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Still absorbing it, but my initial gut reaction is that it's... OK. Not great, just OK.
There is a song on it called 'Codex', which I really like, and which sounds different melodically (off the top of my head) to anything Yorke has written before, although it does bear a passing superficial resemblance to 'Pyramid Song' in terms of the rhythm. It's ironic, because Radiohead could never be accused of 'codex creep' - their albums seem to be getting progressively weaker!
I'm gonna give it a few more listens before I make up my mind about it.
Yeah I have heard them and I came to the same conclusion as you to be honest, it isn't bad music but it lacks the passion their earlier work did to the point of being more ambient background music which is saddening in a way.
I wasn't all that impressed, not "bad"..but not really "great" in comparison to past releases either.
I will say I would have probably enjoyed the song more had I been in some "altered state" while listening to it.
I am both selfish and chaotic. I value self-gratification and control; I want to have things my way, preferably now. At best, I'm entertaining and surprising; at worst, I'm hedonistic and violent.
I have to agree. I liked the rock of their first two albums but they got old and became "avant-gard" or "experimental electronica" whatever style they were going for and I completely lost interest. Never liked synth music.
I'm both chaotic and orderly. I value my own principles, and am willing to go to extreme lengths to enforce them, often trampling on the very same principles in the process. At best, I'm heroic and principled; at worst, I'm hypocritical and disorderly.
I mean, OK Computer is largely considered one of the greatest records of all time, and rightly so. The Bends is also a brilliant album - even their first album Pablo Honey has some great tracks on it.
Kid A is where it all started to unwind in my opinion. It has some of Radiohead's best songs on it: 'Idioteque', 'Everything In Its Right Place' and 'Morning Bell' rank amongst some of the best Radiohead material, but it's patchy, and Amnesiac was even patchier. Both records are drawn from a pool of songs that where recorded at the same time, and it would have been better to just pick the best songs and put them on one single record - 'Pyramid Song' and 'I Might Be Wrong' are the only two I would pick from Amnesiac.
I've found it hard to get excited about any Radiohead record since that one. Both Hail To The Thief and In Rainbows were fairly poor, in my opinion. This one doesn't seem to be bucking the trend.
I personally feel Radiohead are rapidly disappearing up their own arse, which is a shame because they can and do write some tremendous lyrics and music.
I haven't listened to them since kid A. And I've not listened to oasis since be here now, basically as soon as anyone appears to have become average I feth them off and utterly ignore them.
I loved the bends and ok computer though!
We are arming Syrian rebels who support ISIS, who is fighting Iran, who is fighting Iraq who we also support against ISIS, while fighting Kurds who we support while they are fighting Syrian rebels.
"I'm just going to mash out a few chords over and over and we'll throw some half-hearted vocals over the top. Crap, you said we're not being quirky enough? Add some noises in the background." That song is a steaming turd of mediocrity.
Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:Please expand I will say the vocals bother me less on this track than the other 95% of Radiohead tracks, but what are you hearing that I'm not?
Perhaps it's the ear-piercing "Ambience" of the music. Or the fact that this song has killed Creep for everyone forever.
Every Normal Man Must Be Tempted At Times To Spit On His Hands, Hoist That Black Flag, And Begin Slitting Throats.
I'm a huge radiohead fan and this album makes me want to die. It's like Thom Yorkes solo stuff, yet somehow worse. It's instrumentally lazy, the singing is all incredibly samey, and it's very short.
How they let In Rainbows go for free and this go for charge is beyond me.
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Do you remember that time that thing happened?
This is a bad thread and you should all feel bad
But either way, it's not as bad as you guys make it out to be. Lotusflower is great, and the rest of the album is pretty solid too. It's not my favourite Radiohead album (that goes to either The Bends or Hail to the Theif), but it's still pretty good.
I'd have to say their weakest album would be Pablo Honey. And by weakest, I mean absolutely terrible (excluding of Creep, which is an amazing song, obviously).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/02/21 20:55:25
I haven't heard it yet. I am kind of nervous to do so. It seems like after a certain point in a bands career they just start being awful. I really hope that isn't the case here.
Albatross wrote:It's ironic, because Radiohead could never be accused of 'codex creep' - their albums seem to be getting progressively weaker!
I can't see how the slide is generally downwards. Nothing has really come close to The Bends or OK Computer, but for the slide to be generally downwards you'd have to claim Kid A and Amnesiac are better than Hail to the Thief or In Rainbows, which is crazy talk. Not that Hail to the Thief is wonderful, but it's certainly better than Amnesiac or Kid A, and In Rainbows is a genuinely top notch record.
I haven't heard the new CD yet, I'll try and grab it this weekend if I can.
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Guitardian wrote:I have to agree. I liked the rock of their first two albums but they got old and became "avant-gard" or "experimental electronica" whatever style they were going for and I completely lost interest. Never liked synth music.
I'm guessing you mean their second and third albums, The Bends and OK Computer? Because their first album, Pablo Honey, is considered among their best by imaginary people and no-one. It's not exactly bad, Creep is a good song and I really like Thinking About You, but it's a scratchy, inconsistent first record, basically.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2011/02/22 06:46:15
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
I personally thought In Rainbows was their weakest effort since The Bends, but I'm not a tremendous fan of pre OK Computer Radiohead. They've been surfing down pretty steadily in my opinion, but it's been an acceptable transformative slide. In Rainbows was great, it just didn't hold my interest as well as others.
