Customer Reviews

Radiodread

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Easy Star All-Stars have taken the same magic that rendered "Dub Side of the Moon" a phenomenon and applied it to another of the twentieth century's greatest recordings: "OK Computer." Most tributes phonographically copy the original band or fall embarrassingly short in the attempt. Both types are dull. A good tribute pays homage to the parent while simultaneously making a fresh interpretation. "Radiodread" accomplishes this goal in a meaningful way. The primary genre here is roots reggae with tones of dub, ska, rock and soul. Naturally some songs work better than others, but as a whole the recording achieves a highly psychedelic interpretation. While packed with quality guests, it is the contribution of Toots & the Maytals that lends legitimacy to "Radiodread" as a reggae project. If the listener appreciates both Radiohead and reggae music, this is sure to resonate. In what is now a stack of Radiohead tributes, "Radiodread" finds itself alongside Christopher O'Riley's work -somewhere near the top.

Radiodread is good.. great even! But there's something about the album that lacks that cohesive feel that the band achieved with Dub Side of the Moon. Ok Computer is one of my all time favorite albums, and I couldn't have been more excited when I heard they were covering it. Still.. something feels off. Their choice of guests don't always work, and some of the songs feel more like straight up Radiohead covers than they do reggae songs. Airbag, Let Down, Climbing Up the Walls, and Lucky definetely shine on this album. Unfortunately songs like Karma Police and Paranoid Android fall short. Don't let this dismay you though, the album is great!

This is a great album. The only flaws it has, if you could call them that, is that it stays too close to the original "OK Computer". There are a lot of points in which they could have deviated a bit more into Jamaican territories than to go with the soul/R&B/rock feel that this album is laced with. But the production is fantastic and the performances are very tight, as expected out of this crew.

Radiodread is a fantastic album that follows in the footsteps of Easy Star's dubside of the moon - Taken at face value, it would be considered a cover album, but it is more like a complete revision of the original, a great work in it's own right. The complexity of turning Radiohead into reggae music seems daunting, but Easy Star pulled it off magnificently. I was never a huge radiohead fan but I am a big easy star fan, and they took an album I thought was OK (OK computer, sorry for the pun) and made it incredible. The roster of artists is fantastic too, especially with people like Toots and the Maytals - These are huge, legendary names of Reggae and their talents are displayed quite well on this disc. I noticed in another review someone said Karma Police and Paranoid Android aren't up to par - I can't disagree more, these are the obvious highlights of the album. I've played this to a ton of people at parties already and it turns heads and sways hips. Sluggy ranks, dollarman, and rankin joe from Dubside are truly missed, but the new additions such as Sugar Minott and Toots more than make up for their absence. An expertly produced, brilliant revision that cannot simply be passed off as a 'cover' album. One can only think what Easy Star will turn to next. If you liked Radiodread, check out Dub Side of the Moon, an equally brilliant album. 100% recommended for any Radiohead or Reggae fan.

Easy Star All-Stars' (ESAS) 2006 project to cover one of the decade's greatest albums is an ambitious project. "Radiodread" is the group's track by track rendering of Radiohead's 1997 album "OK Computer" into a reggae record. The record is faithful to the original songs in terms of melodic and harmonic lines, down to electronic details and lyrics, changing only the instrumentation to reflect reggae sensibilities and featuring a range of different guest artists to re-adapt (or entirely copy) Thom Yorke's vocals. The upside of this is that Radiohead fans get the opportunity to see Radiohead entirely through the different lens of reggae, to get a kick out of the humorous and deft reinterpretation of favourite tracks, or even to appreciate the record as a stand-alone. The downside is that certain tracks which emulate the original to a tee may appear to want more creative freedom, other than just dressing Radiohead up in a removable reggae costume. In all, however, ESAS has managed to create some gems that have discovered and explored new aspects and realms of Radiohead, and makes "Radiodread" an album worth your time.

The first thing that hits the listener (Radiohead-informed or not) is how most tracks stylistically embody the elements of reggae; the strong, pulsing and straightforward offbeat, the instrumentation and the Jamaican vocals. It surprised me to laughter initially when I heard familiar songs like "Let Down" reinterpreted. Some comparison is needed here: the original song exudes a melancholic feel as Thom Yorke sings, "Let Down...Crushed like a bug..." while paired with the sounds of a dreamy guitar. ESAS' take of the track features the distinctive offbeat of reggae that gives the song an upbeat feel typically uncharacteristic of Radiohead. The use of bold, tooting brass in the place of the guitar further contributes the happy mood of the song, and it invites one to dancing. The vocals provided by The Maytals deliver the same lyrics in a style that complements the song's lively mood. As he cries, "I say, let Down!" there is almost a sense of celebration. I love this volte-face in approach and execution of the track. "Let Down" exemplifies the best in this album in its interpretive effort of Radiohead.

