Doof's Top 100 Radiohead Songs
A lot of Radiohead traffic on the site since the 'Ok Computer' B-Sides comp came out so I've been revisiting the band's discog the last few days...this is where I'm at. Tell me where I went wrong (I know you will). |
| 100 |  | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
'How I Made My Millions' [3.5]
Just Yorke at the piano, doing his thing. |
| 99 |  | Radiohead
My Iron Lung
'Lewis (mistreated)' [3.5]
A fun rocker about how dumb running in the ratrace is. See dis band was political from the start, give in to the alt rock and bang the head. |
| 98 |  | Radiohead
Knives Out
'The Amazing Sounds of Orgy' [3.5]
One of the band's oddest moments, it sounds like the theme tune for a show about a group of apocalypse survivors clattering around underground in an old abandoned tunnel network. One of those - you might like it, you might not :/ |
| 97 |  | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
'Bangers + Mash' [3.5]
Almost a comedy number. Really. A clattering arrangement with an over excited Thom spouting off stream of consciousness soundbites - if the narrator from 'Jigsaw' got stood up on their date and then decided to get angry drunk instead then this is what you'd expect the result to sound like. Does he really sing 'I'm standing in the hall, I'm puking up the wall'? All been there I guess. |
| 96 | | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
'Lift' [3.5]
Didn't like this much on my first few tries but it worms its way into your affections eventually, even if it sounds more like a 'Bends' era B-Side than an 'Ok Computer' one. The band sound, eh, almost sweet here. Blasphemy. |
| 95 |  | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
'Scatterbrain' [3.5]
Not a lot going on here musically so Yorke steps up to put in a really interesting vocal performance where his voice purposefully cracks a little or trails off into a mumble. It suits the lyrical themes to a tee but can't save this from being a just 'great' album cut. |
| 94 |  | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'Faust Arp' [3.5]
A light and breezy short slice of Nick Drake style folk that serves as a palette cleanser between the two 'sides' of 'In Rainbows'. A little too slight to be rated a [4] but it's always a pleasant listen all the same. |
| 93 |  | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief' [3.5]
Barely a song, more a platform for an exceptional string drenched crescendo that nearly pushes this into [4] territory on its own. It remains a great mood piece. |
| 92 |  | Radiohead
Amnesiac
'Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box' [3.5]
The lyric 'after years of waiting nothing came' is reflected by the song itself which stays steady and distant. The little details are what the song is all about; the manipulated vocals that pepper the background, the varying electronic effects gurgling and buzzing in the background. A bit too much of a 'non song' for my tastes but as an experiment it's more than decent (it's the best of the more experimental songs on 'Amnesiac') but it can't quite reach a [4] rating level for me. |
| 91 | | Radiohead
My Iron Lung
'The Trickster' [4]
The song people point to as the most obvious blueprint for the career of Muse...somehow this is still more fun than most Muse songs. |
| 90 | | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
'Lull' [4]
Could maybe have followed 'No Surprises' on 'Ok Computer', they almost feel like companion pieces. Includes some great lines like 'there's nothing more dire than talking, talking about yourself' and 'distracted by irrelevance' that once again tap into the band's whole take on the world in '97. |
| 89 |  | Radiohead
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
'Bishop's Robes' [4]
Radiohead play up to their toff origins, reminiscing about private school religious education and getting pulped on a rugby field. One of their more enjoyable early B-Sides. |
| 88 |  | Radiohead
COM LAG (2plus2isfive)
'I Will (Los Angeles Version)' [4]
I'm sure there are those who'll find it disgusting that I could choose this more conventional treatment of 'Hail to the Thief's mournful hymn - but I just prefer it having some life stirred in. |
| 87 | | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
'Pearly' [4]
Some really meaty guitar work made this too much of an obvious straightahead rocker to feature on 'Ok Computer'. |
| 86 |  | Radiohead
Supercollider/The Butcher
'Supercollider' [4]
One of Radiohead's longer songs, this has the feel it could actually be a remix but is in fact an original. It sounds like a slow motion rave with really strident near-soul vocals from Yorke. |
| 85 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
'Go to Sleep' [4]
This is the closest the band get to sounding like Wilco, there's a big similarity I think on this track. You could imagine this being a cover of a 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' era song (it came out a year later...maybe Radiohead were conscious of the influence). |
