I really love Radiohead.
Objectively and intellectually there are lots of reasons not to like them. They’re privileged white boys who bang on about alienation (though I am prepared to believe that they did indeed feel alienated relative to their peers, they are old enough to know better now). Their music is quite samey and easy to pastiche. Their changes of artistic direction are overplayed. And they do use the same chord progressions over and over again, almost exclusively in minor keys.
But I don’t like them for objective or intellectual reasons, I like them for emotional reasons, because their music connected with me and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I don’t know why this is, just like I don’t know why my favourite colour is blue. It just is, that’s what the universe decided for me.
If you like their style of music, it’s hard to think of a band that has produced such a consistently enjoyable body of work over such a long period.
If you’re younger than me (not difficult) I can see why you might regard them with something between disinterest and disdain, because any band that’s been around as long as they have will carry a certain amount of rock god baggage with them. I would probably hate them if I was under 30.
It’s really interesting to see a wide range of takes on here (though obviously mine is the correct one). Slightly confounded my expectations of how it would play out.
