DoofDoof: Putting the Smile on Radiohead

DoofDoof 01.31.24	Why would I want to go and upset so many people....let the roast begin. In all seriousness...where do The Smile fit in for you?
anat 01.31.24	there is no way in hell that either smile record is better than king of limbs
AsleepInTheBack 01.31.24	Add the Tom Yorke albums get crazy etc I always felt like Faust Arp was more of an interlude than anything. Would query why you’d hold that to a higher standard than like a Fitter Happier or Untitled, but tbh even though In Rainbows is my favourite Radiohead I think I’d accept that Faust Arp is less essential to the overall Album experience than either of those OKC/KidA interlude equivalents, though it works with the overall flow. So I think I’ve talked my self into agreeing with you. Hmm, how disappointing!
DoofDoof 01.31.24	'there is no way in hell that either smile record is better than king of limbs' anat - they both are, I'd say, I would go as far as saying the new Smile is an entire album of songs better than 'Codex' and 'Give Up the Ghost'. 'Magpie' and 'Little By Little' have never been anything to write home about. Clearly the best three song are the bookends and 'Lotus Flower'...but that amount of material sort of equates to an EP for me. It's a rare occasion I agree with RYM consensus anyway, as they have both Smile albums massively ahead of 'KoL', which is quite interesting. Asleep - yeah that whole logic stream holds for me, I mean I'm hardly rating it lower thean 'Kid A' (1%!) so it's a near perfect album.
Sowing 01.31.24	Great list. I never heard the first Smile album, so I need to get on that. Wall of Eyes is growing on me a lot, which I could have guessed. Only big difference in the ranking would be that AMSP is above The Bends for me, personally.
DoofDoof 01.31.24	Thanks Sowing, I think you'd get on with a lot of the first Smile album - there is a slight scrappy feel to the tracklist that comes from it being a debut where a few songs might have been knocking around for a while before the album was recorded, but at least you get variety! The Bends is partially nostalgia for me and a large reason for such a high score.
TheManMachine 01.31.24	radiohead ranking is more or less spot on except the bends would be at top for me personally. not sure i'd put the smile stuff before say hail to the thief but agreed that they're better than king of limbs
DoofDoof 01.31.24	TMM - sure, with HTTT in particular I really don't have the ratings too far apart, maybe just a few more missteps on that album compared to The Smile albums maybe. I would also understand people rating Amnesiac higher than The Smile albums, that is more a case of me disliking a couple of otherwise well loved songs on that one.
onionbubs 01.31.24	tkol >>> all but 2
Ryus 01.31.24	"tkol >>> all but 2" profound, possibly based take i think i'd go kid a > in rainbows > tkol
onionbubs 01.31.24	not that i really jam this band much now but my top 3 is prob kid a, tkol and amnesiac, with in rainbows right behind them
DoofDoof 01.31.24	I'm still annoyed that if you take tracks 1, 5, 6 and 8 on TKOL and you'd have one of the best EPs of all time in fact maybe just 1, 5 and 8, 'Codex' doesn't massively suit sitting with that material People should be more annoyed by that than they are :3
onionbubs 01.31.24	well all the songs are great and better than usual rh fare so it would be a pointless exercise dropping half of an album that rules. if anything needs to be ep'd of theirs its a moon shape pool or even okc tbh. that album's sequencing is kinda wack by rh standards after let down. flow of that thing is a mess in the back half and the only amazing song after that point is climbing
DoofDoof 01.31.24	TKOL was just never very exciting for me from the moment it was released tbh and it never carried any 'this is a Radiohead album' weight. Just my perception and I have returned to it to keep checking what I'm missing. It peaks massively on the first song on each 'side' or half. 'Moon Shaped' has that 'Radiohead album' feel, has its own vibe, has the weight. It is a bit retread'y at times as mentioned above but not so bad it derails it.
DoofDoof 01.31.24	'flow of that thing is a mess in the back half and the only amazing song after that point is climbing' that is certainly an opinion
onionbubs 01.31.24	yeah stock alt rock radiohead is not for me and the bends is a hard 2.5 so miss me with underwritten boring no surprises and annoying as hell elecioneering forever. lucky is the only other song that really picks up my ears towards the end climbing is the best on the album maybe tho so it balances out a little ig but also only makes the stuff around it lamer
AmericanFlagAsh 01.31.24	15 Step is not iconic?????
