Tricked by Radiohead again

[MarkGrace]

MG, can you either link to or provide your in-depth analysis of HTTT? I've listened to it 5 or 6 times in the last week and can't get enough.

Hmm...I don't think I've ever done a HTTT retrospective. I'm not sure that I have much to say in terms of thematic analysis, as I don't think it has the running narrative of Kid A or the coherent conceptual ideas of OKC (despite the fact that the record is primarily political). I can tell you that among Radiohead geeks it draws the widest range of opinion, with some thinking it's anywhere from their very best album to their worst since Pablo Honey.

For as much as Radiohead had established themselves as the band that was going to do what they wanted and play by their own rules, I think HTTT is fairly reactionary, both in terms of what was happening with the band and how they were viewed by fans. The band has said that in some ways how they prepare each album becomes a reaction to the experience of recording the album that immediately preceded it. Kid A/mnesiac was Thom's direction more than anyone else, and he was apparently maniacal during those recording sessions. I read an interview with Colin where he estimated that when it was all said and done, they spent 200-300 hours per song on those albums, and overall it was just a grueling and bitter process. The rest of the guys in the band told Thom that they'd never go through what they had just done again.

So when HTTT rolls around, they all head to LA and do the bulk of the recording in two weeks (probably around 8 weeks total for the recording, plus some additional time for mixing/mastering) -- by far the fastest they've ever recorded an album. By comparison, they recently spent three full weeks in LA recording for the LP8 and came away with no more than a few songs. Recording something this fast was a bit of an experiment for them, and they got the record done far quicker than anything else they'd ever done, apparently keeping their sanity in tact. However, in hindsight, the band really feels like they blew it by taking this approach. They think the songs don't sound finished and they wish they had taken more time arranging the track list. For them this album will always be "the one that got away."

And as I stated above, musically it is also a reaction to what came before, and how they perceived what they had become. Radiohead found themselves in a strange place where in a way they had actually created two different fan bases. There were those who liked the straight-ahead guitar pop/rock of Pablo Honey/The Bends/OKC, and those who preferred the more experimental/difficult aspects of OKC along with Kid A/mnesiac. I think on HTTT for the first time the band doesn't head in a new direction and instead tries to placate both sides of the divide. Hence you gets songs that are pretty straight forward rock, along with those that are experimental electronics. In a way the album feels like a collection of everything they had done to that point. This pretty much leads to a sprawling album that I think is overinclusive, and I know the band feels the same -- in an interview around the time of In Rainbows, Jonny said that if he could have that record back the first thing he would do is "trim the fat." It is their longest record both in terms of number of tracks and running time, and they seemed to be dissatisfied with both aspects (that In Rainbows, following HTTT, ended up their shortest record is not coincidence).

In terms of my personal feelings, I think there are two songs that just crush the flow of the album: We Suck Young Blood and I Will. Both songs are just too slow and plodding, and at the points they are placed in the album are really just a drag. I'm incredibly anal about listening to albums the way they are composed. I feel that the artist has a vision for that album, and I want to hear it as intended. However, I've gotten to the point with HTTT where I just skip those two and I think the album flow improves immensely -- I figure if the band can be dissatisfied with it, so can I. In fact, as recently as last year Thom posted on the band's website what he wanted the track list to be, and just this March he told some fans "it's a good record, but it's all out of order." If you are curious, this is his preferred HTTT:

there there
the gloaming
sail to the moon
sit down. stand up
go to sleep
whereiendandubegin
scatterbrain
2+2=5
myxomatosis
a wolf at the door

There are some things that work in there, and some that don't. For starters, 2+2=5 shouldn't be anything but an opener. As a whole, though, it probably works better than the current incarnation of HTTT. Thom probably got it right this time, but he has gotten off with some weird ideas when it comes to their albums -- he wanted Fitter Happier to open OKC and No Surprises to be the end of the album (yeah, no Lucky or The Tourist); he also wanted Videotape to open In Rainbows. You win some, you lose some.