A thing I'm particularly interested in is how ESAS execute the digital manipulations and effects with hear in OK Computer, which features many elements of electronic music. For example, the original track "Airbag" features subtle electronic tinkerings in the ambient background, whether it be the use of reverb, distortion of instruments, or just decorative electronic sounds that are layered into the song. ESAS' rendition of the song seems to be more traditionally arranged at first, however they play close attention to the details of the original tracks and include (though minimally less) their own version of electronic noise : a strange and funny metallic sound that resembles the noise made when you hit a pan of swirling water. Horace Andy's vocals also undergo multi-layering and reverb in the last parts of the song. To further boast about their understanding of Radiohead's electronic sensibilities, ESAS ends Radiodread with an additional track: the dub version of "Airbag", since dub is the electronic branch of reggae music. This track is treated with much more electronic effects, including the use of reverb, the sampling and overlaying of Andy's original vocals, the brass instruments and the recurrent, strange electronic noise that gives the track a very intentional electronic nature.

Though ESAS is (no doubt) conscious of all electronic details of the original album, they do the right thing by not replicating every single detail; instead they attempt to reinvent the cumulative effect these details give the entire song. For example, in original tracks like "Climbing up the walls", Thom Yorke's voice is electronically filtered to sound disembodied and strange to give the track a paranoid feel; when he sings "climbing up the waaaalls" the electronic wail is alienating. Tamar-Kali sings the ESAS' rendition and her vocals are clear and not processed. ESAS does try to reproduce the closed-in feel of the original track by creating a lot of echoes in their version, processing some instrumentation and layering Tamar-Kali's voice when she sings "climbing up the waaaalls", however whether they do it effectively enough is open to debate. In fact, one might say (as I have before) that a completely different rendition of the song will be more successful.

It is hard enough to attempt to cover a legendary album and do it reggae-style. ESAS' close knowledge of Radiohead have enabled them to produce some great tracks with characters of their own. The only faults of the albums is where tracks are reproduced almost identically with only a momentary wow-it's-reggae-Radiohead revelation. The creative dilemma remains whether to be adventurous and deviate more from the original, or to be faithful and try to encapsulate Radiohead's old spirit. Whatever the case, where ESAS has done it right, they have done it well.

What an enjoyable trip! Especially "Let Down", Toots makes it a work of praise to the heavens; "Fitter, Happier", the true genius moment where the Rastaman's paranoia comes out; and "Exit Music", Sugar Minott has a good thing going on that one. Only bummer: "Subterranean Homesick Alien", probably my fave track on the original - George Michael seems to be singing it here, not that I mind George but it's too white-sounding to be included here. Am I in trouble?

One of the greatest cover albums ever!!!....tough it is raggae music artists sucessfully left radioheads spirits in the songs.

I stumbled on this while sampling some new releases. I loved OK Computer, and this new interpretation works for me. There's something very cool about this album. I can't wait to have it on the hi-fi at the next party. The arrangements are spot-on, complex, and well-executed. Well done!

Every Easy Star All-Stars album astounds me. Reggae is always a good genre, but when you take the best of reggae and use it to re-create already amazing songs, you can't go wrong. Out of all the Easy Star All-Stars albums, this one is my favorite. In this album, just as in all their others, I prefer the Easy Star All-Stars version to the original. I would love a chance to see them live. Check out their tour dates now and see them for yourself - I'm going to see them at Hangout!

Like many other people, I really liked Dub Side of the Moon. Besides being a refreshing take on the Floyd classic, the album was simply packed with great dub - throbbing baselines, massive amounts of reverb, cracking snare hits, smoky grooves.

So why does Radiodread disappoint so much? First of all, we should make one thing straight - this isn't a "re-imagining" of anything. It's a note-for-note cover of OK Computer with guitar chords on 2 + 4 and no h's pronounced - and that's about all that's different. What made Dub Side so great was where it took the material in new directions - the jungle breakbeat on "On the Run," the tricked-out dub rendition of "Great Gig," the toast rap in the middle of "Money." None of that can be found here. Instead, we're left with straight-ahead clones of familiar songs that don't have nearly the depth and replayability that Dub Side does. It's a novelty record with a heaping portion of wasted potential.