Radiohead | ||
| Allmusic Biography : 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 -- its an album track on 1986s 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 Floyds spaciness with U2s messianic arena rock heft, bridging the gap with guitar skronk borrowed from the 80s American underground. Jonny Greenwoods jagged, brutal interjections on "Creep," the bands 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 1997s 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 2000s 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 bands 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 2007s In Rainbows with little warning, letting listeners pay whatever theyd like for the record -- cementing Radioheads reputation as a band compelled to look forward, not back. Every member of Radiohead was a pupil at Oxfordshires Abingdon School. Ed OBrien (guitar) and Phil Selway (drums) were the eldest, followed by a year by Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano) and Colin Greenwood (bass). These four musicians began playing in 1985, dubbing themselves On a Friday, and before long they added Colins younger brother Jonny, whod previously played in Illiterate Hands with Yorkes brother Andy and Nigel Powell. Jonny started on keyboards but moved to guitar, yet this incarnation proved short-lived. By 1987, everyone but Jonny left for university, where many members pursued music, but it wasnt until 1991 that the quintet regrouped and started gigging regularly in Oxford. Eventually, they came to the attention of Chris Hufford -- then best-known as the producer of shoegaze stars Slowdive -- who offered the group the chance to record a demo along with his partner Bryce Edge; the two soon became the bands managers. EMI bit at the groups demo, signing them in 1991 and suggesting they change their name. On a Friday became Radiohead and they recorded their debut EP, Drill, with Hufford and Edge, releasing the record in May 1992. Next, the group entered the studio with producers Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade to record their full-length debut. The first fruit from these sessions was "Creep," a single released in the U.K. in September of 1992. "Creep" didnt go anywhere at first. The British music weeklies slagged it, radio didnt play it, and it limped to number 78 on the charts. Pablo Honey, the bands full-length debut, appeared in February 1993, supported by the single "Anyone Can Play Guitar," but neither release gained much traction in their native U.K. and that Mays non-LP single, "Pop Is Dead," didnt help matters much, either. By that point, however, "Creep" started to gain attention in other territories. First, the song became a hit in Israel, but the bigger waves came from the United States, which was in the throes of the alternative rock revolution. Influential San Francisco radio station KITS added "Creep" to their playlist and it spread along the west coast and onto MTV as it became a genuine hit, nearly topping Billboards Modern Rock chart and reaching 34 on the Hot 100, a big achievement for a British guitar band. A re-released "Creep" turned into a British Top Ten hit, peaking at number seven in the autumn of 1993. The band whod had no success suddenly had more than it could handle. Radiohead kept touring Pablo Honey into 1994, but no subsequent hits were forthcoming, raising the specter of the band as a possible one-hit wonder -- a criticism that weighed heavily on the group, who were anxious to record their new songs. They received the opportunity early in 1994, entering the studio to work with producer John Leckie -- then best-known for his work with the Stone Roses -- with My Iron Lung, an EP released in late 1994, being the first music released from the sessions. Muscular and ambitious, the EP provided a good indication of what would come on 1995s The Bends. Released in March 1995, The Bends not only found Radiohead growing musically -- it was dense and expansive, without skimping on songs -- but also in reputation, as critics in the U.K. embraced the band with the audience eventually following: none of the first three singles ("High and Dry," "Fake Plastic Trees," "Just") rose above 17 on the U.K. charts but the final single, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," wound up reaching five in early 1996. Radioheads rise may have been assisted by the mania cultivated by Brit-pop, a term that didnt quite suit the band -- they were far artier and rock-oriented -- but nevertheless stoked interest in indie guitar bands, which the quintet certainly was. Over in the U.S., The Bends stalled out at 88 on the Billboard charts but the record gained a cult following among listeners and the band never stopped touring, taking North American opening slots for R.E.M. in 1995 and Alanis Morissette in 1996. During 1995 and 1996, the group recorded new material with Nigel Godrich -- an engineer on The Bends sessions who was now the bands producer -- with songs slowly creeping out during the course of the year. "Lucky" showed up on War Childs 1995 