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| MUSIC: tectac's Top 100 Radiohead Tracks
I have done this a few times in the past with a compiled list and had the grandiose idea of writing entries of several paragraphs for each song, but that has proven to be an arduous task among my hectic life. So, inspired by the format of SowingSeason's recently unveiled "Brand New Songs" list, I will be readjusting my project and merely writing up a short(er), single paragraph capsule for each song. Much more doable, and I think more people would be apt to read a small blurb versus a novel for one hundred various songs. I will probably unveil five songs per day, maybe more but we'll see. If this is stupid let me know and I'll stop. | | 100 |  | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> HOUSE OF CARDS
One of Radiohead's least cryptic songs, lyrically, and substantially more straightforward from a musical perspective, too. If nothing else, it proves that even a band as comparatively high-brow as Radiohead is capable of writing about deception and infidelity in the name of love. (Or lust?) Biggest complaint is that five-minutes is the wrong runtime for a song so mellow and settled-in; it lacks the variation necessary to sustain such a length, but I love the lounge-act feel and Thom's occasionally quivering voice. I do love the entire outro of the song, too; that repetition of, âDenial, denial,â with the soft overtone of, âYour ears should be burning,â elevates the song to another level. Thomâs final, fitting squeals at 4:36 slather icing on the cake. | | 99 |  | Radiohead
8 Outtakes From Amnesiac
>> CUTTOOTH
A song built on crescendos and a vibrant piano melody that doesn't sound particularly Radioheadesque (though at this point, what does Radiohead even "sound like" anyway?) but thrums with an unmistakable kineticism from start to finish. A song about the miserable acceptable of one's position and (lack of) purpose in this world and learning to merely blend in with our surroundings - "I will lead a wallpaper life" - that feels both coldly distant and intimately relatable. Haven't we all been in a similar place of such lethargy? Love the middle-section that sort of drones out into a muffled somnambulance as Thom chants, âRun until your lungs are sore, until you cannot feel it anymore,â once again capturing that spike of desperation in such an eloquent manner that, I think, is capable of speaking to all of us on some level. I can see why this was left off of AMNESIAC -- it simply wouldn't fit. But thankfully it saw the light of day eventually. | | 98 |  | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> A PUNCHUP AT A WEDDING
Undoubtedly HAIL TO THE THIEFâs grooviest track, and arguable the grooviest track in Radioheadâs oeuvre (depending largely upon how exactly you define âgroovyâ); easy to thump along with, from the soupy opening bass riff to the staunch piano phrases. A very personal track for the band, as it serves somewhat as a rebuttal to a critical pan of an early-2000s hometown show where they performed their hearts out. (Given the location and that specific point in their timeline, the show obviously meant a lot to them.) Thomâs vocals adequately sear from a position of power: Such a toe-tapping, elegant way to tell your bullies to kindly fuck off. | | 97 |  | Radiohead
Pablo Honey
>> CREEP
What?! Creep!?! Already?!?!? This low?!?!?! *Sigh*, pitchforks down, please: Hear me out. Creep is a wonderful song. But to deny its acquired status - and I truly donât mean this pejoratively - as the Radiohead song for non-Radiohead fans is simply naĂŻve at this point. Q: âHey, I like Creep, what other Radiohead songs would I like?â A: None, probably none. Iâm being hyperbolic, of course, but diehard fans know what Iâm getting at: Its alt-rock lionization has become something of a thorn in its side, despite the way it single-handedly turned Radiohead into a household name (which, Iâm sure *theyâll* tell you, isnât an inherently good thing). But all stigmas aside, itâs a great song for what it is - i.e., Early 90s British Alt-Rock - and it contains several of the seeds that would come to fruition much later in Radioheadâs career, most notably the themes of self-deprecation, inner-turmoil, and world-weary isolation. Definitely not a pick-me-up, but certainly a worthy track. | | 96 | | Radiohead
8 Outtakes From Amnesiac
>> FOG
A song that, upon the initial release of the AMNESIAC B-sides (ca. 2009⊠I think?), I made the grave mistake of dismissing - alongside Trans-Atlantic Drawl, Fast-Track, and Kinetic - as much appreciated but ultimately unsustainable white noise. Not sure how Fog got lumped in that group, honestly, but Iâm glad I came to my senses. And not only have I reassessed my wrongheaded dismissal, but Iâm also a little shocked this didnât make the final AMNESIAC tracklist. I think itâs extremely well-suited to the albums overall sensibilities, taking the muffled ambiance of Worrywort (another B-side I adore) and stripping away the loftiness, lending it a sharped edge but allowing it to maintain its Kafkaesque complexion. Love the build up of foggy (no pun intended) tumult as elements come trickling in: Stand-up bass, piercing synth, jangly tambourines, off-beat snare hits, strained guitar licks. Itâs an ostensible cacophony, but repeated listens reveal the harmony, however unorthodox. | | 95 | | Radiohead
Pablo Honey
>> PROVE YOURSELF
The single best embodiment of the sliver of Brit-pop sensibility that Radiohead once had, mixed with just enough of their punctual grunge and rawness to let it rise above the sinew. (Hell, with a few upgrades in sound quality, this would feel right at home on âThe Bendsâ.) Shocked this never wound up a âPablo Honeyâ single, honestly: Itâs accessible, itâs an effortless listen, itâs catchy enough to appeal to casual radio listeners while maintaining a lowkey sordid bite, softening the blow somewhat for those too proud to admit theyâve been caught singing pop hits aloud. The instrumentation is undecorated and putatively âsimpleâ compared to almost anything thereafter, but sometimes thereâs a specific allure to simplicity that rejuvenates like a palate cleanser after several hours of listening to layered synth tracks and mathematically coerced time signatures. A step back in technique, but not necessary talent. | | 94 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> THE GLOAMING
There was a time when I hated this song with every fiber of my being. Absolutely loathed it, repulsed by it after my first spin of âHail to the Thiefâ back in 2003. What the hell was this AMNESIAC-lite bullshit? How dare they preface a song as great as âThere, Thereâ with this aural abomination? Luckily, first impressions of Radiohead songs rarely end up being lasting ones, and since that initial listen Iâve completely about-faced on âThe Gloamingââit used to trip my gag reflex, but now I actively enjoy it. The reason Iâll never consider it a masterpiece, though, is that it still feels and sounds very interlude-y to me, like an overextended riff that, at its core, is only a small step above tracks like âTreefingersâ and âFitter Happierâ w.r.t. purpose and construction. Iâm also not sure HAIL TO THE THIEF was the correct album for âThe Gloaming,â as I find my self listening to it out of context quite often. In that sense, however, I wish there were more of it. | | 93 |  | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> THE TOURIST
A slight departure from the rest of âOK Computerââalmost like the proportional inverse of âElectioneeringâ in that senseâre its dialed back, meditative, and melodramatic timbre. So hereâs me, sheepishly admitting that this is my least favorite track from the album, âFitter Happierâ notwithstanding. Thatâs not to say I donât like it, though; In fact, I think its thematic tie-in with the albumâs opening track (âAirbagâ) is brilliant, and by concluding with what seems more like a preamble, it gives âOK Computerâ an untouchable sense of circularity: The album that never ends! Not only does it ricochet off of Thomâs candid fear of automobiles (see also: âKiller Carsâ and âStupid Carâ), it works on a parabolic level, too: Itâs about cars, sure, but itâs also about âslowing downâ figuratively, taking the time to enjoy the things around you, stopping to breathe in every now and again. Its relevance has only grown since 1997. | | 92 |  | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
>> GIVE UP THE GHOST
If I had to sum up THE KING OF LIMBS to any unknowing person with a single song, itâd be this one. Itâs not the albumâs best by a stretch, but itâs the most representative, I think, of the overall deviation from Radioheadâs previous work. It functions kind of like âKid Aâ on KID Aâa succinct summation of what you can and should expect; an amalgam of cherrypicked elements from the rest of the albumâs tracks. That said, itâs still a fickle little thing: Itâs hypnotic, but not particularly âcatchy,â and its initially buoyant appearance promises an eventual vigor that never gets delivered. But once you accept the fact that itâs not âthat kindâ of song, it becomes easier to relish in its ethereal vibes: The chirping wildlife, the mega-clean acoustics, the percussive taps on the body of the guitar, and Thomâs looped crooning. Subject matter is objectively bleak, yet its painted with a color that engenders beauty and solace. Haunting, eerie, and gorgeous. | | 91 |  | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
>> GO SLOWLY
A favorite B-side among diehard fans, and I swear I like it, too! Though Iâve been mildly (mildly!) soured on it since hearing the âLive from the Basementâ rendition, which is mind-blowingly good. So good, in fact, that it makes the IN RAINBOWS: DISC 2 version feel inadequate in more than a few ways. (And since Iâm ranking based solely on album releases, wellâŠ) But donât get it twisted: This song deserved a spot on the IN RAINBOWS track list. Not to perpetuate the bashing of âFaust Arpââevery Radiohead fanâs favorite pastimeâbut imagine âGo Slowlyâ dwindling down with Thomâs fading quavering alongside that acoustic guitar lick and suddenly BAM! Youâre launched into the opening drum beat of âReckoner.â (Sigh, what could have been and never will be.) Itâs a celestial song that possesses a starry grace that sounds like a direct personification of how the IN RAINBOWS cover art looks. (It also heavily resembles âThere Thereâ poured through molasses.) Abstract greatness. | | 90 |  | Radiohead
Itch
>> KILLER CARS
This is the type of song Iâd conjure up in my head if you theoretically asked me to toss two parts R.E.M., two parts Oasis, and one part Talking Heads into a blender and hit frappĂ©. One of their more accessible tracks: It takes a lot of the rough edges of even the most user-friendly âPablo Honeyâ / âThe Bendsâ songs and smooths âem out a little. Thereâs simply nothing here I could identify as potentially off-putting, almost objectively so. (Unless early-90s alt/pop-rock just isnât your thing then okay sure.) In that sense, it might be the âleast-Radioheadâ Radiohead song we currently have, but that simply showcases how wide their musical spectrum actually spans. Whoâda thought they could do radio-friendl, jangle-pop / alt-rock hybrids so well? A nice inclusion into Thomâs motorphobia portfolio, and easily the most straightforward of the lot: âIâm going out for a little drive and it could be the last time you see me alive, there could be an idiot on the road.â | | 89 |  | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
>> MAN OF WAR
True story: Upon hearing this for the first time, my initial thought was that it sounded very âJames Bond-y,â without the foreknowledge that the band shared this sentiment, nor realizing it preceded âSpectreâ as Radioheadâs submission for the title track of the film with the same name. Not trying to claim stake to some groundbreaking discovery, merely pointing out the fact that the spy-thriller vibes are undeniable. Just bask in that opening, piercing synth phrase; it feels transcribed directly from the lost pages of âDiamonds are Forever.â Leering, deliberate moodiness is inherent to the espionage genre, and throwing the bandâs overarching cynicism into the mix only emphasizes the macabre overtones. The spiritual lovechild of âKarma Policeâ and âClimbing Up the Walls,â yoked between the measured elegance of the former and the sinister emanation of the latter. Thom himself describe this track as âmelodramatic,â but Iâd consider it more like composed distress. | | 88 |  | Radiohead
Go to Sleep
>> I AM A WICKED CHILD
Starts off like a Rolling Stones b-side crosspollinated with something youâd hear in one of Quentin Tarantinoâs non-Westerns. Whatever crazy hybridization I come up with, the important takeaway is: I really dig this track. I used to think it needed to âgo somewhere,â either louder or heavier, or that it needed a more recognizable hook, but Iâve since rectified my misjudgments (per usual) and now adore the songâs bare-faced structure i.e., the attribute that makes it instantly accessible along with the crisp tonal clarity. Itâs a blues song, plain and simple, but itâs a *Radiohead* blues song. (It has a harmonica for Christâs sake!) Perhaps this never made it onto HAIL TO THE THIEF because Thom found it too conventional, or lacking complexity. But gobsmacking your listeners with *this* directly after e.g. âMyxomatosisâ or âThe Gloamingâ sounds exactly like the kind of aural vertical that Radiohead would endorse. But who knows. | | 87 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
>> 4 MINUTE WARNING
I hate to keep making direct comparisons to other bands/albums because it comes off somewhat reductive of Radioheadâs creative prowess, but I promise I never make these parallels with intent to deflate. That said, this has SGT. PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND written all over it, and I have to give it to my guys: They do âtrippy mid-era Beatlesâ exceptionally well. (I wonder what Radioheadâs alter-ego group would be named?) Angelic waxing and fuzzy feedback directly transitions into a phrase of billowy bass, flanged guitar, and distance ooh-ing and aah-ing, all propped up against a percussive shell that rarely ventures beyond a clanking tambourine. (Sorry, Ringo.) A great juxtaposition between dark, nearly morbid lyrical subject matter and fragrant, upbeat musicâa comingling that Radiohead has mastered time and time again. Itâs a very pared-down track, but I can be a purist, too, and sometimes its better to omit elements than needlessly bungle them. | | 86 |  | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> GLASS EYES
The first AMSP song weâve encountered, but mega-fans donât fret because [spoiler alert], itâs the only album in which every song appears on this list. So, by definition, yes, this is my âleast favoriteâ AMSP track, but donât think of it that way. Think of it as my 86th-favorite Radiohead track (a statement thatâs more affirmative than it sounds, I assure you). Suffers just a *tad* from the same symptoms as âThe Gloamingâ i.e., it works well in the context of the album, but therein it serves as an extended interlude and, as a result, suffers a bit when evaluated as a standalone track. But AMSP would still feel incomplete without it, no doubt. Itâs entirely orchestral as far as I can tell (and I often forget thereâs absolutely no percussion involved), showcasing Jonnyâs adeptness. (You swear heâd been writing movements since he emerged from the womb.) A great track, assuredly, and its bottom rung placement among A MOON SHAPED POOL shouldnât be viewed as a slight. | | 85 |  | Radiohead
Supercollider/The Butcher
>> SUPERCOLLIDER
At some point not long after its release, youâd have found âSupercolliderâ sitting comfortably among my Radiohead Top 10. (Probably.) I listened to it daily, oftentimes back-to-back in rapid succession; not sure if I was genuinely infatuated with it, or merely thirsting for something âdifferentâ to assuage my initially tepid feelings on THE KING OF LIMBS, but as you can see here, Iâve significantly cooled on it over the years. Moreover, Iâve come to the realization that it never needed to be seven minutes long. Iâm imagining a truncated, four-minute version in my head that feels tighter, hitting the same highs while never threatening with tedium. Donât get it twisted: Itâs an absolutely great seven-minute track. But it couldâve been a four-minute masterwork. And I can see why it was left off TKOL: It doesnât quite fit the albums two major timbres of [1] atmospheric sensory explosion or [2] strangely pared-down and reserved. (P.S. I love the faint piano at 4:10.) | | 84 | | Radiohead
Pablo Honey
>> STOP WHISPERING
Whenever Radiohead diehards are discussing PABLO HONEY and which tracks they find salvageable, you tend to see âCreep,â âBlowout,â and âYou,â with occasional spicy picks like âLurgeeâ or âVegetable.â I donât think Iâve ever caught wind of any love for âStop Whispering,â though, which makes me sad. I can vividly remember the first time heard it and, knowing it was from The Album That Must Not Be Named thought quizzically to myself: âThis is⊠kinda good?â To my mind, itâs the most mature precursor of the âcontinuous build-upâ song structure that Radiohead would whet and perfect on future records (think âExit Music,â âFul Stop,â âThe National Anthem,â or âYou and Whose Armyâ). And yes, those songs are all far better than this one, but the blueprints are right here! I make no apologies for loving the brushed snare, the clear guitar licks, and the way Thom strains during the final chorus on the track, shouting at the top of his lungs. A beautiful disaster. | | 83 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> WHERE I END AND YOU BEGIN
Relentless kineticism, a song that remains constantly in motion: Colinâs ripping bassline is the lifeblood that keeps everything moving and the anxiously rolling drum beat erects a frame upon which everything else is eerily draped. (Thereâs a single instance where the bass drops out at 2:39 and it emulates the feeling youâd get if your heart momentarily stopped beating: Its absence is truly felt, and its reentry is a relief.) Sufficiently tinted in darkness from a tonal perspective without devolving into purely sad-sack or doom-and-gloom territory, balanced nicely by the subtly uplifting undertones of the musicâs dynamic nature. Kinda spacy, kinda creepy, but sand-blasted with vibrant edges and orbiting a rock-steady center of gravity: If thereâs one thing you praise âWhere I End and You Beginâ for, let it be its equipoise. Lastly: This song has never felt four-and-a-half minutes long to me. One of those that comes and goes in seemingly half the time. | | 82 |  | Radiohead
The Bends
>> (NICE DREAM)
During my last (half-assed) iteration of this list over a year ago, â(Nice Dream)â didnât make the cut, and now Iâm wondering if it was a glaring oversight, or if I legitimately didnât think it was one of Radioheadâs hundred-finest songs at the time. Iâm guessing the former, because I canât imagine the notion there are one hundred Radiohead songs *better* than this. A good example - among many others to come - of Radioheadâs ability to personify a song title or theme with the aura conjured up through the music itself. Saying â(Nice Dream)â sounds âdreamyâ would be pat, but not entirely untrue. The eminent calmness and quietude washes over you with a trancelike grace while the lyricism is devilishly subverted, detailing that a life of happiness and security is nothing more than a farce. (Isnât that what dreams are for, anyway?) Not the last time Radiohead would masterfully disguise bleak content with inversely effervescent melodies. (The violin in Verse #2 is love.) | | 81 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> DESERT ISLAND DISK
I think if you asked one hundred people to rank the tracks off AMSP, thisâd be the cumulative last place choice. So why, you may ask, do I personally think itâs superior (even if infinitesimally so) to âGlass Eyes?â Short answer: It feels more definable and âcompleteâ as a song; a strong standalone entity when removed from the context of the album. That response will surely leave some people unsatiated because, objectively, âDesert Island Diskâ is one of AMSPâs least complex songs w.r.t. structure and depth of textures. But this is a case where much of my affinity stems from the lyrics, which are drastically under-appreciated. They rank among the most deeply affecting in Radioheadâs entire catalog, imo. In my estimation, they detail not just the heartache of a split with someone you once cared about, but the feeling of rejuvenation and new beginnings. They represent the idea that change for the better is always possible, even in an unlikely environment. | | 80 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK ALIEN
