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Favorite Radiohead Album?

Poll Results: What's Your Favorite Radiohead Album?

 
  • 22% (22)
    The Bends
  • 25% (25)
    OK Computer
  • 29% (29)
    Kid A
  • 0% (0)
    Amnesiac
  • 9% (9)
    Hail to the Thief
  • 14% (14)
    In Rainbows
99 Total Votes  
post #1 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:01pm
Thread Starter 
I didn't include Pablo Honey because if you choose Pablo Honey then your vote is invalid to begin with.
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post #2 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:09pm
Tough choice but I'm gonna be predictable and pick OK Computer. Still one of my favourite albums ever and IMO their most successful mix of experimental and radio-friendly tunes.
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post #3 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:14pm
Thread Starter 
I think OK Computer is definitely their best album but the production, while cohesive, groundbreaking, and thematically relevant can get on my nerves. It also makes the mistake of ending on not one, but two pretty weak songs. Hail to the Thief has my favorite Radiohead song ever (There There) and bunch of other really great ones and I tend to prefer albums that go all over the place to ones that have a specific sound to them, like OK Computer and Kid A.
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post #4 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:17pm
Ok Computer. The beginning of an era.
I couldn't be more grateful to the guy who played the entire record on the radio the first time I heard it.
Climbing up the walls still gives me chills. And big balls are necessary to include a track like No surprises in that release.
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post #5 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
It also makes the mistake of ending on not one, but two pretty weak songs.
I consider them like a theme songs for leaving a theater after a big blast.

Hail to the Thief was the first record which screamed "get a good cd player" for me.
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post #6 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:24pm
The Bends is arguably the last great rock album. It also ends on one of the best Radiohead tracks. Speaking of, it needs to be available on Rock Band something fierce.

I think my favorite track might be Polyethylene Parts 1 & 2.
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post #7 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andres View Post
And big balls are necessary to include a track like No surprises in that release.
...a catchy pop ballad?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
It also makes the mistake of ending on not one, but two pretty weak songs.
??? The Tourist is great and a perfect closer. Don't have a problem with Lucky either though to this day I can't hear it without thinking of the hitchhiker's guide theme tune.
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post #8 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:33pm
'The Bends' all the way. It's a flawless album.
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post #9 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:34pm
Not long ago, I'd have answered this OK Computer, but Hail To The Thief has been growing on me like a fucking rash since this summer. Just the apex of everything that band does well.

And hate to say it, but Patrick's dead on about OK Computer ending weak. Meanwhile, HTTT ends with Wolf At The Door, which I just utterly adore.
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post #10 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:38pm
I had to choose The Bends. Yes, there's a certain nostalgia factor at play. No, it isn't as experimental and mold-shattering as OK Computer. But--in my mind--it is undoubtedly the greatest representation of mid to late 90's alt-rock. I'd list a couple of songs that represent my favorites, but I truly love 'em all.

To put it another way: I have to be in a certain frame of mind to pop in something like OK Computer or Hail to the Thief, but I can pretty much listen to The Bends anytime.
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post #11 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul C View Post
...a catchy pop ballad?
Depressing tune released with a weird video clip.
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post #12 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:46pm
Nah, the ending of OK Computer is great. Been a fan of "Lucky" since it appeared on the Warchild HELP album(the guitar breakdown near the end is killer) and "The Tourist"("hey man, slow down) leads directly back into "Airbag"(in an interstellar burst/I am back to save the universe") which Yorke has said is intentionally cirucular. I would say "Fitter, Happier" is more of a chore to listen to, though it is relatively short. Either way, it's still a great album.

I think Kid A is probably their most cohesive album to listen to straight through, but The Bends is just too good to deny.
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post #13 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 
I feel like Lucky and The Tourist sound way too similar to be back-to-back album closers. They completely deflate each other's power. And neither of them are anywhere near as good as the rest of the album. Not bad songs, but for an album like that, a weak end.

