Music Ranking
It is pretty good, but I don’t much care for slower, sadder, more contemplative music.
7/10
Album Art Ranking
Cool but confusing.
7/10
Music Ranking
I have been listening to this album regularly since its release in 1997. But since beginning this music project and listening to so many different styles of music and so many different musicians across different eras my perception of this music has actually changed.
On this most recent listen I was struck by the similarities in the musicality to some of Zappa’s work where themes remain consistent but the instruments or the instrument sound is altered to play a new version of the theme.
I particularly noticed this in the song Paranoid Android which I find to be such a rewarding song to listen to. But I noticed that where the guitar sound changes to become more distorted and the melody changes only slightly on the theme for 30 seconds and then to a new style again with more distortion it is sort of like Zappa's heads that repeat.
I guess that Paranoid Android is comprised of stitched sections that form a mini-suite. Distinct sections, abrupt mood shifts, different guitar tones, rhythmic feels, even different emotional registers — all glued together deliberately, which to me is very Zappa.
Commonly Zappa uses “Heads” where there is a theme → variation → contrast → return, often with only subtle melodic continuity just like in Paranoid Android where Radiohead introduces a motif, mutates it slightly. then abandons it for a new idea, while keeping it feeling coherent.
Of course Zappa leans more into jazz, modern classical, and absurdist pastiche while Radiohead stays rooted in rock harmony, stretched with: modal shifts, odd meters, non-functional progressions.
I learned that Radiohead was consciously breaking away from verse–chorus rock at that point. They were listening to: prog (Yes, King Crimson), modern classical, and experimental rock structures. Which seems very Zappa. One would likely say Zappa sits right at the crossroads of those traditions — so even without direct influence, they end up using similar compositional strategies.
Radiohead doesn’t sound like Zappa, but they think structurally like him at moments — especially in how themes are treated as flexible “heads” rather than fixed hooks. Paranoid Android is one of the clearest examples of that shared DNA.
9.8/10
Album Art Ranking
My favourite album cover. I do not even know why….
10.0/10