As high as place #48 on some past iteration of this list, its yet another song in which the excitement it used to bring me has simply waned with time. But my feelings arenât so much extinguished as they are reformed: This is what Iâd consider the Olâ Reliable of âOK Computer,â the song that might not go-for-broke, but hums like a well-oiled machine and never makes a misstep. The opening, phased guitar riff is nearly iconic at this point, lending to the overarching superlunary vibes and it has always begged the question (from me, anyway): What *would* an alien from another planet think of Earth if they decided to land here one day? Itâs a song of cultural introspection, a denouement on our uptightness as well as an ode of frustration and wanting to break free from the monotony of the world weâve grown accustomed to. In that way, itâs almost a spiritual precursor to âNo Surprises.â | | 79 |  | Radiohead
COM LAG (2plus2isfive)
>> PAPERBAG WRITER
Another track whose exclusion from HAIL TO THE THIEF proper has me salty even after all these years. And yeah sure, maybe it sounds slightly more AMNESIAC-ish, but thereâs no way a song that thumps this hard doesnât make the final cut. While Colinâs busy going H.A.M. on the bassline, the strained string sections instill a noir-esque temperament, the sample of random, clanking percussion just looping in the background, having a swell time. I suppose you could apply my previous nitpicks about âThe Gloamingâ and âGlass Eyesâ here: This is *almost* more of a glorified bridge than a complete song, but honestly who cares at this point. The way Thomâs nasally voice omnipotently reverbs as he sings, âIt was nice when it lasted but now itâs goneâ is exactly the type of shit that gives me inexplicable chills. Honestly Iâve probably underrated this, but the list is finished and I promised myself no last-minute changes. | | 78 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
>> BANGERS + MASH
Stupid title - though a mighty fine dish, which makes for a fine pairing with bubble & squeak - but whew! This thing is an adrenaline shot straight to the heart Ă la Pulp Fictionâs overdosing sequence, wasting absolutely no time with foreplay and getting straight to a hardcore romp in the sack. Grungy, heavily distorted guitars seep through a cleverly layered dual drum track, Colinâs bass ensuring you âfeelâ the song instead of merely âhearingâ it. Itâs got the start-and-stop buoyancy of a Talking Heads tune, eclectic bass riffs like an early Red Hot Chili Peppers jam, and highly-modulated guitar phrases that hint at pre-2000 Incubus. Lots going on here, but it never gets messy or cacophonous, it just brims with the energy that was leftover from âElectioneeringâ and rides it until nothing but fumes are left. I always try my hardest not to embarrassingly sing alone to Thomâs shouts of âI got the poison!â but I usually fail miserably. Such is life. | | 77 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
>> BLOOM
Another entry Iâll likely take heat for, but find solace in the fact that my previous revision of this list didnât have âBloomâ *at all*, and that was even before the release of A MOON SHAPED POOL. It took me a while to warm up to it - longer than any other Radiohead track, maybe - but now I appreciate it for the modulated tone-setter it truly is: Could there possibly be a more befitting introduction for an album as oneiric as THE KING OF LIMBS? My previous distaste stemmed from the trackâs lack of structure and droning qualities, but when you step back and look at TKOL, thatâs kinda how *every* track is, and perhaps this warbled, cyclic intonation is the encompassing theme of the album. What once bored me now holds me mesmerized, captivated by sounds I barely recognize, and there might be no other Radiohead track that can hold me under a sustained trance quite like this one. âA giant turtleâs eyes / Jellyfish swim by.â Yes, indeed they do. | | 76 |  | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> DOLLARS & CENTS
The eminent sleeper of AMNESIAC, a track that doesnât garner much attention (on an album that often gets buried at the bottom of Radioheadâs canon, no less) but encompasses the milieu of that specific time and place in the bandâs career so well. You know, that kind of longey, spaced-out, quasi-jazz-influenced brand of postmodern alt-rock. Itâs actually a brilliant segue between KID A and AMNESIAC (despite the two albums being conceived at/around the same time), capturing the rhythmic, subdued, and slightly chilling pitch of the latter while lingering with just a dash of that electronic aura of the former, existing neatly in the Venn diagram overlap. (Plus, if âMan of Warâ didnât exist, this shouldâve been Radioheadâs next pick for James Bond theme music.) Iâve always thought of this as the twin brother of âKnives Out,â only with a darker and more incognito form. That jazzy breakdown at 2:25 is the beeâs knees, too: That ride cymbal, my word! | | 75 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> SAIL TO THE MOON
Itâs rare we get to see the squishier, more sentimental side of Radiohead, and songs like this only make me yearn for more of it. An elegant soliloquy from Thom to his (at the time) baby boy, Noah. âMaybe youâll be president but know right from wrong / Or in the flood youâll build an ark and sail us to the moon.â Thereâs something patently arresting when an emotional clam opens up and spills his or her guts, and despite the trackâs somber sounding body, the lyrics put a sobering spin of hopefulness on the entire thing. I hear Nick Mason on the drums and maybe a touch of Joe Perry on the guitar; a relaxing song, as it should be, and it serves as a fantastic come-down after the bangarang outro of âSit Down, Stand Upâ in the context of HAIL TO THE THIEF. I wasnât a huge fan after my first-ever listen - many, many moons ago - but since that time, âSail to the Moonâ and its barebacked beauty has sunk its roots deep into my subconscious. | | 74 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> BODYSNATCHERS
This is like the âElectioneeringâ of IN RAINBOWS. I donât mean that pejoratively at all, but itâs such a harsh step up in both pace and aggression from the rest of the album that even diehards are bound to initially wince (casuals donât stand a chance). Especially being the predecessor to âNude,â you might think youâre hearing songs from two different albums if you know any better. But in a way, I kind of *like* the jarring nature of âBodysnatchersâ and how it adds a wallop of variety to the front-half of the album without jamming the gears too much. (âBodysnatchersâ followed by âNudeâ is the aural equivalent of rough, primal sex epilogued with a nice cuddle session afterwards.) And truthfully, itâs not *that* intense of a song, it just feels particularly elevated when the surrounding nine tracks are infinitely more mellowed out. But if Radioheadâs great at something, itâs disrupting any and all expectations: Hereâs yet another example of that. | | 73 | | Radiohead
The Bends
>> SULK
You hear that? Thatâs the collective groan of every Radiohead fan reading this list and learning the âSulkâ has ranked above the likes of âBloom,â âGlass Eyes,â âThe Tourist,â or [literally any other song thatâs already been listed]. For some reason thatâs completely eluded me from the day I started listening to this band, âSulkâ seems to be the single most-hated track Radiohead has ever produced. And I just donât get it. (Shit, even Thom & Co. have publicly stated their disdain for it.) To my mind, itâs easily one of the most accessible songs from THE BENDS; catchy but not melodramatic, simple but not vacuous, tranquil but not timid. Just *thinking* about the way Thom belts out the final chorus - specifically the way he elevates his voice halfway through the word âsoulâ - is giving me full-body chills. Itâs not as bold or daring or progressive or technically adept as almost anything thereafter, but so what? This is goddamn great mellow rock, haters can hate all they want. | | 72 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
>> LAST FLOWERS
Iâve always wondered if thereâs legitimate science behind humankindâs interpretation of major keys (in music) bright and uplifting and minor keys as sullen and gloomy, or if itâs just a result of years and years of conditioning, something ingrained centuries ago when Bachs and Beethovens were running amok. In any case, Radiohead uses that dichotomy to create a track with two distinct moods. The verses, which make up the sulky, substantially darker parts of the song, follow a scheme of F-minor, G-minor, A-minor. Transitions to each miniature refrain, however, moves from that A-minor to a C-major and alas! The entire atmosphere of the song shifts from a downtrodden despondency to a bereft optimism. I must assume itâs no coincidence, then, that the word Thomâs crooning during this transience is ârelief,â as if to underscore the brief lapse of darkness brought on by the major chord. Such is the variety of life; without the bad times, would we recognize the good ones? | | 71 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> WE SUCK YOUNG BLOOD
Everyoneâs favorite Radiohead song to shit on since âSulk,â and while thatâs obviously not my scene, I can at least see why this wouldnât be to someoneâs taste. Itâs slow, itâs creepy, itâs a little repetitive, itâs a tad long. Whereas a majority would use those adjectives slanderously, those are exactly the things I *like* about this track, forming a treacherous bridge between âWhere I Endâ and âThe Gloaming.â Thereâs a brooding to âWe Suck Young Bloodâ that haunts my psyche, from the eerie and staunch piano to what might be the slowest cadence of hand claps to ever have been recorded in rock music. (The way they seem purposely mistimed - only very slightly - only adds to the mood.) Thomâs strained vocals are perfectly attuned to the ambiance, spewing rhetoric about the culture of models, used up while theyâre young only to be replaced by newer, fresher, and more obedient slabs of meat. Haunting. That compositional breakdown at 2:57 is fucking riveting. | | 70 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> ELECTIONEERING
The most chastised track from OK COMPUTER. People will tell you âit doesnât belongâ or âit doesnât mesh with the rest of the album,â sentiments with which I respectfully disagree. People tend to mistake variance for ill-fittedness, completely overlooking the purpose of the song from a larger perspective. OK COMPUTER needed this livewire jolt of energy: After six tracks of germinated alt-rock brilliance followed by the droning intermission of âFitter Happier,â Thom and crew decide to kick us in the teeth, peppering our anuses in preparation for the more tonally skewed second (slightly-less-than) half of the album. Itâs like youâve just started to come down and the band jabs a needle in your arm and dip the plungerâânot so fucking fast.â The songâs most brilliant moment is around 1:04 as Thom begins wailing âwhen I go forwards, you go backwards.â If you listen, youâll hear a staccato guitar lick that start high and work their way down. âAnd somewhere we will meet.â | | 69 | | Radiohead
The Bends
>> STREET SPIRIT (FADE OUT)
Is my credibility gone yet? Great song, obviously, but I donât think itâs one of Radioheadâs absolute best (nor do I think itâs even one the top three songs from THE BENDS). Itâs one of the bandâs more formulaic songs (and I donât mean that negatively), starting with what might lay claim to their most identifiable opening guitar lick, arpeggiated and slightly phased. Itâs the albumâs finale, and perhaps the bleakest closer theyâve released have to date (and they have some bleak closers); somberness meshing with angst, depression, and anger, entrenched by an overarching feeling of solitude. It is a draining song, one that sucks you into its collective anguish, a black hole from which there is no escape. Even Thom himself has said, âStreet Spirit has no resolve. Itâs a dark tunnel without the light at the end.â Though maybeâjust *maybe*âthereâs an infinitesimal shimmer of hope in the final line: âImmerse your soul in love.â You can decide for yourself. | | 68 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> PACKT LIKE SARDINES IN A CRUSHD TIN BOX
The opening track of any album should serve as a sort of lubricant for whatâs to come, setting the tone and establishing a baseline to which you can properly acclimate your senses. If âPackt Like Sardinesâ isnât the most fitting prologue for AMNESIAC, then I donât know what is. Incessant, tinny percussion and electronic drum patterns; rich and submerged synthesizer strokes; muffled, sublimely understated vocals, âAfter years of waiting, nothing came / And you realize youâre looking in the wrong place.â New waves of sounds and nearly unidentifiable instruments waft in and out; unseasoned ears might cite a case of aural diarrhea, but part of the charm is the cornucopia of sound that violently bustles through your head, and itâs really the best form of mental preparedness you could hope for with an album of such glamorous eccentricity. Schizophrenic and dissonant in the best ways possible: âIâm a reasonable man, get off my case.â | | 67 |  | Radiohead
The Daily Mail/Staircase
>> STAIRCASE
Clearly cut from the same cloth as THE KING OF LIMBS, âStaircaseâ is driven by atmosphere and texture, the coalescence of all the instruments to form an encompassing climate rather than one built piece by piece. (Even the more instrumentally delineated Radiohead tracks have layers upon layers, but the TKOL era is really where they started blurring the defining lines between those layers to create heaping, homogenous resonances.) Not a ton of excess modulation here, but enough variation between the minutiae to stave off tedium and keep things fresh without foregoing the elevated droning effect brought on by the perpetual background looping. Most interesting to me is the line at 2:23âis Thom singing âout of orbit,â or âI have always?â I can hear both, and apparently the closed captioning for TKOL: Live from the Basement reads the former. Part of me thinks it might be an intentional mondegreen, because what a great cliffhanger the latter imposes: ââŠand I always will.â | | 66 | | Radiohead
8 Outtakes From Amnesiac
>> WORRYWORT
My wife would say, âOh the one that sounds like a video game?â Poor thing. But thatâs honestly not a wrongheaded observation; thereâs something about the melodic throughline that sounds like it would fit snugly into an 8-bit arcade soundtrack. (Try to imagine if Pac-Man had an underwater level; some weird amalgam of Atari and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.) What I find truly fascinating is that over 90% of the âpercussionâ here is human beatboxing, giving the song a rhythmic structure while maintaining a tender degree of softness thatâs simply not achievable with a modern drum set. âWorrywortâ is a lozenge for your mind, a song that just kind of melts and seeps it way through the cracks in your right-brain, effortlessly and clandestinely. It also contains one the most tender and hopeful lines ever conceived by Thom? âThereâs no use dwelling on, on what might have been / Just think of all the fun you could be having / Itâs such a beautiful day.â Be still my heart. | | 65 | | Radiohead
Pablo Honey
>> I CANâT
Looking ahead, youâll notice this is the last PABLO HONEY entry which mean: No âYou,â no âVegetable,â no âLurgeeâ and [gasp!] thatâs right, no âBlow Out.â Above all, it means that âI Canâtâ is, to me, PABLO HONEYâs crowning achievement, and the apex of Radioheadâs pre-BENDS talent. And as defensible as Iâm prepared to get, every time I listen to this song I wonder why Iâd even have to be. Maybe Brit-and/or-early-90s alt/pop-rock is your kryptonite, in which case thereâs no convincing you. But how can any open-minded person hear âI Canâtâ and not immediately latch onto something? The approachability, the mellow groove, the fuzzy enamel, and my godâthe simplest yet most instantly alluring hook/chorus theyâve ever assembled? If you can sincerely listen to this and somehow *not* sing-along with âEven though I might, even though I try / I canât,â you should schedule an appointment with your cardiologist ASAP: Thereâs a dead, ossified clump of mass where your heart should be. | | 64 |  | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool (Special Edition)
>> SPECTRE
In making this list, I was flipping and flopping entries up until the very last moment, after which I told myself it was âsolidifiedâ and, no matter what, couldnât be changed again, lest I remain perpetually discontent with the order and forever incapable of publishing it. Truth is, though, the âfine tuningâ never stops, and this year the Most Regretful Placement award goes to âSpectre.â It deserves a higher spot than sixty-four; even as Iâm listening to it now, Iâm balking at how I ever accepted a spot somewhere outside the Top Fifty even. But hey: You live, you learn, and you can bet thisâll climb on my next iteration of this god forsaken list. Radiohead was born to write this song, it bleeds with a stratosphere of sexy mystique and level-headed charisma, and it prevails even when removed from the context of âJames Bond theme song.â Itâs so goddamn sleek and polished, a dazzling mĂ©lange of A MOON SHAPED POOLâs orchestration and IN RAINBOWSâs aerial luster. Sublime. | | 63 | | Radiohead
The Daily Mail/Staircase
>> THE DAILY MAIL
âThe Daily Mailâ is the supermodel who removes her makeup and is even prettier without it; significantly more stripped down than a majority of post-BENDS Radiohead songs, a feeling only exacerbated by its release following THE KING OF LIMBS. Piano. Vocals. Some light percussion. Brass instruments. Woodwinds. After such a largely synthetic release (and no, thatâs not inherently a knock against TKOL), it was refreshing to see Radiohead take a step back and meddle in the fundamentals once again. Again with the comparisons, this is how Iâd imagine a contemporary, late-era Beatles track might sound, somewhere halfway between THE WHITE ALBUM and LET IT BE. I swear I can even hear a bit of Ringo in there as the drums come bopping in. (When the whole band joins around 2:07, it sounds magnificently ABBEY ROAD-ish, and I fucking love it.) Iâm upset this never made a full album cut for the fact that more people need to hear it, though I think itâs gained some steam recently. | | 62 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
>> FERAL
Nope, thatâs not a typo. Youâre reading it correctly: âFeral.â I seem to have a strange fetishization for each albumâs agreed upon black sheep, and âFeralâ might be my most personally cherished of them all. Firstly: Letâs not lump this into the same category as âTreefingersâ or âFitter Happierâ simply because itâs largely instrumental. This song is entirely different for the fact that it doesnât serve as any kind of interlude for the album proper. If anything, it more closely shadows âKid Aâ viz., an experimental noisescape that cherry-picks various elements from each track on the album to form a sort of small-scale, concentrated summation. Sure, you might not explicitly pick up hints of âCodexâ or âGive Up the Ghostâ from listening to âFeral,â but its function as an all-around sensory anthem for THE KING OF LIMBS is important and undeniable, and Iâm convinced that âFeralâ detractors have simply yet to blast the song on their car stereo until the doors are audibly shaking. | | 61 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> IDENTIKIT
When a song like âIdentikitâ ranks among the bottom-three tracks on an album, that should speak tremendous volumes about its greatness in total. (Spoiler alert: A MOON SHAPED POOL is fucking amazing. But you knew that already.) Making live, unnamed appearances as early as 2012, an outspoken group of people were disappointed with the recorded album version (myself *somewhat* includedâŠonly somewhat, though), saying it was, in comparison to the live renditions, too tame, too lax, too apathetic. But as the months (and, eventually, years) passed, I settled into its groove and came to appreciate its juxtaposed restraint. It borders on dawdling, right from the opening congregation of instruments haphazardly trying to form a timely melody, but, perhaps paradoxically, its languor is its greatest strength, slithering along without the orchestral ornamentation that decorates *most* of A MOON SHAPED POOL, and carves out a niche for itself anyway. Broken hearts, make it rain! | | 60 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> SIT DOWN. STAND UP.