charity LP The Help Album, "Talk Show Host" appeared on a B-side, and "Exit Music (For a Film)" showed up on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmanns Romeo & Juliet. The latter showed up on OK Computer, the June 1997 album that proved pivotal in Radioheads career. "Paranoid Android," a twitchy suite released as a single in May of that year, suggested the ambition of OK Computer -- and by reaching number three, it was the bands biggest hit to date in the U.K., placing them on the cusp of a breakthrough. A breakthrough is precisely what OK Computer turned out to be, a record that proved pivotal not just for Radiohead but for the direction of 90s rock. Greeted with enthusiastic reviews and corresponding strong sales, OK Computer closed the doors on the hedonism of Brit-pop and the dour after-effects of grunge while opening a new path to sober, adventurous art-rock where electronics co-existed with guitars. Over the next few years, the bands influence would become readily apparent, but the album made a sizable impact upon its release, too, debuting at number one in the U.K. and earning a Grammy for Best Alternative Album. Radiohead supported it with an international tour, documented in Meeting People Is Easy. By the time Meeting People Is Easy showed up in theaters, the group began work on their fourth album, once again reuniting with producer Godrich. The resulting Kid A doubled down on the experimentalism of OK Computer, embracing electronics and threading in jazz. Appearing in October in 2000, Kid A was one of the first major albums to be pirated through file-sharing services, but this bootlegging had no apparent effect on the sales of the record: it debuted at number one in the U.K. and the U.S., becoming their first American chart-topper. Once again, the album took home the prize for Best Alternative Album at the Grammys and although it didnt produce any hit singles -- indeed, no singles were released from the record -- it was certified platinum in several territories. Amnesiac, a collection of new material initiated during the Kid A sessions, appeared in June of 2001, topping the U.K. charts and reaching two in the U.S. Two singles were pulled from the album -- "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out" -- a signal that the album was more commercially accessible than its predecessor. At the end of the year, the band issued I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, and by the summer of 2002, they turned their attention to recording a new album with Godrich. The resulting Hail to the Thief appeared in June of 2003, once again debuting in the upper reaches of the international charts -- number one in the U.K. and number three in the U.S. -- and the group supported the album with live dates culminating in a headlining appearance at the 2004 Coachella Festival that coincided with the release of the B-sides and remix collection COM LAG, a record that helped close out their contract with EMI. Over the next couple of years, Radiohead entered a hiatus as individual members pursued solo projects. Yorke released the heavily electronic solo collection The Eraser in 2006, and Jonny Greenwood embarked on a side career as a composer, beginning with 2004s Bodysong and then striking a fruitful collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson for 2007s There Will Be Blood; Greenwood would also work on Andersons subsequent films The Master and Inherent Vice. During all this, the group tentatively chipped away at their first post-EMI album. Some unsuccessful sessions with Spike Stent led the band back to Godrich by the end of 2006, and the group completed recording in June of 2007. Still without a record label, they decided to release the album digitally through their official website, letting users pay whatever they wanted for a download of the album. This novel strategy acted as the albums own promotion -- most of the articles about the release claimed it was revolutionary -- and In Rainbows allegedly moved over a million downloads on the first day of its release in October 2007. In December, the album received a physical release in the U.K., followed by a January 2008 physical release in the U.S.; the record sold well, debuting at number one in the U.K., and it earned Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. Radiohead toured in support of In Rainbows into 2009, during which time EMI released Radiohead: The Best Of in June of 2008. The band took time off in 2010, which allowed Yorke to form a band called Atoms for Peace with producer Godrich and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. During this time, drummer Phil Selway released his debut solo album, Familial. By early 2011, the group finished a new album and, like In Rainbows before it, Radiohead initially released The King of Limbs digitally through their website. The downloads appeared in February, with the physical copies appearing in March; the album reportedly shifted upwards of 400,000 digital copies upon its release. That autumn brought the release of the remix album