Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless

by Martin Clarke

The distinctive combination of Thom Yorke’s beautiful yet chilling vocals, richly textured guitars, and social consciousness has made Radiohead one of world's most successful and influential bands. Author Martin Clarke chronicles their history from the early days in Oxford to the slacker-friendly single "Creep" to their second, multi-platinum album The Bends . This edition updates the story with in-depth accounts of innovative albums Kid A, Amnesiac, and In Rainbows, and the new world tour. Hysterical and Useless is a probing study of a band that is also a phenomenon, and of its charismatic leader.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Criticism

200 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book if you're really into Radiohead - I'm having trouble finding any books about them.
It describes Radiohead's career from when they first got together until Amnesiac. It doesn't go in-depth - it reads more like those band press releases (bios?) in extended form. Also, it has a lot of typos, so if you're irritated by that, it will probably drive you crazy.
I only gave it 3 stars because I'm obsessed with the band and devour anything I can find about them. With a different subject, I probably would have gone lower.

[Julius · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book about an interesting band. The author lays out all the facts about the entire career of the band up until their 2003 album, Hail to the Thief. Afterwards is a bit of a clumsy afterthought and 5 years gets squeezed into 10 pages. The author also didn’t have any personal access to the band, so everything is sourced from public sources. Also the constant praising of Thom being a tortured genius got a bit annoying, especially when the praise already starts when he’s only written Creep and Pop is Dead.

I 100% recommend it to anyone who likes the band. The pictures alone are worth having the book for. The editing is done well and the author does write nicely and in a way that makes pages just fly by.

[Mattias · Rating 1 out of 5]

They are a great band and interesting characters so they deserve a great book. This isnt it. Its ok but very dry and poorly written and the writer havent had any access to the band at all so its all filtered through magazine interviews. If you are a big fan read it otherwise dont go near it.

[Zara · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it was a relatively informative look at the history of Radiohead, it was filled more with vacuous gratuity and lousy writing than legitimate musical criticism, and often portrayed Thom Yorke as some rock deity, immune to error or ego. Maybe I just have it out for rock and roll journalists...

[Arturo · Rating 3 out of 5]

You will enjoy this read by listening to Radiohead's discography in chronological order.

[yatesjenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty difficult to finish. Horrid writing and absent editing. I own it strictly for the photos. It has a pretty cover.

[Cameron Hogg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read and informative but lots of typos.

[BlueMonster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book presents a thorough biographical story of Radiohead's music carrier and focuses strongly on Thom Yorke's perosnality and how it influences the development of the band.

As much as Thom Yorke fascinates the reader, the other members of the band are slightly forgotten. Clarke should have showed more of their back-stage relationship within the band, between the brothers and possibly more about each member's personal life.

My favorite band, Radiohead, does not ever stop to amaze me. I learned a lot about how they succeeded in turning their lack of luck into a success with commitment, ambition, down-to-earth behavior and lack of rock'n'roll glamour and stupidity.

As a whole, it was an informative book for a true fan like me. I envy the author for his awesome carrier choice - musical biographer!

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this at a time I was a huge Radiohead fan, and was glad I spent the money I did on it. Clarke told me everything about Radiohead that I wanted to know, and more, and took me through the lives of each of the band members, how they came together, and the different stages through which they achieved stardom. Includes lots of colour pictures and I would regard an essential for any Radiohead fan.

[Hildur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to look into if you're a big fan of the band like I am, but not very memorable in the end.
I should have known not to buy something that wasn't written by someone in the band. It's a bit like reading a wikipedia article, but hey, a teenage fangirl just has to buy everything with her favourite band's name on it, doesn't she?

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Radiohead. It’s nice to know some of their backstory.

However, this book is garbage. It’s as if no one edited a first draft. There are many spelling and grammatical errors, and the meat of the book seemed like it was all gleaned from articles and secondary interviews.

Don’t waste your time by reading this book.

[Shana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the descriptiveness of each song and the discography in the back is great. The book was insightful, but mostly focused on each album rather than the band mates themselves... MOSTLY... good quick read.

[Haili Hillin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way cool.

[Jimmy Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best band...ever.

[Adam Mayorga · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read but I think only the hardcover Radiohead fan would really enjoy this.

[Jeff]

I really like Radiohead.

[Batisse · Rating 2 out of 5]

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