Though HAIL TO THE THIEF is a heavily political and government-centric album, Iâve always pulled an allusion to Christianity from this song (or religion in general, I guess), with the title referring to the constant sitting, standing, and genuflection that symbolically recurs ad infinitum during a traditional Catholic mass. (Makes sense, too, that the âjaws of hellâ are specifically namedropped.) In any case, the robotic droning of Thomâs voice pairs frighteningly well with the accompanying musicâs sense of dramatic energy, bordering on operatic but maintaining a sense of anxiousness that could only be harvested from the bandâs mild post-rock influences. Canât exactly explain the âraindropsâ x42 (or however many times Thom actually repeats it), but the kinetic explosion of surrounding noise during the final minute of the song is contagious under any interpretation, and a sharp conclusion to the doom-and-gloom elicited from the rest of the track. | | 59 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> ALL I NEED
Comes on strong with the lowkey indie vibes, calling to TRANSATLANTICISM (never thought Iâd be making Death Cab for Cutie parallels with Radiohead, but here we are), blending warm and fuzzy tones with lyrics that scrape away the remaining sentimental marrow from whateverâs left of Thomâs ribcage. Rarely do the boys wear their emotions so patently on their sleeve, but with scarcity comes honesty, and the evocation of feeling second-bestâlike a bit-part in a massive play or unnoticed background sceneryâis internally wrenching. (Is there anything worse than feeling worthless?) I hear a touch of trip-hop roots buried deep (deeeeep) beneath Philâs drumbeat, married gently with Colinâs synthesized wall of bass; along with Thomâs vocal reverb, itâs akin to being trapped in a cave and having to listen to your own thoughts aloud. Partly beautiful, but also eminently haunting. Confession: I cry a little bit on the inside when the violin enters at 2:46, no shame. | | 58 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> KNIVES OUT
Literally, itâs about cannibalism. Metaphorically, itâs referring to the âsocialâ cannibalism that consumes us daily, a vigil for our dog-eat-dog world transcribed through the context of Darwinism as applied to a socioeconomical framework. It captures the blind-eye mentality of corporate ladder-climbers, violently scaling their way to the top via othersâ backs, refusing to look back at bodies left in their wake: âDonât look down, just shove it in your mouth.â The music straddles the line between AMNESIACâs jazzier elements and HAIL TO THE THIEFâs purely alt-rock tendencies with distinguished verve, tossing traditional song structure aside in lieu of a piece of work that eludes definition with âbeginning,â âmiddle,â and âendâ kind of blending into one, cognate mass. And of course, who can forget the blood, sweat, and tears poured into this track? Over one year in the making - a time in which entire albums have been written and recorded - all culminating toward this. | | 57 | | Radiohead
The Bends
>> HIGH & DRY
Iâm unsure if thereâs still a huge backlash against âHigh & Dryâ like there was a decade ago, but itâs a sentiment I must assume was born from the depths of smarmy elitists who, after learning secondhand of the syncopation in âVideotape,â vowed to forever turn their noses up at any piece of music lacking such buried complexity. (Either that, or purely obedient fans who caught wind of Thomâs ambivalence toward the song and mindlessly inherited this dogma, too.) My emotional side loves a heaping dollop of 90s-era pop-rock, though, and nobody does it quite like Radiohead. (And goddammit, they donât/didnât do it that often; all the more we need to cherish these tracks dearly.) If âCreepâ hadnât existed, I would bet an awful lot of money thisâd be Radioheadâs trebuchet into the limelightâitâs got all the makings of Brit-pop stardom. Itâs the kind of song that lays smoothly against your palette, tender, sweet, and pleasurable. The first Radiohead song I fell in love with. | | 56 | | Radiohead
Supercollider/The Butcher
>> THE BUTCHER
Carries an industrial, borderline-grim sound that extends beyond the lofty spirituality of THE KING OF LIMBS, so I can see why didnât appear on the finalized track list: It essentially mixes that albumâs elecro-kineticism with the grisly temper of KID A / AMNESIAC, and what weâre left with is this splendid nugget of bewitching, foreboding grotesquerie. It summons a kaleidoscope of morbid imagery in my mind, one comprised of damp cellars and underground dungeons and torture chambers and stained, medieval weaponry hanging along the musty stone walls. (The fact that Radiohead can conjure these visuals with music that would general be described as comparatively âmellowâ or e.g. something other than heavy death/sludge/black metal further exemplifies their wizardry as true artists.) When that drum track doubles up at 2:01, I swear I can feel my arteries tighten up a bit, only to begin sweating moments later when Thomâs background moaning lapses into the soundscape. | | 55 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
>> SEPARATOR
Upon my first rummage through THE KING OF LIMBS, I complained that âSeparatorâ was too long and monotonic. Years later, I chalked that poor opinion up to improper headspace: The circularity achieves a level of tranquility that serves an actual purpose, and I simply mistook this for laziness at the time, probably disgruntled at the fact we werenât given IN RAINBOWS: REDUX. Recalls what I loved about âAqueous Transmission,â the closer on Incubusâs MORNING VIEW: A hearthstone of quietude to slowly conclude upon, transcendence to a calmer platform of existence, if only momentarily. Plus, there are plenty of tiny flourishes and grace notes that weave their way into the mix to provide adequate variation without diverting focusâI was simply too tone-deaf to hear them eight-or-so years ago. Ends with what might be the most succinct description of Radiohead as an enigmatic, constantly-evolving intellectual property, too: âIf you think this is over then youâre wrong.â Iâll say. | | 54 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> TRUE LOVE WAITS
The previous version of this list was compiled years ago, before A MOON SHAPED POOL was completed, and âTrue Love Waitsâ sat at #57. It was the acoustic rendition from âI Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings,â and if you asked me today, Iâd still tell you I prefer that version to the reimagined, re-recorded, âofficialâ release. Yet here it is - the AMSP variant - sitting proudly at #54, three spots above the predecessor that I apparently favor. [Shrug]. I can only surmise that my estimation of âTrue Love Waitsâ *in any form* has grown significantly over the last several years and if I were to rank the live/acoustic track *now*, Iâd estimate some place in the low-40s. (For the sake of consistency, Iâm choosing to forego the inclusion of âsecondaryâ performances of a track if an official album release exists.) Something about its rawness, its unpowered passion, and its hands-out lack of pride speaks deeply to my spirit; a virtue that grows truer as Iâve gotten older. | | 53 |  | Radiohead
Just (For College)
>> HOW CAN YOU BE SURE?
Haaa-ooo-aaaa-ooo-aaa-ow can you not love this song? More importantly, how was this excluded from the finalization of THE BENDS? Tyranny, I say, and for as much as I adore âHigh and Dryâ (itâs only a few places back), this is like its twin sibling, only incrementally better in nearly every conceivable way. Itâs a bona fide pop ballad, but unabashedly so, and the comfort it has in its own skin is refreshing. Easily as catchy, accessible, user-friendly, etc., but also a bit more lyrically evolved, open, and mature (even though traces to an earlier provenance). It also contains some incredibly unique backing vocals (whoâs the gal, btw?) as well as the most delicious refrain in their entire oeuvre: The kind that I proudly shout at the top of my lungs, basking in the glory of unrepentant pop indulgence, unfazed by any poor soul within the blast radius. Take itâand love it for what it isâor leave it. I choose the former. Oasis *wishes* theyâd written this track. | | 52 | | Radiohead
Go to Sleep
>> GAGGING ORDER
Few and far between are fully acoustic Radiohead tracks; even fewer and farther are ones that incorporate tangible stretches of guitar noodling. Thom is undeniably an Englishman here, and thereâs an intangible intimacy in the bareback composition, as though weâre sitting in a room with Mr. Yorke and heâs gonna play for us, one-on-one. I was shocked to learn this has only been played live once, and it canât fall back on the same scapegoats of complexity as âWorrywortâ or âLife in a Glasshouse,â so whatâs the deal? This is the type of song that would quiet an entire stadium of people, everyone at full attention and focus as Thom plucks and lilts. You can pull a ton of interpretations from the lyrics, but my favorite is usually the simplest: A fully worn out human being, down on their luck, hampered with a nagging vice and insurmountable addiction thatâs driven him or her to nothing more than âjust a body, pouring down the street.â Hey, I never said it was a happy song. | | 51 |  | Radiohead
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
>> TALK SHOW HOST
Trapped in purgatory between THE BENDS and OK COMPUTER and probably the best example of the growth and maturity that took place between the two releases, like peeking at the larva before the butterfly emerges. Hollow, pounding drums call to mind a few backbeats on DJ Shadowâs ENTRODUCING, layered with staunch, stilted guitar tones Ă la early Rolling Stones. (Sans vocals, you could mistake this for an early-90s trip-hop track, esp. starting around 1:48.) Then the warbling, synthetic background effects start waving in, and suddenly youâre listening to the most postmodern self-reflection that Radiohead has ever done. Thom toes the line between singing and merely talking, ensuring the vocal delivery contains the proper amount of grit and arrogance, and Colinâs thumping will ruin your speakers if youâve got the bass turned too high up. (Is he showcasing a small influence from Flea here? Listen at 3:54.) A subtle skewing of subgenre and influence does a lovely b-side make. | | 50 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> I MIGHT BE WRONG
Just as âTalk Show Hostâ existed in a perfect middle-ground between THE BENDS and OK COMPUTER, âI Might Be Wrongâ would be the prime choice for representing the transitory period from AMNESIACâs vat of rhythm, gloom, and capriciousness into HAIL TO THE THIEFâs more traditional alt-rock sensibilities. Not to keep cramming down the hyperbole, but this is probably Radioheadâs most balanced song, evident right from the opening twenty seconds: Synthetic, phaser-driven white noise is forcefully yoked to a grungy guitar riffâit sounds like two different incantations of Radiohead are meshing and molding into one other simultaneously (and weâre only talking about two instruments). Simple, but brilliant. Again, Thomâs vocals seem reminiscent of the reverberation and low tonality synonymous with the KID A era while Colin plucks a bass line that sounds distinctly HAIL TO THE THIEF-ish. Thatâs what I love most about this song: It embraces change and exhibits genuine dynamism. | | 49 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
>> UP ON THE LADDER
Cut from the same cloth as OK COMPUTER, then dredged through the batter of IN RAINBOWS to form a unique synthesis of these two different (and non-sequential!) Radiohead styles. It has the cocky and confidence aura of songs like âLuckyâ or âKarma Police,â cross-pollinated with a graceful, dreamscape backdrop more along the lines of âReckonerâ or âHouse of Cards.â Thereâs a hint of grunge bubbling just below the surface, too, elevating Thomâs lyrical disgust with politicians and world leaders whoâve spent their careers being controlled by strings from above (or, cheekily, up on the ladder). Random thing I always notice and inexplicably gush over: Right as Thom sings âgive me an answerâ at 2:16, the track slings a warm crackling/popping noise against the periphery, subconsciously coating itself with an olde tyme vinyl record veneer. Dunno if that was the bandâs intention, and it comes out of nowhere, but I fawn over the quasi-retro feeling it gives me. | | 48 |  | Radiohead
OK Computer: Collector's Edition
>> HOW I MADE MY MILLIONS
I would make an embarrassing amount of sacrifices to the devil if he could promise me a cleanly re-recorded, slightly extended version of âHow I Made My Millions.â Iâm trying hard to think of reasons why I treasure this non-song so dearly and coming up mostly empty handed. Itâs overly simple, the lyrics are enigmatic, the quality of the existing recording is subpar, itâs distressingly short, but goddammit *something* about that feeble piano trickle and the delicate way Thom bellows out rudimentary phrases âlet it fallâ and ânever mindâ absolutely rips my heart out, effortlessly raises the hair on the back of my neck, and gives me abrupt cold sweats. Maybe thereâs some buried intimacy in the low-fi, at-home recording that would be lost in the pristine conditions of a studio - I guess weâll never know - but I stand by my preposition. Devil, if youâre listening, make this happen and youâll have a personal servant for the rest of the foreseeable future. | | 47 |  | Radiohead
Kid A
>> IN LIMBO
And boom, at #47 we have KID Aâs first appearance on the list. The thing thatâs always intrigued me most about âIn Limboâ is that it effectively sounds like a song thatâs in limbo: Between what exactly? Not sure, but every time I listen to this song, it places my mind in a pseudo-suspension, a purgatoryesque grey area that has no clear definition, like a dream where Iâm falling endlessly into a pit with no apparent bottom. Nestled softly between objective rocker âOptimisticâ and âIdioteque,â it acts as midpoint rendezvous between the two, further embracing the imagery set forth by its title. I used to think âIn Limboâ was in service to âOptimisticâ the same way âLiving Loving Maidâ was to âHearthbreakerâ i.e., an appendage that shouldnât be heard without its salient counterpart. But in recent years, âIn Limboâ has garnered a level of robustness and morphed into a wonderful standalone track for me, ending with a nearly cathartic vacuum of sound fading into wind. | | 46 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SAILOR RICH MAN POOR MAN BEGGAR MAN THIEF
Now that Iâve wasted a third of my allotted character count on the title, Iâll have to make this relatively concise: The orchestration is simply superb, intricately layered like a fine textile that urges you to reach out and touch it. (And my god does it feel lovely.) Thereâs a tiny iota of KID A remnants here, and when forced against Jonnyâs newfound penchant for swelling string movements and operatic edifice, what weâre left with is a five-minute sustained orgasm of circumscribed atmosphere and carefree paralysis. If thereâs any song in Radioheadâs catalog that makes me want to float into the sky and evaporate alongside the clouds with my eyes closed and my palms out, itâs decidedly *this* one. And of course, Philâs just in the background, tip-tapping along and doing his own miniature improvisation. Not sure why the ridiculous title, though. Frustrating because my compulsive anxiety refuses to let me truncate it. | | 45 | | Radiohead
The Bends
>> BLACK STAR
Fades in (weird flex, but okay) and leaves little room for foreplay, spending only a few bars on its intro melody before launching us into the first verse: Somberâlyrically in full, musically in partâas Thom describes a mate in fragile condition, slipping into depression and compromising their relationship under the weight of the cumbersome and exhausting whirlwind of emotions. âI get home from work and youâre still standing in your dressing gown, well what am I to do?â The helplessness is palpable, and the chorusâwhile marginally uplifting in toneâshifts into a sarcastic bit of positing, representing that mild onset of hysteria once we become fully overwhelmed with our inability to heal the one we love: âBlame it on the black star / blame it on the falling sky / blame it on the satelliteâŠâ The first verse is a realization of the problem. The second verse is an attempt to deal with and solve it. The final verse is born from the ashes of the aftermath. Poetic and tragic. | | 44 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool (Special Edition)
>> ILL WIND
Comes in all snazzy like lounge music on heroin, the gentle but steady tap of the ride cymbal keeping time for the hypnotic bass riff, equalized such that you can almost hear Colinâs fingers as they pluck and gently rest against the string beneath each note being played. Late-era Radiohead is all about atmospheric domination, and their most recent release (at this time of writing) is no exception. Not as purely orchestral as A MOON SHAPED POOL or technetronic as THE KING OF LIMBS, though it splits the difference supremely down the middle and even stretches its influential limbs as far back as the early-aughts (that drum beat sears like an AMNESIAC track that never was). In fact, if I were given this song in the absence of foreknowledge or context, Iâm not sure I could accurately pinpoint its place along the bandâs timeline. (Thomâs slightly more matured style of singing notwithstanding.) And that kind of unpredictability is one of the greatest things about Radiohead. | | 43 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> DAYDREAMING
Adequately suited to its title: Itâs a song that reproduces the feeling of waking up, still half-asleep and blurry-eyed, having a bit of trouble getting your footing as you stumble out of bed and yawn, everything moving in slow-motion, the world around you quiet and unassuming, yet infinitely intimidating. (You may as well be floating among the clouds.) Itâs the recordâs most casual and understated track aside from maybe âGlass Eyes,â though it clocks in at over twice the length. And youâd *never* know it. (I was shocked to finally discover that âDaydreamingâ was over six minutes long; it always feels like maybe half that.) Mature in the sense that it presents an understanding that âmoreâ is not necessarily âbetter,â incorporating all of Radioheadâs operatic cultivations while exhibiting an impeccable amount of restraint. So delicate; change one note and the entire thing crumbles to indiscernible rubble. The closing, drawn-out string swells make my heart ache. | | 42 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> SCATTERBRAIN