TKOL RMX 1234567, and the band continued to tour The King of Limbs material into 2012. Once the tour wrapped up, the group took some quiet time as a new round of solo projects appeared. Atoms for Peace released Amok in February 2013 and Yorke put out Tomorrows Modern Boxes in September 2014, just a month before Selway issued his second album, Weatherhouse. In the autumn of 2014, the band began work on a new album and continued to record throughout 2015, releasing only "Spectre" -- a proposed James Bond theme rejected by the filmmakers -- that year. The ninth Radiohead album, A Moon Shaped Pool, appeared on May 8, 2016, preceded earlier in the week by the singles "Burn the Witch" and "Daydreaming." Radiohead supported A Moon Shaped Pool with an international tour, and in June of 2017 they celebrated the 20th anniversary of OK Computer with a double-disc reissue dubbed OKNOTOK. Featuring a host of bonus cuts and previously unreleased material, its number two showing on the U.K. charts was bolstered by a major televised live performance at Glastonbury. Over the next year, Selway, Yorke, and Greenwood each issued film soundtracks with the latter earning an Oscar nomination for his score to Phantom Thread. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 13 Title: Pablo Honey Released: 1993-02-22 Tracks: 17 Duration: 58:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 You (03:28) 2 Creep (03:56) 3 How Do You? (02:12) 4 Stop Whispering (05:25) 5 Thinking About You (02:41) 6 Anyone Can Play Guitar (03:37) 7 Ripcord (03:09) 8 Vegetable (03:12) 9 Prove Yourself (02:25) 10 I Can’t (04:13) 11 Lurgee (03:07) 12 Blow Out (04:40) 13 Pop Is Dead (02:12) 14 Inside My Head (03:11) 15 Million Dollar Question (03:18) 16 Creep (live) (04:05) 17 Ripcord (live) (03:13) |
| Pablo Honey : Allmusic album Review : Radioheads debut album, Pablo Honey, is a promising collection that blends U2s anthemic rock with long, atmospheric instrumental passages and an enthralling triple-guitar attack that is alternately gentle and bracingly noisy. The group has difficulty writing a set of songs that are as compelling as their sound, but when they do hit the mark -- such as on "Anyone Can Play Guitar," "Blow Out," and the self-loathing breakthrough single "Creep" -- the band achieves a rare power that is both visceral and intelligent. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 13 Title: The Bends Released: 1995-03-08 Tracks: 33 Duration: 2:02:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Planet Telex (04:19) 2 The Bends (04:06) 3 High and Dry (04:17) 4 Fake Plastic Trees (04:50) 5 Bones (03:09) 6 (Nice Dream) (03:53) 7 Just (03:54) 8 My Iron Lung (04:36) 9 Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was (03:28) 10 Black Star (04:07) 11 Sulk (03:42) 12 Street Spirit (Fade Out) (04:12) 1 The Trickster (04:40) 2 Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong (04:40) 3 Lozenge of Love (02:16) 4 Lewis (Mistreated) (03:19) 5 Permanent Daylight (02:49) 6 You Never Wash Up After Yourself (01:44) 7 Maquiladora (03:27) 8 Killer Cars (03:03) 9 India Rubber (03:26) 10 How Can You Be Sure? (04:21) 11 Fake Plastic Trees (acoustic) (04:42) 12 Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was (acoustic) (03:35) 13 Street Spirit (Fade Out) (acoustic) (04:25) 14 Talk Show Host (04:41) 15 Bishop’s Robes (03:25) 16 Banana Co. (02:21) 17 Molasses (02:27) 18 Just (03:45) 19 Maquiladora (03:30) 20 Street Spirit (Fade Out) (04:21) 21 Bones (03:02) |
| The Bends : Allmusic album Review : Pablo Honey in no way was adequate preparation for its epic, sprawling follow-up, The Bends. Building from the sweeping, three-guitar attack that punctuated the best moments of Pablo Honey, Radiohead create a grand and forceful sound that nevertheless resonates with anguish and despair -- its cerebral anthemic rock. Occasionally, the album displays its influences, whether its U2, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., or the Pixies, but Radiohead turn clichés inside out, making each song sound bracingly fresh. Thom Yorkes tortured lyrics give the album a melancholy undercurrent, as does the surging, textured music. But what makes The Bends so remarkable is that it marries such ambitious, and often challenging, instrumental soundscapes to songs that are at their cores hauntingly melodic and accessible. It makes the record compelling upon first listen, but it reveals new details with each listen, and soon it becomes apparent that with The Bends, Radiohead have reinvented anthemic rock. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 13 Title: OK Computer Released: 1997-05-21 Tracks: 12 Duration: 53:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Airbag (04:44) 2 Paranoid Android (06:23) 3 Subterranean Homesick Alien (04:27) 4 Exit Music (for a Film) (04:24) 5 Let Down (04:59) 6 Karma Police (04:22) 7 Fitter Happier (01:57) 8 Electioneering (03:50) 9 Climbing Up the Walls (04:45) 10 No Surprises (03:48) 11 Lucky (04:19) 12 The Tourist (05:24) |
