CD Odyssey Disc 815: Radiohead

Season’s greetings! I’ve been away for a couple of days visiting family for Christmas. When Sheila and I take a road trip it is our tradition to each choose four CDs to take with us. Here are the CDs that I chose to take this time:

·         Ramones “Anthology,Disc 1”

·         Gang Starr “Hard to Earn”

·         Frank Turner “Tape Deck Heart”

·         Sharon Jones “100 Days, 100 Nights”

Sheila chose these four:

• The Who “Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy”
• Soundtrack “Saturday Night Fever”
• The Pogues “If I Should Fall from Grace with God”
• Tom Waits “Mule Variations”

The trip was over before we got to Sharon Jones and Tom Waits. While on a ferry I also took the opportunity to just sit and listen to my next album up for review. I would have preferred Sharon Jones or Tom Waits.

Disc 815 is….Kid A

Artist: Radiohead

Year of Release: 2000

What’s up with the Cover? Computer generated mountains? Sound waves? A landscape depicting the terrain on Thom Yorke’s home planet?

How I Came To Know It: I knew about Radiohead dating back to their debut album because of my friend Greg, but it was another friend (Anthony) who introduced me to this album years ago when I was visiting him in Vancouver. I remember really disliking it back then and over the years very little has changed.

How It Stacks Up:  We have seven Radiohead albums (all of them except 2011’s “King of Limbs”). Of the seven I really dislike three of them. “Kid A” is one of those, but benefits from me disliking two others even more, so I’ll rank it fifth. Since this is (mercifully) my last Radiohead review, here is the full recap:

1. The Bends: 4 stars (reviewed back at Disc 316)
2. Pablo Honey: 4 stars (reviewed back at Disc 223)
3. OK Computer: 3 stars (reviewed back at Disc 541)
4. In Rainbows: 2 stars (reviewed back at Disc 597)
5. Kid A: 2 stars (reviewed right here)
6. Hail to the Thief: 2 stars (reviewed back at Disc 214)
7. Amnesiac: 1 star (reviewed back at Disc 432)

Ratings: 2 stars

“Kid A” is the album where Radiohead made a conscious decision to fundamentally change their approach to music. I like to think of it as the album where they decided that they would rather be clever than listenable.

Ideally you can be both clever and listenable, but “Kid A” pushed that theory past its limits. The album descends into electronica mood music. These are occasionally punctuated by groovy beats, which I enjoyed, and jazz constructs, which I did not.

The production fades in and out of clarity, and gives you the feeling that you’re listening a radio station at the edge of its broadcast range, with the signal sometimes being disrupted by static, and sometimes coming through clearly. A few songs in I wasn’t sure which I preferred – I guess I was hoping it would cut out entirely.

There is so much I want to like about Radiohead. Clearly these guys understand music: how it is constructed, how melody works and how to blend different sounds in new and interesting ways to your ear. On “Kid A” they take traditional rock and R&B constructions and then deconstruct them into something new. Unfortunately, while this can be intellectually interesting, it doesn’t make for listenable music.

A good example is the third song on the album, “The National Anthem.” It starts off with a pretty solid groove, and after the two meandering and mostly pointless tracks that precede it, gave me some hope that things were about to get better. That hope was quickly dashed as the song progressed, as it worked in fuzzy jazz trumpet. The fuzzy trumpet then slowly morphs into screechy jazz trumpet before becoming fuzzy again. Then the song was over, leaving me wonder what the hell was the point.

The next track “How To Disappear Completely” has a beautiful atmospheric structure that evokes a genuine feeling of disconnect and isolation. Like “A National Anthem,” this song is about six minutes long and feels like it should end after about four, but at least the song genuinely made me feel something.

Obviously embarrassed that they had just made a proper song with human feelings, Radiohead retreats almost immediately back into the alien landscape of their minds with “Treefingers.” I assume this is music that a planet of tree people would play for one another when they want to relax – kind of like people playing whale sounds to help them sleep. “Treefingers” didn’t help me sleep or relax – it made me fidget, as I resisted the urge to break the Odyssey rules and skip to the next song.