| 84 | | Radiohead
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
'Killer Cars' [4]
Guilty pleasure territory, a dumb throwaway song about Thom's fears of automobile accidents - there are no hidden deeper meanings, it sounds exactly how you'd expect it to. There's something euphoric about it all though, adorable really. |
| 83 | | Radiohead
Supercollider/The Butcher
The Butcher [4]
Another supremely sinister track by the boys with Yorke doing his near-spoken word thing in the verses. Should have got the nod to be included on 'King of Limbs' ahead of some very average album tracks on Side A of that record. |
| 82 | | Radiohead
Knives Out
'Worrywort' [4]
This is the song on the list that sounds most like a Thom Yorke solo effort and you can see why it didn't make the cut to make an album appearance - it's not quite as distinctive and engaging as the 'Kid A' title track for instance. |
| 81 |  | Radiohead
The Bends
'Bones' [4]
Radiohead at their most 90s R.E.M/U2 inspired, the song is really all about an addictive vocal tour de force from Thom. He lifts the whole thing to another level. |
| 80 | | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
'A Reminder' [4]
This is like an ambient track combined with a restrained, vocal dominated song. The mix works and this B-Side really carries through the atmosphere of 'Ok Computer' to the point you could almost imagine it had taken a spot on the album proper. |
| 79 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
'Sail to the Moon' [4]
Another pretty Radiohead piano ballad that maybe suffers from over familiarity and following the band's own template too closely - it's still one of the best songs on the patchy 'Hail to the Thief'. |
| 78 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'(Nice Dream)' [4]
Can any Radiohead song be truly underrated/under appreciated? This almost sounds carefree, positively weightless - it's rare you can describe any of this band's songs like that. A simple pleasure. |
| 77 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Burn the Witch' [4]
I've grown to appreciate this much more, this is the band's most classically orchestrated song ever and that might feel a bit contrived and self-consciously mature, but it deserves the chance to mellow on the listener. |
| 76 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
'Go Slowly' [4]
This does what it says on the tin, it's Radiohead at their most gentle, and why not? |
| 75 | | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
'I Promise' [4]
A steady acoustic guitar led military march that proves a great showpiece for an impassioned Yorke performance (listen to how he starts gurgling and screaming at 3:24). |
| 74 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'Black Star' [4]
This song is all about the by turns crunchy and squealing guitar work by Greenwood in the chorus. Wallop. |
| 73 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Identikit' [4]
Another Radiohead song obsessed with making it rain, rarely for a Radiohead song it doesn't really build or vary its intensity - instead it finishes with an experimental guitar solo. A song I want to like more than I actually do...but something I can't quite put my finger on holds it back. |
| 72 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'The Bends' [4]
Oh so very 90s, it's impossible to imagine Yorke writing these lyrics in 2017, but I'm still glad he rolled like that back in '95. |
| 71 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
'Sit Down. Stand Up' [4]
The first three minutes are pure transparent buildup and that does hurt this track ever so slightly...but when the 'raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops' hit it's genuinely monumental stuff. |
| 70 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
'Down is the New Up' [4]
This is like the evil twin of sister album opener '15 Step' - this is just as unpredictable in its own way, never sitting still, never settling into a comfortable groove for long. Thom's vocals at the 4 minute mark are the absolute strangest of his entire career. |
| 69 |  | Radiohead
Pablo Honey
'Blow Out' [4]
Even the much maligned 'Pablo Honey' gets an epic album closer. |
| 68 |  | Radiohead
The Best Of
'Spectre' [4]
Another controversial pick maybe, I'm not sure. I really didn't like this at first, now I can't get enough of that spy movie vibe. Nice attempt lads. |
| 67 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'High and Dry' [4]
Controversial I know, yes the band supposedly hate it, but this really brings the nostalgia. In a way it's one of the three key tracks on 'The Bends'. Yorke's vocals are hard not to love here...at least I thought they were, help me out. |
| 66 |  | Radiohead
Kid A
'Motion Picture Soundtrack' [4]
