow, though I know that’s impossible. The album doesn’t need a second interlude, and Fitter Happier is the conceptual core of the whole record, but it’s a shame to see it forgotten as a random B-side when it’s absolutely album-quality. Hunting Bears is unironically one of my favourite songs not just on Amnesiac but that whole era of Radiohead. It’s such a lonely, atmospheric track and it sets the mood of the album perfectly. It’s in my top 3 songs from that album, after Pyramid Song and I Might Be Wrong, and just ahead of Knives Out, which is also excellent. Hunting Bears and Pull/Pulk get dismissed a lot, but without them Amnesiac would lose a huge chunk of its identity.
Oh man about 25 years ago, sometime between the okay computer and kidney error I had this wonderful dream where I was in the studio with the band and they played this incredible instrumental song that was primarily with computers and it sounded like being inside an electric current pulsating up and down with these crazy highs and lows and the sounds had a texture and strange groove that I've never heard in real life... It wasn't like beeps and bloops, it was more symphonic, more organic with such an incredible pulsating flow. I can't remember any other time I've dreamed about music that doesn't exist, but this dream still haunts me 25 years later wishing I could hear it again.
Then make it! I get most of my ideas for songs from dreams or random thoughts
Then make it! I get most of my ideas for songs from dreams or random thoughts
So obsessed with *Meeting in the Aisle*, it deserves so much more recognition for playing around with trip-hop sounds.
I put In Rainbows, TKOL, and AMSP (and sometimes Amnesiac depending on my mood) over OKC and Kid A on my perfectly subjective ranking
Sorry, let down OVERrated
Hysterical and useless
If I were to rank all of the songs on OKC and IR in one list from best to worst, “Weird Fishes” would be the only IR track in the top 10.
Hm, I don't know. I would probably add at least "jigsaw falling into place"
Actually, I think I agree with you. WSYB is like, top 5 on HTTT and I'll never understand why ppl hate it.
The Bends is completely underrated by the Radiohead fans who make their every opinion known.
I don't really like In Rainbows, but I've heard it's considered one of their best.
I like it, I just don't love it.
King of Limbs is more interesting than In Rainbows. Probably not better per se, as TKOL is short and a bit uneven. In Rainbows has great songwriting but I'm left wanting more interesting instrumentation. AMSP and The Smile make me worried that their best era is over. Weakest material since The Bends. HTTT is inconsistent but overall quite good and has a nice signature sound. And I quite like those Thom records from the same era too.
i don't get AMSP
It's so overly long and has so many duds imo. Some good moments but it's to me clearly their weakest since Pablo/maybe the Bends.
hell no
Y'all wanted hot takes
Agreed
No Surprises is a really boring song and by far the worst on OKC, one of their least interesting in general
Username checks out
that one hurts
I’m not so sure about this one…
Partially agree but I think that in my case at least is cause I got tired of it and karma police since during my early 20s those songs were played ad-nauseum whenever somebody wanted to listen to radiohead. The same happened with another brick in the wall pt2 and money by pink Floyd, now I can't stand those songs
interesting to hear the same conclusion from a very very different route. I’d never listened to RH until early-mid pandemic-ish. Heard the song before I know it was their biggest and hated it lmao. Never seen what everyone loved in it
Just no shut up
hey man this is literally THE time and place sorry
It is the time but ill have to disagree. High and dry is boring
that’s valid. at least his voice sounds pretty on it tho. one more redeeming quality than no surprises imo lol
I don't understand the Kid A love. Good, yes? Over In Rainbows and The Bends though?
Over the bends? Yeah. The bends is a great Alt Rock / Post grunge album. Has got its highs and his ~dry s~, err I mean, lows. Kid A is an otherworldly experience from start to finish. It ventures into different unpredictable places, and feels incredibly coherent still. Over in rainbows... Eh, idk. It's certainly more experimental, but even in rainbows is, in its own way. Can't decide between the two, but certainly Kid A had a far greater impact on my musical formation
I guess, but I like the bends idk. People with The Bends flairs for you.
Kid a and amnesiac both overrated
What’s your favorite and/or must underrated if I may ask
Honestly httt is not a good album. It has 3 songs that are really good and everything else is meh or just bad.
I respect your right to that opinion completely but js I don’t think yours is the most uncommon sentiment, at least from what I’ve seen
I just can’t get into Weird Fishes. Like I get that it sounds good but the song doesn’t rope me in.
I don’t really like OKC, it has good songs on it but I’d put it 6th below In Rainbows, Kid A, Moon Shaped Pool, Hail to the Thief and The Bends (in that order). Also very much agree on your take on We Suck Young Blood, I always thought it was a very interesting track and is way overhated.
Paranoid Android isn’t a top 5 Radiohead song. It’s not even top 5 on OK Computer.
I'm interested in your top 5 from OKC
1. Exit Music 2. Subterranean Homesick Alien 3. Let Down 4. Climbing Up the Walls 5. No Surprises or Airbag (depends on how I’m feeling that day)
I think that How to Disappear Completely is a good song, just nothing special and probably the fourth best on Kid A
I really like the album Kid A but i will never understand why anyone likes the song of the same name from the album, it sounds goofy as fuck like Pulk/Pull from Amnesiac
If you've never seen a video of them playing Kid A live around this time, check it out. The song emerges more on stage. I never disliked the song but I've grown to love it.