One that slid right under my nose upon first spinning HAIL TO THE THIEF and never got much attention from me during the subsequent few years. But Iâve found that my affinity for âScatterbrainâ has climbed the older I get; not sure what that says about my psyche (nor am I sure that I truly *want* to know) or my ever-evolving musical preferences, but Iâve certainly acquired a particular soft spot for⊠well, softness, I guess, and this vein of melancholic cleanliness and strained crooning speaks to me far more personally now than it did when I was a teenager. âScatterbrainâ is the brooding calm before the storm, but the storm never really âcomes,â and in a lot of ways I find that eminently more chilling. Two guitar lines speak in various languages to each otherâone arpeggiated, one sustainedâthe serenity is accented by Philâs rim clicks, and Thomâs belting stuns like a tranquilizer. Super lofty but somehow it retains the density of a dying star, and *thatâs* impressive. | | 41 | | Radiohead
Kid A
>> OPTIMISTIC
This was the meager bone tossed to casual Radiohead fans who were late to the OK COMPUTER hype and anxiously awaited the release of KID A with no preparation for what awaited them on the first half of that record. Bursting after the glacial ambient-piece âTreefingers,â normies everywhere said to themselves, âWell fucking finally, something recognizable as Radiohead.â Meanwhile, I sat stunned at how well they incorporated their alt-rock origins into the dystopian atmosphere that engulfs KID A without sounding sorely out of place. Similarly, thereâs no other album that âOptimisticâ could possibly fit into without feeling objectively mislaid, and so the apocalyptic overtones are clearly working hard at some subconscious level. If I had to identify what exemplifies this best, Iâd point to the deserted aura of the track: The whole thing portends with unmistakable strain, embodied wholly in Thomâs lashing, vulnerable vocals. The surmounting gruff in his voice is critical. | | 40 | | Radiohead
8 Outtakes From Amnesiac
>> THE AMAZING SOUNDS OF ORGY
Sounds like an excerpt from a Dr. Seuss cartoon or something Tim Burton might conduct in his dreams; Loo floopers and tar tinkers and who hoovers and gar ginkers and honestly, I donât even know what instrument Iâm hearing approximately 90% of the time, molding a strange helix of comfort and unease that transcends logic. Aptly named, if nothing else, though âorgyâ implies an overarching sense of disorder. And at first glance, that seems appropriate. But like one of those Magic Eye pictures, the closer you look, the longer you stare, and the more you detach, it starts to resemble something intricately assembled and complacent. Among the ruckus: Symphonic howls, muffled tubas, various thwacking, what sounds like a drummer dropping his sticks on the set (1:29), a microwave-like warble (1:53), percussive television transmission static (2:35), and possibly a spaceship about to land (2:44). Thomâs muddled caroling makes this one of Radioheadâs creepiest tracks. | | 39 |  | Radiohead
The Best Of
>> THESE ARE MY TWISTED WORDS
Fell head over heads for this song the first time I heard it after about thirty seconds. Itâs done nothing but climb in my estimation since then. The opening drum beat is insanely infectiousâI often hear it in my sleepâand part of me thinks Iâd be content had this ended up a five-minute instrumental track. (I recall thinking it might be during my inaugural listen after two-and-a-half minutes elapsed and still no Thom.) The kit hammering away; the echoed, weeping guitar(s); the slinking bass; this is just a mightily fine piece of written music, the type of stuff that sears into your brain like a hot cattle prod. When Thom finally *does* decide to join the party, none of that eerily baked ambiance is lost, thankfully. His contribution functions as another instrument rather than a âvoiceâ in the traditional sense. This song is an accruement of my anxiety in aural formâsounds like a dig, but I promise itâs not. Apparently, my anxiety grooves hard. | | 38 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> DECKS DARK
Not sure thereâs another song off A MOON SHAPED POOLâor perhaps in Radioheadâs entire body of workâthat Iâve about-faced this heavily. An early contender for my least favorite track on the album after several initial spins, until one day, out of nowhere, something just. Fucking. Clicked. Like *that*. And in a flash, almost miraculously, I had a dense moment of clarity wherein I finally understood âDecks Darkâ in ways that previously eluded me. Somewhere between Thomâs lilting of âragdoll cloth peopleâ and the choral âaahs,â an epiphany smacked me square across the face, and the liquid consistency of âDecks Darkâ started percolating its way into the depths of my nervous system. Now, the song hits me a purely instinctual level, speaking to me in lofty tongues I barely understand, sideswiping me with grace notes of elegance and delicacy I can hardly comprehend, and reassuring me that everything in this world is beautiful if you give it enough time. | | 37 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> GO TO SLEEP
Would be one of my top candidates for Radioheadâs âMost Underappreciated / Consistently Overlooked Songâ (among only a few others); itâs possible Iâve had my head selectively buried in the sand like an ostrich, by why does no oneâand I mean *no one*âtalk about how awesome this song is, even when specifically discussing HAIL TO THE THIEF? Is it because itâs one of the most straightforward rock songs theyâve composed since THE BENDS? (I get hints of Incubus, Wilco, and even a touch of Soundgarden.) That swiftly picked acoustic guitar intro grabs me by the throat and just drags me along for over three minutes, drudging me through its flipping time signaturesâ4/4 to 6/8 and back again, ad infinitumâand leading me through the songâs cyclic melody that momentarily builds and continually resets itself, meddling around in the key of G before non-sequentially climbing upward (A-sharp, A, C, B), creating this âstagnant-progression-transgressionâ loop that I pitifully admire. | | 36 | | Radiohead
Kid A
>> KID A
âKid Aâ is the most *Kid A* song off KID A, though you donât need me to tell you that. If someone were to ask me âdo you think Iâd like KID A?â Iâd tell them to listen to âKid A,â and, based on their reaction, tell them to either dive in headfirst or stick to THE BENDS and OK COMPUTER for a while longer. This may as well have been recorded on Mars and left for earthlings to discover, study, and spend eras trying to understand what lifeforms could create such an empyreal piece of art. I hesitate to call this an âinstrumentalâ track because what âinstrumentsâ are being used? UFOs? Flux capacitors? EMF meters? Geiger counters? (Iâm speaking in jest but hopefully you get my point.) This eclipses âgenre.â If it were a human it would be genderless, raceless, unclassifiable. Hypnotic, electronic drum tracks chug along, synths warble, things shimmer, and all spoken words are warped and altered right to the edge of humanly recognition. Ladies and gentlemen: The 21st Century. | | 35 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
Once a favorite of mine, itâs almost weird for me to see it sitting here in the mid-30s (which means it has fallen from âabsolute masterpieceâ to âvery near masterpieceâ), but alas, itâs the correct placement this time around. If I had to pick one Radiohead track to get someone up and moving, though, itâd still this. (Or maybe, maaaaaaybe âLotus Flower.â) One thing Iâve always lovedâand *still* loveâabout âJigsawâ is that itâs essentially an ode to getting tipsy and cruising for tail at a pub. The first verse alone makes that abundantly clear, but Thom has a way of morphing that animalistic energy into something more complex, more poetic: âThe walls abandon shape / Youâve got a Cheshire cat grin / All blurring into one.â I like to think the second and third verses shift gears a bit and detail a man trying to schmooze a girl into sleeping with him before they black out from alcohol consumption. Maybe Iâm wrong. Maybe Iâm not. The melody is perfect, though. | | 34 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> MORNING BELL/AMNESIAC
My previous list combined both KID A and AMNESIAC versions into the same placement; Iâve decided to treat them as two separate entities this time around because, after all, they are. I like this from an experimentation standpoint: Itâs not often bands release the same lyrics and structure with two different sets of music on two consecutive albums, but then again thatâs why Radiohead is Radiohead and other bands just donât matter all that much. (I kid.) Herk Harvey directed a film in the early 60s called âCarnival of Soulsâ and while itâs not a favorite of mine, thereâs a superlative scene of the lead female walking hesitantly through an empty, run-down amusement park, looking discombobulated at the strange contrast between machinery made to engender fun and their abandoned, dilapidated state. That is *precisely* the feeling I get from âMorning Bell/Amnesiacââlike walking through a forsaken, decaying carnival and my god itâs both terrifying and fascinating. | | 33 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> KARMA POLICE
Quite possibly the most orthodox pop-rock song Radioheadâs done since THE BENDS: Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, outro. Ornery verses set to the tune of A-minor with a falsely uplifting C-D-G chorus that dips into a snarky B-minor on the final line (ââŠwhen you mess with usâ). But to deny âKarma Policeâ based on simplicity or conventionality is imprudent: *This* is how pop songs of the 90s could/should have sounded. âKarma police, arrest this girl / Her Hitler hairdo is making me feel ill, and we have crashed her party.â Delirious, twisted humor meshing uncomfortably with rotten, crushing reality, highlighting the overwhelming, occasionally debilitating distaste people have toward things that hardly matter. Jealously, envy, schadenfreude: An all-include pity party that weâve all been cordially invited to. The journey of an aggravated narcissistic through a self-deprecating journey of wishing grief unto others. Imagine a world where all âpopâ music was this quality. | | 32 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> PRESENT TENSE
Was gonna lead off with âAnother one that kind of âsnuck upâ on meâ before surmising that I could theoretically say that about nearly every track off A MOON SHAPED POOL, which Iâm now realizing is just an album full of slow and steady growers. The way this opens, though, is such a breath of fresh and unexpected air. Booming floor toms, upper-neck acoustics, falsetto moaning, and the cherry on top: Maracas! (For a while I thought I was hearing a cabasa, but Iâm confident theyâre âjustâ maracas.) Thomâs looping background tracks are as calming as they are sinister, and when that second guitar track comes in around 1:45, I can literally feel the muscles in my chest tighten up a bit. Thereâs a severely understated jungle rhythm buried beneath the glossy texture that just makes me want to fucking dance, but the mellow composure and masterful integration of each element (without overdoing anything) staves off any potential kitsch or adolescence. A miracle of timbre. | | 31 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> 2 + 2 = 5
From âAirbagâ to âEverything in Its Right Placeâ to âPackt Like Sardines,â youâlike meâhad no idea what to expect from the opening track the first time you fired up HAIL TO THE THIEF. Was anybody placing bets on an unabashed rock anthem, though? I believe this is what everyone was preparing for back in 2000 when KID A came out; this sounds like a natural, fluid path leading away from OK COMPUTER i.e., largely rock-oriented but progressively structured and shaded. But Radiohead wouldnât be Radiohead if they simply delivered what the world was âreadyâ for: Itâs *so* like them to drag us through the metaphorical mud bath of bipolar electronica before shifting back into slightly more traditional territory (thereby making it seem and feel untraditional). Taking the triptych form of âParanoid Androidâ (condensed) with the raw, aggressive verve of âElectioneeringâ (furbished), it covers a whole lotta ground in no time at all. Fun fact: Radiohead has never opened an album poorly. | | 30 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> AIRBAG
Trying to relive the feeling of hearing âAirbagâ for the first time everâafter having known nothing else but THE BENDS and thinking âhey these Radiohead guys are a pretty good British pop-rock group, eh?ââis futile. Itâs one of those defining, formative moments in every young personâs life: The second they hear that distorted low-E-string guitar riff, they may not realize it at the time, but their lives are about to get shaken, and music as they currently know it will never be the same. Not to knock THE BENDS (because itâs a good album), but the upscaled production, depth of composition, and multi-textured songwriting improvements are apparently within the first minute of OK COMPUTERâs opening track. Jonnyâs grungy strumming, Philâs unusually staccato pounding, Colinâs stop-and-go thumping, and Thomâs razor-sharp-yet-paradoxically-delicate vocals combine to form a masterclass in how to introduce a record. Proof that Radiohead wasnât âjust another 90s rock band.â | | 29 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
>> DOWN IS THE NEW UP
Did you forget about this song? Most people do, and that very fact give me uncomfortable stress pangs. If I could play god and switch one (minor) thing about Radioheadâs career to date, Iâd bestow IN RAINBOWS with eleven tracks, and wedge âDown Is the New Upâ right between âHouse of Cardsâ and âJigsaw Falling Into Place.â Thomâs piano carries such a delicious, meaty presence; you can almost feel the piano hammers thudding against the strings. The interplay between Philâs tinny, reverberating ride cymbal and extra-tight snare drum shots (mainly during the intro and bridges) is perfect. (And then at 0:19 when the drums drop out and youâve just got Thom singing alongside his piano, I actually melt a little bit.) A touch dreary, even a touch spooky, the elicited atmosphere is one that feels graciously uneasy but energetic all the same. The gradual, layered build-up from 3:00 to about 3:31 is the type of shit that brings tears to my cold, stony eyes. This song rules. | | 28 | | Radiohead
Kid A
>> EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE
C, G-sharp, G, and C. Those were the four notes you first heard in 2000 that, if youâre currently reading some random guyâs opinion on one-hundred Radiohead tracks, probably changed your life forever. The four notes that made you question whether you left the record store with the correct CD. You did. It was Radiohead. Just not the Radiohead that anyone expected. (But then again, in hindsight, that is *so* Radiohead.) Not only a fitting introduction for the most groundbreaking album of the aughts, but a paradigm shift at how you approached new music. It was, to say the least, a brilliant moment of âfuck what you thought you knowâ catharsis. I restarted âEverything in Its Right Placeâ about five or six times before I made it to track two during my first-ever KID A playthrough. I wasnât sure how to feel. I wasnât sure how to properly absorb this supermassive culture shock. But thereâs not a goddamn thing Iâd change about this modulated stroke of genius. | | 27 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> LIKE SPINNING PLATES
First things first: The live piano version of this song is legitimately better than sex and would contend for a Top 10 spot if I were to consider such recordings for this list. But take that as no slight to the original AMNESIAC release: The conceit here is assuredly a gimmick, but one that works so well at achieving an off-kilter sense of anxiety that I canât find room to complain. Along with the warped background noiseâwhich sounds like an archived, electronic variant of âI Will,â only resurrected and reversed in piecemealâthe demented ambiance from this track is staggering, a strange form of edging under self-asphyxiation, and when Thom hits that first sustained and falsetto âspinniiiiing plaaaaaates,â itâs like a simultaneous release of all the pent up, nervous energy from the preceding two minutes. A tragically overlooked song on AMNESIAC (in my estimation), though it remains a successful experiment to my mind, one that nails moods I canât even describe. | | 26 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> 15 STEP
A disheveled little beast, loaded with electrokinetic vibes; sliding, lounge act guitars; choppy, synchronized drum tracks; a bass line that wonât sit still; and a peculiar, half-whispered/half-urgent vocal delivery. Yet despite the multitude of baroque elements, everything congeals âjust so,â and, especially given the glitchy, quasi-samba evocation, nothing feels even moderately out of place. Like a Jenga tower whose structural integrity is suspect at first glance, but upon further inspection you notice that every single brick was meticulously placed in a location that was *just right,* each bearing equal loads and amassing to a shockingly impenetrable fortress. The devil is truly in the details, though. My favorite seemingly-minor-but-actually-massive instance is the switch from closed hi-hat to splashy ride cymbal right as Thom belts out, âone by oneâ for the first time. That, or the way they completely evaporate at 1:38 and re-enter at 1:45 next to fresh guitar lick. | | 25 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> CLIMBING UP THE WALLS
I think this song was singlehandedly responsible for Brand Newâs THE DEVIL AND GOD ARE RAGING INSIDE ME (seriously, there are *so* many similarities); it compares to Radioheadâs catalog like Ted Bundy compares to psychologically stable human beings. Raw, unhinged energy, and raspy discontent form this soundtrack for the emotionally unbalanced: For all the death metal bands who down-tune three whole steps and growl about bloody limbs and sacrificial rituals and explicit murder tactics, none of them get remotely close to the realm of thoroughgoing trepidation and lunacy that Radiohead achieves here. Each verse builds slowly, tossing layer upon layer of anxiety into the mix; it oozes like unidentifiable goop from the cracks in the floor and before you can react, youâre waist-deep in this mess. Favorite part at 1:48 when we get two bars of momentary lapse in calamity before a second guitar joins, Thom strains even more, and Phil menacingly lays on the ride cymbal. | | 24 | | Radiohead
