You might think they are....but they are not.....

You might think Radiohead is one of the single most overrated bands in the world today, but their credit is soley based off of their originality and succesful adaptation from nineties into the new millenium.

I just made a mistake. Radiohead never once "adapted" to the current music scene, or rather, any scene whatsoever. Pablo Honey launched Radiohead's raw alternative sound with the stalker student-esque single "Creep", but they didn't stick to this sound for long despite the financial splendor.

What?!! They didn't care about money?!! Who are these guys?!! Artists??!!!

Let me put this out there- OK Computer is one of the best rock albums of all time. The first time I heard the track Paranoid Android I got massive goosebumps. Who the heck thinks of this stuff? Not only that- who thinks of this stuff and somehow attracts millions of people around the world who would usually listen to mainstream pop, or...maybe even the dreaded Nickelback (*gasp*), to sit down and souse the whirl of obnoxious, yet beautifully arranged, songs with offbeat topics? Only one can hold the force. Radiohead, may the force be with you.

Thom Yorke, as everyone knows is the lead singer of this lovely ensemble, is....well....strange. He knows it and shows it. What people fail to see is that behind this man's musical career, Thom is aware of what he's trying to accomplish as an artists. Searching his words I found he strongly disagrees with the media and its restrictions on art. Here some of my favorite quotes by him:

-"So ultimately, it's idealistic to think that artists are able to step away from the power of the media and the way it controls things, and go on doing their own things."

-"I don't see it in terms of changing things, but rather using language and music as weapons for fighting a mainstream media which is predominately right wing, and loyal to the political framework and its corporate interests."

-I think the most important thing about music is the sense of escape.

Right now I have to thank Thom Yorke for being an artist and making music that HE wants to make, and nothing less. The last quote I included speaks clear to me. Isn't music supposed to be an escape? I am a punk music fan, do not get me wrong, but I do believe that politics shouldn't make up an entire record. There it goes back again- isn't music a means of communication to its audience? Sure a singer could adress a crowd of thousands and thousands about who to vote for or how the world's enviroment is slowly melting away, but if that's what I really want to hear, then I will go to some type of political rally. Not a concert, and not spend my money on it. That's not escape for me. For others, maybe.

Radiohead creates their own world and dome within music. Taking the art to an individual spectrum. Many journalists have tried to describe Radiohead's noise, but they're simply one of those bands you have to listen for yourself. And not just one track, because all of them vary. The panicky drone of Thom Yorke and the undefined background elements are what define Radiohead. Never trite.

And live? I would feel more than priveleged to witness a Radiohead performance. To see what I mean, check this out- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8M-Moo4imQ