Radiohead are the band who made the awesome "Creep", and when that made them famous they turned their back on it for years, though now include it occasionally in their sets. After their first two albums they moved into electronic ambient music and acquired a huge critical reputation, though also a public perception of being rather nerdy, pretentious and boring. Their third album, OK Computor, is increasingly found in the number one spot as Greatest Album Ever; they are the most acclaimed band active and for some the greatest band to ever exist. Their music is widely seen as difficult to listen to and generally uncommercial, though - through a strong fan base - their albums tend to reach the high spots in charts. Their total sales is around 30 million, which compares poorly with comparable artists such as Pink Floyd who have sold 45 millions copies of just A Dark Side of The Moon, U2 with around 150 million total sales and Coldplay with 100 million sales. Modern artists such as Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Drake, Taylor Swift, and Rihanna have achieved sales of between 150 and 250 million, even though none released any material prior to the year 2000. So, acclaimed and successful, but not widely popular. Their music is often described as miserable, clinical, unlistenable, droning, dreary, pretentious, and computer noise bullshit (sometimes by fans themselves). However, they are admired for their serious intent and authenticity, and their constant development of their music and new approaches to recording, production and distribution. Their total absorption in the music and the product, including the cover art, is reminiscent of the heyday of the vinyl era in the late 60s/early 70s when authenticity, originality, progression, and art were seen as more important than sales. Their interest in and incorporation of music forms such as jazz and classic and experimental (such as ambient and krautrock) is also reminiscent of that period, though, being a modern band, they also include hip-hop and a more refined electronica than was available in the 60s and 70s. Their influences range from the Beatles, Phil Spector and recordings such as Terry Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air, though I am uncertain if they have yet genuinely surpassed those sources, albeit they are from the 60s. With the internet and downloading providing a greater knowledge and access to current music and a greater spending power and more leisure time of consumers, new music artists have larger fan bases and significantly higher sales than was possible in the 60s and 70s. If the 60s music revolution was happening with today's facilities I suspect that sales of music by Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Love, the Doors, Bob Dylan, Laura Nyro, etc, would be astronomical. This is not to diminish Radiohead's achievements, but to put them in some form of context. While they are certainly today's big thing, do they genuinely have the musical depth and resonance to outdo their influences and/or to be a lasting phenomenon?
Wikipedia:
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums, percussion, backing vocals). They have worked with producer Nigel Godrich and cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994.
After signing to EMI in 1991, Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992. It became a worldwide hit after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Their popularity and critical standing rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to international fame; with an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, it is often acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s[1] and one of the best albums of all time.[2][3][4] The group's next albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), recorded simultaneously, marked a dramatic change in style, incorporating influences from experimental electronic music, 20th-century classical music, krautrock, and jazz. Despite initially dividing listeners, Kid A was later named the best album of the decade by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the Times.
Radiohead's sixth album, Hail to the Thief (2003), mixed rock and electronic music with lyrics inspired by the War on Terror, and was the band's final album for EMI. Their subsequent releases have pioneered alternative release platforms such as pay-what-you-want and BitTorrent. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a download for which customers could set their own price, to critical and chart success. Their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), an exploration of rhythm, was developed using extensive looping and sampling. Their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), prominently featured Jonny Greenwood's orchestral arrangements.
Radiohead have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.[5] Their work places highly in both listener polls and critics' lists of the best music of the 1990s and 2000s.[6][7] In 2005, they were ranked 73rd in Rolling Stone's list of "The Greatest Artists of All Time"; Jonny Greenwood (48th[8]) and O'Brien were both included in Rolling Stone's list of greatest guitarists, and Yorke (66th[9]) in their list of greatest singers.[10] In 2009, Rolling Stone readers voted the group the second-best artist of the 2000s.[11]
AllMusic:
At some point in the early 21st century, Radiohead became something more than a band: they became a touchstone for everything that is fearless and adventurous in rock, inheriting the throne from David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and the Talking Heads. The latter group gave the band its name -- it's an album track on 1986's True Stories -- but Radiohead never sounded much like the Heads, nor did they take much from Bowie, apart from their willingness to experiment. Instead, they spliced Floyd's spaciness with U2's messianic arena rock heft, bridging the gap with guitar skronk borrowed from the '80s American underground. Jonny Greenwood's jagged, brutal interjections on "Creep", the band's 1993 breakthrough hit, recalled the ugly noise of the Pixies and Nirvana, a sound that translated over the expanse of an ocean, but in the throes of the alternative rock explosion of the mid-'90s, Radiohead were the odd band out. America remained besotted with their homegrown sensations, so "Creep" was treated as a one-hit wonder, and at home in England, they were seen as dour art-rock students lacking the glamour of neo-glam sensations Suede, and deliberately dodging the beery singalongs of Oasis. During the peak of Brit-pop in 1995, Radiohead released The Bends, a significant leap forward from their 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, and while that gained them some traction, it was 1997's OK Computer that broke down all the doors for the band and changed alternative rock in the process. Expanding their sound with electronica and unapologetic prog rock suites, Radiohead turned into a different band with OK Computer, and the world followed suit. Soon, whenever rock bands dabbled in electronics, it was derived not from tightly sequenced rhythms, but rather, from glassy textures and introspection, a sensibility pioneered by the quintet. Radiohead doubled down on this aesthetic on 2000's Kid A, a record that traded concise hooks for minimal arrangements and jazz, providing a dividing line between an audience that once loved the group for their guitars and those listeners attracted to the band's aspirations. From this point on, Radiohead would occasionally flirt with concise song structures but were drawn toward unusual paths in both their music and business. Once their contract with EMI expired, they remained an independent band, pioneering different avenues of digital releases. They issued 2007's In Rainbows with little warning, letting listeners pay whatever they'd like for the record -- cementing Radiohead's reputation as a band compelled to look forward, not back.
Britannica:
Radiohead, British rock group that was arguably the most accomplished art-rock band of the early 21st century. This revered quintet made some of the most majestic—if most angst-saturated—music of the postmodern era.