The most appropriately titled track on the album is “Idioteque” which I assume is the kind of dance club where the songs from “Kid A” would be played. With its pseudo-beat box sound, it is hard to tell if Radiohead is deliberately mocking its audience for dancing to this stuff, or are just having a hard time knowing how to make Terrans happy. At least the Dead Milkmen had the common courtesy to include lyrics on “Instant Club Hit” that made it clear they have no respect for people who will “dance to anything.” With Radiohead you get the feeling they are just a bunch of aliens that have put is in a cage and are piping in different sounds to see how we’ll react.

When “Kid A” came out most critics loved it, and I can understand why. It displays a skill and understanding of musical forms that is impressive. So impressive, it made it impossible for me to honestly give it only 1 star. I really wanted to, though.

Best tracks:  How To Disappear Completely 

CD Odyssey Disc 597: Radiohead

The good news about this next review is it is finally an album by this band that I could enjoy.  The better news was that there is only one album left by them for me to review.

Disc 597 is….In Rainbows

Artist: Radiohead

Year of Release: 2008 (digital version came out in 2007, but mine is a hard copy).

What’s up with the Cover? I don’t know. Is it a splatter of paint and a footprint that vaguely resembles the universe? Maybe it is just my mind trying to find pattern in random beeps, not unlike my relationship with most of Radiohead’s later music.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila is a Radiohead fan and for many years I would diligently buy her their latest album, assuming she would want them all.  Unlike me, however, she’s not a completionist, so it was never that important for her to have them all.

How It Stacks Up:  We have seven Radiohead albums, and of the seven “In Rainbows” is the best of the worst, which puts it fourth.

Rating:  2 stars but almost 3

“In Rainbows” is Radiohead’s best album in ten years (dating back to when “OK Computer” delivered their last “OK” album). I remember being pleasantly surprised when it came out and was actually looking forward to reviewing it, because I remember it being a return to form.  Despite going in the right direction, it is still a long climb up from “Amnesiac” and “Hail to theThief.”

The musical content of “In Rainbows” is definitely more listenable, and there are even melodies in this record, particularly on “Reckoner” and “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” which are strangely beautiful and where Thom Yorke’s “alien drowning in the tub” voice works to good effect.

This all comes together best on “All I Need” where I was reminded how great this band can be.  “All I Need” is a haunting song about desperate love, a slow and stark descent into self-loathing and masochism.  It opens:

“I am the next act waiting in the wings

I am an animal trapped in your hot car

I am all of the days that you choose to ignore

You are all I need.”

These are the bright spots, and there are more than a few on this record, but just as often production decisions are made that drown the melodies and voice alike into a wall of various sounds. Exacerbating this are songs where significant parts of the melody come at you through only one speaker channel. I think the intent is to have a sort of ‘underwater’ quality, but it feels at times more like standing in an ocean tide right at ear level, with the water rushing in and out over your eardrums.

The music definitely sets a mood, at least and kind of reminded me of Moby on that front, except instead of being relaxing, the mood is more consistently off-putting.  Why a band would put that much effort into making you feel uncomfortable is beyond me.  Guys, there are so many nicer moods to set. In other places they reminded me pleasantly of Beck, but without the funky riffs that make Beck so much more listenable.

Before I sum up I think a word is in order on the presentation of the CD.  “In Rainbows” was initially only released digitally (in 2007) and only months later could you buy a hard copy. For long time listeners like me (i.e. – older music guys) this was annoying, and felt like a combination of a slight on my chosen medium for music and a publicity stunt.

When it did come out in hard format, it came in a cardboard folder, with stickers that you could peel and stick to a jewel case for a more traditional look.  Something told me this would not look good, so I never peeled the stickers.  On the plus side, I  hope that means the album is worth more someday – maybe $5 instead of $3 as CDs make their way into the dustbin of dead technologies.

The liner notes print the lyrics (which I appreciate) but did them in a very weird full justification and various coloured fonts that combined make them hard to read.  Note to all bands; it is fine to get all artsy on the liner notes, but if you decide to print the lyrics, at least make them easy to read.

