I have to admit that I was a very big Radiohead fan. I had all their albums and several imports too. Some of their stuff was only released in Japan but I got my hands on them. When OK Computer came out it was not only a huge critical success but also a huge commercial success and everybody thought that it would keep getting better and better. I guess our expectations were too high. I know there are some people out there who think that Kid A, Amnesiac and the newer albums are great but I disagree. I think they are a mess. I honestly tried to give Kid A a chance but I just couldn’t get into it.

I remember reading an interview with one of the lead singers of the Dandy Warhols which said that their warm-ups sound better than Kid A. That’s not a direct quote but it was something like that. At the time I was annoyed by such a comment, thinking that Thom Yorke had more talent in his little finger than that entire band but that comment stuck with me.

I couldn’t get into Amnesiac or Hail to the Thief but when Radiohead came to Japan I really wanted to see them. My friends said that Radiohead’s concerts are amazing. I figured what the hell. Even if don’t really know the music from their latest three albums I can enjoy the old songs. What a mistake! They did not play one song from their old album and I remember at one point the band members spent about 20 minutes lying on the floor playing with the guitar pedals. I was extremely bored. It was the worst concert I have ever been to.

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Today I came across an article that says that EMI will be a releasing a Radiohead greatest hits collection in several forms – double CD, single CD and quadruple vinyl formats. I won’t be buying it because I have the original albums and I don’t think there will be any new material I want to hear.

One thing that can be said about Radiohead though is that they have a unique vision and this can be seen not only in their music but also in the way they promote themselves. For example, they recently had a “pay as much as you like” pricing system for their new downloadable album. Their t-shirts are also not the usual band t-shirt fare and in many cases, if you are not a Radiohead fan you wouldn’t know that they are Radiohead T-Shirts. Below are some Radiohead Tee Shirts available at Jiggy.com.