Encyclopedia.com:
Arty English rockers Radiohead have found themselves starring in one the most unusual success stories in alternative music. Dismissed as one-hit wonders for their unexpected 1993 hit “Creep”, in subsequent years the band slowly accrued critical adoration and a devoted cult following; by late 1997, their third album, OK Computer, appeared on year-end lists of one of the most outstanding releases of the year in publications as diverse as People and the Village Voice.
Donald:
A UK rock band, often touted as the new U2 but undoubtedly better than that, who became one of the cornerstone British rock acts of the 1990s. Combining searing emotion with accomplished musicianship, their albums are bold, timely statements of personal insecurity and millennial angst.
Early recordings
 |
| On A Friday Demo 1986 |
The band recorded a demo in 1986 at Abingdon School when called On A Friday, before Jonny Greenwood joined the band, and when they had a saxophonist. This was reviewed in the local paper, where the journalist noted the R.E.M. influence. I can hear Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Soft Boys, The Feelies, The Durutti Column, The Monochrome Set, and other early 80s bands.
 |
| Medicinal Sounds Demo Sept 1987 |
The second demo, Medicinal Sounds, was released Sept 1987, by which time Greenwood was listed as being part of the band.
 |
| Wormwood Demo 1988 |
The third demo, simply called On A Friday, but known as The Wormwood Tape after the studio where it was recorded by Bob Pegg of Fairport Convention, contained three bouncy tracks which sound a bit like Haircut 100. The band had eight members at this time - the five future Radioheaders and three saxophonists.
Official Major Recordings
 |
| "Drill" EP (May 1992) |
The band's first official release is a four track EP. Three of the tracks would later appear on the debut album, Pablo Honey.
| Released | 5 May 1992 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | October 1991 ("Thinking About You"), February 1992 |
| Studio | Courtyard Studios, Oxford |
| Genre | Alternative rock, indie rock |
| Length | 10:33 |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Producer | Chris Hufford |
- "Prove Yourself" – 2:32
- "Stupid Car" – 2:25
- "You" – 3:22
- "Thinking About You" – 2:17
- Thom Yorke – vocals, guitar
- Jonny Greenwood – guitar
- Ed O'Brien – guitar, backing vocals
- Colin Greenwood – bass guitar
- Philip Selway – drums
Score:
 |
| "Creep" (TOTP - "very") (Video - "fucking") (Sept 1992 / Sept 1993) |
The single was released September 1992, but only reached 78 in the charts. It generated underground and press interest in various countries, so was re-released in September 1993, backed by various TV appearances, including on Conan O'Brien. It spent 27 weeks in the charts and reached 7 in the UK charts in September 1993, and became the song most identified with the band - something that the band started to resent. The melody, mood, and chord progression is taken from Albert Hammond's 1972 "Air That I Breathe", which became a hit in 1974 for The Hollies; when this was pointed out, Radiohead agreed to share writing credit and royalties. Lana Del Rey's "Get Free" uses a similar melody and chord progression.
It is the band's best song.
Wikipedia
It is the band's best song.
- "Creep" – 3:53
- "Lurgee" – 3:05
- "Inside My Head" – 3:07
- "Million Dollar Question" – 3:10
Wikipedia
Score: 9
 |
| "Anyone Can Play Guitar" (Jan 1993) |
It spent 2 weeks in the chart, peaking at 32. It's OK, but somewhat ordinary.
- "Anyone Can Play Guitar" (single edit) – 3:21
- "Faithless the Wonder Boy" – 4:14
- "Coke Babies" – 2:58
Score: 5
 |
| Pablo Honey (Feb 1993) |
This is "my" Radiohead album. I loved it on first release, especially "Creep". I had just started teaching, and I would organise trips to concerts. I tried to organise one to see Radiohead at Brixton, but there was no interest from the students back in 1993. So be it. When Yorke sang "I wish I was special" at that concert, someone shouted out: "You are!" Magic moment.
I love this. I've been less enthusiastic about other Radiohead albums - but I'm hoping a week or two listening carefully will tune me in to what others have been hearing that I have been missing out on. "Stop Whispering" is too close to U2, but is still a decent song. "Lurgee" is a slow, moody track that has elements of R.E.M. and Smashing Pumpkins, but develops a compelling groove; the band were still playing in live in 2003. All in all, while the band wear their influences on their sleeves, they have produced a very attractive and competent album rich with mood, emotion, and energetic guitars that at times meld together beautifully, and other times slash and burn brightly. The albums ends with the flash of "Blow Out". This is, for me, the band's best album. Everything they are and would become is laid out and delivered here. It's bold, bright, almost arrogant, and sizzles with energy. Later albums would sound more tentative and lacklustre as the band over thought things, trapped by the pressure of expectation of producing another "Creep", and also another album as fresh as this. By over-anguishing and over-thinking things, even writing songs about how much "Creep" had trapped them, they turned their fans off this album, so now a RH fan would feel it dishonourable to say they like this. Free yourselves, and give this a fresh listen. This is the band that EMI gave a six record deal to. There was a reason for that. The band are clearly very good.
Best tracks: "Creep" (of course), and "You"
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 7
US-only single release of a different recording of "Stop Whispering" to that on Pablo Honey. This was a song the band had written and performed when still known as As A Friday. It was intended to be in the style of The Pixies, though comes over more like U2.
Wikipedia
I love this. I've been less enthusiastic about other Radiohead albums - but I'm hoping a week or two listening carefully will tune me in to what others have been hearing that I have been missing out on. "Stop Whispering" is too close to U2, but is still a decent song. "Lurgee" is a slow, moody track that has elements of R.E.M. and Smashing Pumpkins, but develops a compelling groove; the band were still playing in live in 2003. All in all, while the band wear their influences on their sleeves, they have produced a very attractive and competent album rich with mood, emotion, and energetic guitars that at times meld together beautifully, and other times slash and burn brightly. The albums ends with the flash of "Blow Out". This is, for me, the band's best album. Everything they are and would become is laid out and delivered here. It's bold, bright, almost arrogant, and sizzles with energy. Later albums would sound more tentative and lacklustre as the band over thought things, trapped by the pressure of expectation of producing another "Creep", and also another album as fresh as this. By over-anguishing and over-thinking things, even writing songs about how much "Creep" had trapped them, they turned their fans off this album, so now a RH fan would feel it dishonourable to say they like this. Free yourselves, and give this a fresh listen. This is the band that EMI gave a six record deal to. There was a reason for that. The band are clearly very good.
