Ranking Everything: The Albums of Radiohead

Wow. What an incredible experience this week has been for me. I have tackled the Radiohead catalogue - most of which was my first time through - and my life is significantly better for it. Because of OK Computer, which I had heard previously ad nauseum, Radiohead was already one of my favorite bands. Now, they probably make my all time top 10. This is without a doubt the biggest band in the world right now. No other band balances such popularity with such quality output. Much like most of the stuff I will be ranking on the site, you cannot consider yourself knowledgable about music without having gone through this body of work.





1.) OK Computer - Not only the band's best album, this is the runaway best album of the 1990s. Actually, this is one of the 20 best albums of all time. I'm not sure if it's perfect, but it's really, really close. This album works on every level. It works as a collection of individual songs, as a cohesive work of art, as a bold lyrical statement, a bold musical statement and as an all-around aesthetic masterpiece. This album is everything alternative rock can be and more.



2.) The Bends & Kid A (tie) - From what I can tell, there are two types of Radiohead fanatics. Some that love their alt/rock side more and some that like their electronic side more. Although OK Computer leans more to the alt/rock side, these two albums are your chief arguments for each side. The Bends came out right before OK Computer and is decidedly alt/rock. It has what may be the best Radiohead song of all on it in Fake Plastic Trees. Kid A, on the other hand, is your quintessential electronic Radiohead album. I wouldn't call this a full blown electronic album (keep reading for my thoughts on Amnesiac, which is one), but whatever it is, it's epic. It works better than The Bends as a cohesive unit of an album. It doesn't have the FPT-type song to carry it in that regard but it doesn't need it. At gunpoint, I prefer the alt/rock Radiohead but, quite frankly, if they wanted to try polka I'd be all over that album, too.

4.) In Rainbows - The band's latest is a bit of a throwback to the Kid A time period in my opinion. The most critically acclaimed album of 2007 does not have the high points of the three previous albums... or really the next two for that matter, but it works in a different way. I've read it labeled a trance album. I'm not sure of the parameters of the trance genre, but I can tell you this album sure has the capacity to put the listener in one. This is not to be confused with being bored by it, but rather it is paced in an interesting way. Around the 3/4 mark of the album it takes it up a notch to leave you with a nice taste in your mouth and a comfort in the knowledge that Radiohead is as good now as they were ten years ago.

5.) Pablo Honey & Hail To The Thief (tie) - I know, two ties in one small list, that's pretty lame. These albums don't have a whole lot in common (much like the previous tie) but it's hard for me to think of one being better than the other. Pablo Honey is the band's debut effort and it is, by a large margin, their least critically acclaimed. Hail To The Thief, meanwhile, is their second latest and is definitely on the electronic side of the band's catalogue. Despite the low ranking, I have to say I really, really like both of these albums. I feel Pablo Honey is unjustly regarded as their worst when it's just a different animal. It's a great debut album by any measure, it's just not some unified work of art. It is, for its time, quite regular. Post-grunge, pre-alt/rock, whatever. The fact is, it really has some great high points. Some of these songs hint to the brilliance the band would show on their next three albums and the others are hardly unpleasant. Hail To The Thief is actually similar in that regard. It has some really high high-points and the rest is pleasant. Its problem is that it meanders and is not really a cohesive unit like every other Radiohead album outside of, oddly, Pablo Honey.

7.) Amnesiac - Last but not least we have Amnesiac. This is an album that is about as electronic as they get. For many of the songs Thom's incredible voice is altered to create a different sound. It's not a BAD sound but I had a hard time getting into it. The long stretches of weird noise was less appealing to me as well. I really have no problem with Radiohead leaning electronic (I obviously think highly of Kid A) but this is too far in that direction for me. I can see what they're doing with it and I appreciate that but it's just not for me. I don't know any other way to explain it.

All in all, this ranking was beyond rewarding for me. I can honestly say albums 1-3 will make my all time favorites list with the next three not far behind. Please please please comment and share your thoughts on the list, the band or the project in general. Still chipping away at the Kubrick filmography as well as the Cormac McCarthy bibliography. Not sure which band/artist I'll tackle next. Still open to suggestions on all of this. Until then...

Mysterious Epic Video Tease

This week I will begin working on an epic YouTube video. I only post this for the sake of being mysterious and so that you can look back on this fateful day when I am a YouTube celebrity. That and so that I don't get too lazy and give up on it. Mostly the latter.

Most importantly, my beloved Duke Blue Devils won the ACC today. I couldn't be happier. Outside of the Red Sox, Duke Basketball is my favorite sports program. UNC was supposed to be handed the ACC title and possibly have an undefeated season so it's so extra sweet that every fucking asshole UNC fan I've ever known gets to watch Duke's success. Plus, barring any unexpected draft departures Duke will be even better next year. Sweet.

Tomorrow I'm going to start listening to another musician's body of work as to speed up the blog process because the Kubrick thing is taking a bit longer than I anticipated. I'm interested to see if a list is any different if I've heard NONE of the band's albums previously... Which is why I am thinking Joy Division would be fun to tackle, especially considering I just bought Unknown Pleasures. Absolutely cannot wait to delve into it and others.

As for personal things, I had an epic weekend with friends. Oddi, Amee, Phillip, Trevor and all of the new people I met. Really feeling great about that. I covered probably 600 someodd miles in traveling Atlanta -> Gainesville -> Athens -> Augusta -> Rincon (Savannah) -> Augusta -> Athens -> Atlanta.

Recommended listening:
The Lonely Island - Incredibad
The Welcome Wagon - Welcome To The Welcome Wagon
Various Artists - Dark Was The Night
The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics!!!
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
and... when it comes out...
Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing

Changing The Focus Of The Blog...