Like the liner notes, “In Rainbows” has a few tracks that reinforce my long-held frustration with the band’s later work; sacrificing the makings of good songs on the altar of cleverness. At least this time around some of the songs shine through from time to time, generating moments that are both creative and (shocker!) actually enjoyable to listen to.

I could have given this album three stars instead of two, but the truth is I am just tired of working so hard to like these guys.

Best tracks: Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, All I Need, Reckoner, Jigsaw Falling Into Place

CD Odyssey Disc 541: Radiohead

Although I allow myself to immediately review newly purchased albums, in recent years I rarely do.  Usually it only happens when I have a new album that coincides with a live event I’ve seen, like the recent Lyle Lovett or Shins albums.

Instead, where there is a gap in the CD shelf, I just stack the new albums I’m still getting to know, and hope that I roll one.  On this last roll, I rolled the section with all the new albums, but disappointingly I ended up with an old one anyway.  It is fitting, I suppose; Radiohead often disappoints me.

Disc 541 is…. OK Computer

Artist: Radiohead

Year of Release: 1997

What’s up with the Cover?  Remember those old photos of freeways, before they were busy, and all the cars were old fifties models?  Remember how those photos were kind of OK?  Well, here is one of those photos, which appears to have been scratched all the hell by some demented child wielding a rusty nail.  I believe it is intended that this be considered some form of art, and I suppose it is – bad art.

How I Came To Know It:  I already knew Radiohead from their early days, but this record was bought by Sheila who liked their sound and had heard good things about “OK Computer.”

How It Stacks Up:  We have seven Radiohead albums.  This is one of the better ones, and I put it third best.

Rating:  3 stars

At the outset I’d like to admit that I am going to enjoy writing a lukewarm review for an album that is the darling of music lovers and critics alike.  Radiohead is a talented, capable band, but that doesn’t mean I like everything they offer, and for me, “OK Computer” is the beginning of their descent into self-absorption.

This is a band with a tortured genius for music.  Their first album, “Pablo Honey” may be reviled by many of their fans, but it is a solid, thoughtful rock album and its follow up, “The Bends” is even better.  Yet fast forward five years to “Amnesiac” and these guys have been reduced to an insufferable series of technological sounds only vaguely resembling music.

When the hell did this happen? The start of that answer is, sadly, “OK Computer.”  This is an album that is lauded for its experimental sound, but like Beck’s “Odelay” is also partly limited by its own ambition.

First, the good stuff, and there is good stuff on this record.  “OK Computer” ably captures a mood of social disconnect and its resulting feelings of dread and depression.  Lead singer Thom Yorke always sounds like he’s channeling the secret messages of aliens, and on songs like “Paranoid Android” that is exactly what is called for.  The song is complicated, and the fact that it and “Karma Police” were both embraced by radio seems an unlikely, but happy accident.  They are good songs, even if in places they are a bit overwrought in their production and arrangement.  Even that I can forgive, as that is Radiohead’s gig.

Unfortunately, the whole album does not hold itself up to this standard.  Musically it is interesting yes, but it is also drones and moans in places.  “Exit Music (For a Film)” was particularly annoying.  It literally sounds like exit music for a film; inoffensive, but somehow summarizing that you’ve just had some experience or other.  I say that in vague fashion, because that is exactly how the song leaves me feeling, vague and disconnected.  It is the kind of song that when it appears at the end of a movie you push stop and then “delete recording” and go watch something else.  Recreating that experience is not what I look for on an album.

A lot of the music on “OK Computer” would be better served without a lot of the extra effects filling in all the space.  Even a sonically thick song still needs room to breathe.  As an example, “Karma Police” gives the piano room to establish mood, and that deliberate piano keeps everything on an even keel, letting the rest of the song’s construction something to flesh out.  From there, the boys can really draw you in with their genius.  Also, “Karma Police” isn’t a bad idea, although I think technically Karma delivers its justice without the need for police.  Maybe that’s the point.

