This could be somewhat contested.. but to say 'Load' was Metallica's best album.. Um.. Is that using a measuring stick that doesn't start until 1995?

What is the basis for.. Load? Really? Best Metallica album? Isn't there only 2 or 3 halfway decent songs on there?

Their old albums had so many amazing songs that never got air time, but... Load?

The thing was called 'Load', it was almost itself titled as a joke, admitting that the album was a piece conjured up in a studio to squeeze money from diehard fans or people who could get trendy points for liking an album from a band that'd been around for almost 20 years without having to know any of their history!

..Sorry, I'll stop.

lol, u realize he was joking right?

as much as i hate trolling a thread made by fees, i really really dont get radiohead. every song they have ever made just sounds like the same emo crap to me and i am totally confused as to why mainstreamers buy their stuff.

interestingly enough other contenders such as rhcp or ratm i like and respect

yeah sums up my thoughts pretty well

Really? RHCP who haven't put out an interesting or innovative album since the early 90's, and have resorted to a generic rock formula now (U2 the exact same thing)? And RATM who had like 3 albums (none in the last 10 years), with no range musically? Others have said Nirvana, same thing, 3-4 albums, nothing in the last 15 years because Kurt blew his brains out. Metallica? Load and Re-Load were just ok, last good album was probably the Black album (and some of their own fans would disagree with that). None of these seems like very good choices as the "best band of our time".

Yeah, I'm sure a band as talented and dedicated to their art would really want to be named "best band of our time" by a bunch of guys in their parents' basements. I think they would send Sue Littlefeather to accept the award on their behalf.

My guess is that they would prefer Oasis be named to this dubious honor.

Oasis.

Good lord.

If you think every Radiohead song is inaccessible, I suspect you haven't listened much to The Bends or OK Computer, which are both very "gettable."

meh i actually like and respect all 4 of these bands to varying degrees, and wouldnt really complain too much if any of them were named best band of our time.

and the no range thing is ridiculous for rhcp... they put out rollercoaster, under the bridge, and by the way. how much more range can you get?

otoh i honestly cant tell the difference between radiohead songs. they are all just 'wah wah im so sad *insert slow depressing sounds behind* boo hoo'. you can play a random point in any 2 songs from ok computer and not tell which they are.

i base my entire knowledge of radiohead on ok computer, which i have on my computer. i actually tried listening to a little tonight when this thread came up.

as a mediocre emo band for suicidal teenagers i kind of get it. its just that ive always been completely perplexed as to how they made it big when pretty much anyone else that has made it as big as them has had to 'sell out' or at least change to a more standard style (eg. U2).

I agree that they clearly never sold out. In fact, they have obviously become less accessible over the years.

But just because something is "emotional" doesn't make it "emo."

Here, seriously, try Pyramid Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2VzLn6DMCE

Nothing "emo." It's actually a very complex song, and very nicely made.

I do understand your point, though. I just don't agree with the notion that they are for "suicidal teenagers."

lol, although you raise a good point, their albums do tend to be cohesive. I'd propbet alot that I could name the song if you played any 10 second clip of an OK Computer song though.

Also, while I have not seen RH live, every friend who has seen them has raved about it, and after watching youtube vids I can see why. Check some of these out (yeah some might be reposts, I don't care):

Fake Plastic Trees

Paranoid Android

Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Just

The Tourist

I don't get why this has to be such a heated thread. As a musician, these Radiohead songs blow my mind:

The Pyramid Song
Sail to the Moon

That's pretty goddamn sophisticated stuff. Whether or not it moves you is purely subjective, but I find it very moving. No other band out there right now can touch them in terms of making the most groundbreaking music reaching the most ears. By that admittedly arbitrary and vague measure, I consider them the best.

The term "emo" tiltballs me. If music doesn't evoke emotion from you it just sucks.