This is the band's most Disney-fied moment, the sort of thing latter day Mercury Rev would be proud of putting their name to. I'm not sure this song quite manages to pull off what it intended but the 'I think you're crazy' part nails the mood of the album. |
| 65 |  | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
'Codex' [4]
At this stage of Radiohead's career a lot of long term listeners were suffering piano ballad fatigue, and sure 'Codex' really owes a lot to 'Pyramid Song', but it has a few jaw dropping moments...'just draaaaagooon flieeeEEes...' etc. |
| 64 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'Weird Fish/Appregi' [4]
This song fair motors by Radiohead standards, it doesn't really have much of an actual chorus or even any particularly strong hooks (fish hooks?) but it carries everything off thanks to momentum and texture. |
| 63 | | Radiohead
Kid A
'In Limbo' [4]
This song creates an off-kilter tumbling sort of effect, it sounds delightful an' all but the structure is maybe just a tiny bit too flimsy for its own good. The ending where the tune gets swallowed into the wind tunnel/void is quite terrifying. |
| 62 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
'Knives Out' [4]
Melodically similar to 'Paranoid Android', this is still an effective 'single' release and a well needed dose of sanity on the scattershot 'Amnesiac'. Perhaps the grimmest lyrics in the entire Radiohead oeuvre, yikes. |
| 61 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
'Separator' [4]
The warmest, most soothing track on 'King of Limbs'. |
| 60 | | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
'Polyethylene 1&2' [4.5]
The 40 second long first 'part' serves as an intro but really is so good it should have been developed further. The song proper is a great 'Computer' era rocker. |
| 59 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Ill Wind' [4.5]
The band's most recent B-Side (I think) is a real understated grower, with a trance-y liquid feel to it. |
| 58 | | Radiohead
OKNOTOK 1997-2017
'Man of War' [4.5]
Another Beatles-esque song by the band, only with way heavier guitars of course. My favourite of the 'Ok Computer' era B-Sides, think people have the hump because this hasn't been released with the original title 'Big Boots'. |
| 57 |  | Radiohead
The Daily Mail/Staircase
'The Daily Mail' [4.5]
What starts as a simple sombre piano led ballad bursts into life with a rip snorting conclusion - 'no regard for human life!'. Underrated. |
| 56 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'House of Cards' [4.5]
Big, big climber. I don't know when it was I realised this is the song that's proven the most nostalgic from 'In Rainbows', but it happened quite recently. All Yorke's wordless singing is simply fantastic on this song. |
| 55 | | Radiohead
Knives Out
'Fog' [4.5]
One of the band's most beloved B-Sides and another that probably should have found itself among the tracklist for 'Amnesiac'. |
| 54 | | Radiohead
Kid A
'Kid A' [4.5]
Another grower, the title track of 'Kid A' is one of the band's most 'out there' moments and the closest they get to the alien strangeness of electronic acts like Aphex Twin. |
| 53 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
'Up on the Ladder' [4.5]
An insistent pulse drags the listener ever forward, while faintly bluesy guitar work recalls 'I Might Be Wrong'. |
| 52 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
'In Bloom' [4.5]
The rickety percussion is obviously the most distinctive element here, but over time it's the part you perversely concentrate on the least. Great atmospheric curtain raiser. |
| 51 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
'You and Whose Army?' [4.5]
One of the many Radiohead songs that has deep political undercurrents, the word 'cronies' is synonymous with party politics in the UK and it hasn't turned up here by accident. Otherwise quite a standard song in many respects, not a million miles away from 'Karma Police' - just dulled down and uglified to reflect the sh'ttiness of the times. |
| 50 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows Disk 2
'Flowers in the Hospital' [4.5]
An emotional piano led 'bared soul' Yorke ballad with suitably quivering vocals that builds to an elegant final minute and a half. |
| 49 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'Bodysnatchers' [4.5]
The modern Radiohead rocker, this is as rough n' ready as Radiohead will get in their post-90s guise. The snarly opening eventually gives way for a, dare I say, 'anthemic' closing section complete with churning guitar work from Jonny. |
| 48 | | Radiohead
The Daily Mail/Staircase
'Staircase' [4.5]
This skittering percussive B-Side could have squeezed onto 'In Rainbows' or 'King of Limbs', indeed I prefer it to the similar 'Weird Fishes'. Yorke channels Arnie and 'gets to the choppa' - then the pilot 'lets me take control'. |
| 47 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'Planet Telex' [4.5]