Kid A
>> HOW TO DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY
Has always been proven to be the hardest song for me to accurately rank. I love it, of course, and any time I solidify its position, I end up thinking to myself after the fact: âWell this is way too low.â On any given day this may be as high as #15 (previous list iteration was #22, so not too far off here). KID Aâs most understated waft of brilliance (compared to all the obvious, ostentatious ones), and, in its totality, one of the most steadily cultivating songs of all time. If you donât believe me, just search for an amplitude chart of this song: It resembles a piece of candy corn. This is the definition of âcrescendo,â and done so subtly that you donât outwardly notice it as much as you subconsciously perceive it. Nonchalance, fully harnessed and utilized to an impeccable degree. To say nothing of the songâs âlurch dig into your chest and wring your heart out until it resembles a puny, shriveled raisinâ lyricism and color. Devastating *and* gorgeous. | | 23 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> BURN THE WITCH
Youâll notice that this is the highest ranked Radiohead opener on my list, and, I believeâwhether this is considered a hot take or notâthe mathematically greatest opener in their oeuvre when you consider [establishing tone] + [building atmosphere] + [standalone power]. Yes, even over âAirbagâ and *gasp!* âEverything in Its Right Placeââboth iconic and incredible in their own right, but, to me, âBurn the Witchâ is the absolute best and most encompassing preclude to its residing album than any of the others. It is a one-song summation of A MOON SHAPED POOL, introducing us to the orchestral elements, falsetto crooning, dank ambiance, laced with soft and delicate undertones, its dreamlike complexion marching forcefully towards a grandiose, operatic build up before pulling the rug out at the last minute. (For the record: âKid Aâ wouldâve been a better - i.e., slightly-more representative - opener for KID A.) This oneâs done nothing but grown on me since 2016. | | 22 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
>> LOTUS FLOWER
Who is this old man having a five-minute epileptic seizure while some hipster, new-age house music drones on in the background? Oh, thatâs Thom Yorke and it just happens to be Radioheadâs latest single. By the time 2011 rolled around, youâd have thought nothing they could do would surprise us anymore, but all it took was their objectively âcatchiestâ song sinceâŠwell who knows. Metronomic drums laced with the deep bellow of the buzzing bass, this track absolutely bumps, and itâs perhaps the most prime example of subverting the bombast electronica elements of THE KING OF LIMBS and congealing them into something that could legitimately be described as âpoppy.â The way Thom utilizes his vocal register to glide along the surface here is nearly as mesmerizing as the music itself, hybridizing some kind of wispy-falsetto-whisper-lilt and itâs just all kinds of incredible. When he (and the music) transition into the chorusâââŠand slowly we unfurlâŠââall is right with the world. | | 21 | | Radiohead
The Bends
>> FAKE PLASTIC TREES
Or: How to Write an Alt-Pop Hyper-Ballad 101. Radioheadâs âEvery Rose Has Its Thorn,â âNovember Rain,â or âMore Than Wordsâ (only far, far better than each of those). Sidesteps cheese and corny cliques by supplementing with a heart-rending vocal performance, one that matches the conviction of the music and drips with a legitimate, underlying passion. The person singing these words did not simply write them, they *lived* them, and we can feel it. Proof that (uncharacteristically) sentimental songs do not intrinsically suck, just that 95% of artists these days (and even back then) were writing with their pens and not their innards. Allusions of a world-weary person fed up with the phoniness around himâmasked emotions, feigned happiness, tallied possessions, and constantly feeling invisible to the one person you wish would notice you. The soft whimper of âIt wears me out / If I could be who you wanted, all the timeâŠâ guts me like a fish and rips me asunder. | | 20 | | Radiohead
Kid A
>> MORNING BELL
Funny anecdote: Upon hearing to this for the first time some fifteen-or-so years ago, I *knew* the title was âMorning Bellâ (I was probably scanning the tracklist as I listened), and yet I pondered heavily why Thom opened the song with âGood morning, Bill / Good mooorning, Bill.â Who was Bill? Was he related to Sarah from âLucky?â Moving on. The superior version of âMorning Bell,â obviously (Iâve yet to meet anyone who disagrees; if youâre out there, let me know so I can personally shun you forever), and while I still really, *really* like the demented, carnival-esque AMNESIAC take, the KID A version is on some intangible, back-alley butcher shop shit. The incessantly choppy drums, blown out bass, and nasally vocals intertwine like twisted metal; listening to this song unearths dark, morbid crevices of your psyche you didnât know existed. I swear to god Thom sheepishly squawking, âcut the kids in haaaaalfâ is the single most chilling moment in Radioheadâs existence. | | 19 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> NUDE
Your first date. Your first kiss. Your first break-up. Your first concert. Your first car. Your first job. Your first day of college. Your first house. The first time you heard Thom belt out âYouâll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinkingâ followed by a celestial chorus of delicate ooohs. These are the malleable, defining moments of every young man or womanâs life. Hits like a cold water quench after the increasing energy from â15 Stepâ to âBodysnatchers,â reestablishing a bit of quietude and restoring our heart rates to normal levels. It has always intrigued me that the album titled IN RAINBOWS is the one with the line about painting yourself white; perhaps some foresight into the songâs title, âNude?â Between Thomâs fragile vocal register, Philâs rim taps, and Edâs bright guitar rakes, I find myself in a perpetual state of euphoria every time I listen to this. Hard to believe this digs its roots as far back as 1998: Imagine being at *that* show. I need a cigarette. | | 18 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> YOU AND WHOSE ARMY?
One of Radioheadâs (many) gradual builders, and truly one of the finest examples of how to construct momentum. This thing is a goddamn battle cry. Iâve always adored the rich intake of air that you can hear at the very beginning, preceding the reverberated guitar chords. This audible inhale is more than a simple preparation for singing. It prescribes a sort of âhere goes nothing, itâs now or neverâ agenda to the track. In one, seemingly insignificant pull of oxygen, the disposition of the entire song is instilled as vigilant and the wry attitude becomes immediately apparent. Brilliantly structured musically, too: Begins with an E-flat minor, then drops seven steps to the next note. Then up five steps. Then down seven steps. Then up five steps, repeating until the final lapse (which drops eight steps instead of seven), creating a sinusoidal back-and-forth sensuality that, as a whole, still trends downward as though we were slowly being lowered into hell. Amazing. | | 17 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> THE NUMBERS
Almost my favorite A MOON SHAPED POOL track, one that grabbed me instantly upon my first spin of the album and hasnât let go since. Opens with an orgy of inconsequential noises: Flutes, a synth, twinkling pianos, single-note bass plucking, random tambourine flourishes. When that acoustic guitar riff finally busts through the wall of smokeâand the bass and drums eventually follow suitâI can literally feel my slacks tighten a bit. Radiohead has always been able to âmake senseâ of what could otherwise be described as foggy or cacophonous, and this is the prime example: Composition like a loose-limbed jam sesh, I swear it feels like a million things are going on, and all of those things are independent of one another yet still manage to coagulate into something resembling harmonious balance. Maybe my favorite vocal performance from Thom. He sings âone day at a timeâ in three different forms throughout the song, which means I orgasm precisely thrice every time I listen to it | | 16 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> NO SURPRISES
The king of inversely proportional tone and content, along the lines of biting into an elegant chocolate truffle only to find itâs been filled with smegma. As buoyant and bouncy and cheerful as the meter of the music might be, the lyrics describe a man fed up with his monotonous, slave-like career and his boring white-picket life, eventually ceding to his inner-demons and asphyxiating himself by running his car inside a closed garage. Lines like âIâll take the quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide,â and âThis is my final fit / My final bellyache,â sear with tragic inevitability, though my favorite is the less direct âSuch a pretty house and such a pretty garden.â Thereâs a hint of mockery there, as if the narrator was looking over his picturesque estate with blazing contempt, finally acknowledging that material successes do not always engender happiness. Or maybe itâs from the POV of a passerby admiring the place, oblivious of the lifeless body in the garage. Oof. | | 15 | | Radiohead
Kid A
>> IDIOTEQUE
I cringe when I hear someone say about a certain Radiohead song: âThis doesnât sound like a Radiohead song,â mostly because they donât have a concise or concentric âsoundâ around which all songs revolve. But, if I were to swallow my pride and slap that generalization upon just *one* Radiohead song anyway, itâd be âIdioteque.â Not only does it bathe in the overarching electrokinetic ambiance and dread of KID A, but it has an (almost) techno-club metric to it, and is, for lack of a better word, the most âdanceableâ song the band has ever done (aside from perhaps LOTUS FLOWER, but the competition is close). But, in true Radiohead fashion, itâs exceedingly far removed from a traditional âdanceâ song, rather the dance is more of a panic attack, a frantic (and mostly involuntary) flailing of limbs in the wake of eclipsing paranoia. The words themselves arenât exactly masterful, but the key here is Thomâs delivery. He sounds like a man running on his last, waning shred of sanity | | 14 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
>> CODEX
Even if youâre a steadfast KING OF LIMBS dissenterâwhich I am *not*, just to be clearâbe thankful it gave us âCodex,â if nothing else. Itâs easily the crowning achievement of the album, and one of the most marvelous / celestial / beautiful / [other twinkly, gushing adjectives] songs in Radioheadâs canon. There are very few things in this world more enchanting than the opening hammer strokes of âCodex.â Six. Excluding the small instrumental break and change-up near the end of the song, thatâs how many chords comprise the meat of the song. Only six. Sometimes perfection neednât be complication, though, and the pared-down assemblage is assuredly most of the charm here. The accents that do exist are small and never interfere or compete with Thom and his piano e.g. the underscored trumpets playing beneath âSlide your hand / Jump off the end,â at 2:38. By this point, Iâve lost count of how many times Iâve played âCodexâ and absolutely zoned out for five minutes straight. An elixir. | | 13 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
A somewhat relentless dynamism that doesnât feel particularly rushed or hectic because of how comparatively âsoftâ everything is, from the gentle, arpeggiated guitars with infinite cleanliness to the gauzy reverb of Thomâs delivery (and, of course, Edâs otherworldly background moaning). A song that adds little by little, layer by layer, building to the cliff-dropping climax, one that personifies its title in more ways than one: The fluidity is inescapable, and this may have been recorded underwater for all we know. Hypnotizing, but never borders on repetitive or monotonous given the staggered, additive approach. My personal favorite variation is when the drums bust wide open from a tightly close hi-hate to an emphatic ride cymbal at 2:25. And even once we enter that calm moment of catharsis and think things might be over, weâre launched back into a high-octane outro that continues to modulate and build before coming to a breathtaking, screeching halt. | | 12 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> LUCKY
May as well be called âCocky,â because the ripping arrogance in Thomâs voice pierces through this whole thing like a fishhook. Surely Radioheadâs most caustic and unforgiving song w.r.t. demeanor alone, the music following suit with a care-free sort of pageantry that somehow manages to feel scathing and abrasive all the same. Dunno the deep webâs take on âLucky,â but I feel that itâs too often overlooked when picking top tier OK COMPUTER tracks. (And yes, Iâve ranked several above it, but picking between your top five OK COMPUTER songs is like picking a favorite Skittles flavor. That is, pointless. Because Iâm just going to shove a handful in my face all at once, anyway.) I love the way the lines âI feel my luck could changeâ and âitâs gonna be a glorious dayâ are flip-flopped between verses and I love the way theyâre sung differently with each permutation. Also: That lonely, quibbling guitar that shines back in at 3:07 gets my endorphins flowing. This song is a monument. | | 11 | | Radiohead
Kid A
>> MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
This has always been a Radiohead closer that Iâve held in high esteem, and that notion has only grown more favorable with time. Its influence from Björkâs âUnravelâ is unmistakable; that that happens to be one of my favorite songs of all time should do most of the legwork in explaining why my knee-jerk reaction to âMotion Picture Soundtrackâ was, is, and always has been overwhelming awe. The opening organ captivates me instantly; Thomâs gentle murmurs make my tear ducts churn; winding harps deliver chills down the small of my back; the heavenly choir paralyzes me with its immense clemency. This song is simply too beautiful for words, no combination of characters exist that could adequately describe the feelings of wonderment and reverence it instills in me. The closure of âI will see you in the next lifeâ trending into the sinusoidal black hole of instruments is a perfect way to punctuate a perfect album. As Queen Björk might describe it all: Warmthness. | | 10 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> PYRAMID SONG
No need to dive into a musical history lesson about bizarre time signatures: The opening piano phrase of âPyramid Songâ has a swankiness that can be *felt*âdeconstructing down to a mathematical formula nearly defeats the purpose. It ruins the illusion, the same way youâll never be as impressed with a magic trick as when youâre oblivious to how itâs done. The strained quiver of strings in the periphery during the introduction is one of my favorite Radiohead nonpareils (almost hinting at the direction theyâd take with AMSP), and the excitement in which I anxiously await Philâs pseudo-swingtime entrance is unparalleled. Beyond the atypical rhythm, âPyramid Songâ is otherwise as straightforward as they come: One verse repeated twice (with the last line further repeated twice in isolation). Thatâs it. Yet your head is spinning with off-time piano strokes, swelling violins, synth warbles, and jazzy bass+drum combos. Simplicity and complexity can make swell bedfellows, eh? | | 9 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> PARANOID ANDROID
Devine. That itâs typically considered Radioheadâs crowning achievement is neither an accident nor a wrongheaded stance: I couldnât blame anyone for making this their unequivocal #1 pick. Itâs easily one of the most ambitious songs of its respective era, doing for alternative rock what 2001: A Space Odyssey did for films. It stretched the boundaries of what alternative rock should / could (and would eventually) be. The fascinating three-part structure continues to thrill me to this very day; the integration of acoustic, cabasas, flanges, wood blocks, crunchy distortion, and post-Gregorian chanting is befuddlingly perfect, to the point that I remain perplexed at how this was written and composed over twenty years ago. It sounds post-modern *now*, for Christâs sake. As if the dueling guitars didnât already send me into a cardiac arrest, my atria swell to at least five times their normal size when that acoustic line joins back in after âGod loves his children, yeah.â | | 8 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
>> THERE THERE
This thing looms and looms *hard*. Every time I listen to it, I underestimate its measured pace, taking its time, wading, slowly accruing: When you hear those first, rapping snare hits at 1:53, youâre sure the songâs going to bust the gates wide open, but alas! Not yet. But between the booming percussion, supercool hand claps (snaps?), and Thomâs layered foreground vocals and background croons/chants, thereâs never a dull moment. The anticipation continues to grow, knowing the climax mustnât be much farther. I canât suppress my elation when the second guitar joins alongside âwhy so green and lonely?â (plus the way Thom stretches out the word âlonelyâ thrice just *slays* me), and the rock-n-roll apex doesnât actually explode until very nearly four minutes into the track, but itâs all the better having been antedated by such a glorious build-up. Question: Is the orgasm better when the sex lasts thirty seconds, or four minutes? (Beyond that, it becomes too much like work.) | | 7 | | Radiohead
Kid A
>> THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
Eight minutes and fifty-five seconds into KID A and that semi-distorted bass riff of âThe National Anthemâ hits you like a slap across the face, reminding youâOh yeah! This *is* the Radiohead I once knew and loved: Still marbled with glorious stripes of alienesque paraphernalia but reaching back to their BENDS/OK COMPUTER era grunginess for a concoction that makes my toes curl in the best possible way. If I could describe this song with one word, it would be: Entropy. The way this song gradually falls apart and becomes unraveledâwith a few, ephemeral blips of falsely regained composureâis precisely the kind of measured insanity that sends me into uncontrollable throes of rapture. An aural map of psychosomatic augmentation, a vicarious journey through a mind riddled by persecution complexes and worldly paranoia. This song shreds my nerves and makes me want to lock myself in my house and board up the windows. (And I say that as a *positive* thing, to be sure.) | | 6 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> VIDEOTAPE
