Where are all the Radiohead fans?

Awesoreno wrote: Just listened to their discography. Kid A absolutely mesmerized me. I really enjoyed Amnesiac as well, and Moon Shaped Pool was sublime.

Awesome, I feel the same way about those albums. If you haven't already, I recommend checking out The Smile, which have two albums, A Light for Attracting Attention (2022) and Wall of Eyes (2024). It's very much Radiohead-related with Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood.

Logan wrote: Awesoreno wrote: Just listened to their discography. Kid A absolutely mesmerized me. I really enjoyed Amnesiac as well, and Moon Shaped Pool was sublime. Awesome, I feel the same way about those albums. If you haven't already, I recommend checking out The Smile, which have two albums, A Light for Attracting Attention (2022) and Wall of Eyes (2024). It's very much Radiohead-related with Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood.

I enjoy listening to The Bends. Once a year or so, whether I need to or not. I haven't got too worked up over their other albums. I have OK Computer in my collection somewhere, but it didn't grab me like The Bends. 

Every album of theirs has music I love, but less so on some albums than others. Pablo Honey is low-rated at rateyourmusic and ProgArchives. Other than I knew "Creep", I avoided that album for some time, but I love "Blow Out" on it.

looktowindward wrote: I actually think Radiohead really benefit from not being attached to the 'Prog' label. It's actually quite limiting in a way. It's also very uncool. What they do transcends the expectations of prog. They just make the music they wanna make and it's glorious.

Edited by Cristi - June 04 2024 at 05:12

Moshkito wrote: Not exactly one for Radiohead ... for some reason. I've always been a lot more on to the Europeans and other folks in different countries whose output, for me, is far more interesting and worth a listen than some of the "regulars" that always have been added to PA ...

Continental Europe I guess you mean. I would not call Radiohead one of the regulars here, and it was a controversial addition. That said, it likely has influenced many now in PA, including influencing Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree.

Moshkito wrote: But I don't really know what is causing anything. I think the changes into the "numbers", and concerns over the top this or that kinda takes things away from your hands or mine, and the comments, often make me think that I am not listening to enough things ... when in the end, it is almost exactly as all the others, and just a different note here and there ... same process, same solo, same rock'n'roll line up ... and little to really show up some far out musicianship, other than yet another flying fingers on the strings or keyboard.

Not understanding what your point is about this change into the numbers, but I feel you are not giving Radiohead's creativity and influence enough credit.

Moshkito wrote: I kinda thing, and I can not substantiate any of it, that the commercial side of things is hurting, and that some of the materials added, are, in the end, confusing the issues and the designs, but that's more of a thought than ... a reality, I'm sure.

A thought I don't really grok, to be honest. Radiohead famously has flaunted commercial expectations, audience expectations and pushed new models (like releasing In Rainbows as they did)..

Moshkito wrote: I have not frequented the other websites at all, and many of them, just aren't for me ... in some cases, the folks are not allowed to do anything, and those folks being considered important in terms of numbers, is a bit of a joke for me ... based on what? Imaginary invalids and fans?

You mean Rateyourmusic, Progressive Ears, Steve Hoffman, Reddit, AllMusic, Discogs? Which folk are not allowed to do anything, yet are considered important in terms of numbers? Based on I have no idea. I would ask you to provide specific example,s, but you say you have not frequented them at all. I would be careful about making assumptions about that with which one lacks familiarity. The first step on the road to wisdom is the recognition of your own ignorance (paraphrased from Plato's Republic).

Moshkito wrote: I would like to see PA get "stronger" in terms of their definitions and abilities, and while I like the fact that admins also "participate", I would think that those folks would have less "opinions" about music per se, so their appeal is very subjective within PA ... but I seem to find that some would rather participate here and there as if to validate their standing. Maybe PA needs one or two more folks, but it not being a paid position (afaik), this would be a difficult thing ... but I would caution someone trying hard to get himself positioned as an important member of PA due to his postings and numbers ... I keep thinking that PA, has never been about the "numbers" and I think it should continue not being so.

I think there could be improvements in terms of definitions and all are free to try to help out with improvements. Better to be a doer than a complainer. And collab positions are open for more to help out. I too would like to see more admin (Mirakaze for instance) but it is time-consuming, and as you say, it does not pay. While we evaluate proposals for Proto Prog and Prog Related, most of it involves mundane things like deleting or editing certain entries in the databases, dealing with PMs, dealing with complaints, moderation (well, that can be really unpleasant). Who do you think would rather participate here and there to improve their standing? That seems a very uncharitable remark, and such insinuations are unfair methinks. Avoid insinuations. If you have specific problems then please raise them, and our PM boxes are open.

