Radiohead: not so bad

There are fun things that can be done with a Radiohead soundtrack.

And so I broke down.
And finally bought OK Computer.

I liked Pablo Honey.
And I mostly liked The Bends.

but not OK Computer. Partially b/c I heard it far too often from other people playing it. And partially b/c I was in a weird place, musically, when it came out. Was digging on Seven Nations pretty hard... and Pearl Jam... and whatever strange stuff I could download via Audiogalaxy. (Anyone remember that?)

Fast Forward 5 years; press Play. No Surprises was played by the band at this church I went to once or twice... and played very very well at that. That was months ago, and I still haven't been able to get the melody out of my head.

Then I bought that DVD. Which was cool. But left me wanting more. I knew I liked most of Hail to the Thief... Sit Down, Stand Up and There There are great great songs. So I bought that. But it sucked to buy my first Radiohead album since 1994 or whatever and not get the one song that's been in my mind for so freakin' long. So I bought OK Computer too.

And, for better or worse, I still think it's the worst Radiohead album. Sure it's interesting and "meaningful" (whatever the hell that means anymore) but I just don't really like listening to it. The gooviest thing until Let Down is the bass line from Paranoid Android. Exit Music (For a Film) would be really great exit music... you know... for a film. But I'm not watching a film. I'm 1/3 of the way into an album. I like the flowing melody of Let Down. Other than parts of Paranoid Android, this is really the first thing that catches me and makes me listen. Karma Police, I also like. Trendy tho it may be. Boo on the next track for listenability. Electioneering and No Surprises are the only two of the remaining tracks that I really care to listen to.

iTunes average rating for the album? 2.33 stars. Hail to the Thief comes in with about a 15% higher score at 3.14.

Glad I got No Surprises, but would have been satisfied if Radiohead were actually available for purchase via iTunes. dammit. Unless I'm depressed, shit-faced, or curious again, OK will probably remain on the shelf right after Out of Time... although I think I gave that to manifest due to its extreme suckiness too. So maybe it'll hang out next to Monster, which is a much better album.