Customer Reviews

Star Profile: Radiohead

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First, the number one problem with this CD is that it's only one track. You'll have to fast forward through the 45:00 minutes to reach a spot towards the end. It would have been better to divide the audio into chapters just like the accompaning book. The sound quality is poor. Most of the time in interveiws Thom is too quiet and mumbly. The narrator is too loud and pushy in contrast, and he doesn't seem really appreciate the subject (at least not enough to make you love it). The 100 page book that the CD comes with only really contains about 10 pages of text- the rest of the space is filled with big, fancy fonts and streached out photos. If you're a serious Radiohead fan (serious enough to buy such a CD anyway) then most of the things said ("Revealed") on the CD are old news, stuff you've already seen in articles or on the internet. If you're just casually intrested in Radiohead, then by all means get this shoddy compilation. You probably won't love the music any more than without it, but maybe you'll then want to buy some of their music. You'd be much better off in that case buying The Bends, OK Computer, or Airbag EP.

This is a box set containing two items: a 100-page book and a cd. I read the book first, and it is a very good tracking of Radiohead's career up to OK Computer, but doesn't really reveal any deep information about the songs or anything. Very good history of the band in their early days though. The discography in the back, though, is incomplete and even lists a few songs under the wrong title. The cd book is pretty satisfying, though. However, the cd rehashes most of the same information in the book, and at times feels like it is written with a different mindset.... ie, the book calls "Planet Telex" one of the Bends' weaker tracks, and the cd itself calls it "explosive." The narrarator's voice gets annoying at times and you know he's not a big Radiohead fan, just someone reading text, especially when he messes up, curses, and starts again (I was surprised they didn't edit this out). There are some clips of interviews on the cd, but only about a quarter of them are from the band and are of bad quality, and the rest are from a wide variety of people just simply giving their opinion about Radiohead... not very interesting. They even interview a "self-proclaimed Radiohead nut." Heck, I'm a self-proclaimed Radiohead nut. A lot of the interview information on the cd seems like filler. I bought this used for about $1.35, and it was worth it. However, I highly recommend paying above $10 for this. It is simply disappointing.

Let me tell you, if you are planning to buy anything Radiohead, that this is almost the worst thing you can get. The only reason I got it was because I saw it at the dollar store, and keep in mind that I am a HUGE Radiohead collecter. I have all 6 of their albums, their I might be wrong Live EP, their Iron Lung EP, their Itch EP, Go To Sleep 1, Pyramid Song Single, and the Knives Out Single, as well as two interview discs. This one was the worst of the two.
If you see it at the dollar store, pick it up. Otherwise, don't bother.