Like âPyramid Song,â Iâm going to punt on talking compositional specificsâthose syncopated beats, oh my!âbecause [1] I donât have enough space. and [2] likewise, âVideotapeâ has enough gloss that its impact is visceral and neednât be belabored with musical theory and bawdy breakdowns. (And *both* permutations of the songâthe bareback recording on IN RAINBOWS and the upbeat version often played liveâare equally invigorating for a variety of different reasons.) I am a sucker for simplicity, though, and syncopation notwithstanding, âVideotapeâ is marvelously stripped-down and unprocessed. The drums aptly mimic the clanking guts of an old film projector as Thomâs vocal register stings with a frailty that violently tugs against my insides: âNo matter what happens next, you shouldnât be afraid because I know today has been the most perfect day Iâve ever seen.â Just typing that tossed me into a frenzy of emotion, and listening to it turns me into a sopping puddle on the floor. | | 5 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> LET DOWN
Writing about this song is becoming an increasingly difficult task as the years roll on, because Iâm finding that the things I adore the most arenât exactly palpable e.g. when Phil finally adds the ride cymbal at 1:49, a feeling of pure ecstasy envelopes my entire body. Yet trying to describe that moment with words severely undersells it. Likewise, I couldnât begin to expound upon why the second repetition of âYou know / you know where you are withâŠâ at 3:42 triggers automatic goose pimples, or why the dual-track vocals in the final chorus give me uncontrollable shivers. They just. Fucking. Do. Itâs a song that, at a glance, appears casual and normal, fundamental even. But whenever I try to reach out and grab it, I pull back a hand full of nothing but air. Its deceptive in that way: Superficially normative, but its true pleasures are transcendental and wholly ineffable. Even the modulated bleeping at 3:28 causes my heart to palpitate. I canât believe humans made this. | | 4 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
>> FUL STOP
Whenever âFul Stopâ comes on, the rest of the world ceases to exist for six full minutes. Itâs a spiral of dystopian doom, comprised of several repurposed elements of various past releases, all the way back to OK COMPUTER. It is a vortex of dark, oracular energyâa black hole of mental distress from which there is no escape. Itâs such a morbid gratification, though, to the point where Iâm questioning if my love of this song would be considered masochistic? You may as well throw me into a coffin and bury me alive: Thereâs a controlled chaos thrumming along the perpetuating drum and bass beats that simultaneously fingers my anxiety and beguiles me endlessly. Itâs like staring directly at the sun and, despite the fact that itâs eating away at your retinae, being unable to look away because something about the experience is inexplicably purgative and cleansing to your soul. Itâs aural psychodrama, reenacting my innermost fears and anxieties while achieving strange liberation. | | 3 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
>> LIFE IN A GLASSHOUSE
Thoroughly stunning: The coupe de grĂące of AMNESIAC, one of Radioheadâs most under-appreciated tracks, and emphatically the greatest closer theyâve ever conceived. The jazz-influence, minor key ensemble casually spills out like a dirgeâsomething you might to hear at the site of a funeral pyreâpurposely disheveled, as though the band members were improvising their individual pieces as they went along, growing more restless and turbulent as the song tumbles along, trampling forward at the slowest tempo imaginable, each downbeat landing heavy-footed like a monster nonchalantly working its way toward you, always mere seconds away from swallowing you whole. The frisson that cascades over me during the commencing trumpet blare of each chorus is immeasurable. My favorite minutiae are the simple explosion of snare drum blasts in the second chorus (as opposed to the light, trilled taps of the first). Youâll never convince me this isnât a thoroughbred masterpiece. | | 2 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
>> RECKONER
A highly personal song for me; one that came out during a very crucial and formative time in my life and like a therapist that knew all the proper areas to probe, words to utter, and drugs to prescribe, âReckonerââin all of its celestial grandeurâhit exactly the right notes and exactly the right times. The sheer delicacy of its surface texture was enough to lacquer me with emotion frailty: There was legitimately a time, not long after the release of IN RAINBOWS, where I could listen to âReckonerâ by myself and be brought to the edge of tears several times over the course of five minutes. The guitar first joining in. Thomâs introductory spout. The piano entrance at 1:20. The drum beat switch at 1:28. The entire bridge. The vocal tremolo segueing from the bridge back into the outro, which fluxes into another gorgeous, falsetto murmur. The string arrangement at 3:33. This is one of the most poignant pieces of art ever crafted, and on some days itâs my favorite Radiohead song. | | 1 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
>> EXIT MUSIC (FOR A FILM)
Simply, a perfect piece of music. Though beyond its total absence of anything you could legitimately consider a flaw, it performs each of its facets superlatively. The hollow acoustic intro, evoking a shrouding feeling of captivity; the choir bellows eliciting the subsequent empowerment against sovereignty; the overall exquisite accumulation of momentum and its vehement paroxysm (Thom first yell of âchoke youââŠmy god, does a greater sound exist?) to signify costly freedom; and the cocksure closure, as sinister as it is victorious, and as haunting as it is emancipating. âExit Musicâ utilizes each of its individual elementsâeven the atypical and/or non-ârockâ onesâso flawlessly that my wherewithal to communicate its greatness evaporates and my instinctual reaction is to sit there, stupefied and utterly spellbound, for four-and-a-half-minutes while I marvel at its construction, understanding that displacing any single note or sound would cause it to collapse. | |
tectactoe
07.10.19 | Please nobody kill me, and take note that I love just about all Radiohead songs, so anything that appears on this list at all - even at the higher end - are songs I cherish dearly. | Sowing
07.10.19 | oh hell yes, I'm ready | neekafat
07.10.19 | I wonder how people would've handled it if I did this with my 255-song behemoth of a Smashing Pumpkins song ranking | tectactoe
07.10.19 | Do it and find out :) | Pikazilla
07.10.19 | Fact: In Rainbows isn't even in the top 3 Radiohead albums. | Sowing
07.10.19 | It is #4 though | BigHans
07.10.19 | I should do this for AC/DC | tectactoe
07.10.19 | I actually used this list in conjunction with a formula to generate numerical values for each album and rank them accordingly. IN RAINBOWS was third, just barely edging out AMSP. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.10.19 | Punchup is groovy as hell agreed, one of the salvageable HTTT tracks | Bedex
07.10.19 | An album is more than the sum of its individual songs aye so the formula is fundamentally flawed
But it is a fun exercise to calculate some sort of weighted average or whatever it is you did and see what comes out I'll give you that | Sinternet
07.10.19 | In what world would go slowly not make a radiohead top 10 | tectactoe
07.11.19 | You are going to be crazy disappointed, my friend.
Good point Bedex, though the formula rankings were close to my âpersonalâ rankings (done well before the list). Essentially two sets of albums were flip flopped, but close! I will explain the formula and results once the list has concluded. | tommygun
07.11.19 | how about you finish the list first and then post the complete version | neekafat
07.11.19 | "Fact: In Rainbows isn't even in the top 3 Radiohead albums."
"It is #4 though"
lol what | Pikazilla
07.11.19 | It certainly ain't number one. | Scheumke
07.11.19 | Looking forward to see how different it is from my (first time listen) ranking of all the songs: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=437008.
Cool idea, will follow as it unfolds! | tectactoe
07.11.19 | Next five added: 95-91. I already know some people will be upset at a few of these choices being "so low," which is why I am going to preemptively drop this disclaimer: If the song is on this list *at all*, that means I love it. You need to understand that this was the hardest list I've ever had to make. | Winesburgohio
07.11.19 | hey man slow down (until the tourist is higher in your estimation,) | tectactoe
07.11.19 | Yeah Tourist in the 90s is one (of the many) that I catch a lot of flak for.
People also seem to give me strange looks when they see how high #3 is. | tectactoe
07.11.19 | Five more added: 90 through 86. First AMSP track encountered. | samwise2000
07.12.19 | I predict Let Down will be number one... seems to be a lot of fans' go-to track. | J() Alexander
07.12.19 | If Let Down is number 1 I swear to God I'll leave a comment saying this is the worst list ever and then play Devil May Cry 4. | samwise2000
07.12.19 | I dont personally think its even close to their best, but it just seems to be a generally well regarded track in their discography, so its a safe choice | RadioSuicide
07.12.19 | Damn 100 is so low but I understand lol. Love the riff but it gets repetitive over that 5+min runtime | J() Alexander
07.12.19 | Honeslty the only pick from OK Computer that would be worse is Karma Police. Or Lucky but at the same time that'd be kinda cool in a way, same thing with Subterranean Homesick Alien. And if it's Electioneering I'd just think the list is a long joke. | Sharkattack
07.12.19 | Nah itâs paranoid android | Sharkattack
07.12.19 | I hope 3 is I might be wrong | J() Alexander
07.12.19 | "Nah itâs paranoid android"
I'd be very ok with that. | Sharkattack
07.12.19 | Itâs a pretty fuckinâ sick song but wouldnât be surprising
Wouldnât be a bad choice either though yeah | Winesburgohio
07.12.19 | Subterranean Homesick Alien is my favourite on OKC *extremely shrug emoji* | tectactoe
07.12.19 | Tracks 85 - 81 added.
@Wines: You will probably be very disappointed with its placement then :( | tectactoe
07.12.19 | Added a few more (up to 78). Might not be five each time, but I will probably update more than once a day only, too.
Oh and a preemptive apology to Winesburg ;) | Sowing
07.12.19 | 2 of my all time favorite radiohead tracks are already named on this list, I'm disappointed. good list anyway worth a feature. | Rowan5215
07.12.19 | "Subterranean Homesick Alien is my favourite on OKC"
certainly towards the top of the half of that album that is actually good, agreed | tectactoe
07.12.19 | @Sowing: Which two, out of curiosity? (Radiohead is so insanely diverse that it would be impossible to make a list in which everyone wasn't disappointed by several of the choices anyway.)
@Rowan: Implying OK Computer has a half that isn't good. costanza.jpg | Rowan5215
07.12.19 | it does for me! hence my infamous 3.6 review for OKNOTOK which was regarded as borderline treason by some because I don't adore every single track on there... or something
like Radiohead b sides are that fucking good (Fog and Worrywort crack my top 20, to be real with you) that I have alternate tracklists for pretty much every album. With OKC I essentially overhauled the entire second half of the album because it falls off a cliff almost completely imo | tectactoe
07.12.19 | Can't fault you for having an opinion, even if it's wrong! :)
I feel you, though, I really like Worrywort and think it should've been on the main tracklist. And Fog has grown on me a lot in the past 5+ years, I could see it climbing even higher for me in the future. Looks like my highest B-side is #29 and it will probably surprise people, but hopefully I can justify it. | tectactoe
07.12.19 | And my top pick for The Bends is bound to upset people but oh well. | Sowing
07.12.19 | Glass Eyes, and Subterranean Homesick Alien especially - which would be in my top 5 Radiohead songs. | Rowan5215
07.12.19 | Fog is one that actively hits me on a borderline uncomfortable level. I don't tear up at it, but the lyrics in combination with that slow, initially peaceful but actually unsettling melody... gets me | Rowan5215
07.12.19 | on another note, fully agreed with the Stop Whispering inclusion. No idea how that's not everyone's favourite on PH, absolute banger | butt.
07.12.19 | ah shit this list is already making me uneasy. My fav track from TKOL and second fav track from AMSP are in the bottom 10. | tectactoe
07.12.19 | *gulp* I know this isnât much consolation, but even the low entries on this list would be songs Iâd consider âvery goodâ in a vacuum. Radiohead are just insane that they have such a large number of high quality songs.
And yeah, itâs weird, even on the random âRank the tracks on Pablo Honeyâ threads Iâve seen, Stop Whispering is almost always at or near the very bottom. Like, even PH apologists seem to actively hate it. Honestly baffles me. | samwise2000
07.13.19 | "Subterranean Homesick Alien is my favourite on OKC"
agree 100 percent, the singles get all the love from that album sadly
| Flashmobba
07.13.19 | I think he says "It was nice while it lasted but now it's gone" on Paperbag Writer | tectactoe
07.13.19 | You sir are absolutely correct. Canât believe I never realized that before. Thanks, and fixed. | Chambered79
07.13.19 | Morning bell
Exit music
True love waits
Nude | Chambered79
07.13.19 | Oh and life in a glass house duh | Chambered79
07.13.19 | Also give up the ghost and the gloaming need to be higher | Rik VII
07.13.19 | *subscribed* | Chambered79
07.13.19 | Omg and climbing up the walls how could I forget that | DoofDoof
07.13.19 | Glass Eye, Man of War, House of Cards and definitely Cuttooth are all way too low | Chambered79
07.13.19 | This is impossible | tectactoe
07.13.19 | Theyâre really not low, though. Itâs just that every song I ranked above them is better.
ÂŻ_(ă)_/ÂŻ | tectactoe
07.13.19 | Next five added, up tot 73. Got my flame shield ready.... *gulp* | Djang0
07.13.19 | Thank god, someone who doesnât jizz all over house of cards. Looking forward to the rest of tjjs | Chambered79
07.13.19 | I love sail to the moon | tectactoe
07.13.19 | It's a good one. | J() Alexander
07.13.19 | (Nice Dream) is underrated. | Flashmobba
07.13.19 | "You sir are absolutely correct. Canât believe I never realize that before. Thanks, and fixed."
No problemo! Also love the love for Sulk, one of my favorites off The Bends | JohnnyoftheWell
07.14.19 | Sail to the Moon is a gorgeous album highlight (as is Glass Eyes) but gotta step in to throw shade at Sulk. Screw that song :[ | Gyromania
07.14.19 | 2 amnesiac songs in the top 10 and only 1 kid a? wtf... | Gyromania
07.14.19 | glad to see the tourist so low. that song is so fking boring. subterranean and glass eyes are also two of their most boring songs. i think bodysnatchers and bloom are both top 30 material, but otherwise agreements all around thus far. i'm kind of hoping one of those two top 10 amnesiac songs is the vastly underrated pulk pull revolving doors | Gyromania
07.14.19 | "Fact: In Rainbows isn't even in the top 3 Radiohead albums."
also this is a terrible opinion lol. in rainbows is 2nd or 3rd best for sure alongside kid a and ok computer | luci
07.14.19 | glad to see the tourist so low. that song is so fking boring [2] | Gyromania
07.14.19 | also ppl itt shitting on "let down", what's wrong with you guys? that's prob my #1 personally. reckoner or videotape coming in at #2 and 3 for me, | DoofDoof
07.14.19 | The Tourist isn't the greatest standalone tune but it's the perfect Ok Computer album closer - signing off with that wink 'yes, we're the new Pink Floyd', classic
Def their most PF track | Gyromania
07.14.19 | i swear, that song gives me amnesia. i could play it right now and not remember any of it 5 minutes later. it's just the most mundane monotonous thing on the whole album. | luci
07.14.19 | i'd take most of pablo honey over the tourist | DoofDoof
07.14.19 | I think the theme of the album is it is supposed to cast a sort of ennui over the listener, and the Tourist could have been called 'The Ennui' - and the track must be a conscious wink to Pink Floyd or my name's Chinternet | Gyromania
07.14.19 | i don't really hear any pink floyd. pink floyd are actually amazing and the tourist is just tedious | DoofDoof
07.14.19 | 'i don't really hear any pink floyd'
it's effectively a Pink Floyd pastiche lordy, how can you not hear that? within 2 seconds of my first ever listen back in '97 I remember thinking 'is that the Division Bell I hear tolling?'
it's a song that's entirely in service of the album but it's really well done - but you have people here who don't think Ok Computer is obvs their best album so all bets are off :/ | Sinternet
07.14.19 | better than pink floyd tbh other than pipers | Gyromania
07.14.19 | my gf plays the division bell all the time and i don't hear it at all. | DoofDoof
07.14.19 | The bass and guitar work? It's so Floyd - it doesn't sound typically Radiohead at all, that's the clue - it sounds Floyd
The song is a real outlier among Radiohead tunes, like I said I've always been more worried it sounds so much like Floyd people claim it's a pastiche | Chambered79
07.14.19 | Amnesiac > in rainbows | Winesburgohio
07.15.19 | [2]
and yea Worrywort and Fog are two of my favourite tracks; the Knives Out EP ranks as one of the best regardless of who the band is imo | J() Alexander
07.15.19 | I like The Tourist. | Rowan5215
07.15.19 | agreed hard wines
The Tourist is like Floyd if Floyd were really bad ye | DoofDoof
07.15.19 | Rowan in danger of bringing attention to his worst ever take - that Ok Computer is pretty bad | DoofDoof
07.15.19 | 'and yea Worrywort and Fog are two of my favourite tracks; the Knives Out EP ranks as one of the best regardless of who the band is imo'
Of the entire Radiohead discog? Seriously? I mean the entirety of the new Thom Yorke album is infinitely superior to bleedin Worrywort - let alone comparing it to any of the Warp classics of the time.