In terms of the quality of the material on HTTT, I view it much like Amnesiac: it has some of the very best material they've ever done (2+2=5, Where I End And You Begin, There There, A Wolf at the Door), but it also has some of the weakest stuff they've done since Pablo (WSYB, I Will). And compared to the rest of their discography, I again view it similarly to Amnesiac. For me there are three tiers of Radiohead. Tier I is OKC and Kid A; tier II is Amnesiac, HTTT, In Rainbows, The Bends; and tier XV is Pablo Honey. The highs of Amnesiac and HTTT are higher than either IR or the The Bends, but the lows are also lower. For me The Bends and IR have no duds, but those other two albums have a couple. Choosing between them ultimately comes down to the high-end brilliance versus the top-to-bottom consistency. Always a tough call.

My last comment is that despite its flaws, in a way I appreciate the place it occupies in their catalog. Every other album is a concise 10-12 songs, and I like that HTTT can feel long and sprawling and messy and erratic. It gives it a different sense of space than their other albums. And, it was way to clear their plate and get ready for another new direction, which is what we got with In Rainbows and we'll probably see again with LP8. Plus, Slash worships that album and Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips) picked it as his album of the decade for the 2000s. If it's good enough for those guys, it's certainly good enough for me.

If you're curious, here's the alternate version of I Will: [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rRXGNgiaAU"]YouTube- 3. I Will (LA Version)[/nomedia]

It's vastly superior to the album cut, but also wouldn't have fit the record. I do listen to it all the time as a single, though.

[MarkGrace]

For giggles, the article Slash wrote for NME:

‘WHY I LOVE RADIOHEAD’:

“I’m sort of a new fan of Radiohead. I wasn’t hip to them when they first came on the scene, but I discovered them later. So I went out and bought all their fucking records and now love them all. I probably didn’t get turned onto them until 2001- I guess it had to be Kid A that got me first.

They have the best guitar sounds, regardless of how much techno sonic stuff they have going on around them. I’ve haven’t heard guitar sounds like that in god knows how long. And Thom Yorke has an amazing voice. He has such depth of character and emotional strain. The drummer’s great, the guitar players are great, their ideas are great- they have a wonderful fucking imagination.

Some of the stuff that sounds like straight-form rock’n’roll, they put a twist in it you’d never expect. They are one of those bands who are really prolific. I know they get compared to U2 and Yes, but they really do have a unique thing onto themselves.

There was a point in time where they came out with ‘Hail to the Thief’ which was when this band of mine, Velvet Revolver, were first starting- Hail to the Thief is one of the few records that has come out in the last few years that I’ve bought. There is a mood that goes along with listening to those guys and sometimes it can be a little draining, but I remember driving around in my car with that record on and that led to me to their other records. So for a couple of months I listened to nothing but Radiohead every day. I thought their music was so compelling.

I wouldn’t try to sound like them. I get influenced by people and I try to pick up whatever positive tiny nuance that might be added into my repertoire, I do it subconsciously. I appreciate bands doing something different to what I do, and leave it at that. So I become more of a fan that someone who is trying to alter his life so he can be like them.

Would I work with them? No, no way. I’m too introverted to actually go seek these people out. The closet I came was when I was trying to get to a concert they were playing at the Hollywood Bowl. I’ve never seen them live, only on TV. But the concert on TV was great. I like anything that has sincerity and originality and integrity and some fucking balls. And Radiohead have all those things.”

Funny that this actually recently played out. Slash wanted Thom to appear on his album, but was too scared to call him. That would have been cool.

[BoylenOver]

Great stuff as always, MG. Thanks a lot.

[falafel]

I love I Will, its one of my favorite songs on HTTT. HTTT is also one of my favorite RH albums. Myxomatosis is one of my favorites as well. The first few times I heard it I wasn't sure that was even Thom's voice.

I will agree that We Suck Young Blood sucks. there's that one part where it really picks up, and you think "oh cool, this song is going places and I want to go too" and then it goes right back to the slow, boring pace. I end up skipping that song quite often.