Will always have a soft spot for this shimmering glossy opener as 'The Bends' was my introduction to the band. The songs is the most 90s thing ever, in a good way :/ |
| 46 |  | Radiohead
OK Computer
'The Tourist' [4.5]
...and another album closer. This is the perfectly judged wind down to 'Ok Computer' and probably the Radiohead song that most brings Pink Floyd to my mind. If it was ever in doubt 'Computer' was going to be compared to 'Dark Side of the Moon' before this track kicked in then that notion was kicked firmly into touch within the opening fifteen seconds here. |
| 45 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'Videotape' [4.5]
Radiohead are the kings of album closers to the point that this very statement is considered an awful cliche. This is the slow motion 'video reel flapping in the projector' moment the technicolour 'In Rainbows' needed to send it off. Everything fades eventually, even that rainbow. |
| 44 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was' [4.5]
This is the first time Radiohead experimented with both a more minimal approach and making textural touches the most addictive element of a song. That's not to say the melodies and Thom's singing aren't great here too of course. |
| 43 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Decks Dark' [4.5]
Another textural piece from 'Moon Shaped' with some spooky haunted operatic vox giving the song something a bit out of the ordinary for Radiohead. Yorke's conversational, almost dismissive, vocals must go down as another classic performance from him. |
| 42 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
'Give Up the Ghost' [4.5]
One of the most simple ideas the band ever had, this is as stripped back as Radiohead get, but the result is one of their most elemental and evocative moments. As close to a 'campfire jam' as you could imagine the band performing (well, recording in a studio anyway). |
| 41 | | Radiohead
Kid A
'Morning Bell' [4.5]
Creepy military drum totin', divorce referencin', Disney name droppin' deep cut from 'Kid A'. The sinister feel is continued and deepened further following 'Idioteque'. |
| 40 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'Subterranean Homesick Alien' [4.5]
More aliens, this time they've come to give you a ride around your own dead end neighbourhood. Another song that played on acoustic guitar would be nowhere near as great without all those rolling drums and otherworldly flourishes backing the main song structure. With those elements in tow this is a successful head trip with zero chance of an enforced anal probe lumped in. |
| 39 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
'Pyramid Song' [4.5]
There was a time I considered this a 5/5 classic but over time this has dimmed ever so slightly. It really is primarily a mood piece that fools you into thinking it's a great song. Really it's a 5/5 mood piece mixed with a 4/5 song...so you split the difference. Very airy, almost intoxicating, like dem aliens taking you back in time to show you how they trained the Egyptians to build the pyramids. Or something. |
| 38 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'The Numbers' [4.5]
A loose sounding tune with a classic, almost folk Zeppelin feel to it. The rattling percussion samples give the atmosphere an eastern 'desert oasis' twist. |
| 37 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'Climbing Up the Walls' [4.5]
Too good to be a B-Side but a slightly odd fit on 'Ok Computer', strip this of vocals and this would be the closest to something that could have ended up on Massive Attack's 'Mezzanine' (it must have been a huge, huge influence on that album). The final 30 discordant seconds are perhaps the highlight of the whole song. |
| 36 | | Radiohead
Kid A
'The National Anthem' [4.5]
Cheeky title, cheeky bobbing bass riff, cheeky head-splitting squealing jazz freak out. |
| 35 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'15 Step' [4.5]
A real odd bod of an opener that's a steady grower with all sorts of strange things going on - glitchy beats, near rapping from Thom, slinky guitar, child voice samples, echo'd vocal effects, twisted up synth lines. Could so easily have ended up a mess in any other band's hands. |
| 34 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
'Dollars & Cents' [4.5]
Bit of a climber this one, has a light jazz feel to it and some really unconventional string swells. The multi layered vocals are well used, creating an element of unpredictability and near-mania that is allowed to burst through in little controlled bursts. |
| 33 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'My Iron Lung' [4.5]
Has an eastern tinge to the guitar work and builds to a near-metal level of intensity (a weird descending riff section that could almost be a signature Megadeth move). Has a sort of 'In Utero' insect like evil quality to it and very much an outsider in their discog. |
| 32 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'All I Need' [4.5]
