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Elly Roberts reviews
Parlophone
- December 2007
- Rating: 6/10
All seven Radiohead albums from 1993 to 2003 come together for the first time in a box set, and two other formats.
Four of the albums were chart toppers OK Computer (1997), Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001) and Hail To The Thief (2003) with debutPablo Honey peaking at 22 (1993), The Bends at 4 (1995) andI Might Be Wrong showing poorly at 23 (2001).
Despite their current popularity, it took the Oxfordshire quintet some timeto hit the big time. Top ten single Creep (1993) was crucial in theirprogress, though subsequent singles over the next three years languished in thetop 30. From 1996’s single Street Spirit they bettered themselveswith top tenners up to 2001’s Pyramid Song dire song if ever there was.
Album wise, Pablo Honey was a mixture of rough and ready rockers such as Creepand acoustic driven Thinking About You to the shambolic Anyone CanPlay Guitar. The Bends a better thought out collection with its dense,textured guitar atmospheres, epitomised on opener Planet Telex, madethem household names, bringing their longest chart run, 160 weeks. It alsoincluded, up to then, their finest compsition Fake Plastic Trees, featuringTom Yorkes deft falsetto, peaking lowly at 20 as a single.
It was Street Spirit (with Yorke sounding like Coldplays Chris Martin)that effectively cracked them as a singles band. It was their first top tensingle.
Next album OK Computer brought them greater fame and a purplepatch of top ten singles Paranoid Android, the delightful and mostcommercial No Surprises (which everybody knows but cant name the band),and their biggest hit to date Karma Police, by which time they weresounding more of a stadium act.
Changing their musical direction altogether, Kid A still topped the chartsbut divided fans and critics as it delved more into electronica, and as ithappens turned out to be their weakest, and least adventurous. Musically, itwas a disaster, either they were struggling, lost, or even arrogant, with twitchysynth rambler Idioteque being a classic example.
Opening track on Amnesia, didnt bode well either. Continuing theiralmost experimental electronica, Radiohead bore little resemblence to theirformative years. Track 6, Knives Out proved the most interesting of anaverage bunch.
It took three songs in on Hail To The Thief (Sail To The Moon) to showthey still had some kind of songwriting capability, though it wasnt great byany means. Finally, they seemed to break the slumber on sprightly Go To Sleep:its driving beat and edgy riifs were a refreshing return to earlier form, butthe album remained lack lustre. It did close however, with what can only becalled a near opus, in Radiohead terms, with stirring A Wolf At The Door.
Eight-tracker I Might Be Wrong catches them live at venues in Oxford,Berlin, Oslo and Los Angeles. Its not the kind of album that youd want torelease to push your profile because its quite forgettable.
They may well be posh boys from Abingdon Oxfordshire, but in this reviewersestimation, Radiohead is yet to make a great album, and that includes theirlatest, In Rainbows.
In 2005, Rolling Stone, the worlds numero uno music magazine ranked them as73rd on their list of greatest artists in history. A fair judgement.
File under: Seriously overrated.
This boxset is also available as digital downloads and USB memory stickand the CDs contained are Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A,Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief and I Might Be Wrong.
Weblink:radiohead.co.uk
The full list of tracks included are :
1. What I See
2. No More
3. Depression
4. Six Pack
5. Thirsty And Miserable
6. Police Story
7. Gimme Gimme Gimme
8. Spray Paint (The Walls)
9. Room 13
10. Rise Above
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.