Well, this is going to sound like my Wilco thread, since both bands have only made great albums. "Pablo Honey" did get bashed but I think that it was unfair. I realize that there are people out there who believe that the Head have gone downhill (forgive them Father...), but I won't let anyone bash your honest thoughts about this. In fact, this is so dear to my heart, I'm going to go start a favorite Beatles thread right now, even if my wife wants me to touch her...wait a minute, Brenda!

Well, I could say mine but I would hope that that would be anti-climactic for the time being. What about you all?

for me i originally liked "ok computer". then my tastes shifted to "kid a"...then "the bends"...then "amnesiac"...and back to "ok computer". so currently (and for the past year or so), "ok computer is my favorite. Probably my favorite album of all time.

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Originally posted by mark f:
"Pablo Honey" did get bashed but I think that it was unfair.

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"Pablo Honey" gets bashed more now than it did when it came out, I think. I remember a lot of favorable press even before "Creep" became a radio single (and one of the most unlikely ones of the era). I was a college radio DJ in 1993, and it was one of my staples. "Anyone Can Play Guitar" is, was, and will always be my favorite Radiohead tune. I saw them tour for Pablo Honey, and they were stellar. TWICE!

Critics then seemed to like the record. It was lumped in with the "alternative radio" movement, so people didn't know how to take it. But I think people have, after the fact, taken it to be stylistically inconsistent with what Radiohead "is", which may not be true. It was a product of the times, to be sure, but it's a good, solid alt-rock record circa 1993. I'll always treasure my autographed copy of Pablo Honey, whatever other summits the band scale.

I'm gonna give you all a graphic representation of my relative thoughts on each radiohead album, and throw in some benchmarks. Forgive me for taking up so much space:

Mclusky - Mclusky Do Dallas
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Led Zeppelin IV
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Guns and Roses - Appetite for Destruction
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Kid A
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Amnesiac
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Hail
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Ok Computer
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The Bends
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Nirvana - Nevermind
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Pablo Honey
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Creed
Limp Bizkit

Radiohead have made two albums that I consider absolutely flawless classics (OK Computer, Kid A), three more fantastic ones, and one that I can't even listen through to the end (fair enough, Pablo Honey isn't TOTAL trash, but I really don't like it, and not just because it doesn't fit in with my "Radiohead style").

As for the above two, I guess OK Computer is technically superior, but Kid A has always meant more to me personally.

OK Computer vs Kid A is like the Revolver vs Abbey Road (or insert other favorite Beatles albums) of our time. Though each record is better suited to certain situations, my favorite is usually the one I'm listening to at the time.

Same things goes with individual songs: "Let Down" vs "Motion Picture Soundtrack." When I die, I think I would like MPS to be played at my funeral...is that wrong?

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Originally posted by St. Ides Heaven:
OK Computer vs Kid A is like the Revolver vs Abbey Road (or insert other favorite Beatles albums) of our time. Though each record is better suited to certain situations, my favorite is usually the one I'm listening to at the time.

Same things goes with individual songs: "Let Down" vs "Motion Picture Soundtrack." When I die, I think I would like MPS to be played at my funeral...is that wrong?

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I think that it's a tremendous choice. I just don't believe in funerals and won't allow anyone to hang over my corpse. I wouldn't mind that being played during a beer-tasting to commemorate my passing though. Maybe I should get my Death Mix ready. Actually, that's not really necessary. I've always been an album guy. I can't even think of any albums which I own that I "pick and choose" from. That doesn't mean that I'm not interested in a certain project. I hate to sound like a broken record, but Wilco's "Less Than You Think" is playing, and it makes my life very simple. Later, Gators.

OK Computer is a great record, but Kid A is my favorite album ever and is responsible for my love of music.


On a related side note:

I was listening to the Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" and for some reason, it had an even bigger feeling of familiarity than it already had. The bells, the soft vocals..."No Surprises"! Does anyone else hear the resemblence?

Some of your benchmarks are a little scary, "Sweetie", but YOU know what YOU like. I just got done listening to the Beatles from "For Sale" through "Sgt. Pepper", and I remember that you actually think ONE whole song is worthy from those "mixes." My idea is that 50 of those songs are ESSENTIAL. I know that I've been around FOREVER, so I don't count, but you do baby, so keep up the good work. Maybe, we'll meet somewhere in some middle ground.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

I love Radiohead and The Bends is my favorite Radiohead record. While I enjoy ALL of their records, I like the songs "Bullet Proof . . . I Wish I Was," "Black Star," and "Nice Dream" so much that The Bends has become one of my all-time favorite records.