| OK Computer : Allmusic album Review : Using the textured soundscapes of The Bends as a launching pad, Radiohead delivered another startlingly accomplished set of modern guitar rock with OK Computer. The anthemic guitar heroics present on Pablo Honey and even The Bends are nowhere to be heard here. Radiohead have stripped away many of the obvious elements of guitar rock, creating music that is subtle and textured yet still has the feeling of rock & roll. Even at its most adventurous -- such as the complex, multi-segmented "Paranoid Android" -- the band is tight, melodic, and muscular, and Thom Yorkes voice effortlessly shifts from a sweet falsetto to vicious snarls. Its a thoroughly astonishing demonstration of musical virtuosity and becomes even more impressive with repeated listens, which reveal subtleties like electronica rhythms, eerie keyboards, odd time signatures, and complex syncopations. Yet all of this would simply be showmanship if the songs werent strong in themselves, and OK Computer is filled with moody masterpieces, from the shimmering "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and the sighing "Karma Police" to the gothic crawl of "Exit Music (For a Film)." OK Computer is the album that established Radiohead as one of the most inventive and rewarding guitar rock bands of the 90s. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 13 Title: Kid A Released: 2000-08-03 Tracks: 10 Duration: 49:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Everything in Its Right Place (04:11) 2 Kid A (04:44) 3 The National Anthem (05:51) 4 How to Disappear Completely (05:56) 5 Treefingers (03:42) 6 Optimistic (05:15) 7 In Limbo (03:31) 8 Idioteque (05:09) 9 Morning Bell (04:35) 10 Motion Picture Soundtrack (06:59) |
| Kid A : Allmusic album Review : In the wake of OK Computer, it became taken for granted among serious rock fans of all ages that Radiohead not only saved rock from itself, but paved the way toward the future. High praise, but given the static nature of rock in the last half of the 90s, it was easy to see why fans and critics eagerly harnessed their hopes to the one great rock band that wanted to push the limits of its creativity, without grandstanding or pandering. Daunting expectations for anyone, even for a band eager to meet them, so its little wonder that Kid A was so difficult to complete. Radiohead’s creative breakthrough arrived when the band embraced electronica -- which was nearly a cliché by the end of the 90s, when everyone from U2 to Rickie Lee Jones dabbled in trip-hop or techno. The difference is that the wholehearted conversion on Kid A fits, since OK Computer had already flirted with electronica and its chilly feel. Plus, instead of simply adding club beats or sonic collage techniques, Radiohead strove for the unsettling "intelligent techno" sound of Autechre and Aphex Twin, with skittering beats and stylishly dark sonic surfaces. To their immense credit, Radiohead dont sound like carpetbaggers, because they share the same post-post-modern vantage point as their inspirations. As perhaps befitting an album that’s coolly, self-consciously alienating, Kid A takes time to unfold; multiple plays are necessary just to discern the musics form, to get a handle on quiet, drifting, minimally arranged songs with no hooks. This emphasis on texture, this reliance on elliptical songs, means that Kid A is easily the most successful electronica album from a rock band: it doesnt even sound like the work of a rock band, even if it does sound like Radiohead. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 13 Title: Amnesiac Released: 2001-06-04 Tracks: 26 Duration: 1:46:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box (04:00) 2 Pyramid Song (04:49) 3 Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors (04:07) 4 You and Whose Army? (03:11) 5 I Might Be Wrong (04:53) 6 Knives Out (04:15) 7 Morning Bell/Amnesiac (03:14) 8 Dollars and Cents (04:51) 9 Hunting Bears (02:01) 10 Like Spinning Plates (03:57) 11 Life in a Glasshouse (04:34) 1 The Amazing Sounds of Orgy (03:38) 2 Trans‐Atlantic Drawl (03:01) 3 Fast‐Track (03:17) 4 Kinetic (04:06) 5 Worrywort (04:37) 6 Fog (04:04) 7 Cuttooth (05:23) 8 Life in a Glasshouse (full length version) (05:08) 9 You and Whose Army? (live) (03:18) 10 Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box (live) (03:04) 11 Dollars and Cents (live) (04:41) 12 I Might Be Wrong (live) (04:55) 13 Knives Out (live) (04:23) 14 Pyramid Song (live) (05:07) 15 Like Spinning Plates (03:47) |