DoofDoof 01.31.24	onion - it's an interesting opinion for sure, I'd point to another album that sounds like 'Ok Computer' but I couldn't which I think tells the story, no 'stock' anything accusations on that one - but it isn't for everyone (just most everyone it seems) I think calling 'No Surprises' underwritten is like accusing 'How to Disappear' or 'Exit Music' as underwritten, it doesn't make any sense, the whole intention of the song is what it is the inclusions of 'Fitter Happier' and 'No Surprises' on that album are grim as hell, very bleak
DoofDoof 01.31.24	Flag - '15 Step' I think is iconic for some people but to me you play the opening five seconds of 'Airbag' or 'Everything' (how many times has that been used in film/TV?) and it's instant. '15 Step' sounds a bit like how an awful lot of Radiohead and Yorke songs do and it's a good song but also...it could be track 2 and I don't think it'd matter too much. You couldn't move 'Everything' or 'Airbag', they're openers through and through.
onionbubs 01.31.24	well those songs have way more going in the way of atmosphere and tone and feel and build and swell and etc. exit music has the whole pay off and how to disappear's production is a huge part of what gives it its impact. if both were just played on an acoustic alone itd be like 25% of the experience at most
DoofDoof 01.31.24	'No Surprises' is a confessional and a lullaby, queasy intimate moment :/ I wouldn't change that one at all
AmericanFlagAsh 01.31.24	I dunno, I think 15 Step is an incredible opener, just as iconic as their others. Those first 10 seconds of those like kinda distorted drums and Thom's voice comes in and the beats clean up, love it so much. I honestly would put Planet Telex as their best opener, but hey to each their own.
onionbubs 01.31.24	yeah 15 step is unquestionably one of their best openers. those drums kick it off perfectly
AmericanFlagAsh 01.31.24	Their openers really are amazing
bighubbabuddha 01.31.24	Agree that Amnesiac is hit-and-miss but disagree with TKOL ranking, its a superb left-of-field album with only a couple of weaker tracks.
DoofDoof 01.31.24	I like '15 Step' a lot but it's more a case that you could have had 'Idioteque' open 'Kid A' but that wouldn't have been as iconic as 'Everything' opening it, in terms of hitting that perfect note. It might have been ok sat in the position of 'Reckoner' etc It's a great opener but the next rung down with '2+2=5' and ones like that in terms of being 'just so'. 'Planet Telex' is kind of perfect in the mood it sets though, that could be third most iconic. 'Burn the Witch' is the most 'blah' choice of opener they ever had.
AmericanFlagAsh 01.31.24	Burn the Witch is an amazing song, but a very strange opener for that album lol
DoofDoof 01.31.24	'Burn the Witch' I like enough but it would have been a bit awkward wherever it sat, but especially as an opener. It could have worked out better as a standalone single and a more natural opener finding it's way onto that album maybe - not that it is a massive issue.
DoofDoof 01.31.24	'bighubba' - I actually wouldn't have minded that album being fleshed out more, I dunno, it doesn't satisfy me as a full listen really
chemicalmarriage 01.31.24	Climbing up the walls is my favorite song of theirs Good ranking
zakalwe 01.31.24	Yep, other than King of Limbs being so low I’m having this
DoofDoof 01.31.24	zak - I wish I didn't find tracks 2-4 a bit of a chore to get through on KoL because that still holds it back for me, those remind me of the quality of the less great tracks on HTTT like 'Myxamatosis' or 'Backdrifts' - the rest of it is good
Sinternet 01.31.24	awful tkol take, list ignored
anode 01.31.24	i was just listening to the new album and thinking wow what a ripoff and then found out it WAS radiohead and then saw this list
DoofDoof 01.31.24	'awful tkol take, list ignored' there's honestly not a lot to have a take on one way or the other with tkol - has a few decent tracks for sure
cylinder 02.01.24	Amnesiac is the best dawg
twlight 02.01.24	jumping on the "15 Step is amazing and a perfect opener" train
DoofDoof 02.01.24	It’s solid but not iconic - there’s a difference First 5 seconds of ‘Airbag’ or ‘Everything’ its instant, whole mood of the album set ‘15 Step’ I don’t think defines all of ‘In Rainbows’ and certainly not by the first five seconds
Zac124 02.01.24	still need to check The Smile albums. Not quite a hot take but 1 and 3 are god tier albums.