One is the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock band Rush, and the other is a band regarded as one of the best artists of the 2000s. Although their paths never crossed in terms of collaboration or live performance, Geddy Lee is quite impressed with Radiohead’s music, as he has revealed multiple times.
In fact, there was a time when Lee thought they gave him hope for traditional rock’s future. The musician also named the album of the band that is the manifestation of his opinion, and we’re here to bring the details of his previous views on Radiohead as well as their iconic record, ‘OK Computer.’
Geddy Lee Is A Fan Of Radiohead
Geddy Lee first expressed his admiration for Radiohead during a 2000 interview with Global Bass Online. When the musician was asked about the bands he was listening to, he named Radiohead as one of them. Furthermore, Lee particularly praised frontman Thom Yorke’s singing and said the band was very interesting.
About Radiohead, Lee said:
“I like the music that Radiohead is putting together. I love Thom Yorke’s singing. I love their song structures. They’re a very interesting band.”
A decade later, the Rush lead vocalist talked about Radiohead in an interview with Terrorizer while promoting the band’s final album ‘Clockwork Angels,’ He said that they are a progressive rock band with whom he’s always impressed. Lee also didn’t forget to mention that the band is incredibly talented as well.
Lee’s statement about Radiohead follows:
“For me, you look at a band like Radiohead, who I am always impressed with. I think they’re enormously talented. To me, they’re a progressive rock band. You don’t have to sound a particular way to be a progressive rock band, and that’s my view on it.
We are a hard rock band. We are a progressive rock band. But our roots are in hard rock more than they are in ELP or something like that. It’s different strokes for different folks.”
It appears that Geddy Lee likes several things about Radiohead, from their progressive sound that reflects each of the band members’ talent to their song structures. There’s also another aspect of the band Lee admires deeply; let’s take a look.
Geddy Lee Thinks Radiohead Makes Traditional Rock
During an interview with The Quietus back in 2012, Geddy Lee was asked to list his 13 favorite albums of all time, and one of them was Radiohead’s 1977 album entitled ‘OK Computer.’ The band’s third studio album received critical acclaim and has been cited by listeners, critics, and musicians as one of the greatest albums of all time.
According to Lee, Radiohead continued to carry on the traditional rock sound just like Yes and Genesis, as they blend old and new in their music. Their harmonic fusion of the past and the future was shown in their album named ‘OK Computer’ and it gave Lee hope for rock’s future.
About the band’s traditional sound, Lee stated:
“To me, Radiohead carried on the tradition of bands like Yes. They are always adventurous and challenging, and yet they have remained ahead of the game, really. I love the way they blend old and new, including contemporary beats and instrumentation.
But again, and like Yes and Genesis, they still have great songs at the heart of it. Especially on ‘OK Computer,‘ which completely fired me up and gave me hope for the future. Great music in every sense of the word.”
Geddy Lee isn’t the only one who thinks Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ is a masterpiece as the album won numerous awards, was included in countless lists. The Library of Congress also named it in the National Recording Registry as ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’ in 2014.