| Amnesiac : Allmusic album Review : Faced with a deliberately difficult deviation into "experimentation," Radiohead and their record label promoted Kid A as just that -- a brave experiment, and that the next album, which was just around the corner, really, would be the "real" record, the one to satiate fans looking for the next OK Computer, or at least guitars. At the time, people bought the myth, especially since live favorites like "Knives Out" and "You and Whose Army?" were nowhere to be seen on Kid A. That, however, ignores a salient point -- Amnesiac, as the album came to be known, consists of recordings made during the Kid A sessions, so it essentially sounds the same. Since Radiohead designed Kid A as a self-consciously epochal, genre-shattering record, the songs that didnt make the cut were a little simpler, so it shouldnt be a surprise that Amnesiac plays like a streamlined version of Kid A, complete with blatant electronica moves and production that sacrifices songs for atmosphere. This, inevitably, will disappoint the legions awaiting another guitar-based record (that is, after all, what they were explicitly promised), but what were they expecting? This is an album recorded at the same time and Radiohead have a certain reputation to uphold. It would be easier to accept this if the record was better than it is. Where Kid A had shock on its side, along with an admirably dogged desire to not be conventional, Amnesiac often plays as a hodgepodge. True, its a hodgepodge with amazing moments: the hypnotic sway of "Pyramid Song" and "You and Whose Army?," the swirling "I Might Be Wrong," "Knives Out," and the spectacular closer "Life in a Glasshouse," complete with a drunkenly swooning brass band. But, these are not moments that are markedly different than Kid A, which itself lost momentum as it sputtered to a close. And this is the main problem -- though its nice for an artist to be generous and release two albums, these two records clearly derive from the same source and have the same flaws, which clearly would have been corrected if they had been consolidated into one record. Instead of revealing why the two records were separated, the appearance of Amnesiac makes the separation seem arbitrary -- theres no shift in tone, no shift in approach, and the division only makes the two records seem unfocused, even if the best of both records is quite stunning, proof positive that Radiohead are one of the best bands of their time. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 13 Title: Hail to the Thief Released: 2003-05-26 Tracks: 14 Duration: 56:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm.) (03:19) 2 Sit Down. Stand Up. (Snakes & Ladders.) (04:20) 3 Sail to the Moon. (Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky.) (04:18) 4 Backdrifts. (Honeymoon Is Over.) (05:22) 5 Go to Sleep. (Little Man Being Erased.) (03:21) 6 Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky Is Falling In.) (04:29) 7 We Suck Young Blood. (Your Time Is Up.) (04:56) 8 The Gloaming. (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold.) (03:32) 9 There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.) (05:23) 10 I Will. (No Man’s Land.) (01:59) 11 A Punchup at a Wedding. (No No No No No No No No.) (04:57) 12 Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury & Executioner.) (03:52) 13 Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.) (03:21) 14 A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.) (03:21) |
| Hail to the Thief : Allmusic album Review : Radioheads admittedly assumed dilemma: how to push things forward using just the right amounts of the old and the older in order to please both sides of the divide? Taking advantage of their longest running time to date, enough space is provided to quench the thirsts of resolute Bends devotees without losing the adventurous drive or experimentation that eventually got the group into hot water with many of those same listeners. Guitars churn and chime and sound like guitars more often than not; drums are more likely to be played by a human; and discernible verses are more frequently trailed by discernible choruses. So, whether or not the group is to be considered "back," there is a certain return to relatively traditional songcraft. Had the opening "2 + 2 = 5" and "Sit Down. Stand Up." been made two years before, each songs slowly swelling intensity would have plateaued a couple minutes in, functioning as mood pieces without any release; instead, each boils over into its own cathartic tantrum. The spook-filled "Sail to the Moon," one of several songs featuring prominent piano, rivals "Street Spirit" and hovers compellingly without much sense of force carrying it along. Somewhat ironically, minus a handful of the more conventionally structured songs, the album would be almost as fractured, remote, and challenging as Amnesiac. "Backdrifts" and "The Gloaming" feature nervous electronic backdrops, while the emaciated "We Suck Young Blood" is a laggard processional that, save for one outburst, shuffles along uneasily. At nearly an hour in length, this album doesnt unleash the terse blow delivered by its two predecessors. However, despite the fact that it seems more like a bunch of songs on a disc rather than a singular body, its impact is substantial. Regardless of all the debates surrounding the group, Radiohead have entered a second decade of record-making with a surplus of momentum. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 13 Title: In Rainbows Released: 2007-10-10 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 15 Step (03:58) 2 Bodysnatchers (04:02) 3 Nude (04:15) 4 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (05:18) 5 All I Need (03:48) 6 Faust Arp (02:09) 7 Reckoner (04:50) 8 House of Cards (05:28) 9 Jigsaw Falling Into Place (04:08) 10 Videotape (04:41) |
