Radiohead

Ranking the Radiohead albums (in my opinion):
1. In Rainbows
2. OK Computer
3. Kid A
4. A Moon Shaped Pool
5. The Bends
6. Hail to the Thief
7. Amnesiac
8. The King of Limbs
9. Pablo Honey

One of the finest musical acts of all time.

Please please ... give me ...Bjork...

addictive

Overcame the colossal hit Creep by dismissing it on their first single after Pablo Honey (My Iron Lung) and never created another “hit” again.

Have an incredible amount of outstanding songs in their catalogue—so many, in fact, that fans cannot agree on their top 10 with consistency. Try putting these fan favorites in a top 10:
How to Disappear Completely
Nude
Paranoid Android
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
There There
Everything in its Right Place
Exit Music (for a film)
Pyramid Song
Reckoner
Fake Plastic Trees
Where I End and You Begin
Jigsaw Falling into Place
Just

Radiohead easily moves from grunge to post-Britpop (setting the table for Travis, Coldplay, Muse, Keane, and Arcade Fire) to electronica to orchestral arrangements with each successive album, each release bearing that distinctive Radiohead sound.

Well worth it for new listeners to seek out their B-sides collection, which in most cases blows away studio album releases from contemporaries.
Non-studio album highlights (in no particular order):
Lull
Spectre
Staircase
The Daily Mail
Lewis (Misteated)
The Trickster
Palo Alto
The Amazing Sounds of an Orgy
You (acoustic)
Pearly
A Reminder
Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)
Killer Cars
Down is the New Up
Talk Show Host
Fog
Meeting in the Aisle

Plus many others.

I think "Radiohead" is a really good band, and they have their own print for original work. But, actually, what is special about them is the production of their music mainly, and maybe the songwriting in some songs. Yet, honestly, they don't appeal to everyone; I think they are just over-hyped in this site by gen x mostly. Anyway, personally, I don't think they are better than "Pink Floyd" for instance or "Led Zeppelin"; I think they should be at the bottom of the top 10 list -if they should be in the top 10 list.

Very much enjoy a good chunk of Radiohead...but, my God, some of the people on this site are zealots for them!

I mean, songs like Sit Down, Stand Up, Give Up The Ghost, and Black Star all with scores of 85 or more??? I'd bet money that if I went up to 100 of the ballot-stuffers on this site and said, "Sell me on [song title]." they would have a hard time remembering what album the song is on! Just be honest, people! Not every song is the second coming! The parity is what makes the great songs truly great.

Again, they are very good, I'm not denying that. But they have some duds. A lot of their interludes are par or subpar and, even upon 5-10 listens, other full songs are 60-75 out of 100 as well. You can't say, "They aren't for you! You don't get it!" because, again, I am immersed in a chunk of their work.

I'll probably catch flak for this, but I don't think Radiohead is the best band of all time and I don't think OK Computer is the best album of all time, nor do I think it's the best Radiohead album (that would be In Rainbows, though OK Computer isn't far behind).

I never really understood Radiohead nor did I even give them a chance until recent years. I didn't know where to start (looked up that flowchart on Reddit for guidance) but I knew I should at least give them a shot. There's no doubt they all play their respective instruments (sometimes in the coolest way they can) super well and that their production quality is top-notch. Their proclivity for switching thing up album to album is extremely admirable and doesn't paint them into a corner. However, I think they switch up a bit too much. I understand that the only genre that could even come close to defining them would be art rock, but I can't fully get a feel for what they're truly masters of outside of that production (which is headed by Nigel Godrich) and their multi-instrumentation.

I don't really like Pablo Honey nor King of Limbs, I think Amnesiac is very overrated (kinda feels like a Kid A B-side album) and I think The Bends is just a collection of 90s alt-rock/soft-rock tunes. That's almost half their discography, yet people on this site are still crazy over them and will probably bury this comment because it has relatively negative things to say about the band.

Now, I do think Kid A and Hail to the Thief are both pretty solid, though it took some 3rd and 4th listens to come to that. I think Moon Shaped Pool is great, with a couple songs I don't really care for. OK Computer is undoubtedly phenomenal, but I do think the "predicting the future" thing really amplifies people's love for it. In Rainbows, in my opinion, is their masterpiece; evoking various styles and nuances into what they do best almost makes it feel like a best-of album more than anything.

Just to make this all clear, I do think Radiohead is very good, but I think they're overhyped by their fans.

My top 10 tracks:

1. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
2. How to Disappear Completely
3. Airbag
4. 15 Step
5. Let Down
6. Myxomatosis
7. Nude
8. Paranoid Android
9. Decks Dark
10. Idioteque

From corenfro 10/01/2019 18:45

To follow up The Bends with Ok Computer and then Kid A already puts them in strong contention for GOAT level consideration. Then to come back with In Rainbows and then A Moon Shaped Pool a decade later it's clear in my mind Radiohead is the benchmark for excellence.

And let's not overlook Hail to the Thief Amnesiac and the King of Limbs are all really good albums with solid content. Thom's Anima and involvement in Atoms For Peace is worth a listen. Jonny Greenwood has composed the score to some of the Paul Thomas Anderson films that are considered among the greatest of their respective decades.

Ed has some pretty underrated guitar contributions and obviously Colin's bass lines are terrific. Phil does best by just not getting in the way and has some highlights on tracks from time to time.

The most underrated member though is the unofficial "6th radiohead member" Nigel Godrich. He is possibly the best producer of the last 25 years and you couldn't write enough about how his state of the art techniques and execution is world class.

Lots of people won't understand Radiohead. Understanding them requires a reasonable amount of acquired taste, the melancholy nature of most of the tracks and the tone of Thom's voice to name a few. After "getting" Radiohead there's so much to unpack and discover that after dozens of listens there are still new things to notice in the tracks. The sheer amount of high quality material they've released makes them the greatest.

1. OK Computer
2. Kid A
3. A Moon Shaped Pool
4. In Rainbows
5. Hail to the Thief
6. Amnesiac
7. The Bends
8. King of Limbs
9. Pablo Honey