JanglesAdmin
I don't think I've given this one a spin in a little while. I've always had Kid A at the top, with OK Computer in second and In Rainbows in third. Will report back after the listen.
UrbanHymnsClub Host
Interesting order. Was Kid A their first album you listened to? Why for you this order?
JanglesAdmin
@UrbanHymns Pablo Honey was the first I listened to, when Creep came out. I think the transition from OK Computer to Kid A was one of the most interesting phases I've personally felt a band move through. You could hear the seeds of it in Exit Music (For a Film) and Climbing Up the Walls. There was clearly a awareness of the digital age with Fitter Happier. When Kid A first came out it felt like an alien spaceship landing with a new perspective on how music could sound. Everything In Its Right Place, The National Anthem, Idioteque...they carried such a deep, emotive groove while sitting inside such a foreign, synthetic atmosphere. It was so different.
UrbanHymnsClub Host
@Jangles completely agree seeing their musical evolution from OK Computer to Kid A. I think it’s completely defendable for most to consider these 2 albums as the band’s definitive works…that being said I personally have The Bends and OK Computer constantly swapping as my two favorite albums of theirs, with In Rainbows third followed by Kid A at four. (Musical relevance though the order changes, this is just my personal preference for their discography).
JanglesAdmin
@UrbanHymns I'm with ya. I feel like The Bends is the easiest to go back to after all these years.
UrbanHymnsClub Host
@UrbanHymns I have The Bends significantly higher due to my age and remembering when the album came out; no one would’ve thought the band that made that gimmicky song “Creep” could conceive a rock album filled with such energy, passion, and direction in the manner they did with The Bends. And as time has passed and we’ve seen it’s really their only real definitive guitar rock album it holds more weight for me, especially as the bulk of their catalog is dominated by ideas influenced by electronics and techno soundscapes (not that it’s bad; it’s just that has become a part of their identity). Additionally The Bends is also the album where their relationship they developed with producer Nigel Godrich was introduced, with him producing “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”
JanglesAdmin
Yup, holds up in third for me. I think House of Cards really hurts the back end of the album. The production itself feels a bit jarring compared to the rest of the album, the songwriting is probably the most basic on the album, the lyrics feel less intriguing than most others. It almost feels like a throwback to early Radiohead within an album that represents the culmination of their 00's sound development.
UrbanHymnsClub Host
Curious, what are your top 2 Radiohead albums? I don’t mind the order of the album and like the way “House of Cards” is placed. I’ve read this is considered by most as Radiohead’s “love songs” album, and for the way they approach subject matter in their own, unique way I think the song and it’s narrative of being a “love song” works here, lyrically and musically from a stylistic perspective
JanglesAdmin
@UrbanHymns I've never heard that "love songs" album description before, but it makes a ton of sense. I'm definitely nit-picking an astounding album. It comes down to that final run of Reckoner, House of Cards, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Videotape. I think there would be a much deeper pull to the end of it all if House of Cards and Nude were swapped.
UrbanHymnsClub Host
@Jangles that actually makes sense. Can see how if the two songs were reversed how it creates a more cohesive album experience