| In Rainbows : Allmusic album Review : In Rainbows, as a title, implies a sense of comfort and delightfulness. Symbolically, rainbows are more likely to be associated with kittens and warm blankets than the grim and glum circumstances Radiohead is known for soundtracking. Theres a slight, if expected, twist at play. The band is more than familiar with the unpleasant moods associated with colors like red, green, and blue -- all of which, of course, are colors within a rainbow -- all of which are present, and even mentioned, during the album. On a couple levels, then, In Rainbows is not any less fitting as a Radiohead album title than "Myxomatosis" is as a Radiohead song title. Despite references to "going off the rails," hitting "the bottom," getting "picked over by the worms," being "dead from the neck up," and feeling "trapped" (twice), along with Radiohead Wordplay Deluxe Home Edition pieces like "comatose" and "nightmare" -- in the same song! double score! -- the one aspect of the album that becomes increasingly perceptible with each listen is how romantic it feels, albeit in the way that one might find the bioport scenes in David Cronenbergs eXistenZ to be extremely hot and somewhat unsettling. Surprisingly, some of the albums lyrics are even more personal/universal and straightforward than anything on The Eraser, the album made by Thom Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. "Im an animal trapped in your hot car," from "All I Need," has to be one of the saddest, most open-hearted metaphors used to express unrequited love. "House of Cards" begins with "I dont want to be your friend/I just want to be your lover/No matter how it ends/No matter how it starts," and the one with the worms includes "Id be crazy not to follow/Follow where you lead/Your eyes/They turn me." This effective weaving of disparate elements -- lyrical expressions commonly associated with the band, mixed in with ones suited for everyday love ballads -- goes for the music as well. The album is very song-oriented, with each track constantly moving forward and developing, yet there are abstract electronic layers and studio-as-instrument elements to prevent it from sounding like a regression. In Rainbows will hopefully be remembered as Radioheads most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 13 Title: Album Box Set Released: 2007-12-10 Tracks: 79 Duration: 5:36:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 You (03:28) 2 Creep (03:56) 3 How Do You? (02:12) 4 Stop Whispering (05:25) 5 Thinking About You (02:41) 6 Anyone Can Play Guitar (03:37) 7 Ripcord (03:09) 8 Vegetable (03:12) 9 Prove Yourself (02:25) 10 I Can’t (04:13) 11 Lurgee (03:07) 12 Blow Out (04:40) 1 Planet Telex (04:19) 2 The Bends (04:06) 3 High and Dry (04:17) 4 Fake Plastic Trees (04:50) 5 Bones (03:09) 6 (Nice Dream) (03:53) 7 Just (03:54) 8 My Iron Lung (04:36) 9 Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was (03:28) 10 Black Star (04:07) 11 Sulk (03:42) 12 Street Spirit (Fade Out) (04:12) 1 Airbag (04:44) 2 Paranoid Android (06:23) 3 Subterranean Homesick Alien (04:27) 4 Exit Music (for a Film) (04:24) 5 Let Down (04:59) 6 Karma Police (04:22) 7 Fitter Happier (01:57) 8 Electioneering (03:50) 9 Climbing Up the Walls (04:45) 10 No Surprises (03:48) 11 Lucky (04:19) 12 The Tourist (05:24) 1 Everything in Its Right Place (04:11) 2 Kid A (04:44) 3 The National Anthem (05:51) 4 How to Disappear Completely (05:56) 5 Treefingers (03:42) 6 Optimistic (05:15) 7 In Limbo (03:31) 8 Idioteque (05:09) 9 Morning Bell (04:35) 10 Motion Picture Soundtrack (06:59) 1 Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box (04:00) 2 Pyramid Song (04:49) 3 Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors (04:07) 4 You and Whose Army? (03:11) 5 I Might Be Wrong (04:53) 6 Knives Out (04:15) 7 Morning Bell/Amnesiac (03:14) 8 Dollars and Cents (04:51) 9 Hunting Bears (02:01) 10 Like Spinning Plates (03:57) 11 Life in a Glasshouse (04:34) 1 The National Anthem (04:57) 2 I Might Be Wrong (04:52) 3 Morning Bell (04:14) 4 Like Spinning Plates (03:47) 5 Idioteque (04:24) 6 Everything in Its Right Place (07:42) 7 Dollars and Cents (05:13) 8 True Love Waits (05:02) 1 2 + 2 = 5 (03:24) 2 Sit Down, Stand Up (04:15) 3 Sail to the Moon (04:28) 4 Backdrifts (05:31) 5 Go to Sleep (03:30) 6 Where I End and You Begin (04:33) 7 We Suck Young Blood. (Your Time Is Up.) (04:56) 8 The Gloaming (04:22) 9 There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.) (05:23) 10 I Will (02:24) 11 A Punchup at a Wedding (04:54) 12 Myxomatosis (03:57) 13 Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.) (03:21) 14 A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.) (03:21) |