Best tracks: "Creep" (of course), and "You"
| Released | 22 February 1993 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | September–November 1992 |
| Studio |
|
| Genre | |
| Length | 42:11 |
| Label | |
| Producer |
|
All lyrics written by Thom Yorke. All music written by Radiohead, except "Creep", written by Radiohead, Mike Hazlewood and Albert Hammond.
- "You" – 3:29
- "Creep" – 3:56
- "How Do You?" – 2:12
- "Stop Whispering" – 5:26
- "Thinking About You" – 2:41
- "Anyone Can Play Guitar" – 3:38
- "Ripcord" – 3:10
- "Vegetable" – 3:13
- "Prove Yourself" – 2:25
- "I Can't" – 4:13
- "Lurgee" – 3:08
- "Blow Out" – 4:40
- Thom Yorke – vocals, guitar
- Jonny Greenwood – lead guitar, piano, organ
- Ed O'Brien – guitar, backing vocals
- Colin Greenwood – bass guitar
- Philip Selway – drums
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 7
 |
| "Pop Is Dead" (May 1993) |
Non-album single. Released in May 1993, it spent 2 weeks in the charts and reached 42.
- "Pop Is Dead" – 2:13
- "Banana Co." (acoustic) – 2:27
- "Creep" (live) – 4:11
- "Ripcord" (live) – 3:08
Score: 4
 |
| "Stop Whispering" (Oct 1993) |
US-only single release of a different recording of "Stop Whispering" to that on Pablo Honey. This was a song the band had written and performed when still known as As A Friday. It was intended to be in the style of The Pixies, though comes over more like U2.
- "Stop Whispering" (US version) – 4:11
- "Creep" (acoustic) – 4:19
- "Pop Is Dead" – 2:12
- "Inside My Head" (live) – 2:58
Wikipedia
Score: 5
This EP/album/maxi-single was released in several formats, including an eight track version of over 25 minutes, which would class it as an album, and a four track CD version, which classed it as a single, and enabled it to get into the UK singles chart. It was in the charts for two weeks, peaking at 24 on the 8th of Sept 1994. All tracks, apart from an acoustic version of "Creep", where recorded during the same sessions as Radiohead's second album, The Bends, though only the title track, "My Iron Lung", ended up on the album. My Iron Lung bridges Pablo Honey and The Bends, having elements of both.
Wikipedia
 |
| My Iron Lung (Sept 1994) |
This EP/album/maxi-single was released in several formats, including an eight track version of over 25 minutes, which would class it as an album, and a four track CD version, which classed it as a single, and enabled it to get into the UK singles chart. It was in the charts for two weeks, peaking at 24 on the 8th of Sept 1994. All tracks, apart from an acoustic version of "Creep", where recorded during the same sessions as Radiohead's second album, The Bends, though only the title track, "My Iron Lung", ended up on the album. My Iron Lung bridges Pablo Honey and The Bends, having elements of both.
All tracks are written by Radiohead.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My Iron Lung" | 4:36 |
| 2. | "The Trickster" | 4:40 |
| 3. | "Lewis (Mistreated)" | 3:14 |
| 4. | "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" | 4:40 |
| 5. | "Permanent Daylight" | 2:48 |
| 6. | "Lozenge of Love" | 2:16 |
| 7. | "You Never Wash Up After Yourself" | 1:44 |
| 8. | "Creep" (Acoustic) | 4:19 |
| Total length: | 28:23 | |
Wikipedia
I'm liking this. Quite melodic in a stadium anthemic rock way, with Yorke's angsty voice and Greenwood's slashing guitar. A key track for me is "My Iron Lung", which, though written about how much "Creep" had made the band successful, but had - they felt - trapped them by its very success, which they were struggling creatively to repeat (even now, 25 years later, they've never had the same success with any other song), is ironically written in the style of "Creep" with a quiet, gently plucked song suddenly attacked by aggressive guitar chords.
There appear to be influences from Pavement's awesome Slanted & Enchanted (1992).
I like "My Iron Lung" and "High and Dry".
There appear to be influences from Pavement's awesome Slanted & Enchanted (1992).
I like "My Iron Lung" and "High and Dry".
| Released | 13 March 1995 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | February–November 1994 |
| Venue | London Astoria, London |
| Studio |
|
| Genre | |
| Length | 48:33 |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Producer |
|
All songs written by Radiohead.
- "Planet Telex" – 4:19
- "The Bends" – 4:06
- "High and Dry" – 4:17
- "Fake Plastic Trees" – 4:50
- "Bones" – 3:09
- "(Nice Dream)" – 3:53
- "Just" – 3:54
- "My Iron Lung" – 4:36
- "Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was" – 3:28
- "Black Star" – 4:07
- "Sulk" – 3:42
- "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" – 4:12
- Thom Yorke – lead vocals, guitars, piano; string arrangements
- Jonny Greenwood – guitar, organ, recorder, synthesiser, piano; string arrangements
- Ed O'Brien – guitar, backing vocals
- Colin Greenwood – bass
- Philip Selway – drums
GuitarWorld
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 6
 |
| OK Computer (1997) |
This is quite a thoughtful, melodic and interesting album full of sound. It lacks heart, beat and drive, but is in the scope of the shoe-gazing school of music. For a number of people this is not just Radiohead's best album, not just the best album of the 90s, but the best album ever made. Phew! That's quite a claim. But then, Pet Sounds (1966), Sgt Pepper's (1967), Forever Changes (1967), Astral Weeks (1968), The Stone Roses (1989), The La's (1990), and Loveless (1990) have had similar claims, and these are equally thoughtful, melodic and interesting albums full of sound rather than heart, beat and drive - though The Stone Roses has pretty much everything.