Fitter Happier is hardly a song, but it probably shouldn't be on the album. It feels more and more like gilding the lily every time I listen to it.

EDIT: And what joker listed In Rainbows as their favorite Radiohead album?
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post #14 of 70
12/8/10 at 1:59pm
I can see where you are coming from. I think they are songs where after you get tired of listening to the other songs on the album, they start to grow on you. I find that with a lot of albums I gravitate towards 5-6 songs and then once I wear those out, I start to get into the ones that weren't as instantly accessible. there really is no right answer, just what you prefer.
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post #15 of 70
12/8/10 at 2:00pm
I'm a Bends man, and I thought I would be in the minority. So much for being different.
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post #16 of 70
12/8/10 at 2:08pm
I went OK Computer. It's the first one to me where they really take that final and deliberate "step" into what Radiohead "is" to me.

But picking a favorite (except Pablo Honey) is like picking my favorite child. The beauty of a band like this is they bring something fresh to the table each time.
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post #17 of 70
12/8/10 at 2:16pm
The Bends came out during my formative listening years, so I'm biased, but I think it's the perfect album.
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post #18 of 70
12/8/10 at 2:21pm
Kid A is my favorite. It's like a (calm)fever dream.

I think most of their albums are actually, critically speaking, better than Kid A, but it's the one I listen to more often than the others.
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post #19 of 70
12/8/10 at 2:25pm
Pablo Honey.













Just kidding...don't kill me.
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post #20 of 70
12/8/10 at 2:38pm
I too prefer The Bends. I only really got into Radiohead years later and I think I was put off by the hype around OK Computer. Having said that, it always amazes me that OK Computer is thirteen years old. It could have been recorded yesterday.
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post #21 of 70
12/8/10 at 2:56pm
I've always said that OK Computer is Radiohead's best album, but The Bends is my favorite. Also, what's wrong with Pablo Honey? It's got "Anyone Can Play Guitar" on it, which is such a great song. Currently In Rainbows is what's getting the heaviest rotation for me.
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post #22 of 70
12/8/10 at 3:09pm
The Bends would've come out on top for me were it not for dated rockers like "Bones" & the title track ("I wish it were the 60s!" ...ugh). Every song from Nice Dream to Street Spirit is heavenly, though.

Kid A has the most consistent & cohesive group of songs, IMO. It's repeated listenability nearly matches Dark Side Of The Moon.
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post #23 of 70
12/8/10 at 3:10pm
Surprised In Rainbows has 4 votes and Amnesiac has none. It's a really great album, though pretty uneven, and features one of my favourite Radiohead songs ever - Pyramid Song.
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post #24 of 70
12/8/10 at 3:30pm
Radiohead were a band that had sort of been on my periphery for a while, until I decided to buy Amnesiac, which had just come out. Then I got Kid A. By the time I got to OK Computer, I was a bit underwhelmed by it. In part because Kid A and Amnesiac sounded so out there and innovated that OK Computer sounded more conventional by comparison, but also because OK Computer might be their most hyped album.