Dunno, odd to me. Bit like someone saying the best two Beatles songs of all time were written by Ringo - someone out there will believe it...sort of relieved it isn't me.
| tectactoe
07.15.19 | Five more added, up through 68. | tectactoe
07.15.19 | >"2 amnesiac songs in the top 10 and only 1 kid a? wtf..."
If it makes you feel any better, all KID A songs (except for one, guess which) appear in the Top Half of the list.
I definitely hear some Pink Floyd influence with "The Tourist" but that doesn't inherently make it great. I agree it's a beuatiful closer for OK COMPUTER, though, and in making this list, I tried to bilaterally evaluate each song in the context of its residing album as well as how it functions as a standalone track.
>"Amnesiac > in rainbows"
I don't wholeheartedly agree with this (personally) but it's not far behind, honestly. AMNESIAC is super underrated, unfairly brushed aside as "KID A B-sides." | DoofDoof
07.15.19 | As long as 'Life in a Glasshouse' doesn't make top 10 I'm ok with this list | Winesburgohio
07.15.19 | m8 i literally took pains to say that i regard it highly as an EP regardless of the band so your ire is exponentially justified by how much you like Radiohead i guess | tectactoe
07.15.19 | Doof just has to find something wrong with everything, it's his MO.
;o) | DoofDoof
07.15.19 | don't worry wort be happy is my MO | tectactoe
07.15.19 | don't worry(wort) be (fitter) happy(er). | tectactoe
07.15.19 | Three more added for good measure, up to 65. | Chambered79
07.15.19 | Wtf is wrong with life in a glasshouse | DoofDoof
07.15.19 | I don't like it
In any way
At all | tectactoe
07.15.19 | spicy take, mate | tectactoe
07.16.19 | Five more added, up to 60. I'm expecting some hard glares for #62 but oh well. | J() Alexander
07.16.19 | 61 is 2. | DoofDoof
07.16.19 | My problem with Feral being so high up is half of Thom's solo work is better than it, no question...but no way is half of Thom's solo work top 60 worthy on a best of Radiohead list.
So something's gone wrong | DoofDoof
07.16.19 | '61 is 2'
feel sad for you | J() Alexander
07.16.19 | Same. | DoofDoof
07.16.19 | you're the one who has to go around commenting on albums you rate 2.5 buddy, am a just sayin
Identikit second best Radiohead song just screams out you don't really 'get' this band - but that's just my opinion which I can't deny, just my instinct | tectactoe
07.16.19 | >"My problem with Feral being so high up is half of Thom's solo work is better than it"
Hard disagree but I can see most people probably sharing this sentiment.
>"61 is 2."
Oof. Really? | DoofDoof
07.16.19 | My list is out of date a bit - a few songs woulf def have moved about a bit by now - but here it is:
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1060512&listid=175939 | tectactoe
07.16.19 | Good list, though one of your Top 10 is actually one of the (very) few Radiohead songs I can't stand. (And most people seem to love it, tbh.) It's exclusion will surely cause some raised eyebrows. | Winesburgohio
07.16.19 | if i could offer one critique of your write-ups (sorry, born 2 edit!): i think less equivocation and "i know i know unpopular opinion" would be good. especially with a band like Radiohead, just own your opinions. a lot of the write-ups so far have come with qualifiers that i think are extraneous to purpose: i'm enjoying them as they are sans what you assume, and in some cases presume, the audience reception will be | J() Alexander
07.16.19 | "Oof. Really?"
Yeh.
"you're the one who has to go around commenting on albums you rate 2.5 buddy, am a just sayin"
yeah that's why I feel sad for myself
"Identikit second best Radiohead song just screams out you don't really 'get' this band - but that's just my opinion which I can't deny, just my instinct"
lol | PunchforPunch
07.16.19 | Doof, don't be mean to Alex. | DoofDoof
07.16.19 | I'm a big Alex fan - but then I also find some of his opinions are just so strange they cause an instinctual gut reaction of wtf | DoofDoof
07.16.19 | 'Good list, though one of your Top 10 is actually one of the (very) few Radiohead songs I can't stand. (And most people seem to love it, tbh.) It's exclusion will surely cause some raised eyebrows.'
Ah ha! You have your own version of my 'Glasshouse' hate - can't wait to find out which one it is :D
PS: It better not be 'Let Down'! | tectactoe
07.16.19 | @Wines, thanks mate, duly noted. I will have to overcome my crippling fear of inevitably upsetting some people with certain choices and/or omissions but especially in the context of a band and outre as Radiohead, you're absolutely right. It's silly, and ultimately an exercise in futility anyway. | tectactoe
07.16.19 | It's not Let Down ;) | Winesburgohio
07.16.19 | ha, i'm a seasoned expert in worrying what other people would think about my opinions but at this juncture the strength of ur prose does the talking for you m8.
i really rate I Can't too fwiw | J() Alexander
07.16.19 | "I'm a big Alex fan - but then I also find some of his opinions are just so strange they cause an instinctual gut reaction of wtf"
Thanks, man, your reactions are understandable. | DoofDoof
07.16.19 | tecy - People disagreeing with you should not be feared - agreeing 100% with someone would be way more dispiriting, you want to feel you have a unique take | PunchforPunch
07.16.19 | It's okay Tectacbro, being a pariah is way more fun. Just ask Alex and Doof. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.16.19 | Agreed with the sentiment overhead - I disagree with so much of this list so far but am still very much on board and intrigued. Keep doing your thing ;] | tectactoe
07.16.19 | Tis true Doof, I normally take pride in my individualism and vast expanse of non-traditional opinions, but I am a cineaste by trade and have been writing about films for years, so I've acquired a sense of confidence in that particular sect of art. I have only written and shared my grand opinions about music a few times in the past, so I'm a comparative novice.
(In any case, I would rather be a contrarian than a sheep. It is way more fun.) | PunchforPunch
07.16.19 | I like people with gutz that's why I love Alex :3 | J() Alexander
07.16.19 | (=^Ï^=) | tectactoe
07.16.19 | Three more quickies added. Sometimes I (incorrectly) think "High & Dry" was a b-side from THE BENDS before realizing that I'm again confusing it with *another* b-side that is similar in a lot of ways, though I prefer it slightly. | ghostpatrol
07.17.19 | Nice list! | Larkinhill
07.17.19 | Just now taking a peek at this so Iâll look more/comment later. All in all looking good so far, but I canât lie that All I Need at 59 saddens me a bit. | Larkinhill
07.17.19 | And agreed with House of Cards being low â pretty boring song imo. | Rowan5215
07.17.19 | "âWorrywortâ is a lozenge for your mind" perfect description, love it. glad to see The Daily Mail and Staircase love too, killer tunes. wonder if The Butcher is gonna get some love next update? ;) | Conmaniac
07.17.19 | amazing, as long as i dont see pull/pulk ill be happy. need to relisten to these guys tbh their discog is great but ive been on some other shit | tectactoe
07.17.19 | Thanks guys.
Added up to #51, which means the next update we will finally break into the Top 50, woo!
>"as long as i dont see pull/pulk ill be happy."
Hah, you just barely lucked out. In the extended (full) version of the list, I think it wound up at 101 or 102. | DoofDoof
07.17.19 | 'How Can You Be Sure?' is the most average-y B-Side for 'The Bends' album you could imagine imo - I dunno, High and Dry is close to the same approach but infinitely superior :/
Intriguing take though, list still throwing up those surprises | J() Alexander
07.17.19 | 54 IS 1 WTF | tectactoe
07.17.19 | bruh you are killing me
is AMSP your favorite RH album? | J() Alexander
07.17.19 | Yeah, it is. Most of my top 10 Radiohead is stuff from that one. | tectactoe
07.17.19 | Well then, that makes a lot of sense.
(How did you feel about the previous acoustic/live version of TRUE LOVE WAITS as compared to the one on AMSP?) | J() Alexander
07.17.19 | I thought it was ok. I like the one in A Moon Shaped Pool a looot more. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.17.19 | Some days I think Knives Out might be the best Radiohead song | JohnnyoftheWell
07.17.19 | and 55>54 ;] | J() Alexander
07.17.19 | no | JohnnyoftheWell
07.17.19 | Cmon Alex, True Love Waits is a great drippy sadboi song but Separator is much more musically interesting. I don't like the role reversal we have going on here. | Gyromania
07.17.19 | separator is def better than true love waits, no doubt.
list is looking good so far though. hoping to see in limbo come in at a high rank, feel it's one of their best songs that gets criminally overlooked | J() Alexander
07.17.19 | "Separator is much more musically interesting."
It also sucks. And that's false anyway, they way the overdubbed pianos interact is excellent and more interesting and well done than most things in Radiohead's history. | Gyromania
07.17.19 | stfu kid | tectactoe
07.17.19 | >"and 55>54 ;]"
They are so close for me (obviously) that they may as well be interchangeable. Each list placement here comes with a day-to-day variation of +/- 3 places.
>"hoping to see in limbo come in at a high rank, feel it's one of their best songs that gets criminally overlooked"
*gulp*. Well, at least you know it's Top 50. (And I do agree it is overlooked in general.)
>"they way the overdubbed pianos interact is excellent and more interesting and well done than most things in Radiohead's history."
ez now | tectactoe
07.17.19 | We've cracked the Top 50 - added up through #45. And finally, the first KID A appearance! | Larkinhill
07.17.19 | Damn man, just noticed that Where I End and You Begin is all the way down at 83. You cut me deep, tectactoe. You cut me real deep. My favorite song off HTTT.
| tectactoe
07.17.19 | I can assure you there was no malicious intent :)
(Some of the HTTT omissions are bound to leave some people sour, though... We shall see.) | tectactoe
07.18.19 | Added up through #41! Gettin' there! | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.19 | Scatterbrain just confuses me, have never seen anything value of that song. You're three-for-three on the weakest numbers in HTTT, so the remains songs had better be good | tectactoe
07.18.19 | Wait what are the other two? You praised both PUNCH UP and SAIL TO THE MOON in above comments >:O | tectactoe
07.18.19 | (Gloaming and Young Blood are my guesses.) | Chambered79
07.18.19 | Gagging order should be higher | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.19 | Gloaming and Young Blood are two of the worst songs the band ever made imo, think I wrote a very salty review for HTTT a while ago that probably went into why. Still haven't heard Pablo in full, but otherwise I'd put that album as the worst thing they've done by a significant margin (which is weird given how great the two either side of it are) | DoofDoof
07.18.19 | Gloaming and Young Blood are very middle of the road agreed | tectactoe
07.18.19 | I know Gloaming and (especially) Young Blood are unpopular HTTT picks, but just wait till you see what I've omitted in their place! (One of them is a contender for my least favorite RH song, and one of the few that I really can't stand on any level. It's barely even tolerable for me.) | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.19 | Haha ok, the stakes are raised ;] | J() Alexander
07.18.19 | The Gloaming and We Suck Young Blood aren't even the worst in Hail to the Thief. | tectactoe
07.18.19 | >"The Gloaming and We Suck Young Blood aren't even the worst in Hail to the Thief."
I (obviously) agree with this sentiment, though if I had to predict which track would finish dead last in a public poll to rank the tracks on the album, I'd guess We Suck Young Blood. That one seems to garner the most outspoken hatred from Radiohead fans online (that I've seen anyway). I'm honestly not sure how the general fan base feels about The Gloaming, but at some point it became a meme after Radiohead started playing it live all the goddamn time. | Gyromania
07.18.19 | in limbo >>>>>>>>>> optimistic | DoofDoof
07.18.19 | For controversy the only three HTTT tracks anyone cares about are 2+2, Wolf at the Door and There There...so it has to be one of those you've omitted, hmmmmmmm
'I Will' has some fans but I wouldn't see leaving that out as a big deal
If it's Wolf you've lost it. I can see someone hating 2+2 for being too Muse'y/Bloc Party'y...I can see someone hating There There for not getting a move on. 'Wolf' is just classic. | DoofDoof
07.18.19 | It'll be Wolf. Lol | tectactoe
07.18.19 | O_O | zakalwe
07.18.19 | I hope burn the witch is included here. Massively under appreciated that. | DoofDoof
07.18.19 | 'Someone else is gonna come and clean it up
Born and raised for the job
Someone always does
I wish you'd get up get over
Get up get over and turn this list off'
incoming
you have 48 hours to really get into Wolf at the Door ;D | J() Alexander
07.18.19 | I Will is my favorite from Hail to the Thief tbh. | tectactoe
07.18.19 | For the record, Wolf at the Door isn't the song I was referring to with such vitriol above, but it *is* one of the two whose omission I assumed would stir some strange looks. There's another HTTT song I hate, and I always thought it was a fan favorite, but I guess I could be wrong. (It's not one of the other two you mentioned.) | tectactoe
07.18.19 | Alex dropping supermassive hot takes all over this thread. | DoofDoof
07.18.19 | Itâs the third or fourth best song so sure, and a bit like TLW so that would make sense | J() Alexander
07.18.19 | "Alex dropping supermassive hot takes all over this thread."
lol
I Will would also be part of my top 10, or at least top 15. | tectactoe
07.18.19 | I would be very very very very interested to see your hypothetical Top 10/15. So far all we know is Identikit and TLW and (possibly) I Will. It's already the most controversial list on Sput. | J() Alexander
07.18.19 | I won't make a list in my profile for that, don't think it's worth it, but I can tell you my top 15 right here:
01. True Love Waits
02. Identikit
(the order doesn't matter too much after this, but it's still kind of accurate)
03. Motion Picture Soundtrack
04. Glass Eyes
05. Present Tense
06. Daydreaming
07. Everything in its Right Place
08. Paranoid Android
09. No Surprises
10. I Will
11. Videotape
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out)
13. Exit Music (For a Film)
14. Let Down
15. Pyramid Song
Not that controversial, I think. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.19 | Glass Eyes at 4 makes me weirdly happy | tectactoe
07.18.19 | Inexplicably respectable list outside of the rare #1 & #2 picks. Nice. | J() Alexander
07.18.19 | Yeah, I know, it isn't that controversial other than having mostly stuff from A Moon Shaped Pool and the first two places. | DoofDoof
07.18.19 | Have people finally got over Climbing Up the Walls - that and I Might Be Wrong used to be the most 'sput happy' picks | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.19 | Best and joint second best tracks on their respective albums, so nope | tectactoe
07.18.19 | climbing up the walls is gr8 m8 | J() Alexander
07.18.19 | Eh, I was never too into those two. | DoofDoof
07.18.19 | How anyone could think Cimbing Up the Walls is best on OKC I will never understand but it is a popular opinion here | tectactoe
07.18.19 | I mean, it's a dark horse pick for sure but it's far more understandable than imo Subterranean Homesick Alien, which I've heard many people say is their fave. | Larkinhill
07.18.19 | How anyone could think Cimbing Up the Walls is best on OKC I will never understand but it is a popular opinion here
Agreed. Itâs good, but itâs no Let Down, Exit Music, Lucky or Paranoid Android. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.19 | Let Down and Exit Music are the only songs that rival it. Paranoid is impressive to begin with but doesn't have nearly the same staying power; Climbing Up the Walls fleshes the album's sinister side out so damn well | Larkinhill
07.18.19 | Yeah I love the sinister vibe of it, but itâs near the bottom of my top half on OKC. Specifically, 5 or 6 after the above mentioned songs, along with Airbag. | neekafat
07.18.19 | What the heck is 50 doing there | tectactoe
07.18.19 | hey, i might be wrong | Rowan5215
07.19.19 | just a quick reminder that Scatterbrain is in fact fantastic | JohnnyoftheWell
07.19.19 | guys Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief currently have the e x a c t same number of votes and it's pranging me out | Larkinhill
07.19.19 | Wtf kindof sorcery is that?! | tectactoe
07.19.19 | same average too
THE FUCK | tectactoe
07.19.19 | Added through #36! | JohnnyoftheWell
07.19.19 | Ah neat, Decks Dark is an awesome track | tectactoe
07.19.19 | And to think I couldn't hardly stand it back in 2016. | tectactoe
07.22.19 | Added up to #31! ;o) | JohnnyoftheWell
07.22.19 | Jigsaw under the way inferior (to the original) reversion of Morning Bell hurts my soul | DoofDoof
07.22.19 | some of my faves now appearing a little too early but I forgive you | tectactoe
07.22.19 | bless you, doof.
