Finally, someone else in a position of power had the balls to say something. In Spin’s latest issue, they debunk 33 rock myths. The number one rock myth? Radiohead can do no wrong. Writer Chris Norris makes what I imagine will be millions of enemies by asserting that, in fact, they kinda blow.

Unafraid to question the unquestionable, “revolutionary” band, Norris does a great job of debunking their übertroß status and tells the legion of fans (of which I’m not, past The Bends, anyway) to stop drinking the Kool-Aid. It all pretty much boils down to his last paragraph:

Radiohead opened their headlining set at the Reading Festival with the rarely played “Creep,” the song that started it all. Sixteen years ago, this outsider anthem’s refrain, “I wish I was special,” stated an irony that has engulfed Radiohead their whole career. A band that can make iconic songs that stretch across a fractious culture, that can weave them into an even greater whole, and that have a unique, haunting musical voice we will remember for decades, is plenty special. As special as it gets. If only they’d settle for good.

18 Responses to “Spin Lampoons Needless Radiohead Worship”

1. On 11/18/09 6:33 PM, travis lee said:

   

   YAWN!

2. On 11/18/09 8:55 PM, daniel gleason said:

   

   spin has always sucked, this is not news

3. On 11/18/09 11:10 PM, j said:

   

   i’m not even a radiohead diehard or anything, but if you don’t like ANYTHING…at all…past “the bends” i don’t think i could trust your opinion on anything music related.

4. On 11/19/09 12:27 AM, Sean Cannon said:

   

   if it’ll allay your concerns, there are some songs that i enjoy, but as a general rule, the bends is the end-all, be-all for me when it comes to radiohead.

   who knows, i might even like them more if i didn’t think their stuff afterward was much less awe-inspiring than that album. maybe.

   plus my actual distaste for them as a band might not be so great if people weren’t doing what norris describes in the article.

5. On 11/19/09 9:46 AM, Jay DiNitto said:

   

   j had to be that guy in the thread.

   But seriously, Radiohead fans should lighten up with their apotheosis. The bands that I like that are considered “forward-thinking” or whatever superpositive adjective you want, could be considered utterly unlistenable by respectable critics. Which I’m fine with…I’m not here to make music out to be a philosophical truth.

6. On 11/19/09 10:09 AM, Sergio Hernandez said:

   

   Like I said, Sean, part of me dies every time I’m reminded of your Radiohate. But Twitter’s 140 character limit kept me from telling you that love autotomy regenerates itself almost immediately.

   That being said, Radiohead is the tits but the article is valid in that he’s focusing on those fans who gobble EVERYTHING they do up like delicious pudding.

   No band is infalliable and Radiohead is no different.

7. On 11/19/09 10:38 AM, sammy said:

   

   I will say OK Computer as their peak, but I don’t know what the hell happened after that. They were on track to be the biggest rock band around…instead, we have to deal with Bono’s dumb ass.

8. On 11/19/09 10:42 AM, lucas said:

   

   in rainbows is a near perfect record. now it’s crazy how some of their fans look up to them as gods almost, but at the same time i cant think of any band who that posess their musicianship with their song writing abilities and still put out cd’s that sound different than any of their others (amnesiac being the exception) and move into a different direction, yet it’s still radiohead. what sets them apart from most bands is that ,imo, they challenge themselves more than most bands. that is what makes radiohead good. how many current bands can you think of where a member(s) has a degree in music and they actually apply skillfully in their songwriting. that is a very short list and radiohead sits at the top. that is what makes radiohead special.

9. On 11/19/09 10:57 AM, Chris Berseth said:

   

   “No band is infalliable and Radiohead is no different.”

   I completely agree. People are ridiculous when it comes to their worship of certain bands (Radiohead, U2 and The Beatles to name a few…)

10. On 11/19/09 12:17 PM, Bobby said:

    

    So, my biggest problem with the Spin List is that it simultaneously states that Radiohead kinda blow, and that Lady Gaga is a genius. Neither of which could you say are wholly true, or completely inacurate. (I do find it interesting that they are both toiling in the same musical soil, that is to say they are both, in their own way, regurgitating electronic music to more mainstream audiences.) Radiohead have made some terribly brilliant songs and records, but they have made some real crap too. much like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, U2, or any other great Rock and Roll artist you care to mention. All of which have their ravenous fans who will, if you pay any attention to them, ruin the entire experience for you.

    I would like to have a Radiohead Pie with Lady Gaga topping for all my desserts however.

11. On 11/19/09 1:44 PM, lucas said:

    

    really? lady gaga a genius? she’ll be forgotten about in 5 years. a flash in the pan marketing machine is all she is. compared to radiohead, a band with proven staying power. the little bit of credibility that spin had is slipping. as annoying as the fans who worship Radiohead, U2 and The Beatles are, they’re much much better than a fan who worships phish or dmb. can’t think of anyone more annoying than them. well, maybe diehard dream theater fans….

12. On 11/19/09 9:05 PM, j said:

    

    “plus my actual distaste for them as a band might not be so great if people weren’t doing what norris describes in the article.”

    i see your point. and they have certainly put out a lot of boring shit! when they’re good though, they’re very very good.

13. On 11/20/09 1:10 AM, daniel gleason said:

    

    for all the people saying they’ve put out some shit, i’d love to hear what you think is shitty that they’ve done

14. On 11/20/09 10:10 AM, sammy said:

    

    The entire Kid A album, and most of Hail to the Thief.

15. On 11/20/09 10:18 AM, Bobby said:

    

    Pablo Honey was okay at best, but you could tell they were going to do something really great on their next album, which just happened to be The Bends which was amazing. Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief just kinda crap.

16. On 11/22/09 4:27 AM, daniel gleason said:

    

    i completely disagree about kid a. i dont really like pablo honey, but i agree it showed incredible potential. to say that amnesiac and hail to thief are crap is just being kinda lazy. there are incredible songs on both records. pyramid song, i might be wrong, there there, and 2+2=5 are 4 of their best songs

    hail to the thief has too many songs if anything. how can you deny “you and whose army” off of amnesiac? i think those records just had the misfortune of following ok computer and kid a, two of the most influential records of the past 15-20 years in my opinion

17. On 11/22/09 7:00 AM, j said:

    

    “pyramid song” ftw.

18. On 11/25/09 3:13 PM, Floatingworld said:

    

    I am a pretty ‘big fan’ of Radiohead(if I can call myself that) but I really don’t like ‘Pablo Honey’ at all and I also thought ‘In Rainbows’ was just ok. I don’t even like every song on ‘The Bends’ either. I do however love ‘Ok Computer’ and their probably most hated albums ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’.
    Call me what you want. Another pretenious,stupid idiot of a fan but hear me out. I don’t think Radiohead is a perfect band. I downright hate some of their songs(example:House Of Cards and I’m not a big fan of Creep)

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