Every Radiohead Album, Ranked

I recollect the first sentence I heard Radiohead . I was 16 yr old , and my head was swimming from a night out that let in thing 16 - year - olds probably should n’t be doing . As I star at the words " OK Computer"printed over abstract art on the jewel subject , the opening riffs of " Airbag " pip my teenage ears like a bombilation saw . And nothing in music ever felt the same for me .

Withthe loss of Radiohead ’s new single , " Burn the Witch , " today , and a 9th LP andsummer miniskirt - tourarriving imminently , the time has add up for me to chart my fandom by ranking their studio albums from spoilt to best . But just remember , these eight albums are like my own kid – my down , beautiful , British , belike pale tiddler – and I ca n’t be too hard on any of them .

8.Pablo Honey

Radiohead ’s first full - length study is not abadalbum . But it ’s obviously the sapless offering in a lineup of really , really unspoiled albums . This is the band in its teething , Brit - alt - rock babyhood . The 1993 LP is a absolved product of the band ’s influence ( Pixies , the Smiths , the Cure ) that never fully birth the trademark fashion and ambition that would later make Radiohead legendary . Despite its high energy , this album miss swagger and personality .

Still , you ’ll line up moments of value here . " Anyone Can Play Guitar , " " You , " and " Ripcord " are tolerable ' 90s alt - fodder , and the gloomy surf - stone closer " fluff Out " probably beats out the ballyhooed mega - hit " Creep " as the best vocal on the record album . Pablo Honeyis excessively throw out by sports fan and critics and literally everyone else – but it should n’t be jump entirely . Once you ’ve listen to every other RH song 100 times through , come back and givePablo Honeya nice squeeze . It ’s like looking at an old black - and - whitened motion-picture show of your parent during their bunglesome years .

7.The King of Limbs

2011’sKing of Limbswas greeted with a resounding " meh " by both fans and critics , and in hindsight , it ’s easy to see why . AfterIn Rainbowsdemolished any chatter about the isthmus being past its prime , RH ’s heavy hype surprise - liberation LP land with a confused whine rather of a bang when it was revealed to be a mere eight rail long . Reviews deemed it too fugitive , too unintelligible , and lack the thoroughgoing ambitiousness that usually comes with a Radiohead release . Some fans even deal the liveFrom the Basementversion to be superior .

Personally , I loveKOL . But that view took its time to spread out . Songs like the swirling , poly - rhythmical " Bloom , " the obscure - deception disco music of " Lotus Flower " and " Separator , " and the sparse , shimmer waves of " Codex " and " Give Up the spectre " represent some of the more polished songs the ring has ever released , and they showcase the overlooked talents of bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Phil Selway ( along with guest - drummer Clive Deamer ) . TheKOLsessions produced four top - shelf non - album running ( " Staircase , " " Daily Mail , " " Supercollider , " and " The Butcher " ) , and since some of them sound like boron - side themselves , it makes me wonder how much best the album could have been .

6.Hail to the Thief

HTTTis like the polar opposite ofKOL : it ’s too long , too scatterbrained , too rough and overstuffed to be considered one of RH ’s best . The band itself has admitted that thepremature leakof the 2003 record album lead to a sense of impatience , cause them to forgo producer Nigel Godrich ’s meticulous album trim - downs , and it definitely shows . The tracks lumber on , and Thom cease up vagabond like an alcoholic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner party .

Of course , it has some amazing songs , including a few of the band ’s heaviest mo , like the gambol political repulsion of " 2 + 2 = 5 " and the fuzzed - out , nursery - rhyme riffery of " Myxomatosis . " And the wildly approachable " There , There . " Despite containing some of the most cheeseball lyrics of later RH albums ( " Just cause you find it does n’t intend it ’s there " ) , the call skin through as one of the band ’s downcast practiced , featuring Jonny Greenwood ’s fine guitar solo post - all right electronic computer . For a feeling from another slant , try Yorke ’s revise track listing . It ’s a little cleaner .

5.The Bends

The claim racetrack has Yorke require , “ Where do we go from here ? ” An apt question , and ifPablo Honeywas a band in its infancy , its 1995 follow - up shows the dandy in the throe of teenage angst and semi - mortifying sexual love songs . " The Bends"is a brilliant metaphor for their precipitous and jarring procession to fame , wrought by the success of " Creep , " and Yorke ’s tactile sensation of uneasiness birthed the Song that would cement RH ’s place among the ' 90s alt - rock Mount Rushmore .

The turgid deed of conveyance runway – along with other heavy rock - band starters , like the washed out , rapid eye movement - esque " My Iron Lung " and the shape - shift " Just " – give up grunge - soaked vigour , while more grizzle tracks , like " Fake Plastic Trees " and " Street Spirit " in particular , foreshadow the lot ’s more advanced late efforts . Just as " You ’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away " signaled the counsel John Lennon and the Beatles would head toward in theSgt . Pepperera , these Sung gave a promising glimpse of the future and capped Radiohead ’s career as a standard careen band . OnThe Bends , they aren’tthereyet . But they were set about damn tight .