Johnny my previous version had Jigsaw at #24 (and the previous list before that, which I no longer have, had it even higher), though I also combined the two versions of Morning Bell into a single entry which came in at #19. I'm not sure if you'll find that more or less acceptable. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.22.19 | Depends how much higher the original version comes ;] | Rowan5215
07.22.19 | really not fond of that version of Morning Bell, it's kind of a dreary slog and loses that jittery, nervous energy that makes the Kid A ver one of their all-time best. gorgeous write-ups as always tho | DoofDoof
07.22.19 | agreed with rowan - that version of Morning Bell is superfluous imo and wouldn't get close to a top 100 Radiohead for me | tectactoe
07.22.19 | the melody during the chorus ("releeeease maaaayeeee") gives me shivers though. in both versions, admittedly, but that part might be the one area i prefer in the Amnesiac version over the Kid A version.
The "cut the kids in half" part on the Kid A version is pure nightmare fuel. | tectactoe
07.23.19 | Added through #26. Gonna try to finish this before the Friday of this week. Hopefully sooner, if time allows. Thanks to all the ladies & gents who've been following and reading along thus far. | Rowan5215
07.23.19 | "which sounds like an archived, electronic variant of âI Will,â only resurrected and reversed in piecemeal"
doesn't just sound like, that's exactly what it is, if memory serves - they just reversed the "dodgy Kraftwerk" demo of I Will and voila
agreed on that live Like Spinning Plates cut being absolutely top tier, good god | DoofDoof
07.23.19 | attack of the album openers!
15 Step is a weird one, I like it...but I remember a buddy of mine saying at the time "imagine if they'd actually put a classic opener on In Rainbows" and I know what he meant.
For me it's not Airbag or Everything in its Right Place level as an opener, as a scene setter. It didn't HAVE to be the opener at all really. | tectactoe
07.23.19 | >"doesn't just sound like, that's exactly what it is, if memory serves - they just reversed the "dodgy Kraftwerk" demo of I Will and voila"
I feel like I subconsciously knew this, but either way thanks for bringing it to my attention. What I would give for a studio recording of the piano verison.
I feel you, doof. Something about 15 Step is infectious, tons of energy and not as "monumental" of an opener as Airbag or EIIRP or 2+2=5 (or even Packt and Telex, if we're strictly speaking in tone-setting terms) but one of my favorites. (Though not my highest ranked opener. I think my choice will be looked upon with scrunched eyebrows but I stand by my reasoning.)
Also the first time my wife (at the time girlfriend, it was forever ago) heard 15 Step she goes, "Oh it's that song from the credits of Twilight." | tectactoe
07.24.19 | Added through #21. Gettin' there. | DoofDoof
07.24.19 | How to Disappear already? Controversial ;D | tectactoe
07.24.19 | Pretty much the entire top 25 is interchangeable. I know that's a trite thing to say, but it's ultimately not too far off. Radiohead is just too good, and my favorites almost always reflect the current mood I'm in whenever I'm assessing. I've already disagreed with many of the rankings on this list myself, but I swore I wouldn't make any adjustments once it was finalized last month. | tectactoe
07.25.19 | We've cracked into the Top 20, gents. Filled up to #16. | DoofDoof
07.25.19 | The Numbers is a little underrated yeah, interesting pick
these most recent additions are all great songs and ones I listen to a lot | tectactoe
07.25.19 | I mean theyâve pretty much only masterpieces left at this point. Excepting the tracks that didnât make my list of course. ;o) | tectactoe
07.25.19 | Another five added. Everything but the final Top 10! | samwise2000
07.26.19 | I've never really understood the hype around Weird Fishes. Its a great song, by all means, but i've always seen it as one of the lesser tracks on the album personally, which im sure isn't a popular opinion. Nude has always been my favourite. | Rowan5215
07.26.19 | Motion Picture Soundtrack is where it should be. love this list | Rowan5215
07.26.19 | Fake Plastic Trees would be a top 10 cut if one of the most gutting moments in their canon - "she looks like the real thing, she tastes like the real thing" - wasn't followed by the worst lyric Thom ever wrote in his career. such a clunker it grinds the song to a literal halt | Gyromania
07.26.19 | edit nvm saw an earlier comment | J() Alexander
07.26.19 | how is the fuckign numbers that high | DoofDoof
07.26.19 | Row - what lyric? You mean "she looks like the real thing, she tastes like the real thing" or "my fake plastic love"? Both seem fine | zakalwe
07.26.19 | âMy fake plastic loveâ is quality | JohnnyoftheWell
07.26.19 | "âBurn the Witchâ is the absolute best and most encompassing preclude to its residing album than any of the others. It is a one-song summation of A MOON SHAPED POOL"
Ngl this confuses the hell out of me, not even because this one is just about shit-tier Radiohead for me quality-wise, but I thought it was generally agreed it was a poor fit as opener and had little stylistic bearing on the rest of the album?
also @samwise agreed hard, Weird Fishes is apparently my least played song on In Rainbows by a comfortable margin ouch.
BUT not to be a #negativenancy, these write-ups are so so lovely and the combo of the Kid A songs + Nude this high sparks much joy. Hyped for the final stretch!!! | Gyromania
07.26.19 | gotta agre, johnny. outside it being a really bland song it has nothing in common with the rest of the album. really a baffling comment | Rowan5215
07.26.19 | was talking about "I can't help the feeling / i could blow through the ceiling" before. awful | tommygun
07.26.19 | top 10 when | tectactoe
07.26.19 | @Alex: The Number is amazing mate.
@Rowan: Thanks, and I agree that lyric is cringe. I try my best to ignore it (and have done a pretty good job thus far).
@Johnny & Gyro: You guys are probably right. My opinion on "Burn the Witch," both out of context and as a representation of AMSP, is one of the spicier takes here, I guess. But I stand by it, in that it contains a harmonious blend of the orchestration and electronica that embodies nearly every other song. It starts off more low-key and subdued, but sparks with some heavily operatic energy towards the end. I dunno. I've felt that way since the album was released; to me, it just jells with everything else so well, and I can hear bits and pieces of almost every other song in it. I realize most people would probably say either EIIRP or Airbag (or even Bloom) is a more representational opener, and I couldn't say they'd be wrong, but my feelings toward Burn have remained unwavering going on 3+ years now.
@tommy: Today. | tommygun
07.26.19 | Cool! | tectactoe
07.26.19 | Final update before the Top 5 are revealed. Hoping to have that done later today. Woo! Thanks to everyone who's stuck with this so far. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.26.19 | Agreed very very hard with your Pyramid Song write-up, fantastic take (the compositional subtleties of Videotape have a slightly clearer/less otherworldly presence imo but agreed there too). Didn't expect to see The National Anthem this high, but the top 10 looks hawt so far ;] | tectactoe
07.26.19 | thank you, bb | zakalwe
07.26.19 | @Row yeah to be fair that is bloody useless.
âGrow through the ceilingâ might be better being all organic and that but even then itâs fucking rubbish | DoofDoof
07.26.19 | I quite like how he sings it
It definitely sounds more like 'I can't help but feel...I could blow through the ceiling' when he sings it
I like the whole section, but I'm an alt rock boy, doesn't sound any more cringe than 50% of Jeff Buckley's singing/lyrics...or 99% of Muse's
I guess I always thought the character viewpoint was meant to be sort of pathetic and that lyric was purposefully quite an unimpressive expression of frustration/catharsis - he can only see as far as the ceiling?
Always thought he effectively rewrote and vastly improved it (to help cement his best ever vocal/song writing effort) on the next album:
'You know, you know where you are with
You know where you are with
Floor collapsing, falling
Bouncing back and one day, I am gonna grow wings
A chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless' | tectactoe
07.26.19 | Well there you have it ladies and gents. Thanks to all who've stayed with it through the conclusion. Please feel free to tell me where you agree and/or disagree. Let's discuss!
Cheers! | J() Alexander
07.26.19 | Hey, it's not Let Down. | DoofDoof
07.26.19 | 3 and 4 are strange top 10 choices (well, I would certainly swap 3 with Wolf at the Door as we previously discussed) but I can get behind the rest of that top 10.
I'd also say Pyramid is ever so slightly overrated at top 10 as I still regard it a mood piece at heart. | tectactoe
07.26.19 | I knew LIFE IN A GLASSHOUSE would be a unique pick; I hardly see anyone talking about that song (and that's a damn shame!), though I wasn't sure how the genpop felt about FUL STOP. (Figured they wouldn't vote it into the all time Top 10, I guess.) But I like having a consensually solid list of mostly agreeable masterworks and a couple idiosyncratic picks.
I assume most people will be surprised at the lack of A WOLF AT THE DOOR, but I thought MYXOMATOSIS had a larger following. Maybe not?
I'm also surprised at the lack of comments I've gotten about the overall lack of "The Bends" favorites e.g. JUST, PLANET TELEX, or MY IRON LUNG. (Especially considering SULK made the list and most people are actively off-put by that one [for some reason].) | Icebloom
07.26.19 | Amazingly fantastic list, just finished reading all the descriptions for the songs I knew. Some interesting insights, and all very well-written! | tommygun
07.26.19 | He actually did it the absolute madman!
Great list man, thoroughly enjoyed reading these. Must've taken a huge amount of effort | Icebloom
07.26.19 | Some food for discussion though:
"Fun fact: Radiohead has never opened an album poorly."
I never dug their openers. In terms of quality, I'd rank them on the latter halves of their respective albums, with the exception of 2+2=5 and maybe Everything In Its Right Place.
I know that's not really the common take, and I see why others would like them, but they don't work for me. | Djang0
07.26.19 | Great list, not in the least predictable, love the picks | Icebloom
07.26.19 | Oh and Burn the Witch is easily the worst song on AMSP, I think - I tend to just start the album at Daydreaming. And, as others have pointed out, I don't think it's representative of the sound of the album at all.
But, to keep things positive, I'm very glad to see Exit Music, Ful Stop, Let Down and Videotape as high as they are, good job at that! ;) | tectactoe
07.26.19 | @tommy & Django: many thanks, gents! Surprisingly not as much effort as it seems, because I originally intended to do much longer write ups for each song, but kept giving up after 15 entries or so. Sput's 1000 character limit was a good restraint and finally allowed me to finish this revision of the damn thing!
@Icebloom: Bold take on the openers, but I respect that opinion. I knew ranking Burn the Witch as the highest opener (and one of the highest AMSP tracks) would be a relatively spicy take, though I didn't realize so many people would disagree with its general fitment on the album. My reaction to it is and always has been mostly instinctual (e.g. after hearing the single, then Daydreaming, then finally the rest of the album, everything seemed to congeal nicely into place) and perhaps I'm allotting too much credit solely to Burn the Witch, but I gotta go with my gut. | Winesburgohio
07.27.19 | what a marvelous journey this was | J() Alexander
07.27.19 | "I'm also surprised at the lack of comments I've gotten about the overall lack of "The Bends" favorites e.g. JUST, PLANET TELEX, or MY IRON LUNG. (Especially considering SULK made the list and most people are actively off-put by that one [for some reason].)"
My Iron Lunge is honestly one of the worst things they've done. | Gyromania
07.27.19 | yeah reckoner is top 3 for me as well.
i must be the only person alive who thinks pyramid song is a massive meh though | Chambered79
07.27.19 | Life in a glass house yay | tectactoe
07.27.19 | "My Iron Lunge is honestly one of the worst things they've done."
I'm inclined to agree, I just assumed it was more of a fan favorite. Maybe not? | samwise2000
07.27.19 | I like My Iron Lung, and dont really like Let Down lol. My list would definitely be hugely different than this, although this is an awesome list : ) | tectactoe
07.29.19 | Thank you for the kind words, and thanks for reading.
My wife likes "My Iron Lung" because it's in the movie Clueless. That's why she likes "Fake Plastic Trees," too.
(And "15 Step" is in the credits of Twilight apparently, but I haven't the time nor the lack of dignity required to confirm.) | Rowan5215
07.29.19 | a wild ride to the end as I expected tec (I don't like your #1 that much!) but a great one nonetheless
Videotape in the top 10 is really all I ever needed | Winesburgohio
07.29.19 | Yeah I find Exit Music really weak but that write-up is lovely, will try again I SUPPOSE | luci
07.29.19 | don't like exit music
let down and idioteque are my #1 and #2 | tectactoe
07.29.19 | Thanks Rowan & Wines; I urge you to give Exit Music one more listen :o) haha.
Not a bad 1 & 2, luci. Can't argue with those picks. | Winesburgohio
07.29.19 | life in a glasshouse and kid a for me : ) :O :? | tectactoe
07.29.19 | Bold picks but I like 'em. (Especially LIAG, obviously.) | Rowan5215
07.29.19 | there's about half of OKC I don't care for so it's not really Exit Music I'm ambivalent on specifically :thinking:
top 2? idk man. right now it's probably Separator and All I Need, ask me tomorrow and I'd give a different answer | tectactoe
07.29.19 | Damn son. Not gonna lie those are some wild picks, but I respect 'em. | tectactoe
07.29.19 | So I put together a simple formula to "rank" the Radiohead albums based solely on how well they performed on this Top 100 list. The formula takes into account the placement of each song, as well as how many songs from a given album actually appear on the list. (That is if a greater percentage of songs from a given album show up, it will be weighed more favorably than one that has a lower percentage.) Then I compared this to my own personal ranking of the albums (i.e., my gut feeling, how I'd rank them if you simply asked me to do so).
With the formula (number is the weighted average rank):
1. Kid A [28.3]
2. OK Computer [37.1]
3. In Rainbows [41.2]
4. A Moon Shaped Pool [44.1]
5. Amnesiac [46.7]
6. The King of Limbs [71.6]
7. Hail to the Thief [83.9]
8. The Bends [115.7]
9. Pablo Honey [255.8]
My personal ranking would be:
1. Kid A [--]
2. OK Computer [--]
3. A Moon Shaped Pool [+1]
4. In Rainbows [-1]
5. Amnesiac [--]
6. Hail to the Thief [+1]
7. The King of Limbs [-1]
8. The Bends [--]
9. Pablo Honey [--]
So, very similar, with just two sets of albums flipped flopped. That is likely due to the fact that the formula doesn't take into account the quality of the songs that didn't make the list, and whether or not I find them merely "okay" or downright not good. Also, other obvious factors like overall album cohesion, nostalgia, etc. are overlooked. But I was surprised at how relatively acceptable the formula predicted my album rank based solely on my 100 favorite tracks. And hell, there are some days when I probably *do* prefer In Rainbows to AMSP, or TKOL over HTTT. | DDDeftoneDDD
07.29.19 | Autistic work. Congrats. | tectactoe
07.29.19 | Not sure whether I should say thanks or be upset. | ComeToDaddy
07.31.19 | 2,3,4 would make my top 5 alongside Weird Fishes and Motion Picture Soundtrack so I can get behind this list for sure. Not sure why but I thought more people would rate Life in a Glass House highly, Radiohead fans I know irl are all over that and Spinning Plates (thanks to the live version as mentioned).
Good to read someone else was as obsessed with Supercollider at release as I was. I frothed over it so much initially and don't understand why at all now in retrospect. Daily Mail / Staircase have held up v well since release comparatively though, would both make my top 30 or so | Rowan5215
07.31.19 | Supercollider is the only TKOL b-side I'm not in love with but it's still good, the Basement version which cuts a minute and a half off is definitely better
Staircase > The Butcher > The Daily Mail > Twisted Words > Supercollider imo | ComeToDaddy
07.31.19 | Yeah Staircase is one hell of a track, switch Butcher and Daily Mail and you've got my order. Basement version of TKOL having that run of Codex - Separator - Lotus - Staircase is one of the best runs of music they've put together | tectactoe
07.31.19 | I love Twisted Words, that song keeps growing in my estimation. On my next list (whenever that would theoretically be), I'm sure it'll be moved up several spots. | Trifolium
07.31.19 | Dude I've been quoting Go To Sleep lyrics in the HTTT thread like crazy! Noler too. It's a superb track, agreed.
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=5718&page=44#comments | tectactoe
07.31.19 | Definitely one of my favorites from HTTT. |
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