This is an album that rewards repeated patient listening. It is growing on me, and though I am not yet seeing it as being on the same level as the other thoughtful, melodic albums I mentioned, it does not feel inappropriate to discuss it in their company.
"Paranoid Android" was released as the lead single with an animated video to promote it.
| Released | 21 May 1997 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | 4 September 1995 ("Lucky") July 1996 – March 1997 |
| Venue | London Astoria |
| Studio |
|
| Genre |
|
| Length | 53:21 |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Producer |
|
All tracks are written by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Philip Selway, Ed O'Brien and Colin Greenwood.
- "Airbag" – 4:44
- "Paranoid Android" – 6:23
- "Subterranean Homesick Alien" – 4:27
- "Exit Music (For a Film)" – 4:24
- "Let Down" – 4:59
- "Karma Police" – 4:21
- "Fitter Happier" – 1:57
- "Electioneering" – 3:50
- "Climbing Up the Walls" – 4:45
- "No Surprises" – 3:48
- "Lucky" – 4:19
- "The Tourist" – 5:24
This is actually quite an attractive ambient album. Structured by songs, but with an electronic ambient sound and feel and, well, ambiance. Quite a commercial ambient album, as it is quite pop focused and drawing on conventional sound structures like jazz, which makes it more familiar and approachable, though many Radiohead fans were puzzled and dismayed by it when they first heard it. I suppose this is what I (and perhaps others) thought U2 would sound like when they got Brian Eno involved. I like this album, though let's not kid ourselves that an album that copies the work of others is in any way innovative or admirable. "Idioteque" simply regurgitates Underworld's "Born Slippy" from five years earlier, but is the best track on the album. An overrated albeit often pleasant album.
Best track: "Idioteque"
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 5
Best track: "Idioteque"
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 5
 |
| Amnesiac (2001) |
Not quite getting into this one yet. Recorded at the same time as Kid A but released as a separate album a year later. Some people feel the two albums are pretty much the same, but I see this as less ambient and impressive. This feels like the B side tracks that didn't make the cut (which is apparently a common listening experience). Yorke's voice reminds me a little of Rufus Wainwright on some of the tracks on this album. I like "Dollars & Cents" and "I Might Be Wrong", they have attractive and compelling rhythms driving them forward, reminiscent of some of the work of Can. I think this album could grow on me.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 7
Score: 4
A live album of tracks from the last two albums plus the previously unreleased "True Love Waits". Nothing really exciting. The music mostly just washes gently against the shore..... There's aspects of this album which remind me of the jazz-fusion of Gong [Angel's Egg (1973), Camembert Electrique (1971)], along with the shoegazing of Ride [Going Blank Again (1992)] and My Bloody Valentine [Loveless (1991], and the sonic guitar attack of Sonic Youth [Goo (1990)], with the electronic dance music flavoured stadium rock of U2 [Achtung Baby (191)] and Underworld [Second Toughest In The Infants (1996)]. Radiohead carry their influences visibly on their sleeves, but blend them well to create their own sound, helped by the moody angst driven and sometimes transcendentally soaring vocals of Thom Yorke. It's an OK album by Radiohead standards, with plenty of attractive moments, but nothing really lifts, there is nothing here more exciting than the sources (compare "Idioteque" with "Born Slippy", even with all the swirls at the end) and your life will not be any the less if you never hear this album.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 4
A mostly indifferent album that doesn't say much, but "Here, Here" and "2+2=5", while not being great songs, are listenable and stand out from the fodder.
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score: 4
This was the "pay what you like" download launch that captured media attention, then two months later became a standard retail release. Echoes of similarities to U2 are very strong on the opening track "15 Step", particularly Achtung Baby (1991), and that echo remains through the rest of the album. Highly regarded - this tends to come third in most rankings. Though it has some charms, I'm not seduced by this.
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 9
Score: 4 1/2
A good collection. A good starting point for those wishing to look into Radiohead, and for some it will be enough. This does contain pretty much the best of Radiohead. It is largely disregarded by fans as it was released by EMI after the band left and the band have dismissed it because they were not involved (apparently it would have been a good album if they had been involved!)
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score: 6
Going into jazz fusion as well as ambient here.
There was a remix album released:
And a live video:
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 7
Score:
A quiet album. Not highly regarded.
Wikipedia
Score:
I thought OK Computer would be the clear leader given how much it's talked about, and that it was the album that really broke Radiohead as a serious art band, but the sources I looked at were fairly evenly divided between OK and Kid A. At any time one or the other was ahead. I'm giving the nod to OK as it is the more appropriate album to be no.1 on several counts. I was then surprised by how high In Rainbows was ranked for such an ordinary album that clearly copies U2 of all musicians! It competed with The Bends, which again surprised me as I felt that The Bends would be more highly regarded (perhaps second). Though there's nothing much between them, I'm putting The Bends in 3rd place as it's the more important, and has better influences (Pavement, for example). There wasn't much between the next three albums, Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief and A Moon Shaped Pool - none of them had much support, but nobody hated them either; they appear to be simply regarded as OKish albums. The King of Limbs appears to baffle people, and it is largely dismissed, while Pablo Honey is pretty much laughed at, even though it contains the band's best work. The live album is barely mentioned by anyone, but when it is it is not highly regarded. And the Best Of album is completely ignored because the band dictate to the fans what they should and shouldn't like, and Yorke says that they shouldn't like it, even though it contains the same songs that fans vote for as the band's best songs. Sigh.