4.Amnesiac

Amnesiacis unjustly considered to be the unexpended man out of the Radiohead catalogue . Released less than a year after 2000 ’s landmarkKid A , it ’s basically pastiched out of that record album ’s B - sides – the tracks that were upright but just did n’t fit . That being said , Amnesiacis like diving headfirst into the fire that lurks among the mass on the cover charge ofKid A. It ’s bleak , it ’s keep apart , and it ’s always interesting .

The offbeat clock time signature of the sweeping " Pyramid Song " remain one of the most compelling moments of euphony the band has produced . The drop - D riffing on " You Might Be amiss " and melodic clanking of " Packt Like Sardines " bring home the bacon two of the group ’s most weirdly accessible tracks . The full - on brass , Thelonious Monk - stylus " Life in a Glasshouse " is the lads at their least well-off ( in a secure means ) . But none of these gems can save the album from a middling group of observational songs that would have otherwise remained barn - side . And that ’s what ultimately bogs the album down . Sure , it ’s likeKid A ’s kid crony – the Eli to its Peyton . Amnesiacmay not be the most talented in the folk , but it ’s still moderately freakin ' trade good .

3.OK Computer

OK Computeris the album all other album of its time are judged against . It ’s the measure . The prototype . The GOAT . The 1997 masterpiece twist the striation from swaddle indie darlings to please - don’t - call - us - prog - tilt superheroes , mentioned in the same intimation as Pink Floyd and even the Beatles . And here we are , pose the the bronze decoration around its neck .

OK Computerwas and is a innovative album . " Paranoid Android"is like " Happiness Is a Warm Gun " for Gen Xers on antidepressants . " Let Down " is credibly the single most under - apprehended song in the English speech . " No Surprises " make carbon paper monoxide poisoning audio like a radio doggerel . " Karma Police " is the band ’s most iconic song . This was Radiohead ’s first big stab at make a true statement . They pushed the limits of guitar - establish rock to their breaking full stop , and force a loyal German car right through it . one C of thousands of parole have already been dedicated to its prevail greatness . It ’s so extremely regarded , I fairly much have to spend this time telling you why Ididn’tpick it as No . 1 : I just think the next two albums are a minuscule bit better .

2.In Rainbows

This is your immanent referee ’s personal favorite . splendidly self - released in 2007,In Rainbowsis at the same time the apogee of everything the band had done antecedently and everything it ’s always wanted to do , all rolled into a collection of 11 song , perfectly proportion and expertly polished . The album ’s centerpiece – and what I consider to be the ring ’s best tune – “ Reckoner , ” occurs exactly 61.8 % through the album , and the news “ in rainbows ” come 61.8 % of the agency through the vocal – observe the rules ofthe Golden Ratioas it appears in nature and artistry . Whoa , dude .

There ’s tight songs like " Bodysnatchers " and " Jigsaw Falling Into Place , ” mellifluously sliding in between gorgeous wind - fusion genre - booze-up like " Weird Fishes , " " 15 Step " , and the synthy " All I want , " all building to the slow crescendo of the celestial stuffy , " Videotape . " It does n’t have the grandiose message and arch over theme of some other LPs . Nor did it revolutionize the band ’s flight or the industriousness at large ( though its earnings - what - you - wish release kind of did ) . No , this is simply the recordings of a band at its creative apex of the sun’s way . Each song , on its own , is a personal favourite . And together they jibe into this mixtape , demoing what all medicine should aspire to be – a self - contained , free burning minute ofholy shit .

Yorke idly croon “ You spin me out and then cut the string ” on the record album ’s unfastener , but he and his bandmates have never been more in control than onIn Rainbows .

thom yorke radiohead

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1.Kid A

And this is me at my most objective . IsKid Amy favourite Radiohead album ? I literally just tell you it was n’t in the previous write - up , which you ’d know if you did n’t just skip directly to No . 1 . But as an record album , this 2000 gem represents the culmination of the ring ’s considerable talent .

Kid Ais the uncommon album that , as a whole , is dandy than the essence of its parts . Each of its 10 tracks come together like vignettes to work a hazardous - eyed narrative . " Everything in its Right Place " lays the groundwork with a flurry of aurally perfect tones behind twisted vocal than contort even further inside the disarm deed track " Kid A. " " The National Anthem " is the band at its most by experimentation raucous , while the haunting " How to Disappear Completely " isThom ’s favorite cartroad ever . " Idioteque " is often trotted out as being one RH ’s best – and its prompt ability to snaffle newbie listeners with its totalitarian rhythm and apocalyptic melodic theme never terminate to flummox me . But the stunner of the album is the path each song plump for the next . They are ten pillars , all holding the same approximation aloft . This is an album so fucking magnificent , its B - side turned into the No . 4 album on this list .

in the end , the medicine we ache for is the euphony we can never really put into coherent words . Trying to compose about this record album ’s greatness is like endeavor to fill the Goodyear blimp with your lungs . Kid Acan only be key out as indefinable . And as Radiohead ’s best .