The Bends is a record that I reach for time and time again. I have more than one original copy, and I even bought the Japanese import version so that I would have two bonus songs: "How Can You Be Sure" and "Killer Cars."

Radiohead is a band that I doubt I will ever tire of. Each of their records is unique, yet distinctly Radiohead. Like St. Ides Heaven said, each Radiohead record is better suited to certain situations. I rank this band up with the very best, and I look forward to their next release.

Lost in all this Radiohead discussion is the fact that several discs worth of GREAT songs are available on the b-sides to their singles. I have a cool "grey area" collection, called "Lost Treasures: 1993-1997", of two discs worth of stuff through OK Computer. It's probably straight-up a bootleg collection although it purports to be aimed at an Australian market, so who knows. Regardless, it's got 35 songs on 2 discs, most of them excellent. I reach for that almost as often as any of the records...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: philosopherEric,

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Originally posted by mark f:
Some of your benchmarks are a little scary, "Sweetie", but YOU know what YOU like. I remember that you actually think ONE whole song is worthy from those "mixes."

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What in particular is scary? I don't mean this in a hostile way. I've got a giddy smirk on my face as I'm typing this. What I meant to say was that Limp Bizkit would be a zero. Nirvana would be a little bit above a six. Ok Computer would be an eight. Kid A is a perfect ten. AC/DC, etc would be around 14-15. Mclusky is a seventeen.

Actually, there are two songs by the Beatles I have heard and liked. Tomorrow Never Knows and Helter Skelter. Those two were sincerely impressive. This would make up about one-fifth of the Beatles songs I've heard. The rest weren't bad. Just underwhelming.

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Originally posted by Buck "Sweetie" McGuck:

What in particular is scary?

Actually, there are two songs by the Beatles I have heard and liked. Tomorrow Never Knows and Helter Skelter. Those two were sincerely impressive. This would make up about one-fifth of the Beatles songs I've heard.

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I really didn't mean "scary" so much as "interesting." I was mostly trying to get your attention. But your explanation of your scale is also interesting in that it goes up to 17.

As far as the Beatles go, I guess that should be in the other thread, but I'm just going to throw out a few titles, just to see if I still have your attention. "A Day in the Life", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "I Am the Walrus", "Oh!, Darling", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", basically all of Side 2 of "Abbey Road" (The Suite), "Birthday", "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey", "And Your Bird Can Sing", and "Sexy Sadie" (Radiohead paid homage to it on "Karma Police"). Maybe "Revolution 9" is too far out right now. Tell me what you think of those after you hear them, Sweetie or anyone else. I said that Radiohead is the closest thing we have now to the Beatles, so a little thread-sharing is healthy.

PS- I love "Mclusky Do Dallas" but 17 sounds pretty high.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

I dunno this is a tough one.... Either Hail to the Thief or.... The bends... Hail to the Thief is the winner!!!!

I love lists like this, beacuse like the Beatles, each of Radiohead's albums are simultanious breadths of fresh air and reconceptions of previously supported themes. Anywho, here is how I'd rank them, along with how I would characterize them:
1. OK Computer - Simply put, one of the most important and amazing albums ever made.
2. The Bends - About as classic-rock as modern rock can get.
3. Kid A - An entire re-imagination of rock music.
4. Hail to the Thief - Jury's still out on this one, I'll have to wait and see how it stands up over time. So far I like it, though.
5. Amnesiac - Kid B
6. Pablo Honey - A good, but not great Brit-pop album.

i would swap the bends and kid a. i think the bends is a great rock album, yes. but i do not consider it to be anywhere near as incredible an album as kid a. the music composition is leaps and bounds ahead on kid a.

For emotional content alone, I've always favored The Bends, but deep down I believe their best album is Kid A.

Kid A is perfect, Hail to the Thief is near-perfect. OK Computer is very good, The Bends is all right, but overrated, and Amnesiac and Pablo Honey are not good (although "Anyone Can Play Guitar" is one of the best songs ever).

OK Computer.

The end.

OK Computer is good, but just a tad overrated. I've never had much use for "Let Down," and "The Tourist" is not the climactic ending that was needed to give the album a satisfying conclusion.

But it's good.