This track shows just how much an influence Boards of Canada/Warp acts have had on Radiohead's sound palette. In trademark Radiohead fashion the final minute is the deal clencher as Sigur Ros style strings and glockenspiel ramp up...and up...and up. |
| 31 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'Lucky' [4.5]
This is the song from 'Ok Computer' that could most easily have slotted into tracklist of 'The Bends'. If it had it would easily have been one of the highlights, easily besting other attempted epics like 'Black Star' or 'Sulk'. The themes of the lyrics (air crashes, meeting with shadowy heads of state) fit in just fine with the 'Ok Computer' manifesto so all is good as it is. |
| 30 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Daydreaming' [4.5]
The title gives this one away, although I'd say it sounds more like a waking dream than a simple daydream. 'A Moon Shaped Pool' was incredibly understated, almost muted, in places. That's a style that really suits the new atmosphere-centric Radiohead and this is an example of the band learning from previous attempts and perfecting the style. |
| 29 | | Radiohead
Amnesiac
'I Might Be Wrong' [4.5]
The production of this track lifts a song that if performed on acoustic guitar would leave little impression at all in a traditional melodic sense. It shows the band's focus had shifted even more towards rhythm and texture than standard hooks and melodies. Sometimes the same approach would fall flat - but here it works a dream. |
| 28 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
'2 + 2 = 5' [4.5]
Almost like a follow up to 'Paranoid Android' with its multi-part structure and squealing guitar sections. One of their most aggressive songs and a no nonsense opener to an otherwise sadly muddled album. |
| 27 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'True Love Waits' [4.5]
The most plaintive and plain-speaking ballad Yorke ever wrote, this is perhaps an almost too personal insight into the views and frailties of the man. This could (should?) have been a 5/5 song though, there's something just holding it back in this guise, they possibly uncharacteristically over-egged the composition slightly here. |
| 26 | | Radiohead
Kid A
'Optimistic' [4.5]
A real urgency and directness to this 'almost-rocker' from the 'not-very-rock' 'Kid A', this song is all about how more and more elements get added to the mix as the song progresses. What starts as a vaguely tribal stripped-back thumper ends up housing all sorts of strange percussion loops and effects. In a masterstroke moment the last minute of the track clears the air before segueing perfectly into the topsy-turvy 'In Limbo'. |
| 25 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'Karma Police' [4.5]
The closest to a conventional classically composed pop song on 'Ok Computer' with big nods to The Beatles - the 'Hey Jude' bit, the 'for a minute there' section, is so refreshing and seems to be that moment Yorke clutches your shoulders and makes sure you're aware he's singing to you sat there in the audience. |
| 24 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Glass Eyes' [4.5]
A short track but it has a huge impact in the context of 'A Moon Shaped Pool'; this is the most evocative and personal of the songs that make up that album. It really feels like a snapshot inside the narrator's head and the musical backing is so sensitive to every shift in their inner and external perspective. |
| 23 | | Radiohead
Pablo Honey
'Creep' [5]
Yeah, crepe, I love it. This will put a lot of people's noses out of joint but this is still one of the band's classics. The sentiments are old hat, some of the lyrics are cheesy...but it has to be given its dues, this was a huge hit and WAS a blueprint for most of the good things that happened on the next two albums. Yes, I'm pleased they moved on, but there's room for me to acknowledge this as a classic 90s pop song. |
| 22 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
'There There' [5]
This song is one of the most patient builders of the entire Radiohead catalogue - you could be forgiven for switching it off in a huff at the 3 minute mark....but then first it gets real expansive, then it positively explodes at the 4 minute mark. |
| 21 | | Radiohead
The King of Limbs
'Lotus Flower' [5]
Another 'near-danceable' song by Radiohead. The Thommy knocker dances to it anyway as evidenced by the video to this. The high register singing is incredible on this song - 'just to feed you fast balloooning head'. This is a nano-difference away from being awful, if just one element of that vocal performance was changed this could have fallen as flat as a pancake. Thankfully everything works out perfect and 'King of Limbs' has its lone classic track. |
| 20 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'Airbag' [5]
