9. The King of Limbs: I don't know if I could face another listen of this one. That does not mean that it's a bad album; that means it isn't enjoyable.It's artfully constructed, moody and haunting; it's a musical horror piece. It gets under your skin and gives you the shivers. Believe it or not that's not a massively pleasant sensation, There isn't that much wrong with it aside from its shameless self-indulgence to be fair. I just can't tell the songs apart and it's rarely enjoyable. It's more akin to going on a miserable walk in a muddy field during a thunderstorm. It's just not up to the band's normal standards and is very hard to get into. If Radiohead were going for a chilling, depressing vibe they achieved that goal with flying colours. As musical experimentation and artistry it's fine. In terms of actually listening to it, it's not a lot of fun.
8. Pablo Honey: Separated from the rest of the band's work, you'll see that this is actually a decent album. It took me a couple of listens but I did get into it a lot more the second time. It's nowhere near as good as the later stuff but it was the band only just starting out. Besides, the cynical lyrics and undercurrents of artistry flowing through the sometimes overdone guitar instrumentals hint at what they'd later achieve. It's got Creep, that wonderfully moody song which Thom Yorke hates but when it was played in Portugal it got the biggest reaction of the night.It's also got Blow Out, You and Anyone Can Play Guitar which are all fun songs. It's a repetitive, simplistic and occasionally artless album, but as debuts go it's absolutely fine. It's a little tough to listen to after hearing the later albums, but that's only a testament to the band's skill and not to the quality of Pablo Honey.
7. The Bends: A controversially low placing for sure, but out of Radiohead's acclaimed albums this is the one I haven't fully got into. It's a highly skilled rock album with some absolute tunes, but I feel like I can get what this album does from any other band. Also, 2 of the biggest songs on the album- High and Dry and Fake Plastic Trees have never fully grabbed me. Like Pablo Honey, it's sometimes repetitive and overly whiny, but once again it was the band just starting out. Despite being my least favorite classic Radiohead album it's still a rather fine work. It's a fittingly energetic and soulful album with delightful amounts of angst, cynicism, complexity and energy. It's Radiohead doing more commercial stuff and being easier to listen to than normal. Going more commercial has negative connotations but Radiohead did a commercial album and it turned out very well. This is a very good album even if it's not as arty as the later stuff.
6. A Moon Shaped Pool: Radiohead's latest is a return to form- initially indicated by the atmospheric, chill-inducing Burn the Witch backed by possibly my favorite music video ever. This is easily Radiohead's quietest album with a large emphasis on mood and atmosphere, but the gentle synthesizer tracks and piano instrumentals hit so hard and seem so loud despite this. This is an album aching with emotion and serves as a pleasingly unpretentious exploration of various thought-provoking themes. Despite it being as gloomy as ever there's a real sense of peace to the album. It feels like the band gently and quietly unpicking life's mysteries whilst exploring new aural territory.. This is a record that gets better with every listen as more and more of its rich complexities and hidden meanings become clear. What a comeback,
5. Amnesiac: One of the best sequels ever? Possibly. Kid A's sister album, as it doesn't have any 10/10 songs with the closest being Pyramid Song, this isn't as good as its predecessor but it seriously delivers. It's another alien, experimental record which takes terrifying lyrics, haunting sounds and jumbled electronic music and turns those elements into utter art. It is also more similar to the previous albums than Kid A so it could be more enjoyable for some listeners. It is a trippy, scary and surreal album that is paradoxically exhilarating to listen to due to how fascinating the songs are. While not the best album the band have done, this is another fascinating piece of musical experimentation from them and it's once again so utterly, chillingly and brilliantly mad in every way. Being confused is rarely this enjoyable.
4. Hail to the Thief: Radiohead's most underrated album is another wide-ranging, diverse exploration of the art form of music. It's their longest record but it's remarkably consistent, and boasts various utterly masterful songs. It's also a highly effective bridge between the Kid A experimentation and the OK Computer rock stuff. It's an intense, masterful thrill ride that is always compelling no matte what and never ceases to sound like thunder in your ears, even during the quieter tracks. It does suffer from overlength and if some of the songs, such as A Punchup at a Wedding, had been cut loose, the album would be a masterpiece. Nevertheless, the album we got is possibly Radiohead's most purely enjoyable and entertaining record and every song is a masterful blend of peaceful, melancohly beauty and angst-ridden, ferocious rock. Thus, this album sums up the best of Radiohead.
3. Kid A: This one has been divisive before but is rightly seen as a classic now. This album is genius. It's so trippy, weird, arty and incoherent but is so mad, so gripping and simultaneously haunting and brilliantly entertaining. This is a somewhat formless, elusive and vague album and it is ultimately a riddle wrapped in an enigma locked in a heavily coded safe locked in a padlocked prison door. It doesn't get to number one as you need to be in the right mood for it and it does have The National Anthem on it, but even with all the experimental weirdness the album touches you so much. Its electronic beats are both haunting and exhilarating, its lyrics are minimalist in the best way, it's so full of art and so full of thematic depth. It's a truly magnificent journey across a strange aural wilderness. I don't know what on earth it's about and I don't want to. The vibe this album creates can't really be expressed in words.
2. In Rainbows: This one is one of the best albums of all time. It's very piano-based and melancholy but also filled with artistic rock. It's an achingly sad and moving album at times which takes the listener on another stunning trip. It is once again hard to define. However, the image I have of it are many rainbows passing drifting slowly across the night sky: an emotional, bittersweet and multilayered exploration of the darkness of modern life and relationships. It'll bring a tear to your eye multiple times and is the closest Radiohead have come to producing something which genuinely feels like renaissance art in musical form. It's so stunning, so rich and so awe-inspiring in every way. It is very, very depressing at times, but it will crucially leave you feeling alive. In terms of the best song there Reckoner is the best but they're all great songs. It's got the best album title too.
1. OK Computer: Since this is not only my favorite album by Radiohead but my favorite album of all time, this was an inevitable number one. It's a sometimes terrifying, often depressing yet endlessly thrilling record you'll never want to end. Everything is perfect here. All of the music is brilliantly put-together, the lyrics examine modern society in a brilliant way and the way the album starts with a song about a car crash is appropriate, as this complex, deep, powerful, stunning and euphoric masterpiece provides an experience akin to a terrifying car crash over a cliff into the abyss. That shouldn't be enjoyable, but the thrills, the angst, the danger, the darkness and the humanity contained within this make it a devastating aural shockwave that, no matter how often it depresses, confuses or in the case of Climbing Up the Walls and Fitter Happier downright terrifies you, it's pure musical heaven which you'll never want to end. As if you didn't need another reason to love this, it also has Paranoid Android, Let Down and No Surprises in one place. A true masterpiece and my favorite record ever.
Thanks for reading.
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