Radiohead/Headscratchers

• Why is the album Pablo Honey disliked by most of the music community? I realize that they were yet to figure out their signature sound, but that's true for a lot of debuts (with some exceptions). I think it's just unfair.
  • The massive exposure that "Creep" got drove away a lot of the fans who didn't want to be associated with the people who only knew Radiohead for that one song. It's made worse by the fact that the band's done a lot of sonic experimentation since then, and that a lot of people still associate Radiohead with "Creep" and nothing else. It's more Hype Backlash than anything, especially since there are other good songs on there (although Your Mileage May Vary on this aspect as well).
• Why is "Climbing Up the Walls" usually cited as some kind of High Octane Nightmare Fuel type of track? Granted, I've always found the music HONF entry to be largely narmy (bad extreme metal lyrics splattered with words like 'blood', 'death', or 'vengeance' are not scary), but the song has an epic bassline and great string arrangements. The part at 3:05 onwards is a lot more awesome than it is disturbing/scary. "Fitter Happier" on the other hand...
  • Maybe this is more a question of your psychological state. Violent lyrics losing their shock factor has more to do with Values Dissonance than anything else. They can still work if the image they craft is vivid and well-thought.
  • Simple, Climbing Up the Walls is about going violently insane. And that's damn scary.
• Why is "Electioneering" such a disliked song? I've read a lot of otherwise-glowing reviews of OK Computer that inevitably trash it as the one weak spot on the album. I mean, its not the best song on the album but there's nothing particularly offensive about it. It seems like a fairly good song. Am I missing something?
  • I've heard some good things about the song, so the trashing you're referring to is definitely not universal. It's probably because it's such a contrast to "Fitter Happier" and "Climbing Up The Walls".
  • Based on stuff I read on some Radiohead forums a couple years ago, some people seem to think the song is an odd one out on OK Computer. I honestly can't fathom why. It doesn't seem radically different to me, and it's a solid entry on the album. I like it, but it's never stood out to me one way or another. Go figure.
  • It's definitely a jolt to the system compared to the mostly slow/mid-tempo songs all around it. But I think the album needs it at that point. It's one of my favorite tracks, and even though Radiohead swears OKC isn't a concept album, "Electioneering" fits snugly into the narrative that exists only in my mind.