On my way into work today, my all-time favorite Radiohead song, “How Can You Be Sure” started playing while shuffling on my iPod. Every once in a while, a song on shuffle will inspire me to turn dig deeper into the album or catalog of said artist. “How Can You Be Sure” was one of those songs today.
I’ve always been very vocal about the fact that the Radiohead that I adored to no end in high school died with the making of Kid A. Perhaps “died” isn’t the correct word, because they simply morphed into something that was completely unlike the band I had come to love. While at the time it was one of those WTF moments, but looking back now, to me it feels like a death of the band.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a few great songs from Radiohead 2.0, such as “Everything In Its Right Place,” “Pyramid Song,” “Knives Out,” and a few random tracks from Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows, but for the most part, I have found most to be just “eh.”
Every album that Radiohead releases seems to bring promise of a return to the rock sound, but it never happens. Hail to the Thief was perhaps the closest return, but it’s still so far off from the brilliant “alternative rock” of The Bends (my personal favorite) or OK Computer.
I also will admit that I’m in the minority. Very few Radiohead fans can say they were a fan since Pablo Honey. I don’t know why, but many fans (and sometimes even the band themselves) appear to just brush off Pablo Honey as if it never happened, despite it containing some of the best Radiohead songs not named “Creep” ever written, such as “Thinking About You,” “Vegetable,” “Lurgee,” and “Stop Whispering.”
I’ve come to terms with the fact that the Radiohead I knew and loved will never ever come back. It’s obvious that Thom Yorke and company have no desire to make music like that anymore and prefer to keep pushing the envelope into new unexplored territories. That’s fine with me. There are some artists who are happy creating album after album of their trademark sound and fans that are happy with that, just as there are those who wish to challenge themselves and avoid stagnation. I no longer hold any resentment towards the band for that. I have moved on, just as they have, but it won’t stop me from missing what I consider the “true Radiohead.”
Listen to a few of my favorite Radiohead B-sides and Pablo Honey songs…
“How Can You Be Sure”
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“Banana Co.”
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“Stop Whispering”
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“Lurgee”
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First off I love the new look of the site, very snazzy!
Second, I hear to a point what you’re saying but in the end I’m very happy with Radiohead 2.0.
For better or worse I like to parallel RH’s career with The Beatles. I know they’re vastly different, but so are the times both bands were around. The parallel I see between both of them is that their sound changed and progressed with each album. If you listen to A Hard Day’s Night and then Magical Mystery Tour it’s hard to tell it’s even the same band.
Same can be said with Radiohead. You listen to Pablo Honey and then In Rainbows and it’s very different, not necessarily better or worse, but different, and I guess that’s a quality I love about certain bands, they’re ability to reinvent without losing too much integrity.
PS – These tracks are great, “How Can You Be Sure†is amazing.