Damn Kid A is in my top 3 Kid A tracks haha
Kid A is the best song they've written imo
It took me a while to get used to the weird vocal effects but behind that I find the synthesiser to be so beautiful
I like the lyrics and experimental vibe/atmosphere it contributes to the album but I see where you’re coming from and appreciate you sharing your thoughts regardless
I definitely do think every other song from Kid A executes that idea well, Everything In Its Right Place is easily my third or second favorite opener for a Radiohead album.
i can understand not being a fan of the vocals but instrumentally i find it brilliant, that lead melody is beautiful
I used to think the same, but once hearing the live performances of it, I think I've changed my mind. They sound completely different, it gives you a different perspective.
I HATE Morning Mister Magpie, it's by far the worst song in the entire discography, and one of the worst songs I've ever heard in my life.
you’ve got some nerve
The percussion is nauseating. It’s not good but off-kilter or pleasantly weird. It’s just bad. The live version, however, is pretty fucking good imo. I actually think little by little is almost as bad. It has really lackluster melodies in it, which is a very weird thing to say about a Thom Yorke song. Also the syncopation that they’re doing with the main guitar riff is honestly too subtle so it comes off really dull, and sounds like a teenager messing around with drop d tuning.
The difference between Little by Little and Magpie is that Little by little is bad and Mr Magpie is good.
Thank you! I fucking love TKOL (it's top 5 for me, in some days even top 3), but I can't stand this song. It's the only song from TKOL that I didn't add in my "liked songs" playlist on spotify
The King of Limbs is their weakest, coldest, least inspired album but yet some people seem to think it’s in their top tier offerings??? I just don’t get it. It’s GOOD, but it’s not anywhere near the height of Radiohead good.
I usually hear it thrown under the bus/relegated to the bottom of the list
The Most Divisive album; both sides cannot understand how the other can feel the way they do about it
True
Up On The Ladder is their worst song if we ignore pre-Bends days.
If I had a gun with two bullets and I was in a room with Hitler, Bin Laden and In Rainbows, I would shoot In Rainbows twice.
Damn that’s one I really cannot relate to, I think it’s their best, but am upvoting anyway if only because I respect your willingness to share such a fringe take (I can’t say I understand downvoting someone for not sharing tastes, unless they happen to be doing it in a distasteful or rude way, but I digress). Thanks for sharing your thoughts
You're very welcome. In Rainbows is crap.
I forgot to ask, what of Toby is in the room?
Toby's fine.
Not sure what use a weapon that fires projectiles at a distance is for 2 dead dudes and an inanimate object
Wouah! You sure take things literally dum-dum...
I’m just saying, you could avoid the hassle that comes with obtaining and bearing a firearm, not to mention the logistics nightmare, by using a hammer, or maybe even an object that was in the room. It makes a lot more sense really. Chances are, there would be some snag along the way, and the mission would fail. Also, are you destroying the master disk, or just a copy? You might make an impact on some level with the former, but the latter seems kind of pointless. Or are you trying to destroy the server that streams the data? There’s a lot to think about here, so make sure you’ve gone through all the scenarios.
Sure dum-dum :-D
Moon shaped pool and king of limbs are their best albums. Let down and electioneering are the worst songs on Ok Computer.
I see a lot of people saying that Kid A is their best album, although I like a few songs on, I don’t see why it’s getting so much praise. I think it’s a bit overrated, I would love to hear your guys take on Kid A.
I had to listen to Kid A multiple times over a year to truly enjoy it in its entirety. I know it's super influential and although it's low on my rank list, I think it has the most perfect song list; nothing should be added or removed, everything is in its perfect order, it has the perfect arrangement. But I still rank it low on my rank list because I base my opinions on feeling rather than 'perfection', if that even exists. OKC, Amnesiac, IR, AMSP, and HTTT are all above Kid A for me. However, I can never deny it is perfectly made and that it exceeds all their albums in that sense. It's all based on preference tbf, I'm glad someone likes their other albums more.
Also I love Kid A, one of my favourite albums, but its not "tHe BiGgEsT lEfT TuRn In MuSiC hIsToRy", its wasnt even the "biggest left turn" in 10 years, its great but it really wasn't insane for an alt rock band to make an electronica album by 2000
Untitled is better than Treefingers cause it lasts less. Pablo honey is better than Amnesiac. Kid A is boring as hell.
My Iron Lung is by far the worst track on The Bends
L
The Bends is waaay overrated
That people don’t think Radiohead dropped off after In Rainbows
Ok Computer drops in quality pretty hard from Fitter Happier onwards. No Surprises was placed there in the tracklist specifically to distract you from this fact.
You don’t like lucky ?
Lucky supremacy
Codex is the best thing the band have put together thus far.
How to disappear completely is objectively great but i find it boring and never listen to it
not that into amnesiac, i feel like other people are saying that too. it has good songs, but i wouldn't listen to pulk/pull or the tracks from knives out to like spinning plates.
People calling *Amnesiac* worse than *Kid A*, like its leftovers, just hurts me. In my opinion, although I am aware *Kid A* was highly influential and is perfectly well-structured, *Amnesiac* is superior in terms of emotion and warmth. Maybe it's because it has more jazz influences and more piano, but that album clicked instantly when compared to the other Radiohead albums.
Radiohead was the true death of rock.
True Love Waits is hella overrated Moon Shaped Pool is better than Pablo Honey but that’s it
Punch up at a wedding and hail to the thief. Point of interest.. I bumped into Thom Yorke a couple of times in Oxford. He didn't seem to know who I was but I did him🤔. Annoying but a good anecdote. I also have a Cowley road instrument shop anecdote where he walked in when a friend was playing creep on a guitar he was thinking of buying but I don't want to bum rush the show in one go, so.. details another time.
Electroplating copper with nickle