Radiohead
Breaking Down The Band
My good friend Dave asked me to contribute a segment on Radiohead for his blog post Breaking Down the Band.
I submitted the following …
RADIOHEAD
Number of Times Seen in Concert
Eight, including the last time Radiohead performed live, five years ago in Philadelphia.
Best Song
Bodysnatchers is a song I described in ranking the Ten Greatest Songs of All-time. I stand by what I wrote in this space two years ago:
It begins with a sustained hard rhythm. The tempo steadily increases as the cacophony builds, the beat shifts, shifts again until it reaches a frenetic climax that leaves you exhausted. It’s then you realize, this song is the sonic equivalent to the greatest fuck you ever had.
Honorable mention: Fake Plastic Trees. For a band not known for their lyrics, this song is a haunting, poetic gutpunch. Gravity always wins.
Best Album
Why not ask me which is Bernini’s best sculpture!?!?
Difficult to say definitively, but you can narrow it down to four:
The Bends (1995) the perfect rock album;
OK Computer (1997) the perfect concept album;
Kid A (2000) their most important/influential album and:
In Rainbows (2007) the quintessential Radiohead album. The LP where the band reached the peak of their powers and brought everything together.
So for that reason, I’d say In Rainbows is Radiohead’s ‘best’ album. There is not one weak track on the LP and its 2nd disc is also full of some amazing songs.
But there is no wrong answer among these four. They are differently exceptional. It all depends on your taste and what you value most. The first two are far more “accessible” to the masses.
The sonic complexity of the later two require multiple listens to be fully appreciated. Many people can’t get past the clicks, blips and squishes. Radiohead can sound weird to the uninitiated. But that’s their loss. Having a Radiohead song unlock and reveal itself on that 3rd or 4th listen is a pretty remarkable thing to experience. And yes, I realize that sounds strange, but it happens! I digress…
PS: Apollo & Daphne is probably Bernini’s greatest work.
Most Cliched Song (Or Overplayed Or Overrated)
Karma Police is easily the most cliche Radiohead song. But it is an excellent track, so I wouldn’t say it’s overrated. Definitely was overplayed back in the day.
Most Underrated Song
Another easy one for me: Palo Alto. If this song was included on OK Computer (as it should have been) and/or released as a single with a video, it could have been a late-90s rock anthem. But it wasn’t, so few people know it. Thanks for asking, thanks for asking…
Most Underrated Album
Amnesiac. Unfairly overshadowed by Kid A. At its heart, it’s really a jazz album more than anything else. This band has no boundaries. Don’t believe me? Listen to Life In a Glass House.
Best Song Released in the Past Ten Years
Present Tense. A song that can actually be classified as ‘hopeful’ - a rarity in the catalog.
Best Song from Their Worst Album
Creep is universally loved, even by philistines who hate Radiohead. If in 150 years Radiohead is remembered, it will be for this song. Ironically, it’s on their first and worst album Pablo Honey.
Song of Theirs You Need to Hear Live
The National Anthem and Paranoid Android are borderline religious experiences.
Best Cover Version of One of Their Songs
Creep has been covered countless times in countless ways. I like the Postmodern Jukebox version. But what if Frank Sinatra sang it???
Best Song That They Cover Live
I’m not sure I have ever heard Radiohead cover another artist live. But they did cover Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better back in the 90s, and it’s really good.
Best Concert
The next one. If there is a next one.