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Get By EmailRadiohead Albums: Best To Worst
I’m finally done with my Radiohead listening project and can come up a list of their albums from “best to worst” - in my humble opinion, of course.
This actually answered a burning question I had which was how The Bends stacks up to Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail To The Thief. To my surprise, The Bends fared better than any of those three according to my totally nonobjective Intra-Album Ranking System.
I wish Kid A and Amnesiac were combined into one album, which would have easily topped The Bends.
So here are the albums, ranked from best to worst, with links to the full album reviews:
1. OK Computer
4.16 stars
Webomatica: OK Computer
Best songs: Airbag, Paranoid Android, Exit Music (For A Film), Karma Police, No Surprises, Lucky
2. The Bends
4.08 stars
Webomatica: The Bends
Best songs: High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, Just, My Iron Lung
3. Kid A
3.8 stars
Webomatica: Kid A
Best songs: Everything In Its Right Place, Optimistic, In Limbo, Morning Bell
4. Hail To The Thief
3.64 stars
Webomatica: Hail To The Thief
Best songs: 2+2=5, Myxomatosis, Scatterbrain
5. Amnesiac
3.54 stars
Webomatica: Amnesiac
Best songs: Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box, Pyramid Song
6. Pablo Honey
2.91 stars
Webomatica: Pablo Honey
Best song: Creep
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"Thanks - i'll mention the one day twitter boycott too. But a big reason why I'm okay with leaving Twitter temporarily is because I have FriendFeed - my cojones are not that big." -
I agree completely with that list. The Bends is a great album that is often overlooked since it’s pre-OK Computer days when all the hype really started.
Nice job.
Yeah I think the intellectual side of me always thought the post OK Computer stuff was better. I think the biggest issue I have is even after listening to Amnesiac, Kid A and Hail to the Thief over and over for the past few months, I still have a hard time remembering which song is on what album.
Anyhow, I think Radiohead is slated to release a new album this year. I’m excited to hear what they’ve been up to.
“The Bends” sounds so nineties! To me, it’s nothing breathtaking, just good little tracks.
I agree with the last reviewer on the possible song confusion between “AMNESIAC” and “HAIL TO THE THIEF” (which is an album that I like but that clearly lacks identity>>>Where’s the epic?)
It’s tricky but I think over all there are more songs I really love on the Bends when compared to the albums post OK Computer. Yeah, it does sound pretty 90s. Maybe in 50 years the next generation will catch up with Radiohead
I must disagree with your assessment, here. OKC definitely deserves the top spot, there’s no doubt about it… and Pablo Honey should definitely settle in at the bottom… but as far as your other ranks go…
The Bends - sitting at your #2 spot!? I liked the album and all, but aside from “High and Dry” (which is an instant classic), “Fake Plastic Trees” (which is one of the most genius-written songs I’ve ever heard), and “Bullet Proof (I Wish I Was)”, there are no other heavy hitters on the album. Not to mention the fact that The Bends had that song “Bones”, which is easily my pick for worst studio album Radiohead song.
Kid A - I think this album often gets underrated because it was the follow up to OK Computer, but I simply think it’s phenomenal. Faced with topping the album of the decade, Radiohead went in a completely unheard of direction and pulled it off with flying colors. “Everything In Its Right Place” puts me in a euphoric trance every time I listen to it, and that whole bulk of the album from “The National Anthem” all the way to the last track “Motion Picture Soundtrack” I could put on repeat forever and be completely satisfied. The only song I’m not 100% head over heels about on that album is “Kid A” because it’s a bit too concept-y even for my taste.
Hail to the Thief - Can’t say I liked this album. Aside from Pablo Honey, this album was almost too experimental for me to enjoy. They tried to do a thousand different things on one album and for the first time ever, they failed. I think that’s what lead them to fall back to the OKC-esque sound when they made In Rainbows. There aren’t any real standout songs I can think of that I actually enjoy listening to on HTTT except for “2+2=5″ and “Myxomatosis”.
Amnesiac - *HUGE* mistake placing this one so low, I’m sorry. There are so many songs on this album that blow my mind every time I listen to it that I can’t seem to rationalize in my head how you put this so low. I loved this album. Songs like “Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors” with the funk-inspired beats drive me up the wall, just wanting to break out of my skin, and I love that feeling. This is Radiohead experimenting at their best, unlike Hail to the Thief. “Like Spinning Plates” sounds like you’re hearing the universe and all of its sequences and wavelengths. Such a great album.
Anyway, I enjoyed the read. Sorry for such a long response. I love discussing Radiohead with people who can comprehend their music. I’d like to know what you thought of “In Rainbows”, however, because it took spot #2 on my RH albums list right below OKC.
Hi twistedlogic - well I really love Just and My Iron Lung and would add those as great songs. I do agree Bones is very meh.
I think my main difficulty with both Kid A and Amnesiac is that despite listening to both albums repeatedly, I still have a hard time differentiating some songs from another and even which song is on which album. Maybe the music is going over my head to a large degree and it comes back to “hooks” which is something that I will admit to grabbing onto.
So I concluded that while Kid A and Amnesiac each have some key tracks that are better than anything on the Bends, when I added up my star rankings for each album they sank lower.
I have yet to really listen and consider each song on In Rainbows at fit it into this list but I think it would come close to #2 or #3.
Anyhow thanks for commenting, it’s good to get different, thoughtful opinions which is why I have open comments.
i agree that OK Computer is the best radiohead album…..but i really like just about all their stuff, so it is hard to pick one over the other.
I pretty much agree, however i think i would swap Amnesiac and Hail to the thief around as amnesiac is a much better album in my opinion.