Alright, the hiatus is over. After much deliberation over starting a new blog (a third?) I just decided I will change the focus of this one to a nifty new idea I've been toying with. So here you have it: How Hi The Fi is now the blog of rankings.

I obviously love lists and rankings. I think what makes this different is that I will strictly be doing full bodies of work. I would like to rank every film by a director or every album by a musician, etc.

What to like about this is that the blog will be more consistent. There will be at least a hint of incentive to come back every so often. It will still be my personal blog and updates on what's going on with me will still appear from time to time. I just feel like it would be pointless to continue the blog as it's been. Not every list I put up here will HAVE to fit this, but it will be clear when I post it that it's different. For instance, the 2008 movie list. By the way, there have been very few additions to that list.

Anyways, to start things off, here's every Beatles album ranked by me!

If you've been following my Twitter you know I've been listening to the 13 albums by The Beatles in chronological order. I'm not trying to make some great original Beatles statements beyond sharing my opinions. Feel free to comment to harass me about this.

1.) The White Album - Most of the songs on this album hold up as well as some of the better songs on Revolver. I think those who just absolutely love the Beatles tend to prefer this album. It's not that it, as a unit, is better than, say, the next three albums, but MORE Beatles is just undeniably a good thing. The only 2-disc release by The Beatles, The White Album is incredible in scope and there's just so much to like. The Beatles were at odds with one another during its making but in no way does it suffer from this. Instead it seems to me like they are trying to one-up one another. Genius + Competition = Wow. This album isn't perfect, but it is the best.

2.) Abbey Road - What a beautiful piece of work from start to finish. This, to me, is your prototypical album. Much like The White Album, this one has just about perfect track sequencing. I know I'm just repeating what everyone has said about this, but I just can't imagine a better note to go out on than this. The perfect end to any career, especially the so-called greatest band ever.



3.) Magical Mystery Tour - This isn't an official Beatles studio album in that some of the songs were not recorded with the purpose of ending up on it but it's better than some that are. It is, in fact, the better SOUNDING album of this mini-era (see: better than Sgt. Pepper). It maybe wasn't as culturally as important as Sgt. Pepper but it sounds like everything I want a 1967 album to sound like.



4.) Revolver/Rubber Soul (tie) - I can't decide which one of these two I like more. As an album, Rubber Soul is wildly better. But the sum of Revolver's parts is greater than those of Rubber Soul. Revolver has some absolutely astounding songs that still hold up today. In between these songs are punch bowl turds like McCartney's "Here There And Everywhere." This song wouldn't be so bad if it was on a different album, but man is it terrible on this. Plus I never really got in to Eleanor Rigby like others did. Rubber Soul meanwhile has a more cohesive, consistent sound with the epic song Norwegian Wood and some great songs that show the Beatles transitioning from poppish to original rock. It kind of reminds me of Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home as he was switching from Folk to Rock.

6.) Yellow Submarine - Just to clarify, this is the songtrack, not the soundtrack. The original soundtrack had about 6 songs from the movie and the rest was just exerpts of the score. This is kind of a stretch for this list, but the majority of these songs were clearly written with the purpose of being together (unlike, say, the Past Masters releases). Anyways, it's like a who's who of underrated Beatles songs on this one. It takes the better parts of Sgt. Pepper, throws in a few other hits and then it's just underrated great rockers with great sequencing. Not a real album, I admit, but worthy of being ranked here.

7.) Help! - Underrated much? Wow, what a fun album. Nevermind that it has "Yesterday" on it, there's so much Rubber Soul in this album it's unbelievable. Rubber Soul got the cooler cover and a more cohesive sound but the sense of humor and energy and just sound in general are very similar. Just as Rubber Soul is Dylan's "Bringing It..." this is Dylan's "Another Side."



8.) Let It Be - I think this album suffers from the same things that Revolver does. It's got some of the band's greatest songs ever but it's filled with ballad-y crap that doesn't work. I love the way Spector let the Beatles sense of humor seep through in this album. If the list was based strictly on "number of epic songs" then this would be in the top 5, but it just doesn't have an overall feel to put it higher than here.



9.) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Yeah, I know. It's not that I dislike this album, it's just... it doesn't keep my interest from "Lucy" until "Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)." Lovely Rita and Good Morning are decent songs, but really the rest just BORES me. I see what they're doing, I appreciate it, I love the cover art, love some of the songs, especially A Day In The Life, but man, ugh, so bland in the middle.



10.) Beatles For Sale - From start to The White Album, with the exception of Sgt. Pepper, it seems to me like every Beatles album was better than the one before it. Beatles For Sale maybe isn't regarded as one of the better albums or even necessarily as better than its three predecessors but it really is great. I guess as I have grown to love garage rock bands like "The Sonics" I have come to appreciate this era of The Beatles more and more. They were doing less of the sappy covers and more of the rockers and originals.


11.) A Hard Day's Night - The band takes a clear step-up from its first two albums with this, a release to promote the movie of the same name. The movie is the most joyous and wonderful music film ever made and the soundtrack gets bonus points for reminding one of the movie while including a lot of the same attitude the band took on Beatles For Sale.



12.) With The Beatles - The good songs on this album are just as good as the good songs on the one that came before it and after it. What makes it better than Please Please Me is that its sappy covers are better songs. What makes it worse than A Hard Day's Night is that it has these sappy covers to begin with.





13.) Please Please Me - Let me say that if this is your worst album, your band is pretty damned good. There are some absolutely epic songs on this thing it's just that there are a lot of sappy covers that do nothing for me... or anyone else for that matter.

So that about does it, be sure and sound off in the comments if you agree or disagree. Coming soon: Ranking the films of Stanley Kubrick (yes, I've seen them all and am rewatching them now), album rankings of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and anything else I can get my hands on. Feel free also to suggest lists for the future.