Events
There’s a good chance you’d never guess that I’m a big fan of Radiohead. I mean, I’ve never written a review of their work and I’ve mentioned them maybe once on the entire site. Well the truth is I love the band and I think any Obnoxious Listener would at least appreciate their work, even if they can’t bring themselves to embracing their unique style… or should I say styles? Radiohead has redefined their sound more times than Donald Trump has filed for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though they have it in them any more. I just read at the Guardian News that, “Radiohead have no plans to release another album, Thom Yorke has revealed. Long-playing records, it seems, have ‘just become a real drag’.”
Although Radiohead hasn’t officially called it quits and they claim shorter projects such as EPs could be in the future, it got me thinking. It’s so rare that a band will call it quits while they’re ahead. There are innumerable reasons for bands to split or stop producing music, so I can’t claim that the point in which this happens reflects their intentions. But I’d like to think that those who are musicians for the sake of music, as a opposed to entertainment, will step down at the right time. Despite the fact that I would love another Radiohead album, I have the utmost respect for Thom Yorke admitting they don’t have another album in them; rather than scraping another one together because it’ll sell well.
Sometimes I wonder what I’d think of bands like Creed and Metallica if they never released anything beyond My Own Prison (1997) and The Black Album (1991), respectively. These two bands had very different levels of exposure, and started to suck for very different reasons, and at different paces too, I suppose. But I loved at least one album by each of these bands at one point. They’ve both released god awful albums and someone in each of these bands has become so arrogant that I can’t even stand to listen to their earlier work. It’s hard to blame anyone but Scott Stapp for Creed’s mishap, but Metallica should have known something was awry when they released Load… and certainly Re-Load. Oh man… I’d argue that naming scheme is about as bad as the sequel to Die Hard… Die Harder. Of course, it’s not the name that makes them awful, and one could debate Die Harder is awful in a great way.
As soon as a musician starts writing albums for everyone but himself, he starts to teeter on that gray line distinguishing sell-outs. I guess I’d like to think the real musicians will see that in time, or at least before their third farewell tour. Then again, maybe I’m just an idealist looking in. In any case, kudos to Radiohead.
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