12 Propositions…#7
December 31, 2009
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amiable. anglican. awesome.
Radiohead is the band of the decade. - What, you didn’t think they were all going to be spiritual did you?
Tony Hunt
jstambaugh
Shawn Wamsley
December 31, 2009 at 19:30
Love it.
But then, OK Computer came out in the 90s.
That is the greatest album of all time.
Well, tied with the White Album.
December 31, 2009 at 20:03
Sorry, but I’m with Foo Fighters. In fact, I’d drop my priest gig & go on tour as a bass player with the Foo if Dave Grohl called me up. Could happen anytime now …
January 1, 2010 at 0:21
As much as I love Radiohead, I think they only had 2 great albums in the 2000′s: Kid A and In Rainbows. I don’t think that’s enough to make them band of the decade.
I would put Death Cab ahead of them for band of the decade. They’re not as popular but all their 5 albums from the 2000′s are great.
January 1, 2010 at 1:01
Charismanglican,
Eh, the Beatles were alright I guess.
Bryan and Bryan,
The Foo Fighters and Death Cab have each their own charismata but by what criteria shall we judge such an obviously objective category as “Band of The Decade?”
Ambition – Radiohead
Creativity – Radiohead
Influence – Double Radiohead
Awesomeness – Radiohead
Britishness – Radiohead
Radioheadness – Radiohead
I’m just sayin’, it’s a landslide
January 1, 2010 at 6:02
why the need to post such a truism?
January 1, 2010 at 13:23
Insane,
This is why.
January 1, 2010 at 14:14
hunt…have you LISTENED to the white album?
Ambition – The Flaming Lips
Creativity – The Flaming Lips
Influence – Aretha Franklin
Awesomeness – Muse
Britishness – The Darkness
Radioheadness – Muse
This being a blog for angsty white males, the only one that doesn’t fit is Ms. Franklin. But let’s admit that while Radiohead continues to work out what they started in the 90s, the sound of this decade could arguably be neo-soul (Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse, Duffy, and on and on). The rebirth of Garage rock (The Hives, White Stripes, Jet, Wolfmother, Black Keys, etc) and arty folk behind (Sufjan Stevens et al).
I’m going to say that Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is the album of the decade, combining the scope of OK Computer, a better unifying concept and the best elements of electronic music manipulation.
If you included heart-breaking beauty as a category, could anything Radiohead came out with compare to Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible?
Lest we forget U2, this decade brought us what may be one of the most perfect pop records ATYCLB. Whether or not you like them (and I do), you can’t argue with Beautiful Day for straight up rock uplift.
And The Hives kick ass all over the whole bunch seen live.
January 1, 2010 at 14:42
Hm…wait a sec…
The best concert I saw all decade wasn’t the Hives, but a woman on the piano.
Maybe for heartbreaking beauty and creativity we should have included her:
January 1, 2010 at 14:58
Joey,
Like I said, the Beatles are ok. They’re no U2.
Both Albums and Bands cannot be thought of in isolation. So the question isn’t who did the “greatest album” in the last decade, but who gave a total decade’s worth of super magnificance.
So while OK Computer was an album from the previous decade, it is absolutely necessary to contextualize why the rest of their work is so profound. Having just released the greatest rock album of all time, rather than rest on these laurels and “settle” into a sound or identity, they release Kid A; a searching, mysterious, wandering anxious, dark and beautiful album that almost completely rejected the guarantee’s of OK Computer.
So with Amnesiac, an album that took the “electronic” sound of Kid A and focused it more tightly and added a near hip-hop sense of groove. They were a British rock band whose first album was indistinguishable from a bad Oasis record and they did all of these three albums right in a row!
And then, in a moment when again their limitations and reputations were at stake (Would they keep going “electronic?”), in a seamless grasp, Radiohead combined the energies and sounds of the three previous records and turned out their most mature work yet that managed somehow to capitalize on the “rock” sound gone by, what with the re-introduction of acoustic instruments, but still maintain continuity with Kid A and Amnesiac by taking some songs to a near chaotic and nihilistic logical conclusions – as for instance in the painfully slow “We Suck Young Blood” or the blistering and pounding void of Backdrifts. By my account, though not most critics, “Hail To the Thief” is a landmark album worthy of camparison both to OK Computer and Kid A.
In like fashion, “In Rainbows,” as has been said by a critic, is a public question begging: “How does a band with nothing left to prove make such ambitious music?”
All things considered, the only reason that Radiohead isn’t uniformly and unquestionably worshiped in the music community is because we’ve become too accustomed to them creating masterpieces with every release. We’ve become dull to their ability to upset the status quo and re-invigorate a tired popular music scene. It’s never cool to like bands that are as “big” as Radiohead, but I must stand by their total lordship of all things rock and pop.
p.s. – ATYCLB is a brilliant piece of pop rock, third only to Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby
January 1, 2010 at 20:51
Great points all.
I dare you to tell U2 that the Beatles are okay
January 1, 2010 at 21:32
By the way, I completely understand how utterly subjective the whole thing is. I’m sure the argument can be made for several of the rockin bands you mentioned. But saying that doesn’t sound as sweet or ballsy.
re: Beatles…I know, I know. It’s not like I think they’re mediocre, but I just wasn’t raised on it and I don’t smoke weed so it’s tough for me to vaunt them they way most do.
January 2, 2010 at 17:11
never smoked weed. never listened to them as a kid.
started listening to them because of bands like u2.
be ballsy.
February 25, 2010 at 16:07
I know it’s late, but Fr. Bryan, you just earned mad respect points with me. Foo Fighters are one of my favorite bands and have been for a Looooong time.
February 25, 2010 at 16:14
Awesome, Shawn! Them Crooked Vultures is pretty kickin’, too. Saw them live on Austin City Limits a couple of weeks back and they rocked. Watching Dave Grohl play drums was just as cool as watching Taylor Hawkins. Both of them look like Animal from The Muppets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_%28Muppet%29).