Wide acclaim
1 OK Computer
2 Kid A
Generally liked
3 The Bends
4 In Rainbows
Mostly indifferent
5 Amnesiac
6 Hail To The Thief
7 A Moon Shaped Pool
Largely ignored or not respected
8 The King of Limbs
9 Pablo Honey
10 I Might Be Wrong
11 The Best Of
Sources:
* Wired
* Diffuser
* CoS
* NME
* Guardian
* BEA
* Thrillist
* RollingStone: "rock's most innovative band" cough, cough, splutter - for a band that so clearly (and often poorly) simply copies others to be called "innovative" seems to reveal the lack of knowledge of the person speaking - there is more innovation in Led Zep IV, the Velvet's debut, Dark Side, Thriller, Screamadelica, or 3 Feet than in the entire Radiohead catalogue. When a band does something new and original (that is something that has not been done before) then they can be called innovative. To simply absorb and regurgitate the musical work of others is not innovation it's plagiarism.
* Stereogum
* MoshCam
* AlbumReviews: " Like The Beatles and David Bowie, the group’s triumph isn’t being the most experimental group out there, but that they were able to bring adventurous sounds to the mainstream; far more listeners have heard Kid A than have heard the Can, Autechre, and Oliver Messaien recordings that inspired it." This aligns with my views exactly. I'm glad to see someone out there has a wider and deeper music knowledge than most music critics and RH fans appear to possess.
* Transistor
* RoR
* Medium
Rolling Stone readers poll (2011):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
Vulture (2019):
1. "True Love Waits" (2001)
2. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
3. "Creep" (1993)
4. "Idioteque" (2000)
5. "Karma Police" (1997)
6. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
7. "Reckoner" (2007)
8. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
9. "Lucky" (1997)
10 "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
Guardian (2020):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
3. "Reckoner" (2007)
4. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
5. "Karma Police" (1997)
6. "Idioteque" (2000)
7. "Nude" (2007)
8. "The National Anthem" (2000)
9. "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997)
10 "My Iron Lung" (1995)
("Creep" is down at 34 - that seems rather petty)
NME readers poll (2012)
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
3. "Idioteque" (2000)
4. "Karma Police" (1997)
5. "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997)
6. "No Surprises" (1997)
7. "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
8. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
9. "My Iron Lung" (1995)
10 "Creep" (1993)
CoS (2017):
1. "Idioteque" (2000)
2. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
3. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
4. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
5. "There, There" (2003)
6. "The National Anthem" (2000)
7. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
8. "Airbag" (1997)
9. "All I Need" (2007)
10 "Pyramid Song" (2001)
("Creep" is at 19)
Billboard Essential (2019):
1. "Creep" (1993)
2. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
3. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
4. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
5. "Karma Police" (1997)
6. "Let Down" (1997)
7. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
8. "Idioteque" (2000)
9. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
10 "There, There" (2003)
Uproxx (2020):
1. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
2. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
3. "Let Down" (1997)
4. "There, There" (2003)
5. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
6. "Creep" (1993)
7. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" (2007)
8. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
9. "Idioteque" (2000)
10 "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
UCR - Best track from each album (2019):
1. "Creep" (1993)
2. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
3. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
4. "Idioteque" (2000)
5. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
6. "There, There" (2003)
7. "Reckoner" (2007)
8. "Lotus Flower" (2011)
9. "Burn The Witch" (2016)
RedBull (2018):
1. "Creep" (1993)
2. "Just" (1995)
3. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
4. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
5. "There, There" (2003)
6. "Idioteque" (2000)
7. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
8. "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997)
9. "Lotus Flower" (2011)
10 "True Love Waits" (2001)
Top Tens:
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Karma Police" (1997)
3. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
4. "Creep" (1993)
5. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
6. "Idioteque" (2000)
7. "No Surprises" (1997)
8. "Reckoner" (2007)
9. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
10 "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
Buzzfeed (the live poll):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Creep" (1993)
3. "No Surprises" (1997)
4. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
5. "Karma Police" (1997)
6. "Let Down" (1997)
7. "Lucky" (1997)
8. "Reckoner" (2007)
9. "Idioteque" (2000)
10 "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
Paste (2016):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997)
3. "Talk Show Host"
4. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
5. "Idioteque" (2000)
6. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
7. "Reckoner" (2007)
8. "Life In A Glass House"
9. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
10 "The Numbers"
Diffuser (2012):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Idioteque" (2000)
3. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
4. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
5. "Let Down" (1997)
6. "Karma Police" (1997)
7. "There, There" (2003)
8. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
9. "Reckoner" (2007)
10 "Creep" (1993)
Summary of the sources:
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997) [14]
2. "Idioteque" (2000) [13]
3. "Creep" (1993) [11]
4. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995) [11]
5. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995) [11]
6. "Karma Police" (1997) [9]
7. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000) [9]
8. "Reckoner" (2007) [8]
9. "Pyramid Song" (2001) [8]
10 "There, There" (2003) [7]
11 "How To Disappear Completely" (2000) [5]
12 "Let Down" (1997) [5]
13 "No Surprises" (1997) [4]
14 "My Iron Lung" (1995) [3]
15 "Just" (1995) [2]
I'm not fully done exploring the band, though I have listened to every album several times, and read various opinions, so am starting to get a feel. First thing is that this is very much Thom Yorke's band. His voice dominates, and from what I've read, he appears to be the driving spirit behind the band's sound and direction. While the compositions are credited to the band as a whole, it seems clear from Yorke's solo work that he is the main source for the music as well as the lyrics - Eraser (2006), his debut, sounds like a Radiohead album, albeit on a smaller, more intimate scale; and the working method for albums is that Yorke brings in demos which the main guitarist Jonny Greenwood arranges for the rest of the band, who then, with producer Nigel Godrich, work the demo into a finished product. Yorke's voice and shy, awkward, geeky, serious manner tend to be the main image of the band, for good or ill; as such, the band's fans tend to be somewhat nerdy people - male and female - with confidence issues who are partly attracted to Yorke's persona. Yorke's lyrics which slither across issues of alienation and awkwardness tend to appeal to those who themselves feel alienated and awkward.
Jonny Greenwood's guitar work is bold and played a significant part in early Radiohead; as the band developed so Greenwood moved more toward keyboards and softer guitar parts. His solo work is quieter, less structured, more ambient than Radiohead, and is mostly film scores, for which such background mood music is more appropriate. There Will Be Blood (2007) is typical. His guitar is important to early Radiohead, and his musical arrangements are significant to later Radiohead.