While it is true that a lot of what leaves me not wholly satisfied with  “OK Computer” is the weird production decisions and self-absorption, I strangely enjoyed the Stephen Hawking-like spoken word piece “Fitter Happier.”  A nice use of computer simulated voice to underscore our lack of human connection and then the kicker – summing up our various ‘virtues’ and then labeling us as nothing more than pigs in cages on antibiotics.  It is disturbing and Orwellian, but effective.

Unfortunately, too often the album just descends into weird mood songs, like the distorted falsetto of “Climbing the Walls” groaning away in minor chords.  Sure it makes you feel uncomfortable, but not in an interesting way.  It is like eating too much cotton candy; the experience makes you feel queasy, but all it really teaches you is to not eat so much cotton candy.

Because all over this album I see the band preparing to descend into the mirror-covered spider hole of “Amnesiac” and “Hail to the Thief” it is hard to truly love it.  That said, there are enough flashes of brilliance that I also can’t deny that it is still worth a listen.

This record is – for lack of a better word – OK, but I can’t help being disappointed in feeling only OK about something the rest of the world seems to think is Radiohead’s greatest work.

Best tracks (although they could use shorter titles):  Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Let Down

CD Odyssey Disc 432: Radiohead

At last the weekend has arrived!  I am hopeful for a very uneventful one, in the same way I am hoping my next record is better than this one was.

Disc 432 is…Amnesiac

Artist: Radiohead

Year of Release: 2001

What’s up with the Cover?  A child has apparently doodles on a frayed piece of fabric.  This cover is uninspiring, pointlessly obtuse and overwhelmingly awful.  The CD booklet inside is filled with 26 more pages of equally gag-worthy deconstructionist crap.

How I Came To Know It: As I’ve noted in previous Radiohead reviews, I’ve known this band since the beginning but Sheila is more into them than I am.  “Amnesiac” is either her drilling through their collection or (more likely) me buying it for her because I know she likes Radiohead and assume that, like me, when someone likes a band they want to have every album by that band.

How It Stacks Up:  We have seven Radiohead albums and when I reviewed “Hail to the Thief” back at Disc 214 I said I’d be optimistic and say it was the worst.  Sadly, my optimism was misplaced.  “Amnesiac” is the worst Radiohead album I have heard.  With three still to review, I sincerely hope this is as low as the bar goes.

Rating:  1 star

Thom Yorke and Radiohead, you are so clever with sound – so why does this album make me want you to take a long walk off a short pier?  Because being clever with sound doesn’t mean making listenable music.

Music is for listening, guys, not for demonstrating how niftily you can use the sound of some object striking an empty oil drum.  Or whatever the hell that sound is that starts this album off with the exceptionally poorly spelled track, “Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box.”  Get it the words are crushed, like the sardines!  Yeah, I get it, and it is stupid.  Use your words, gentlemen.  Not that it matters what this song (or most of these songs) is called, since the title bears little resemblance to what they’re about.

“Packt…” goes on into a strange and pointless journey into sound, with Thom Yorke’s alien voice singing “I’m a reasonable man, get off my case” over and over again.  It came maddeningly close to a song at that point, but instead of developing it into something we were treated to a wide array of sounds – some computer generated, some sampled, none of which go anywhere.  I’m a reasonable man, Radiohead, but seriously, get off my case.

And that is pretty much a microcosm of this whole record.  Full of half-started songs that are fully developed into some 21^st century incarnation of the Art of Noise, only completely stripped of any opportunity for the listener to say “oh, yeah!” in a deep voice, and devoid of any breathy chick-a-chick-aaah!s.

I have a great deal of respect for Radiohead as a band.  They are clearly chock-full of talent, and their first two albums (“Pablo Honey” and “The Bends”) are excellent.  They even have a few in later years that are worth your time.  On “Amnesiac” I could only find one song worth my time, “I Might Be Wrong,” which has a groovy guitar riff (I suspect sampled, but so what?) and Thom’s ‘falsetto in water’ sounding voice fitting in with a strange beauty that is the band at their best.  Radiohead at their best is pretty good, too.

