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rock as a genre is significantly older, and probably with more breadth than hip hop.
your argument presupposes that a 2nd-tier rock album (assuming that is the case for "OK") cannot possibly be better than a top-tier hip hop one (assuming that is the case for "illmatic").
or vice versa.
it's like if i asked: "which is better, sprite or coffee?" and you said: "Sprite can't possibly be better, because it isn't even the best soda."
you aren't actually comparing the two items individually and on their merits.
22. "I mean you could stop rock at the same period rap is at right today" In response to Reply # 11
(of course that wouldn't quite get to the point OK Computer was recorded but you could toss it in for comparison against the rest as the exception).
I'll still maintain the same.
The mid-90s to rap was basically the late 60s/early 70s for rock, the zeitgist for the album era of the form.
So if you love rap & rock anywhere close to equally you would be fairly unlikely to say that an album that would be in a Top 5 Rap Album list could be inferior to an album that is barely cracking a Rock Top 25 list.
If your preferences are strongly in the direction of one genre or the other, then you're far more likely to choose it.
But for me on an individual level, I place Illmatic above OK Computer without hesitation.
I enjoy the album more & despite both coming out within a few years of each other it's not even a contest which one I've played more in the past 15 years.
I guess that's partly because OK Computer is more of a 'chore' listen while Illmatic is something you can bump on any occasion but I'd likely cite that as one of the advantages for the latter over the former anyway.
OK Computer is more something you can go to sleep to or write to like Dark Side but not quite as strong in the songs department.
8. "Illmatic" In response to Reply # 0 Fri Feb-10-12 02:50 AM by Jakob Hellberg
I don't like "OK computer" at all and the fact that the community on rateyourmusic has voted it the best album of all time is one of the reasons I don't dig that site (several other reasons as well-discogs.com is better now when they fixed the look)...
17. "its my theory that " In response to Reply # 15 Fri Feb-10-12 10:29 AM by woe.is.me.
people who prefer kid a to ok computer a) got introduced to radiohead via Kid A b) are primarily hip hop heads who like the electronic aspects of it.
this isn't a bad thing necessarily. i think it just helps frame that point of view more.
i don't think there's any dispute that Kid A didn't have nearly as much impact as "OK Computer" did. (that doesn't mean kid a isn't "better." it just dont' think it was as big a deal. if anything, it was a big deal b/c it was the album AFTER OK. I remember standing in line at Tower Records at midnight to pick up the deluxe edition).
I like HTTT a lot too. and think it's underrated. it's got its weak spots though (see: the gloaming, imo). i definitely would not say it is as good as OK.
18. "Your theory is wrong." In response to Reply # 17 Fri Feb-10-12 11:46 AM by BSharp
>people who prefer kid a to ok computer >a) got introduced to radiohead via Kid A >b) are primarily hip hop heads who like the electronic aspects
I preferred The Bends to OKC throughout the late 90s. When Kid A came out, it was instantly my favorite album of theirs.
How can you judge impact like that? I felt like Kid A had a greater impact as an album. I feel like OKC's impact was extended, boosted and/or bolstered by its music videos. Either way... Debating an album's impact is so subjective, though.
19. "not being argumentative..." In response to Reply # 17
but how exactly do you quantify what "impact" each album had? By the impact it had on you? If so, that's kinda flawed. I don't fit either of the descriptors you laid out for ones who prefer Kid A over OK...I just think it's better.
...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft
25. "you're right about that" In response to Reply # 19 Fri Feb-10-12 02:21 PM by woe.is.me.
virtually everything in this post is going to be based on opinion, not cold hard numbers.
i do have the perception that OK Computer was seen as a fairly transformative/sea change album. whereas kid a, while great, was not as much so. because to me, the things they were doing electronically and with programming were not at all new. they were new to Radiohead, and maybe to some of their fans. but it almost seemed like them trying to catch up to what was being done in other genres, in some respect. i'm not trying to take away from what is a great album, at all.
honestly, the vast majority of people ive come across who prefer kid a, are people on this board who got into with radiohead during the kid a era. hence my generalization/theory.
so its just anecdotal personal experience. all of the indie/rock heads i know prefer Ok Computer. not a fact, just my experience.
like the poster above, i was a huge fan of "The Bends" and didn't like ok computer for the first few months after its release. it's my 2nd favorite radiohead album, personally.
21. "hahaha not even trying to be a dick, but i disagree w/ every point" In response to Reply # 17
of your theory...
my counter theory:
Kid A is more popular w/ the music nerds/ART fans because it separated radiohead... OK Computer was a landmark album w/ a ton of impact and imitators... one of the most sorrowfully beautiful albums ever recorded... the world took notice... everyone is on the edge of their seat for the follow-up... and where most bands would've seen their success and thought, "ok, i need to replicate or top this.. or at least ride this massive success," RH said "oh y'all like that? we're famous?... fuck it, we're gonna extend left field by another mile... then we're gonna come from that place..... and then not release any singles"
... just so happened that Kid A, even in how different it was, happened to be one of the best albums of a generation... it was the official line in the sand where they said "we're radiohead, everyone else is on the other side of that line"... and it's what differentiates them from just about everyone else.. they're a genre unto themselves and i think Kid A was the first signal of that.. i think THAT's why Kid A gets more play from a lot of art fans..
and then some people might just like the album better than OKC... personally, they're both in a tie behind In Rainbows, if we're ranking RH albums... i'm almost inclined to throw Amnesiac and King of Limbs in that tie as well... HTTT is still very good my most standards and has essential radiohead tracks.. but i mean, i don't think it's underrated really..
i also think Kid A had just as much or more "impact" than OKC... in a different kind of way though...
my problem with Amenisiac is that it was sort of presented like "the Kid A leftovers." I might be wrong about that, but its how i remember feeling at the time.
"In Rainbows," to me, was their "boring easy adult listening album." It really didn't resonate with me as a whole.
Without having listened to the whole catalog in quite a while, I'd probably rank the top 3:
OK Computer The Bends Kid A or HTTT (have to go back and confirm).
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