Anyways, I chose Kid A.
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post #25 of 70
12/8/10 at 3:33pm
I haven't voted yet. I'm literally paralyzed between voting for The Bends or OK Computer.
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post #26 of 70
12/8/10 at 4:00pm
Ok Computer, I still listen to it regularly and I've had it since it came out. Airbag blew my mind when I first heard at 16 and essentially changed the way I looked at music.
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post #27 of 70
12/8/10 at 4:06pm
OK Computer for me. The album is a perfect balance of Bends era guitar rock and Kid A era sonic exploration.
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post #28 of 70
12/8/10 at 4:15pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Miller View Post
Also, what's wrong with Pablo Honey?
Two to four (milage may vary) decent songs does not a great album make.
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post #29 of 70
12/8/10 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hexx462 View Post
Ok Computer, I still listen to it regularly and I've had it since it came out. Airbag blew my mind when I first heard at 16 and essentially changed the way I looked at music.
One of the shows I went to, Yorke introduced Airbag by saying "This is the best song we've ever written and we keep trying and trying to do it again."
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post #30 of 70
12/8/10 at 4:20pm
I voted for OK Computer for many of the reasons mentioned but I have to say that I love In Rainbows as much as The Bends. It might have a lot to do with "nostalgia" as I was 16 when it came out and in full-on Radiohead fever, but even now I love it to death. It's not as masterfully balanced between pop and rock as The Bends, as experimental as Kid A or Amnesiac, or as varying as Hail to the Thief, but it has some incredibly beautiful songs about growing older and reflecting on some of the more emotional aspects of life.
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post #31 of 70
12/8/10 at 4:21pm
If, as a band, Pablo Honey is your embarrassment...that's not bad.
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post #32 of 70
12/8/10 at 4:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raspberry Leper View Post
If, as a band, Pablo Honey is your embarrassment...that's not bad.
Especially if one of those songs is "Blow Out". Holy sh*t.
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post #33 of 70
12/8/10 at 4:29pm
Thread Starter 
Point is, I can't imagine the human being alive who likes Pablo Honey more than The Bends.
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post #34 of 70
12/8/10 at 5:19pm
When I was in college, I took a class called Elements Of History in Rock and Roll. I aced the course to the point that my instructor asked me to come back and tutor the next year (you wouldn't think anyone would need tutoring in a fluff class like that, and yet...). I remember I helped a kid with his term paper on OK Computer. The term papers were basically critical thinking and reviewing on an album, complete with verbally charting a song. I helped him chart "Paranoid Android". That class was awesome.
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post #35 of 70
12/8/10 at 5:32pm
I worked OK Computer into a paper about pre-millennial dread for an English class in college, which in hindsight was such a stereotypically undergrad thing to do, but I got an A.

I may not have gone to a very good college.
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post #36 of 70
12/8/10 at 5:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattioli View Post
To put it another way: I have to be in a certain frame of mind to pop in something like OK Computer or Hail to the Thief, but I can pretty much listen to The Bends anytime.
Lovely synopsis.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Miller View Post
When I was in college, I took a class called Elements Of History in Rock and Roll. I aced the course to the point that my instructor asked me to come back and tutor the next year (you wouldn't think anyone would need tutoring in a fluff class like that, and yet...). I remember I helped a kid with his term paper on OK Computer. The term papers were basically critical thinking and reviewing on an album, complete with verbally charting a song. I helped him chart "Paranoid Android". That class was awesome.
Oh, to have been able to pick that class one semester...
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post #37 of 70
12/8/10 at 5:44pm
Where's DaveB with the Hail to the Thief love? It's Kid A, but Amnesiac has their two best songs. OKC's a close second. Ask me on another day.
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post #38 of 70
12/8/10 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Count Floyd View Post
I worked OK Computer into a paper about pre-millennial dread for an English class in college, which in hindsight was such a stereotypically undergrad thing to do, but I got an A.

I may not have gone to a very good college.
Off topic for a second cause this reminds me of something really funny. I got an A on a paper in college for comparing "Utopia" to The Mars Volta's "De-Loused in the Comatorium".

I definitely didn't go to a good college.

Ok, back on topic, I've definitely gone through phases where I would have said The Bends or OK Computer but right now I'm voting Kid A. It was the first Radiohead album I ever listened to and it really did change me as a person and as a listener of music. Coming back to it last year while reflecting on the Aughts I was amazed how even 10 years later it still sounds like something from the future.

ETA: Wow still no Amnesiac fans, I'm a little surprised but then again the only person I've ever known who would put Amnesiac as his favorite Radiohead album also hates all other Radiohead albums.
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post #39 of 70
12/8/10 at 5:59pm
I think OK Computer is probably the "best", but Kid A is definitely my favorite. Mainly because it has the song, as cliche as this sounds, that got me through high school on it: "How To Disappear Completely"
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post #40 of 70
12/8/10 at 6:02pm
OK Computer. I discovered this album I'm 1999/2000 senior year of high school as I was having the time if my life. This album is the soundtrack of that period.