Now don't you forget the damn opener to 'Ok Computer' - I get the feeling everyone has a slight blank spot with this song. It's a top 20 Radiohead song but for some reason no one remembers it outside the context of its parent album. It's worth playing twice in a row just so the second time you just focus on the bass and the drum track. |
| 19 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Ful Stop' [5]
Or 'Idioteque: The Return' if you want to be flippant. This actually sounds even more like Portishead's 'We Carry On'. It's dark, urban dystopian, claustrophobic, apocalyptic...all that stuff. Like when baby driver was forced to run from the police on foot only with even more sirens and he only makes it a block before he's gunned down cold. |
| 18 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'Just' [5]
Ha, imagine if Radiohead still opened a song like this - just so gauche! This is the one people point to when they want an example of Jonny Greenwood's 90s guitar playing style - like the embryonic 'Creep' signature pre-chorus 'chug-chug, chug-chug' launched through the stratosphere. |
| 17 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'No Surprises' [5]
Probably the true heart of 'Ok Computer', this is one of the most tenderly sad n' defeated songs you could ever hope to find. It's a protest song delivered as a resigned sigh, a final prayer of defiance. It's tragic, it's beautiful, it's a real f'ck you of a karaoke choice. |
| 16 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'Fake Plastic Trees' [5]
The undeniable vocal masterclass, the tune that bares comparison to Jeff Buckley or whoever else was on the circuit back in the early 90s. The section with the heavy guitars is, yes, still to this day, a phenomenal listen. Still ten times better than anything Matt Bellamy has written so far I'd say. Sorry Matt. |
| 15 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'Jigsaw Falling Into Place' [5]
This is one of the few Radiohead songs that you could genuinely say 'gets the foot tapping' with a solid inviting beat. I dunno if I'd go as far as to say you could comfortably dance to this but it's still about as close as you'll get with a Radiohead original (the remixes might have a few better candidates). This was a return to 'The Bends' in its warm tone and Yorke actually singing from the perspective of what appears to be a warm blooded human - 'just as you write my number down, just as the drink arrives'. |
| 14 | | Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
'Present Tense' [5]
The grower on their latest full length release, this is one of the warmer and more organic sounding efforts on the album. It's a more experimental track than many give credit, being about as close a move towards bossa nova rhythms and balearic vibes as Radiohead could be expected to venture. Thom's vocals are impressive throughout; whether cooing, drawing out those notes on that cry of 'don't get heaaaavy' or lightly scatting 'ooh oohs' at the song's conclusion, everything he attempts is 'just so'. |
| 13 | | Radiohead
Kid A
'Everything in its Right Place' [5]
One of the most instantly recognisable first few notes of any song ever. Three seconds and you the listener are transported to the unmistakable surround of 'Kid A' land (see cover art?). A very different composition for the band at the time, far more elliptical, it looped with a natural grace in such a way you could imagine it continuing to spin on and on infinitely. It showed that in its own way 'Kid A' was going to be just as grandiose a statement as 'Ok Computer'. |
| 12 |  | Radiohead
I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings
'Spinning Plates (live)' [5]
I imagine this selection will have half the Radiohead fans crying out 'phillistine' and the other half saying 'spot on, yes!'. So that's right, I much prefer the more traditional take on the arrangement than the deconstructed backward talk one that appears on 'Amnesiac'. It benefits greatly from the prominent piano line imo, but hey, personal taste. |
| 11 | | Radiohead
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
'Talk Show Host' [5]
The superior version is the remix on the 'Romeo + Juliet' soundtrack, but both versions are excellent. This song is actually the one more associated with the film than the track actually written to play over the credits ('Exit Music'). This B-Side was an early indication something was afoot with the band, that they might change direction following 'The Bends'. I remember playing this one to death and hoping the entirety of their next album would be like this song; obviously they had something even more interesting in mind though. |
| 10 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'Exit Music (for a film)' [5]
The film in question being 'Romeo + Juliet' but the genius here is despite that being the primary creative drive of the song it still fits perfectly on 'Ok Computer'. The theme of the doomed lovers is present but really this track is all about the atmosphere; choir-like passages, fuzzy buzzin' bass that makes your head rattle, what sounds like a mix of crowd noise looped backwards. It's all very intense in a very unusual way. |
