Module 8

Module 8 covers an enormous amount of material.  With it being the most recent period of vernacular music, I feel the most connected to the material presented than with any other module.  Radiohead is a band I am not too familiar with.  I don't listen to a lot of alternative rock, but interestingly enough, I have played a jazz band arrangement of "Bodysnatchers" in the last year.  I know how difficult the parts were to put together so I can only imagine that the original arrangement for the rock band would be difficult to play also.

I am very and about paying attention to lyrics when I listen to music.  I tend to hear the music, and I'll sing the words, but I very rarely pay attention to the meaning behind them.  The analysis in the book was very helpful to understand the background of Radiohead in regards to the music industry.  With the breakdown, it is very easy to hear how the lyrics of the song reflect the band's thoughts on the music industry.  I applaud them for going against the "norm" and choosing to be independent in order to write and perform the music that they feel is right for them.  I think that is very important, especially for an alt rock band whose purpose is to represent an ALTERNATIVE to popular music.  When Radiohead made this album available, they let people pay whatever they thought was appropriate.  By owning everything themselves and the average purchase price being $2.26 an album, Radiohead made out with a $2.7 million profit.  Obviously they had already made a name for themselves prior to this album, but it stands to reason that it IS possible to make money in the music industry with a corporate-backing.