Sunday, August 31, 2008

The Top 6 Of The Radiohead Experiment

I like to pride myself on having a diverse taste in music. Recently, I've discovered that is not nearly as diverse as I would like to think. The most telling truth of that is the fact that I never really listened to Radiohead, a band that many claim is foundational in a variety of ways. At least I hadn't really listened to them until this summer. That's right - this summer, over the course of a few weeks, I committed myself to only listening to the seven main Radiohead CDs (Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows) in my car. This is my ranking of these albums.

6. The Bends - I felt sort of bad putting this one at the bottom, especially since some say it's their greatest work. I'll admit right away that it's hard for me to see the genius in each album, since I'm listening to them all many years after their release. That all being said, I just don't feel that The Bends is as solid as the rest of their albums from top to bottom. It obviously has its headlining songs that stand up as some of the band's greatest work - it's just the lesser known songs on this album are lesser known for a reason. It's my opinion of course, but then again, I'm the one writing this. Probably the most genius part of this album is seen when you hold it up against Pablo Honey. Listening to The Bends after their previous album made me wonder if it was still the same album. The Bends is a great album, but when you're competing with other Radiohead stuff, the competition is fierce. Speaking of other albums...

5. Amnesiac - Amnesiac and Kid A both came out of the same set of recordings, being released one year after the other (with Kid A coming out first). They are fairly similar. However, Amnesiac stresses the abstract side of Radiohead more than Kid A. Out of the two albums, I would have to say that Amnesiac has the best song - Pyramid Song - but unfortunately, it's counter-balanced by some songs that I just did not enjoy listening to. In the past, I've forced myself to give unusual songs a chance and they turned out being songs that I loved. Not so with the ones on this album - I just don't like them.

4. Kid A - A friend of mine said that this album typifies who Radiohead truly is. I think there is more to the band than what they show on this album, but what this album has, it has really, really well. From the outset of the album, it just locks you in to the contemplative mindset. If there was a single album that I wanted to play on the drive home after a significant evening, it would be this one. From top to bottom, it doesn't break out of that beautiful level once. That being said, it means it would not be the one album I want to take on a deserted island. I'd need more diversity.

3. Hail to the Thief - This is the first Radiohead album I ever listened to. Not on my marathon, just in my life. When it came out, everyone on MSN Messenger changed their display names to strange cryptic sentences that I later learned were lyrics and song titles from this album. To be honest, I was somewhat put off by its weirdness at first - anyone who has this album as their first Radiohead experience probably would be. However, after listening to it a bit, I can honestly say it has the strongest front-end of any Radiohead album. The first seven songs rock my face off every time. I considered putting this album at number 1 just because of those first seven songs. However, try as I might, I just can't get stoked enough for the second seven songs. It's more a matter of opinion, but I can't like the second half of this album for the same reason I didn't like Amnesiac as much as Kid A. I just don't feel it.

2. In Rainbows - This is another one that is heralded as their best. To be honest, I did not listen to this album on my marathon. It was the first album I actually "owned" and probably to date has had the best listen of them all. I had it originally at number 3, but further time with this album made me realize the beautiful layering and value of some of the songs that didn't stand out right away. I would say it does what Kid A did, only better. But still, there's just something missing from making it number 1.

1. OK Computer - I really didn't want to do this. As far as I can tell, this is the album that most people point to as their greatest. I really didn't want to follow the crowd on this one. However, I cannot help but agree. There's two main reasons for OK Computer being number 1 on my list. The first, is that I remember the sort of music that was popular when this album came out. Unlike other Radiohead albums, it wasn't so profoundly different. However, it's just...a better caliber than anything that was out at that time. Whereas other albums stick out because of their uniqueness, this one shines because I feel it is very comparable to mainstream music (much like Pablo Honey and The Bends were, only OK Computer is significantly better than each of these) and wins all comparison. The second reason for this being number one is that I think this album, more than any other, discloses every aspect of Radiohead's versatility without belaboring any part. All the others albums were too much of one thing, whereas this one was just enough of everything.

Let me finish with a quick little observation on Radiohead in general. I read in a blog once that Radiohead made music art. That's the stupidest thing I've heard in my life. Even to say that Radiohead invented the abstract exploration of art is horrendously uninformed. Music has always been and art, and abstraction of music has been around just as long. That being said, Radiohead is just a really good band. I understand that exploring new things is important to artists and I think all artists should do that. But to be honest, I think Radiohead shines most when they don't try to reinvent the wheel. When they're just playing music that's better than everyone else, like I think they did on OK Computer, that's when the band is at their best.

I know that every Radiohead fan is going to want to punch me in the face for saying that, as are all those jerk record store workers. But that's scene-sters for you. They don't expect anyone's opinion, other than the crowd's.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Top 6 Things I Say When Im Mad at a Video Game

6. Get your heads in the game
5. Quit touching yourselves
4. STEP UP!!!
3.This is bush league out here
2. Mr. Referee .......
1. Are you effing kidding me?