The other three members, second guitarist Ed O'Brien, bassist Colin Greenwood, and drummer Philip Selway are decent musicians, but don't appear to have a significant contribution to the band's sound or direction. O'Brien's solo work is mostly electronic ambient, and is quite minor. Selway has released three solo albums, the debut, Familial, is a quiet, modest singer-songwriter album.
I read that Radiohead are innovative and experimental, though my listening doesn't support that view, as each album quite obviously reflects those musicians who have done the groundwork and influenced the band (or Thom Yorke). A comment in AlbumReviews sums up my own observation: "Like The Beatles and David Bowie, the group’s triumph isn’t being the most experimental group out there, but that they were able to bring adventurous sounds to the mainstream; far more listeners have heard Kid A than have heard the Can, Autechre, and Oliver Messiaen recordings that inspired it." Greenwood admires Messiaen, and some see an influence on his arrangements for Radiohead, and he reveals that Yorke had been listening to Autechre [Tri Repetae (1995)] and Aphex Twin [Ambient Works (1992)] just before recording Kid A, and that fed into some of his ideas for the album. Though the rest of the band weren't so sure, they went along with it, because Yorke is the creative one. Can's influence, particularly the albums Ege Bamyasi (1972) and Future Days (1973), has been noted in Hail To The Chief, and in some tracks on The Bends. Though AlbumReviews mentions those three influences, there are plenty more, from U2, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride, Pavement, Pixies, Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth, etc; the list is impressively long. And that, I think is their main talent. That they don't just copy someone, but they take their influences from a wide range of sources and meld them together so well. Just as, as AlbumReviews says, the Beatles and Bowie used to do. Coldplay being influenced by Radiohead is on a much less creative and interesting level than Radiohead being influenced by U2, Aphex Twin and Pavement and coming up with something identifiably Radiohead. But let's not be uncritical sycophantic fans nor totally blind to Radiohead's true creative spirit - they are not an innovative band, nor are they experimental, but they bring together the music they love in an effective and interesting way - same as David Bowie. All the music they have released has been made before by others - all the innovating and experimenting has already been done by bands like Can, Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine; but Radiohead are very good at utilising these influences and making them acceptable to a much wider audience than the sources ever had (or ever will have). For me, as I bought Tago Mago when it came out in 1971, and played it a lot, along with albums by Faust, Velvet Underground, and Gong, I find it much harder to get excited by Kid A, especially as something supposedly innovative and experimental, as I'd heard so much more vibrant, exciting, cutting edge and innovative albums nearly 30 years earlier - essentially, before most of the Radiohead fans had even been born. But what Radiohead do well, is apply some of the ideas that others have developed, and put them into a commercial setting of arena rock that appeals to a bigger audience.
On the whole, after giving Radiohead a good listen, I've not been impressed. "Creep" is a great song, and Pablo Honey is a much better album than fans and critics give credit for. I don't feel, despite the hype and enthusiasm, that the band have really bettered their first album, or actually advanced far from it. Their demos before Pablo, Pablo itself, and the albums after Pablo have all shown Radiohead absorbing music from around them, in the style of The Beatles and Bowie; but unlike The Beatles, and especially Bowie, they have not bettered their sources. They rely on Thom Yorke to write their material, and he is not as good a song-writer as Bowie or Lennon or even McCartney. They are popular because their music and sound is quite commercial - it's easy listening, reminiscent of bands like U2 and R.E.M., and - even though the song structures and sounds are rather conventional, the fans perceive the band as being quite complex and advanced, so the fans feel they are listening to a quality art-band, which boosts their self-regard.
* Official website
*Rolling Stone album guide
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 7
Score: 4
 |
| I Might Be Wrong (Live) (2001) |
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 4
 |
| Hail To The Thief (2003) |
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score: 4
 |
| In Rainbows (2007) |
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 9
Score: 4 1/2
 |
| The Best Of (2008) |
A good collection. A good starting point for those wishing to look into Radiohead, and for some it will be enough. This does contain pretty much the best of Radiohead. It is largely disregarded by fans as it was released by EMI after the band left and the band have dismissed it because they were not involved (apparently it would have been a good album if they had been involved!)
Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score: 6
 |
| The King of Limbs (2011) |
Going into jazz fusion as well as ambient here.
There was a remix album released:
 |
| TKOL RMX (2011) |
 |
| Video (Live From The Basement) |
Wikipedia
AllMusic: 7
Score:
 |
| A Moon Shaped Pool (2016) |
A quiet album. Not highly regarded.
Wikipedia
Score:
Discography
- Pablo Honey (1993)
- The Bends (1995)
- OK Computer (1997)
- Kid A (2000)
- Amnesiac (2001)
- Hail to the Thief (2003)
- In Rainbows (2007)
- The King of Limbs (2011)
- A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
Albums ranked
I thought OK Computer would be the clear leader given how much it's talked about, and that it was the album that really broke Radiohead as a serious art band, but the sources I looked at were fairly evenly divided between OK and Kid A. At any time one or the other was ahead. I'm giving the nod to OK as it is the more appropriate album to be no.1 on several counts. I was then surprised by how high In Rainbows was ranked for such an ordinary album that clearly copies U2 of all musicians! It competed with The Bends, which again surprised me as I felt that The Bends would be more highly regarded (perhaps second). Though there's nothing much between them, I'm putting The Bends in 3rd place as it's the more important, and has better influences (Pavement, for example). There wasn't much between the next three albums, Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief and A Moon Shaped Pool - none of them had much support, but nobody hated them either; they appear to be simply regarded as OKish albums. The King of Limbs appears to baffle people, and it is largely dismissed, while Pablo Honey is pretty much laughed at, even though it contains the band's best work. The live album is barely mentioned by anyone, but when it is it is not highly regarded. And the Best Of album is completely ignored because the band dictate to the fans what they should and shouldn't like, and Yorke says that they shouldn't like it, even though it contains the same songs that fans vote for as the band's best songs. Sigh.
