Word: radiohead
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...lead singer of a critically beloved, commercially successful band in its prime releases a solo album, it's a bit like a married man with two kids zipping by in a fiery new Porsche. Something, you suspect, ain't right at home. Sure enough, Thom Yorke has admitted that Radiohead, years-long holder of the title Only Band That Matters, has hit a lethargic patch. Personal lives have grown comfortable, professional momentum has slowed. With the future uncertain, Yorke made The Eraser--which turns out not to be a betrayal of his band but a love letter...
...Hipman knows, being a Radiohead fan isn't always been easy. "Fake Plastic Trees," from the bands 1995 record, The Bends, may be one of the most poignant love ballads ever written, but Radiohead has never been a band for the faint of heart. Among the subjects Radiohead has tackled head-on are alien abduction ("Subterranean Homesick Alien"), the dangers of political apathy ("2+2=5') and death ("Pyramid Song"). For a few short years in the early '90s it was possible to love the British quintet without a shred of guilt or defensiveness. On "Creep," the band's searing...
...Then came 1997s OK Computer, a bracingly original record that put Radiohead on the map and catapulted them into the progressive pantheon. Suddenly, in the media at least, Radiohead was no longer just a stunningly talented rock band; they were the saviors of rock and roll, self-styled apostles of the Beatles who dared to break the mold with their prophetic, dark parables about apocalypse, aliens and alienation. With its cutting-edge arrangements, spaced-out electronics and Orwellian edge, OK Computer tapped into the nebulous state of the union and anticipated the post-9/11 era of anxiety. It also...
...released in 2000, and its follow-up, Amnesiac, only made matters worse. On many songs, the lyrics were distorted or unintelligible; the brilliant rock guitarwork was largely replaced with electronic blips and keyboard-driven sound poems. Detractors harped that Radiohead had become pretentious and preening - more style than substance. But, to those who were listening closely, including a fair number of influential rock critics, the music was groundbreaking and sublime...
...more of a detante - the band's two musical tendencies rallying around a not-so-cryptic political stance. But in the new songs, perhaps because Yorke now has a separate outlet for his more personal yearnings, the fusion of urgency and detachment feels organic, unforced and fertile. Like Bonnaroo, Radiohead is bigger than ever and poised to reach audiences far beyond its core constituency. The band sounds reorganized and reenergized, ready to plant the seeds of what will come next...