**** yes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFb9U...rom=PL&index=4

You really can't tell the difference between Paranoid Android, Airbag, Karma Police, Electioneering etc? Using massive hyperbole to make an awful point doesnt' make you even semi-correct.

But, basing your entire opinion on a band that's been around for over 20 years and releasing music for over 15 on one album really speaks volumes about your opinion and thought processes/rationalization in general.

The Roots is the only thing that makes Jimmy Fallon semi-watchable, I'd say it's "selling out," but being able to see them live every night is pretty awesome.

this is a massive google fail

I will readily admit that I've never taken any music theory classes of any kind, and there's a good chance I'm using the terminology wrong. What I was trying to complain about was the fact that there's never just a fundamental note or chord + its harmonics. Its always a bunch of tones all across the spectrum all at once with very little loudness differences between them. So I guess I was talking about the dynamic range across the spectrum rather than across time, if that makes any sense.

Lol, I posted ten bands off the top of my head that are better than Radiohead, not a top ten bands list.

See my reply to ham.

What? Me having the outlandish desire for, when a band is playing a song on some instruments, to be able to actually hear them playing that song *on those instruments* makes me "Rush #1 Superfan"? WTFLOL

Also, why wouldn't you care? If you can't hear the instruments being played, wtf are you listening to?

I have no problem with fuzzy and raw. In fact, I love fuzzy and raw. The Stooges, pretty much the epitome of fuzzy and raw, are one of my favorite bands. I love Sonic Youth too. (I haven't heard enough of MBV or Jesus and Mary Chain to have an opinion on them.)

There nothing fuzzy or raw about OKC. Its just muddled. Songs should be like salads, where disparate instruments work together and complement each other with each piece still being distinguishable and appreciable separately, not like smoothies, where every instrument is blended together into a featureless wall of noise across the whole spectrum.

i like Oasis a lot why are they getting bashed so much itt? everybody just says lol Oasis like omg ur gay if u like them

Um, yeah, obvious you don't have the first clue. Cardo's example of "Exit Music" starts out as basically a single, acoustic guitar quietly playing, in your words, "a fundamental chord," and later breaks to a much louder, multi-instrument crescendo. So I guess you didn't even listen to the song.

EDIT: On further reading, I don't even know what you're talking about in much the same way that you don't know what you're talking about. If you can listen to "Creep," which is essentially a power-chord, quiet/loud standard grunge song, or the start of "Exit Music," and say that neither one uses a straight-up, "fundamental" chord, AND that it's "a bunch of tones all across the spectrum all at once..." nevermind, you're just making us all stupider.

Also, it would be great if GMontag's undertitle was "Songs should be like salads."

I stopped reading at this post to quote and agree...

Can't possibly accept radiohead as the best band of the last 20 years.

Depending on your music taste they are on par or less than bands like:

Wilco
Modest Mouse (96-2000ish) I actually like longdrive.

And if we are judging on #1 songs there are bands like:
Dave Matthews (if we're judging by live performance and #1 song potential)
Oasis (90s stuff and insane song exposure in culture, movies, tv, etc.)

These bands pump out #1 hits in mainstream music. I wouldn't argue that either are the best 'quality wise' but OP mentioned radiohead's ability to make #1 songs and great live performances

Exit Music is the exception that proves the rule, and even then its only that for the first half of the song. After 2 minutes it goes back to the same horrible wave of noise that is most of the rest of the album.

wat. Creep is on Pablo Honey, not OKC.

You can't make a statement like, "They don't ever just play a simple chord!" and, when confronted with evidence that they do, trot out a cliche like that. "Oh man, there's no simple, straightforward chord on this album!" "Um, what about this song right here?" "Dude, that's the exception! It proves the rule that there's no straightforward, simple guitar!" "But this entire song... nevermind."

Without having the album in front of me, "Climb Up the Walls" starts with essentially a guitar and drums, with the guitar in a three chord progression. How is that any different than "Exit Music?"

I wish I paid more attention to ham on rye.