Wide acclaim
1 OK Computer
2 Kid A
Generally liked
3 The Bends
4 In Rainbows
Mostly indifferent
5 Amnesiac
6 Hail To The Thief
7 A Moon Shaped Pool
Largely ignored or not respected
8 The King of Limbs
9 Pablo Honey
10 I Might Be Wrong
11 The Best Of
Sources:
* Wired
* Diffuser
* CoS
* NME
* Guardian
* BEA
* Thrillist
* RollingStone: "rock's most innovative band" cough, cough, splutter - for a band that so clearly (and often poorly) simply copies others to be called "innovative" seems to reveal the lack of knowledge of the person speaking - there is more innovation in Led Zep IV, the Velvet's debut, Dark Side, Thriller, Screamadelica, or 3 Feet than in the entire Radiohead catalogue. When a band does something new and original (that is something that has not been done before) then they can be called innovative. To simply absorb and regurgitate the musical work of others is not innovation it's plagiarism.
* Stereogum
* MoshCam
* AlbumReviews: " Like The Beatles and David Bowie, the group’s triumph isn’t being the most experimental group out there, but that they were able to bring adventurous sounds to the mainstream; far more listeners have heard Kid A than have heard the Can, Autechre, and Oliver Messaien recordings that inspired it." This aligns with my views exactly. I'm glad to see someone out there has a wider and deeper music knowledge than most music critics and RH fans appear to possess.
* Transistor
* RoR
* Medium
Best tracks/songs
The Best Of album:
| 1. | "Just" (from The Bends, 1995) | 3:54 | |
| 2. | "Paranoid Android" (from OK Computer, 1997) | 6:27 | |
| 3. | "Karma Police" (from OK Computer, 1997) | 4:24 | |
| 4. | "Creep" (from Pablo Honey, 1993) | Radiohead, Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood | 3:57 |
| 5. | "No Surprises" (from OK Computer, 1997) | 3:49 | |
| 6. | "High and Dry" (from The Bends, 1995) | 4:17 | |
| 7. | "My Iron Lung" (from The Bends, 1995) | 4:36 | |
| 8. | "There There" (from Hail to the Thief, 2003) | 5:21 | |
| 9. | "Lucky" (from OK Computer, 1997) | 4:18 | |
| 10. | "Optimistic" (Radio edit, original from Kid A, 2000) | 4:53 | |
| 11. | "Fake Plastic Trees" (from The Bends, 1995) | 4:51 | |
| 12. | "Idioteque" (from Kid A, 2000) | Radiohead, Arthur Kreiger, Paul Lansky | 4:37 |
| 13. | "2 + 2 = 5" (from Hail to the Thief, 2003) | 3:19 | |
| 14. | "The Bends" (from The Bends, 1995) | 4:05 | |
| 15. | "Pyramid Song" (from Amnesiac, 2001) | 4:49 | |
| 16. | "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (from The Bends, 1995) | 4:13 | |
| 17. | "Everything in Its Right Place" (from Kid A, 2000) |
Rolling Stone readers poll (2011):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Creep" (1993)
3. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
4. "Karma Police" (1997)
5. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
6. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
7. "Let Down" (1997)
8. "There, There" (2003)
9. "Reckoner" (2007)
10 "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
Vulture (2019):
1. "True Love Waits" (2001)
2. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
3. "Creep" (1993)
4. "Idioteque" (2000)
5. "Karma Police" (1997)
6. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
7. "Reckoner" (2007)
8. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
9. "Lucky" (1997)
10 "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
Guardian (2020):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
3. "Reckoner" (2007)
4. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
5. "Karma Police" (1997)
6. "Idioteque" (2000)
7. "Nude" (2007)
8. "The National Anthem" (2000)
9. "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997)
10 "My Iron Lung" (1995)
("Creep" is down at 34 - that seems rather petty)
NME readers poll (2012)
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
3. "Idioteque" (2000)
4. "Karma Police" (1997)
5. "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997)
6. "No Surprises" (1997)
7. "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
8. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
9. "My Iron Lung" (1995)
10 "Creep" (1993)
CoS (2017):
1. "Idioteque" (2000)
2. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
3. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
4. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
5. "There, There" (2003)
6. "The National Anthem" (2000)
7. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
8. "Airbag" (1997)
9. "All I Need" (2007)
10 "Pyramid Song" (2001)
("Creep" is at 19)
Billboard Essential (2019):
1. "Creep" (1993)
2. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
3. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
4. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
5. "Karma Police" (1997)
6. "Let Down" (1997)
7. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
8. "Idioteque" (2000)
9. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
10 "There, There" (2003)
Uproxx (2020):
1. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
2. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
3. "Let Down" (1997)
4. "There, There" (2003)
5. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
6. "Creep" (1993)
7. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" (2007)
8. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
9. "Idioteque" (2000)
10 "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
UCR - Best track from each album (2019):
1. "Creep" (1993)
2. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
3. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
4. "Idioteque" (2000)
5. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
6. "There, There" (2003)
7. "Reckoner" (2007)
8. "Lotus Flower" (2011)
9. "Burn The Witch" (2016)
RedBull (2018):
1. "Creep" (1993)
2. "Just" (1995)
3. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
4. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
5. "There, There" (2003)
6. "Idioteque" (2000)
7. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
8. "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997)
9. "Lotus Flower" (2011)
10 "True Love Waits" (2001)
Top Tens:
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Karma Police" (1997)
3. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
4. "Creep" (1993)
5. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
6. "Idioteque" (2000)
7. "No Surprises" (1997)
8. "Reckoner" (2007)
9. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
10 "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
Buzzfeed (the live poll):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Creep" (1993)
3. "No Surprises" (1997)
4. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
5. "Karma Police" (1997)
6. "Let Down" (1997)
7. "Lucky" (1997)
8. "Reckoner" (2007)
9. "Idioteque" (2000)
10 "How To Disappear Completely" (2000)
Paste (2016):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997)
3. "Talk Show Host"
4. "Pyramid Song" (2001)
5. "Idioteque" (2000)
6. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
7. "Reckoner" (2007)
8. "Life In A Glass House"
9. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
10 "The Numbers"