Hail to the Theif is hell of good. As is Rainbows.

When I'm working on art it's all Kid A and Amnesiac.
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post #41 of 70
12/8/10 at 6:04pm
I'm with Justin, I've really grown to appreciate Hail to the Thief as it's got older. It's either Hail to the Thief or The Bends I tend to go back to, I find OK Computer to be kind of sterile sounding at times. It also helps that like Patrick I view There, There as one of their best songs.
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post #42 of 70
12/8/10 at 6:20pm
There should be a special mention of their B-sides. Few bands consistently release B-sides that are as good, if not better, than some of the album tracks that they came from. Again this is especially true of Bends-era Radiohead. "Talk Show Host" or "Malquilladora" anyone?
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post #43 of 70
12/8/10 at 6:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RCA View Post
There should be a special mention of their B-sides. Few bands consistently release B-sides that are as good, if not better, than some of the album tracks that they came from. Again this is especially true of Bends-era Radiohead. "Talk Show Host" or "Malquilladora" anyone?
"India Rubber", too. "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" & "Permanent Daylight" off of the pre-Bends My Iron Lung EP could fit pretty easily on OK Computer.

The Pablo Honey B-Side "Coke Babies" is also worth mentioning.
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post #44 of 70
12/8/10 at 6:35pm
Kid A was my introduction to the band, and by the time Motion Picture Soundtrack played for the first time I was a whole different person. National Anthem in particular dug right into my brain and proceeded to blow it. As such, I think it still ranks as my favorite, although everything from The Bends to In Rainbows is pretty much a Sophie's Choice of choosing the "best." These guys are just the tops at what they do.

Also some shout out love for their two most recent singles, "Harry Patch(In Memory Of)" and "These Are My Twisted Words".
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post #45 of 70
12/8/10 at 6:36pm
'The Bends' and 'OK Computer' are essentially tied for me but I had to pick the former.

Also, True Love Waits, Palo Alto.
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post #46 of 70
12/8/10 at 6:46pm
I had tickets to see them in Virginia once, and it got rained out. I was extremely bummed. I was a bartender at the time, and I told one of my regulars, who happened to also be a big fan, about it. He came in the next day with a mix cd of B-Sides. That thing should be published, it was awesome.
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post #47 of 70
12/8/10 at 7:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Eaton View Post
Where's DaveB with the Hail to the Thief love?
Heh. I was thinking the exact same thing, only I would agree with him wholeheartedly. Hail to the Thief is their most creative and interesting album. And it helps that it's infectiously listenable. Pretty much a masterpiece in my book.

Also, we need more love for Yorke's The Eraser. I'd rather listen to that album over In Rainbows and sometimes their other albums (barring Thief), depending on my mood.
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post #48 of 70
12/8/10 at 8:23pm
I never fully appreciated Hail to the Thief until I saw Radiohead at Bonnaroo in '06. They played a handful of tunes off it (There There, 2+2=5, The Gloaming, and Myxomatosis, if memory serves) and it definitely changed my mindset on the album as a whole.
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post #49 of 70
12/8/10 at 10:39pm
Haven't got around Hail to the Thief yet, but so far, Kid A.

OK Computer follows.

EDIT: Radiohead ain't my ultimate favorite band, but it's the best band I listen to. The show they did to test In Rainbows back when it was just the 7th album rates as one of the best shows I've seen. Maybe because I was 2 rows ahead (hence had better seats) than Arcade Fire (Regine and Will and 3 others) and got to talk with them afterward made the experience better...
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post #50 of 70
12/9/10 at 2:18am
I'd rank 'em like this:

Hail to the Thief *****
Kid A *****
The Bends **** 1/2
Ok Computer **** 1/2
Amnesiac ****
In Rainbows ***
Pablo Honey ***

And for kicks: The Eraser ****
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