This album changes all that and basically puts them on the fast track to me hoping they disband and save their good name before they go metallica.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/02/22 08:13:56
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Do you remember that time that thing happened?
This is a bad thread and you should all feel bad
ShumaGorath wrote:I personally thought In Rainbows was their weakest effort since The Bends....
I think Amnesiac is worse, but generally, yeah I agree. Just didn't understand the hype surrounding that record. It wasn't great at all.
Sebster wrote:I can't see how the slide is generally downwards. Nothing has really come close to The Bends or OK Computer, but for the slide to be generally downwards you'd have to claim Kid A and Amnesiac are better than Hail to the Thief or In Rainbows, which is crazy talk. Not that Hail to the Thief is wonderful, but it's certainly better than Amnesiac or Kid A, and In Rainbows is a genuinely top notch record.
I mean, it's a matter of taste I suppose - but as far as I'm concerned, Kid A ranks in the top 3 Radiohead records. It's that good. Seriously, dig it out and give it another listen, man.
Just look at the track list:
"Everything in Its Right Place" "Kid A"
"The National Anthem" "How to Disappear Completely" "Treefingers"
"Optimistic"
"In Limbo"
"Idioteque"
"Morning Bell"
"Motion Picture Soundtrack"
The bolded songs represent some of Radiohead's finest material, and the remaining songs are all quite interestingly constructed. It's a great record and a massive leap forward in terms of musical experimentation, certainly when compared to Hail To The Thief which only really has 'There There' and ' Sail To The Moon' to recommend it, IMO. In Rainbows has no moments that I regard as truly great, apart from (possibly) 'Videotape', which actually has a similar feel to 'Codex', come to think of it....
Again, this is all a matter of opinion.
Cannerus wrote:Please expand I will say the vocals bother me less on this track than the other 95% of Radiohead tracks, but what are you hearing that I'm not?
Um, nothing. Just interpreting it differently. For me, 'Codex' is about the feel - it has a haunting atmosphere. There's been speculation that it's about depression/suicide, a subject which has been alluded to in other Thom Yorke lyrics. I think this is shown in the desolate nature of the recording; a sense of space created in the production by essentially leaving the piano chords hang in space. This is emphasised by the synth (it's probably not as simple as that, but hey...) pads in the background, and the unsettling time signature, which incidentally is reminiscent of 'Pyramid Song'. I would put money on Yorke owning several Thelonious Monk LPs.
Also, I think I've discovered why I dislike this record. Thom's voice sounds gak. He's not singing at all well here.
Albatross wrote:
Um, nothing. Just interpreting it differently. For me, 'Codex' is about the feel - it has a haunting atmosphere. There's been speculation that it's about depression/suicide, a subject which has been alluded to in other Thom Yorke lyrics. I think this is shown in the desolate nature of the recording; a sense of space created in the production by essentially leaving the piano chords hang in space. This is emphasised by the synth (it's probably not as simple as that, but hey...) pads in the background, and the unsettling time signature, which incidentally is reminiscent of 'Pyramid Song'. I would put money on Yorke owning several Thelonious Monk LPs.
Also, I think I've discovered why I dislike this record. Thom's voice sounds gak. He's not singing at all well here.
Basically you're enjoying the minimalism while I'm growing bored from it. There are some forms of musical minimalism I enjoy, and I understand the importance of empty space, but typically I appreciate it as a tool to either let a strong past emotion linger or to create suspense for a coming one and I feel like this track never actually goes up or down, just kinda stays at the "Coldplay" level of humdrum. I think you're music attempts a very vaguely similar goal, but actually has enough dynamics to keep me interested In other words, I prefer you to Radiohead. Rather that's a compliment or makes my opinion invalid can be up to you
Albatross wrote:
Um, nothing. Just interpreting it differently. For me, 'Codex' is about the feel - it has a haunting atmosphere. There's been speculation that it's about depression/suicide, a subject which has been alluded to in other Thom Yorke lyrics. I think this is shown in the desolate nature of the recording; a sense of space created in the production by essentially leaving the piano chords hang in space. This is emphasised by the synth (it's probably not as simple as that, but hey...) pads in the background, and the unsettling time signature, which incidentally is reminiscent of 'Pyramid Song'. I would put money on Yorke owning several Thelonious Monk LPs.
Also, I think I've discovered why I dislike this record. Thom's voice sounds gak. He's not singing at all well here.
Basically you're enjoying the minimalism while I'm growing bored from it. There are some forms of musical minimalism I enjoy, and I understand the importance of empty space, but typically I appreciate it as a tool to either let a strong past emotion linger or to create suspense for a coming one and I feel like this track never actually goes up or down, just kinda stays at the "Coldplay" level of humdrum. I think you're music attempts a very vaguely similar goal, but actually has enough dynamics to keep me interested In other words, I prefer you to Radiohead. Rather that's a compliment or makes my opinion invalid can be up to you
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In other words, I prefer you to Radiohead. Rather that's a compliment or makes my opinion invalid can be up to you