Hello everyone,On my way home from vacation today, I picked up a cup of coffee and a magazine as I usually do. My magazine of choice is most likely National Geographic or Spin, but this morning Spin won the battle hands down: Thom Yorke was on the cover, staring at me from the shelves! Giddy with excitement (hoping to read a little tidbit about the new work he/Radiohead is doing), I swipe it and purchase it right away. However, as I pull it out on the plane, I finally read the captions: "Inconvenient truths: Radiohead can do wrong!"And my purchase, all of a sudden, felt so dirty.Initially I was filled with angry confusion at this allegation; I barely wanted to read the article. So I tried to ignore it and read the other articles about up-and-coming indie bands and show reviews. Inevitably, however, I stumbled upon the article. I decided to be a responsible critic and read the other side of the story...The article, written by Chris Norris, is titled "MYTH: Radiohead are the most important, visionary band in the world. REALITY: Radiohead wish they were special." What a cleverly ironic and inappropriate statement there, Chris. Already I was fuming, simply due to the fact that Radiohead has said time and time again they do not wish for the amount fame and prestige they have now. It almost killed them, especially Thom. Also, "Creep" was the blessing covered in sludge that would haunt the band forever; the song that would and will unfortunately (though it is a good song, don't get me wrong) define the band to the masses. Usage of that song in the ironic contradiction was almost contradictory to the article itself...it lacked proof of depth of analysis.Moving on. I highly, highly recommend you read the article for yourself (Spin Magazine Dec 2009), but if I have to sum it up in a few points:*The albums after "OK Computer" essentially sound the same and are based on the same musical principles*The band contradicted itself when they stopped the pay-what-you-want online basis for "In Rainbows" and started selling hard copies in stores, making them less revolutionary than they'd like to be seen*They are putting on a show full of revolutionary ideas that seem to never be fulfilled or justified (the online experiment, experimentation with electronic music, "The eraser")*The audience seems to be more excited by the oldies rather than the new work*They fail to "settle for good" in exchange for being "special", which apparently is not respectable.Ta fucking da.Okay, so after reading the article, I was surprisingly relieved to know that the author was not a completely ignorant Radiohead-basher, which is what I was afraid of. There are too many people who choose to ignore the band simply because of how prominent they seem; they do not want to become the 3 millionth person to fall into the musical trap that is Radiohead. And I had to recognize that it is the fans like me who are scaring people like Chris into silence about how they truly feel about Radiohead, so I applaud him for having the balls to write this, and well. His points are somewhat understandable. I can see how the band may seem after stopping their online experiment with In Rainbows and selling CDs in store--hypocritical. After OK Computer, the influence of electronica and innovative technique weaved its way into the minds of Radiohead and it would forever change their sound, which may or may not sound similar to some.In a regular blog, I would pose my argument here. However, Spin has also alerted readers that if they have their opinions about the article(s) that they should write a response to the magazine, and they will print the best ones in the next issue. This is where I will place my carefully laid out rebuttal to this story. It will take time, and I definitely do not want to come off as a blindly obsessed Radiohead fan by thrashing Chris for ever taking them from their throne. Informed and open-minded is the way to go. I don't want to necessarily declare them the most immaculate of bands (though I may or may not believe so in my own eyes), but I do want to acknowledge their justified musical genius, innovation, and intelligence, as well as their constant longing to break away from the mainstream music industry.I will post my work on the same blog when it's finished, hopefully soon. I feel like no one will read it, but that's okay. I'm a writer; I'm pretty used to unacknowledged work, haha. But I'll feel as if I've done something for them, whether it gets read or not. Post any comments you feel are contributive or simply because you'd like to!In defense of the band I love, here goes.XX, Mo
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