OK Computer was about fearing a computer take over, and Kid A and Amnesiac were about dealing with that world. Radiohead announces quite grandly that they are against US government with lyrics baring notable quotables like "I swat em like flies, but like flies the buggers keep coming back," and "It's the devil's way now, there's no way out, you can scream you can shout, it's too late now, because you have not been paying attention." Perhaps, in addition to bashing the Iraq War and such, Radiohead slyly continues the concept their last three albums but forth. 2+2=5 shows off all the changes Radiohead went through between Kid A and here. Instead of putting another electric journey-song at the beginning, you get the most rocking piece of Radiohead ever likely to be recorded. Upon first listen, listeners are automatically shocked. The only question would be, would it disappoint? Listeners were dying to get some more genius, regardless of what instruments were in it, or lack there of, for that matter. Hype for Hail To The Thief was massive, as is the case with every Radiohead album. Come 2003, people began to wonder "What the hell could they possibly do next?" Enter Hail to the Thief. It's questionable follow-up Amnesiac may as well have been a Kid A B-Sides (Let the Kid B jokes begin), seeing as it was recorded in the same sessions as Kid A. Of course it was still brilliant, but neverhteless a shocker. Kid A shocked the world in the fact the band ditched guitars almost altogether, and computers took over Radiohead. This was followed by THE Radiohead album, OK Computer (you've heard enough ranting on this by now, so I need not describe it to you), and you have the "intellegent techno" album Kid A. First there was The Bends, an album that expanded their acoustic sound to more beautiful proportions. They write songs that flow and have an overriding theme to them. The concept is usually referred to as "Album Rock." The defenition of Album Rock is when a band doesn't just throw together as many songs as they want and mash em up and stick them on an LP. They moved from standard hit-churning pop to a concept so disembodied from regular old music, that it's amazing less pop bands haven't tried it. After their usually disregarded first effort with Pablo Honey that brought them onto MTV, Radiohead became the band vocalist Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood always wanted. Their albums range from those sounds as well. Their musical expertise ranges from standard happy brit rock to apocolyptic techno. But when diving into any Radiohead album, you get the feeling you're not listening to a bunch of pricks with powerchords. To the haters, it's crazy people, and the rest of us. To the fans, there are those who "Get It" and those who don't. The opinions surrounding the band range from sweet love to pure hatred. Geniuses, Paranoid, Virtuosos, Whiny, Wah-diohead, even Gods.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |