the second time as farce, indeed.
fwiw, i should clarify that i've always seen this record as a disappointment, and every time i listen to it the point is reinforced. it's not that it's a poor record, it's just kind of lacklustre. the high points are great, but there's really only about an ep's worth of strong material on it. it's about 75% filler.
the reality is that radiohead fell into a predictable consequence of a long period of touring with the disc that is almost unavoidable. the lesson for younger bands is that you can't come out of two or three years worth of touring with the same passion for music - you're going to get desensitized at some point. it's a consequence of the lifestyle. deterministic. irreversible.
there's a thousand precursors,
and a thousand more will follow. you just can't make the jump
immediately. you need to recoup. if you don't, you fall into farce,
yourself.
they eventually took that time away, but only after they'd deadened
themselves to the process that much further by pushing through when they
should have stepped back. as a band, they never recovered from the kid a
tour.