Moshkito wrote: PA, and Progressive Music, or Progressive Rock, has to maintain a certain amount of independence from the numbers and from the "majority" ... but I'm not sure that we will ever get away from the JT fan, the Yes fan, the ELP fan ... and so on ... and have these folks find a way to make sure the new generation appreciates, and learns about it ... when the postings are about "preferences", I think this most important detail, seems to be left behind ... we need to celebrate all the music, not just the ones that we thought were the top this or that ... the very commercial attitude that this music wanted to get rid of some 52/53 years ago ... as if we had not learned a lot or noticed much, because so much of the stuff from those days mentioned, was not a "hit" ... which is, in a way, how folks look at all that music these days.

I think the beauty of progressive music is that it need not conform to expectations, be they mine, yours, or a genres. It need not distance itself from things, in fact I see a major quality of it being that it is so embracing. Some would rather define progressive rock for what it is not, I would rather think about it for what it can be, its unlimited potential. It is music that can borrow from any number of sources, experiment, change, and be a-generic. It can be non-canonical and progressive rock need not fit in some idea of a stereotypical Prog mold. Progressive music and progressive rock is unlimited in scope and ambition. I definitely think of Radiohead as progressive, and like groups such as Pink Floyd and The Beatles, I think it has opened others up to more possibilities and has not needed to stick with certain conventions or expectations.

“You're travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop, the Prog Zone!”

I see nothing wrong with having preferences or opinions. You talk about these things lot in different topics, and I have tried to understand, but I don't understand the logic. You do have a tendency to talk in such generalities about what others think and how things work and present assumptions without evidence for the assertions. It can seem very preachy but it's not a clear message (not to me anyway). I wish you would make a blog, do one at PA. but talk about it from your perspective while avoiding saying what others think and others should think. Such claims should be able to be backed up with specifics such as examples.

And if you think that PA could be improved, including definitions, there is a Help Us Improve the Site forum, but please be specific regarding proposed changes. If you want a definition changed then please write it as you would like it to be posted instead of just telling us your concerns, ideally. If one is not willing to do the work oneself, then I don't think one should expect it of others or complain.

By the way, I went to a bookstore in Vancouver the other day and Radiohead's OK Computer was playing. The Bookstore also had a large book on Can prominently displayed. My kind of place....

I lost track of Radiohead after Amnesiac.

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: I lost track of Radiohead after Amnesiac.

richardh wrote: Radiohead were very much prog in the 90's. I remember the magazine articles comparing them to Floyd and Yes that came out about the time of OK Computer. It was actually wonderful to hear prog return to mainstream commercial charts when Paranoid Android reached top 4 in the UK charts. I never saw them as a controversial addition to PA and also pushed for Iron Maiden who have always been a progressive band as far as I'm concerned. The world was a different place in 1969 when King Crimson released their debut. The sixties spawned an attitude that allied with new technology freed up a new attitude. But it was COMMERCIAL. LZ, ELP, Tull, Yes, Floyd etc sold huge amounts of albums and played massive stadiums. It wasn't some small enterprise in someones back garden. Radiohead are also commercial and sell albums. Good luck to them. They've done it the right way and actually are the most progressive mainstream band of the last 30 years representing the original spirit and independence of prog of the early seventies, not just stylewise (occasionally) but in attitude. IMO

Richardh,

Agreed. Although I don't really care for Radiohead, I saw them and Tool as Progressive Rock bands back in the 90s. I remember hearing Tool and a good friend of mine and my brother agreeing that someone had been listening to a fair bit of King Crimson. Of course the guys in Tool, unlike Radiohead, acknowledged that Progressive Rock influenced them, especially Danny Carey.

I thought it was great that new Progressive Rock bands had achieved a good bit of mainstream success. Not since the 70s had a new band that fell in the Progressive Rock genre achieved a level of success that Radiohead and Tool had received. They were selling millions of records ( CDs) worldwide with albums being certified Platinum or Multi-platinum in the US.

You are quite correct that Progressive Rock was not some niche genre In the 70s. Pink Floyd, Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Rush, etc were huge bands. Artists like Styx and Supertramp may not have been a Progressive Rock band to some, but their music certainly borrowed a good bit from the prog genre at a minimum. Boston and Meat Loaf's debuts, which sold 10s of millions albums, have a healthy dose of Prog in their music.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: their dismal Kid A album

ironically, their most experimental and ermm "prog" record