However, as a record “Amnesiac” is not Radiohead at their best.  This record is self-indulgent sound-making.  It is like electronica jazz, without the soul that jazz brings even the most obtuse songs of that genre.

Songs like “Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors” made me feel like I was intercepting signals from an alien spacecraft on my short wave radio.  I guess I should’ve expected that, with a title like “Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors” – yes “pulk” is not a typo.  In addition to being pointless, this song has a rolling bass line that on headphones makes it feel like your ears are popping from an elevation descent.  How clever, Radiohead – you really recreated that unpleasant sensation!  Now how about some music?

There are those among you that will simply say that I don’t get this stuff, or that my musical knowledge is too limited to give a meaningful review of it.  You may be right on both counts, but I’m not a classically trained musician, nor am I a computer technician.  I’m just a guy who likes music, and listens to a lot of it, giving my opinion.

However, desperate for understanding I broke my usual self-imposed Modernist approach to music reviews and looked the record up on Wikipedia, where, unsurprisingly, the album had received reams of critical attention.  For the above mentioned “Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors” there is even some background on how they made the song on a Roland MC505 sequencer.  Band member Colin Greenwood is quoted as saying

"You give the machine a key and then you just talk into it. It desperately tries to search for the music in your speech, and produces notes at random. If you've assigned it a key, you've got music."

Um…not in my world you don’t.  You’ve got a science experiment; maybe you’ve even got an interesting exploration of new sounds that could one day become music.  But the proof in what you’ve got is how listenable it is, how emotionally evocative it is, how it speaks to your soul.  Most of the songs on “Amnesiac” speak to my soul about as much as a phone ringing, or the buzzer that tells me when my laundry is done.

Of course, the one song I liked is “I Might Be Wrong,” and the title is a fitting reminder that art is different for everyone.  Some people must love this record – it went #1 in Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, and #2 in the United States.  It is also a companion piece to “Kid A” a critical darling of a record that I’ve yet to review.  After listening to “Amnesiac” I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.

Best tracks:  I Might Be Wrong

CD Odyssey Disc 316: Radiohead

Well, for a guy without a job, I've had a busy day, and I'm now trying to squeeze this in before my next event arrives. We'll see if I make it.

This next disc is one that my generation typically fawns over. Despite this popularity, I liked it anyway.

Disc 316 is...The Bends

Artist: Radiohead

Year of Release: 1995

What’s Up With The Cover?: Good question. A quick bit of research reveals it is a piece of photo art (I use the word 'art' loosely here) by a guy named Stanley Donwood, who went to art school with Radiohead singer Thom Yorke. As art goes, I think this piece is a pretty poor showing, and as a CD cover I liked it less.

How I Came To Know It: I heard this record because Sheila bought it. She is a big Radiohead fan, where I only dabble. Or maybe I bought it for her after hearing it was a good one. We've had it for a while, and I can't honestly remember.

How It Stacks Up: We have seven Radiohead albums. When I reviewed "Pablo Honey" back at Disc 223, I said it edged "The Bends" out for best record, but having given it a few listens, I'm going to have to perjure myself and admit that "The Bends" is in fact, their best record.

Rating: 4 stars.

I'm not a huge fan of Radiohead, but as I've said in previous reviews, I admire their ability as a band, and I think they are worthy of at least most of their critical acclaim. Not all of it though - Radiohead gets more critical acclaim than any band could earn.

Through the years, their sound has changed quite a bit, and over those same years I have learned that I liked them early in their career most.

"The Bends" is Radiohead at their best. Yorke's alien-yet-beautiful voice haunting the heavy atmosphere of each song. This is a record that is still solidly in the rock and roll genre of "Pablo Honey" but that has begun to branch out creatively. Much like "British Steel" is the sweet spot of Judas Priest between seventies rock and metal, "The Bends" is the sweet spot of Radiohead where they go a little weird and innovative, but where the songs are still melodic and pleasant to listen to. When Radiohead gets weirder later (like "Kid A") they lose me in the effort to be clever.

