Is Radiohead prog?

Prog' is not the exact term, I believe it's an overrated band.

Iván

Radiohead have certainly written music that IS prog - all of OK Computer (not just Paranoid Android), and some of The Bends and the Iron Lung EP), but find it difficult to consider them a prog band.

Before OK Computer they were essentially a "progressive Indie rock band" that wrote some stunning hit singles (Creep, Street Spirit, Iron Lung, High and Dry, Just), but they then went through a deeply experimental period. I think they realised that this was such a strong album that they had to completely smash apart everything they wrote or fall into the trap of writing "more of the same". Kid A and Amnesiac are albums I am still struggling to "get", as there would seem, on the surface, to be little musical craftsmanship in the same way as OK Computer. Hail to the Thief is a welcome return to the form of Pablo Honey - ie prog indie.

OK Computer is only overrated in the same way that Dark Side of the Moon or Abbey Road are overrated, IMO 

They are I think In the same corner as Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree.

Strange, PT should be at least as big as Radiohead. PT is much better and more accesible as well, yet Radiohead has commercial succes.

Four Chords That Made a Million

I like Radiohead. Until someone said they were prog, I never really saw them in that light. Still don't... I thought we covered this earlier, Fringe-Prog. Good Band- Fringe Prog.

The articles that I've read, make it seem that the band is shy about fielding the whole "prog" rock question. I have a magazine where the interviewer asked Jonny Greenwood if he was familiar with the Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, and he mentioned he was to some extent, but that the band doesn't reference classic prog music directly. However, there seems no doubt that some of the band's music is heavily influenced by Brian Eno. Also, Thom Yorke has said that Miles Davis "Bitches Brew" influenced the choatic horn part at the end of "The National Anthem".

"OK Computer" is very prog in nature - "Exit Music (For A Film)", "Paranoid Andriod", "Subterranean Homesick Alien", "Climbing Up the Walls", etc. IMO, Radiohead are VERY experimental, but they don't play "shredder" guitar or 10+ minute songs. So I don't know if that qualifies as prog in the classis sense. Though they do use Moogs and Mellotrons with creepy sound effects, which to me is prog enough. Like someone already said, "OK Computer" is the 90's "Dark Side of the Moon" in a sense.

"Cuttooth" (Kid A/Amnesiac B Side) is very Krautrock and reminds me of the 70's German band Neu! (David Bowie fans will be familair with this influence on the Berlin Trilogy (Low/Heroes/Lodger). And if you listen to "2+2+5" or "Everything In It's Right Place", it sounds prog to me. If "prog-rock" means "progressive rock music", than I think by today's standards, Radiohead should at least be considered on the boderline of "prog" and  "alternative".

Edited by necromancing

A prog fan couldn't resist the "progressive rock death" idea. So, any prog fan tries to keep alive the beloved genre, trying to hear "progressive" any kind of music a little bit  different from the FM radio hits. Radiohead is a good alternative band, or we must consider Coldplay, Anathema, Oasis, etc etc as prog bands too? 

Peter Rideout wrote:  The boundaries of "prog" are amorphous, semi-permeable, and subjective. This type of question has no real answer, but could be voted upon....

Yes, maybe we should make a poll?

EDIT: oops, there is one!

Edited by Joren

Another point (very subjective this time) is the fact that I would love to see my favorite bands on TV... but I can't imagine VDGG (i.e.) beside a Britney Spears clip, even in case of success. Thinking about characteristics of progressive music, surely, comes to my mind the non-commercial but artistic intentions. So, when I see Radiohead in MTV, I'm glad because their music isn't so bad like most of the "TV bands", but prog? No way!

Thats an interesting question ... i dont know if i would call Radiohead prog ... because i personally think they're more of an indie band. But bearing this in mind O.K. Computer is a very experimental album (considering they're an indie band) and a good album too. I wouldn't personally classify them as Prog myself.