 | Album: 9 of 13 Title: The Best Of Released: 2008-06-02 Tracks: 29 Duration: 2:10:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Just (03:54) 2 Paranoid Android (06:23) 3 Karma Police (04:22) 4 Creep (03:56) 5 No Surprises (03:48) 6 High and Dry (04:17) 7 My Iron Lung (04:36) 8 There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.) (05:23) 9 Lucky (04:19) 10 Fake Plastic Trees (04:50) 11 Idioteque (04:37) 12 2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm.) (03:19) 13 The Bends (04:06) 14 Pyramid Song (04:49) 15 Street Spirit (Fade Out) (04:12) 16 Everything in Its Right Place (04:11) 1 Airbag (04:47) 2 I Might Be Wrong (04:53) 3 Go to Sleep. (Little Man Being Erased.) (03:21) 4 Let Down (04:59) 5 Planet Telex (04:19) 6 Exit Music (for a Film) (04:24) 7 The National Anthem (05:47) 8 Knives Out (04:15) 9 Talk Show Host (04:41) 10 You (03:28) 11 Anyone Can Play Guitar (03:37) 12 How to Disappear Completely (05:56) 13 True Love Waits (05:04) |
| The Best Of : Allmusic album Review : The year 2008 might have been a slightly early point in time to release expanded editions of the first several Radiohead albums, so Capitol greased the reissue pipeline with The Best Of, a 17-track disc with a track list that is as debatable as any other. The idea of squeezing the bands first six albums into something resembling a definitive one-disc introduction seems almost as wise as presenting A Collection of Great Dance Songs (incidentally a Capitol release) as the one true and useful introduction to Pink Floyd, but to be more fair, the disc does cover just about all of the basics: all the singles and emphasis tracks, from Pablo Honeys "Creep" through Hail to the Thiefs "2+2=5," along with a small assortment of the bands better-known album cuts. One track apiece comes from Pablo Honey (1993) and Amnesiac (2001); three are from Kid A (2000), four are from OK Computer (1997), and six are off The Bends (1995). The primary problem, of course, is that Radiohead are much more an albums band than a singles band, especially from OK Computer onward, so a natural reflex for someone who has valued the band since The Bends is to shriek in mild agony; in principle, a best-of Radiohead compilation is similar to a DVD containing somewhat thoughtfully picked scenes from films made by a specific director. For a very casual fan who has absolutely no interest in exploring beyond the songs he or she heard on the radio or through MTV and the like, this set will do (it has "Creep" and half of The Bends, after all, and then a bunch of "the weird stuff"), but otherwise it clearly serves a purpose more meaningful for the label than anyone else. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 13 Title: The King of Limbs Released: 2011-02-18 Tracks: 8 Duration: 37:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Bloom (05:15) 2 Morning Mr Magpie (04:41) 3 Little by Little (04:27) 4 Feral (03:13) 5 Lotus Flower (05:01) 6 Codex (04:47) 7 Give Up the Ghost (04:50) 8 Separator (05:20) |
| The King of Limbs : Allmusic album Review : After a brief return to earth to deliver the tart, focused In Rainbows, Radiohead drift back into the ether with The King of Limbs. Like In Rainbows before it, the actuality of The King of Limbs is purposefully somewhat obscured by the hullabaloo surrounding the albums surprise release -- announced for a Saturday release on a Monday, shifted to a Friday -- and in the case of KOL, such clamor is needed. Wispy and ephemeral, shimmering skin draped over the barest of bones, The King of Limbs doesn’t deliberately lack a solid foundation, songwriting traded for sound construction. Masters of mood that they are, Radiohead digitally weave stuttering, glitchy loops of drums and guitars with real instruments, Thom Yorke’s mournful moan and keening falsetto acting as a binding agent, creating an alluringly dour atmosphere. Despite a pair of intellectually funky moments -- “Morning Mr. Magpie” and “Little by Little,” grouped together at the beginning, giving the album a slight hint of momentum that quickly fades -- this is rather monochromatic and not too far removed from the territory Radiohead began etching out with Kid A. Where that icy 2000 effort had the bracing chill of the new, The King of Limbs is familiar -- not commonplace, but carrying a certain inevitability as its eight songs slowly unspool. There are no surprises in the floating textures, no delight in the details, no astonishment in how the band navigates intricate turns: this is the sound of Radiohead doing what they do, doing it very well, doing it without flash or pretension, gently easing from the role of pioneers to craftsmen. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 13 Title: 5 Album Set Released: 2012-10-12 Tracks: 57 Duration: 3:58:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 You (03:28) 2 Creep (03:56) 3 How Do You? (02:12) 4 Stop Whispering (05:25) 5 Thinking About You (02:41) 6 Anyone Can Play Guitar (03:37) 7 Ripcord (03:09) 8 Vegetable (03:12) 9 Prove Yourself (02:25) 10 I Can’t (04:13) 11 Lurgee (03:07) 12 Blow Out (04:40) 1 Planet Telex (04:19) 2 The Bends (04:06) 3 High and Dry (04:17) 4 Fake Plastic Trees (04:50) 5 Bones (03:09) 6 (Nice Dream) (03:53) 7 Just (03:54) 8 My Iron Lung (04:36) 9 Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was (03:28) 10 Black Star (04:07) 11 Sulk (03:42) 12 Street Spirit (Fade Out) (04:12) 1 Airbag (04:44) 2 Paranoid Android (06:23) 3 Subterranean Homesick Alien (04:27) 4 Exit Music (for a Film) (04:24) 5 Let Down (04:59) 6 Karma Police (04:22) 7 Fitter Happier (01:57) 8 Electioneering (03:50) 9 Climbing Up the Walls (04:45) 10 No Surprises (03:48) 11 Lucky (04:19) 12 The Tourist (05:24) 1 Everything in Its Right Place (04:11) 2 Kid A (04:44) 3 The National Anthem (05:51) 4 How to Disappear Completely (05:56) 5 Treefingers (03:42) 6 Optimistic (05:15) 7 In Limbo (03:31) 8 Idioteque (05:09) 9 Morning Bell (04:35) 10 Motion Picture Soundtrack (06:59) 1 Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box (04:00) 2 Pyramid Song (04:49) 3 Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors (04:07) 4 You and Whose Army? (03:11) 5 I Might Be Wrong (04:53) 6 Knives Out (04:15) 7 Morning Bell/Amnesiac (03:14) 8 Dollars and Cents (04:51) 9 Hunting Bears (02:01) 10 Like Spinning Plates (03:57) 11 Life in a Glasshouse (04:34) |
 | Album: 12 of 13 Title: A Moon Shaped Pool Released: 2016-05-08 Tracks: 11 Duration: 52:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Burn the Witch (03:40) 2 Daydreaming (06:24) 3 Decks Dark (04:41) 4 Desert Island Disk (03:44) 5 Ful Stop (06:07) 6 Glass Eyes (02:52) 7 Identikit (04:26) 8 The Numbers (05:45) 9 Present Tense (05:06) 10 Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief (05:03) 11 True Love Waits (04:43) |
| A Moon Shaped Pool : Allmusic album Review : A cursory glance at A Moon Shaped Pool may suggest a certain measure of indifference on the part of Radiohead. Its 11 songs are sequenced in alphabetical order -- a stunt befitting a Pixies concert or perhaps a Frank Black box set, not a proper album -- and many of these tunes are of an older vintage: the group began work on the opening "Burn the Witch" at the turn of the century, while the closing "True Love Waits" first appeared in concerts way back in 1995. These are the elements of a clearinghouse, but with Radiohead appearances are always deceiving. A Moon Shaped Pool doesnt play like an ill-considered collection of leftovers; it unfurls with understated ease, each silvery song shimmering into the next. The pulse rarely quickens and the arrangements seldom agitate, yet the album never quite feels monochromatic. Sly, dissonant strings grace some cuts, acoustic guitars provide a pastoral counterpoint to an electronic pulse, Thom Yorkes voice floats through the music, often functioning as nothing more than an element of a mix; what hes saying matters not as much as how he murmurs. Such subtle, shifting textures emphasize Radioheads musicianship, a point underscored when this version of "True Love Waits" is compared to its 2001 incarnation. There, Yorke accompanied himself with a simple acoustic guitar and he seemed earnest and yearning, but here, supported by piano and strings, he sounds weary and weathered, a man who has lost his innocence. What he and Radiohead have gained, however, is some measure of maturity, and with this, their music has deepened. Certainly, sections of A Moon Shaped Pool contain an eerie, disconcerting glimmer, usually attained through power kept in reserve -- nothing stabs as hard as the sawing fanfare of "Burn the Witch," while the winding, intersecting guitars that conclude "Identikit" provide the noisiest element -- yet the album as a whole doesnt feel unsettling. Instead, theres a melancholic comfort to its ebb and flow, a gentle rocking motion that feels comforting; its a tonic to the cloistered, scattered King of Limbs and even the sleek alienation of Kid A. Radiohead are recognizably the same band that made that pioneering piece of electronica-rock but theyre older and wiser on A Moon Shaped Pool, deciding not to push at the borders of their sound but rather settle into the territory theyve marked as their own. This may not result in a radical shift in sound but rather a welcome change in tone: for the first time Radiohead feel comfortable in their own skin. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 13 Title: Radiohead: Deep Cuts Released: 2019 Tracks: 26 Duration: 1:53:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Ill Wind (04:14) 2 Bodysnatchers (04:02) 3 Staircase (04:31) 4 Electioneering (03:50) 5 Kid A (04:44) 6 The Trickster (04:40) 7 You and Whose Army? (03:11) 8 Spectre (03:19) 9 (Nice Dream) (03:51) 10 Morning Mr Magpie (04:41) 11 Desert Island Disk (03:44) 12 Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.) (03:21) 13 Planet Telex (04:19) 14 Supercollider (07:02) 15 Ripcord (03:09) 16 I Am Citizen Insane (03:32) 17 True Love Waits (05:02) 18 Palo Alto (03:44) 19 The Numbers (05:45) 20 Little by Little (04:27) 21 I Will (Los Angeles version) (02:06) 22 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (05:18) 23 Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was (03:27) 24 These Are My Twisted Words (05:32) 25 Give Up the Ghost (04:50) 26 Motion Picture Soundtrack (06:59) |