Diffuser (2012):
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997)
2. "Idioteque" (2000)
3. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
4. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000)
5. "Let Down" (1997)
6. "Karma Police" (1997)
7. "There, There" (2003)
8. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995)
9. "Reckoner" (2007)
10 "Creep" (1993)
Summary of the sources:
1. "Paranoid Android" (1997) [14]
2. "Idioteque" (2000) [13]
3. "Creep" (1993) [11]
4. "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995) [11]
5. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995) [11]
6. "Karma Police" (1997) [9]
7. "Everything In Its Right Place" (2000) [9]
8. "Reckoner" (2007) [8]
9. "Pyramid Song" (2001) [8]
10 "There, There" (2003) [7]
11 "How To Disappear Completely" (2000) [5]
12 "Let Down" (1997) [5]
13 "No Surprises" (1997) [4]
14 "My Iron Lung" (1995) [3]
15 "Just" (1995) [2]
Conclusion
I'm not fully done exploring the band, though I have listened to every album several times, and read various opinions, so am starting to get a feel. First thing is that this is very much Thom Yorke's band. His voice dominates, and from what I've read, he appears to be the driving spirit behind the band's sound and direction. While the compositions are credited to the band as a whole, it seems clear from Yorke's solo work that he is the main source for the music as well as the lyrics - Eraser (2006), his debut, sounds like a Radiohead album, albeit on a smaller, more intimate scale; and the working method for albums is that Yorke brings in demos which the main guitarist Jonny Greenwood arranges for the rest of the band, who then, with producer Nigel Godrich, work the demo into a finished product. Yorke's voice and shy, awkward, geeky, serious manner tend to be the main image of the band, for good or ill; as such, the band's fans tend to be somewhat nerdy people - male and female - with confidence issues who are partly attracted to Yorke's persona. Yorke's lyrics which slither across issues of alienation and awkwardness tend to appeal to those who themselves feel alienated and awkward.
Jonny Greenwood's guitar work is bold and played a significant part in early Radiohead; as the band developed so Greenwood moved more toward keyboards and softer guitar parts. His solo work is quieter, less structured, more ambient than Radiohead, and is mostly film scores, for which such background mood music is more appropriate. There Will Be Blood (2007) is typical. His guitar is important to early Radiohead, and his musical arrangements are significant to later Radiohead.
The other three members, second guitarist Ed O'Brien, bassist Colin Greenwood, and drummer Philip Selway are decent musicians, but don't appear to have a significant contribution to the band's sound or direction. O'Brien's solo work is mostly electronic ambient, and is quite minor. Selway has released three solo albums, the debut, Familial, is a quiet, modest singer-songwriter album.
I read that Radiohead are innovative and experimental, though my listening doesn't support that view, as each album quite obviously reflects those musicians who have done the groundwork and influenced the band (or Thom Yorke). A comment in AlbumReviews sums up my own observation: "Like The Beatles and David Bowie, the group’s triumph isn’t being the most experimental group out there, but that they were able to bring adventurous sounds to the mainstream; far more listeners have heard Kid A than have heard the Can, Autechre, and Oliver Messiaen recordings that inspired it." Greenwood admires Messiaen, and some see an influence on his arrangements for Radiohead, and he reveals that Yorke had been listening to Autechre [Tri Repetae (1995)] and Aphex Twin [Ambient Works (1992)] just before recording Kid A, and that fed into some of his ideas for the album. Though the rest of the band weren't so sure, they went along with it, because Yorke is the creative one. Can's influence, particularly the albums Ege Bamyasi (1972) and Future Days (1973), has been noted in Hail To The Chief, and in some tracks on The Bends. Though AlbumReviews mentions those three influences, there are plenty more, from U2, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride, Pavement, Pixies, Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth, etc; the list is impressively long. And that, I think is their main talent. That they don't just copy someone, but they take their influences from a wide range of sources and meld them together so well. Just as, as AlbumReviews says, the Beatles and Bowie used to do. Coldplay being influenced by Radiohead is on a much less creative and interesting level than Radiohead being influenced by U2, Aphex Twin and Pavement and coming up with something identifiably Radiohead. But let's not be uncritical sycophantic fans nor totally blind to Radiohead's true creative spirit - they are not an innovative band, nor are they experimental, but they bring together the music they love in an effective and interesting way - same as David Bowie. All the music they have released has been made before by others - all the innovating and experimenting has already been done by bands like Can, Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine; but Radiohead are very good at utilising these influences and making them acceptable to a much wider audience than the sources ever had (or ever will have). For me, as I bought Tago Mago when it came out in 1971, and played it a lot, along with albums by Faust, Velvet Underground, and Gong, I find it much harder to get excited by Kid A, especially as something supposedly innovative and experimental, as I'd heard so much more vibrant, exciting, cutting edge and innovative albums nearly 30 years earlier - essentially, before most of the Radiohead fans had even been born. But what Radiohead do well, is apply some of the ideas that others have developed, and put them into a commercial setting of arena rock that appeals to a bigger audience.
On the whole, after giving Radiohead a good listen, I've not been impressed. "Creep" is a great song, and Pablo Honey is a much better album than fans and critics give credit for. I don't feel, despite the hype and enthusiasm, that the band have really bettered their first album, or actually advanced far from it. Their demos before Pablo, Pablo itself, and the albums after Pablo have all shown Radiohead absorbing music from around them, in the style of The Beatles and Bowie; but unlike The Beatles, and especially Bowie, they have not bettered their sources. They rely on Thom Yorke to write their material, and he is not as good a song-writer as Bowie or Lennon or even McCartney. They are popular because their music and sound is quite commercial - it's easy listening, reminiscent of bands like U2 and R.E.M., and - even though the song structures and sounds are rather conventional, the fans perceive the band as being quite complex and advanced, so the fans feel they are listening to a quality art-band, which boosts their self-regard.
Links
* Official website
*Rolling Stone album guide
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