This record has many great songs, most of which left me with a bad case of melancholia (although fortunately I avoided any Infinite Sadness). In particular, the plaintive almost begging quality of Yorke's voice on "High And Dry" as he sings 'don't leave me high/don't leave me dry' makes you feel truly abandoned. On "Fake Plastic Trees", when he sings "It wears me out/It wears me out" it made me feel like I was worn out. Even typing about it is bringing me down - these guys know how to find their own private dystopia, and then invite you over.

Depressing as this can be, it is good for the soul to feel deeply, even if those feelings aren't always pleasant. We are all masochists for a little wallowing, and Radiohead delivers.

The only down-side to the lyrics are that Yorke is at times hard to understand. Admittedly, this music demands that you pay close attention, but the way it is constructed always makes my mind wander into an emotional fugue state and I forget to pay attention. This is too bad, because looking over the liner notes I find such gems as this from "Fake Plastic Trees":

"She lives with a broken man, a cracked polystyrene man
Who just Crumbles and burns,
He used to do surgery for girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins and it wears him out."

Thanks to Sheila for helping me catch that one as I drove her to Weight Watchers earlier tonight (where she is a leader and lifetime member - accomplished, beautiful AND she knows her rock and roll!).

The other line that caught my attention was an unfortunate case of misheard-lyric-itis. The actual chorus of "The Bends" is "My baby's got the bends", but in Yorke's emotionally strangled voice it comes out sounding like "My baby's got Depends." Which is great if you are trying to avoid a mess on your livingroom floor, but not so interesting for a rock song.

Overall, this is a great record, that has stood the test of time and found its way into my heart (occasionally wounding it in the process). I am sure for many people it would be a five star album, but for me I'm going to settle with excellent, and call it four.

Best tracks: High And Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, Just, My Iron Lung, Sulk

CD Odyssey Disc 223: Radiohead

It's 2011 and I can't help think I'm living in the future. Kind of like that last Radiohead album I reviewed with all those futuristic sounds that were a bit offputting.

The future is great, but I was just as happy to go back to the past this time around.

Disc 223 is...Pablo Honey
Artist: Radiohead

Year of Release: 1993

What’s Up With The Cover?: A baby's face in the middle of a flower. This cover does not inspire. Attention rock musicians: please keep babies off your album covers - leave that territory for pop artists, and Biggie Smalls.

How I Came To Know It: Another early nineties disc introduced to me upon its release by my then-roommate and buddy, Greg. Since then Sheila has become a big Radiohead fan, but I've known this album all the way back.

How It Stacks Up: We have seven Radiohead albums. "Pablo Honey" is my favourite, edging out "The Bends".

Rating: 4 stars.

Over the last ten years Radiohead has gotten into a pretty expiremental electronica sound, and truth be told it hasn't always been sweet to my ears. In fact, I'll go with 'seldom'.

That is why it was such a treat to roll "Pablo Honey" on the Odyssey - which is the early Radiohead sound that I've always preferred.

I know that "Pablo Honey" doesn't get the same critical acclaim as later Radiohead albums. In fact, I was once told they did this record just to make some money and allow them to branch out and do all the less commercial stuff later. I have no idea if that is true, but if it is, it is more than a little ironic that "Pablo Honey" charted the worst of all their releases.

Not in my books - this record is solid alternative rock. In places it reminds me strongly of early Smashing Pumpkins, but making any comparison is a little unfair for Radiohead, who have always had their own distinctive sound, even on the relatively straightforward "Pablo Honey".

The first seven songs on the record are exceptional, among them the released single "Creep" which continues to be a favourite through generations of music fans, almost twenty years after it's release. "Creep" is an anthem for anyone who's ever felt inadequate (i.e. - all of us):

"You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You're so fucking special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here."

By turning feelings of self-loathing into a rock anthem, Radiohead empowered a generation of presumed outcasts to revel in their own differences, rather than shy away from them. And not in some lame Disney movie kind of way - but in an unflinching way, willing to own our weaker natures warts and all.