| 9 | | Radiohead
Knives Out
'Cuttooth' [5]
The greatest song Radiohead released in 2001 didn't make it onto their full length that year and there's probably a good reason; this song sounded nothing like anything else on 'Amnesiac'. The song was closer to something you'd have found on 'Ok Computer' with a touch of the atmosphere of fellow B-Side 'Talk Show Host' too. Rarely is the piano a lead instrument on a fast paced Radiohead number and it affords this song a real uniqueness among their discog. Snatches of the lyrics would be used on a subsequent album, 'Hail to the Thief', on the horrible agit electro oddball 'Myxamatosis' - suffice to say this is the track that should have found its way onto an official Radiohead long player. |
| 8 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'Reckoner' [5]
A buddy of mine has a real love/hate relationship with Radiohead and once he asked me to 'play some Radiohead, just not the one where Thom sings like a girl'. It took me a while to realise which song he meant...then I was left in shock that 'Reckoner' was something not everyone could enjoy. I've thought less of him ever since. |
| 7 | | Radiohead
Hail to the Thief
'A Wolf at the Door' [5]
A strange mix, this song combining the most bilious verses of the band's career with easily the most inviting chorus on the entire album. 'Someone always dies...get up, get over, turn the tape off' - the way Yorke whips himself up and up until he reaches this conclusion is masterful. |
| 6 | | Radiohead
Kid A
'Idioteque' [5]
In 2000 Radiohead changed their entire approach, focusing more on disorientating abstraction, strange ambience and rhythmic intensity. Never was this change in approach more obvious than on the breakneck 'Idioteque' which tapped in on the millennial dread being experienced throughout the world's populace. It offered no answers, rather it simply asked them to dance themselves into a frenzy while trapped at the bottom of their airless fallout bunker tombs. |
| 5 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'Paranoid Android' [5]
From one career changer to another obvious one. Has a song ever marked a total departure from a previous album quite like this? It's like their ambition ramped up from a solid 8 straight up to 11. Nothing, and I mean nothing, sounded anything like this on the radio in '97. It sounded conceptual, monolithic, classic - like 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'Stairway to Heaven', '21st Century Schizoid Man', 'Ziggy Stardust' and 'The Great Gig in the Sky' all mashed together. To be brutally honest, even that comparison doesn't do it justice. A monster. |
| 4 | | Radiohead
The Bends
'Street Spirit (fade out)' [5]
That's right, you guessed it, another ballad of sorts. This is the song that sold me on the band after only hearing the title track from this album and 'Creep' and being unmoved by both. I heard this song blaring from my younger brother's room and it stopped me dead - I'd heard nothing like it, no one else in '95 seemed to be channeling whatever dead eyed mysterious beauty this band were here. A stone cold classic, it's beyond any form of dispute at this stage. A career changer. |
| 3 | | Radiohead
In Rainbows
'Nude' [5]
Another ballad, one that had allegedly been hanging around unfinished since 'The Bends' recordings. It finally found its perfect home on 'In Rainbows' which needed a moment of relative stillness among all the kinetic energy that made up its opening salvo of tunes. 'You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is....thiiiiiinnnking...wooooooooooo-ooooooh' - this is a flat out glorious section of singing from Thom, the sort of performance many thought he'd left behind forever in the 90s. The voice was still there, better than ever possibly. |
| 2 | | Radiohead
Kid A
'How to Disappear Completely' [5]
In many ways this feels like a follow up to 'Exit Music' from the previous album, a dirge of a ballad with a hum of dread lurking in the background. This is the more striking of the two compositions thanks to some absolutely mesmerising string additions, some well considered electronic touches and Yorke's compelling performance that moves from an initial indifferent tone to spine tingling intensity to finally an angelic fade out. |
| 1 | | Radiohead
OK Computer
'Let Down' [5]
The pinnacle of Radiohead's career, their greatest song that's also the crowning jewel of their greatest album. It's as multi layered and intricate as anything they've ever put their names to before or since, but at the same time it also feels like one of their most direct songs. It's also just plainly beautiful, especially when Yorke's vocals are multi layered for the last minute of tape. If you've ever questioned why this band are so beloved just spin this. |
|