My only quibble would be that "Pablo Honey" has a hidden thirteenth track which is the radio-friendly version of "Creep", minus the swear words. This type of self-censorship I can live without. I expect it from idiotic acts like the Black Eyed Peas ("Let's Get It Started"), but I hold Radiohead to a higher standard.

I've heard "Creep" hundreds of times, but on this listen two other songs really grabbed my attention; "Stop Whispering" and "Anyone Can Play Guitar". Both have that same outsider anthem feel to them, but they have a much more positive bent.

While all the songs on "Pablo Honey" are straightforward rock and roll, they are still innovative songs, with a good and even-handed mix of all instruments in production, evocative lyrics and the haunting vocals of Thom Yorke, still possessing an alien quality, but with an inner core that is quintessentially human. It is this latter part that helps me identify with this album, and it is its absence that detaches me from this band's later work.

If this album is pablum to hardcore Radiohead fans, I can only say that for me it is also honey.

Best tracks: Creep, Stop Whispering, Thinking About You, Anyone Can Play Guitar, Ripchord

CD Odyssey Disc 214: Radiohead

Some albums rock, some albums suck, and some albums can't be judged easily because you don't know what the hell is even going on. This album is one of latter.

Disc 214 is...Hail To The Thief
Artist: Radiohead

Year of Release: 2003

What’s Up With The Cover?: A very bad piece of modern art - is it supposed to be a seaside city, where the blue at the top represents the sea, and the words that make up the aerial view of the city all the conflicting ideas and thoughts crammed together? That's what I see, but even if I've just guessed right it doesn't make it good.

How I Came To Know It: I first heard Radiohead as a band way back when "Pablo Honey" came out, then went many years until I heard "Kid A" at my friend Tony's place. This particular album is just Sheila digging through the collection (I think I bought her this for her stocking or birthday one year). Sheila is a big Radiohead fan, so the collection is really hers.

How It Stacks Up: We have seven Radiohead albums, and this is the first one I've reviewed. I'm going to be optimistic and say it is the worst.

Rating: 2 stars.

Since this review is going to be mostly negative, let me just start by saying that I admire Radiohead as a band. I think they are creative with what they do with music, and have carved out a sound unique to them. There is a reason they are so well-loved by critics and audiophiles alike.

Having said that, admiring a band's obvious talent is a very different thing from enjoying what they do. While there are a couple of Radiohead albums I quite like, they tend to be the more 'normal' ones. "Hail To The Thief" is not one of those.

To me this music is the extra-terrestrial version of lounge; it is both alien and a little boring. Deep down in some of the songs I can catch the beginnings of an interesting tune, sometimes even with a melody, but it has been so messed with it becomes hard to recognize as music.

In an effort to connect to this record, I sought some connection with the lyrics. Unfortunately, Thom Yorke's high pitched, tortured keening makes it very hard to follow along. When I finally got home tonight and was able to look at the liner notes (since doing that while driving is inadvisable) I discovered that the lyrics are slightly more interesting, but even then they don't say anything that blows me over.

Worse, Radiohead felt the need to give every song two titles, one regular title - and one in italics and parentheses. Example: "There there (The Boney King of Nowhere)." Why do this?

The music on "Hail To The Thief" isn't really about lyrics or melody, however. It is more about establishing an emotional mood. In this, it is fairly successful, and the longer you soak in it, the more comfortable it becomes. By my second listen I could start to get a sense of what they were doing, and even admire it. However, I still couldn't find myself enjoying it.

Each time I was just getting into the groove of a song, Radiohead would add some bizarre synth sound that more properly fit in an eerie scene from a science fiction movie. If that wasn't happening, then Yorke was unleashing some pitiful echoing wail to knock me out of my reverie and remind me that I had, in fact, been abducted by alien musicians.

Sorry, Radiohead - I appreciate the effort, but like Captain Picard, even after being forced to eat your weird food, and subjected to your mental torture in the car for two days, I still see four lights. Now send me back to my ship, my fellow Terrans are gonna start wondering what happened to me.

Best tracks: Um...they are all OK, I guess, or not. Not so much offensive, it's just I have a hard time telling them apart.