A Beginner's Guide to Radiohead

It's the 21st Century

While today's musical landscape may not be as bleak as some wistful, aging baby boomers decree, one has to admit that they have a point. One look at an iTunes Store chart reveals what music our country is buying, and the news isn't good. At an age when their parents were blasting the Beatles or the Stones, kids are listening to Miley Cyrus or various American Idols.

But though the days of classic rock are behind us and modern rock music sometimes seems out of new ideas, there are still gems to be found among today's recording artists if one looks hard enough. One such gem is the Oxford quintet Radiohead. Their transformation from a standard throwaway Britpop band to one of the leading groups of their era came as a surprise to everyone, including them. Relentless innovators of their own sound (and, by extension, the sound of their contemporaries), Radiohead's musical history is one well worth exploring.

With the press surrounding the release of their seventh album, the band has been in the news a remarkable amount recently.  If you are interested in the band and wondering what part of their catalog to start on, look no further.  Here it is: Radiohead in brief.

I Wish I Was Special

The world was introduced to the five musicians by way of their first album, Pablo Honey. If you're more inclined toward Oasis than Brian Eno, this album is a good first step, though be warned: you may find yourself nonplussed.  The consensus about Radiohead's inaugural run is that, while it shows competence and an ear for the early-90's Pixies style, much of it is forgettable.  The major takeaway, and the song from the band's early years that you are most likely to have heard already somewhere or other, is "Creep."  This song caught fire, and while the whole thing smelled fiercely like a one-hit wonder, Radiohead had more up their sleeves.

Which brings us to The Bends.  This might be Radiohead at their most accessible, which makes it an ideal album to start with if you're new to the band.  From the caustic, soaring opener "Planet Telex" through to its dark conclusion, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," The Bends finds each member of the band asserting his confidence.  Jonny Greenwood plays lead guitar with a dominance seen only in flashes on Pablo Honey, and Thom Yorke's signature wail becomes more pointed, less generic. This is still Radiohead playing pop rock, but one can discern a twist to the formula that will grow tremendously with their next release.

An Interstellar Burst

And here's where the fan-boy hyperbole can get to be overwhelming. In 1997, the band's third album, OK Computer, was released. It quickly garnered international acclaim and the band were transformed nearly overnight from moderately successful pop rockers to what some termed "the saviors of rock."  Over the course of the album, the listener is treated to marauding guitars, underlying electronic sensibilities and lyrics that range from generally weary to apocalyptic.  Though the mood of the band is rooted by this point firmly in the bleak, OK Computer still manages a number of cathartic moments that, even in the middle of what is otherwise an exploration of alienation, strike home emotionally.

At times as straightforward as The Bends ("Karma Police" was a big radio hit, and isn't too demanding of its listeners) while still managing to sound innovative and novel, OK Computer can be a introduction to the band, but you should be warned going in that they never created anything else quite like it again, for better or for worse.

I Will See You in the Next Life

The fourth and fifth albums in the band's career are a bold dismissal of the conventional wisdom, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." With fans everywhere expecting their followup to OK Computer to be similarly geared toward brash, atmospheric rock and roomy, intelligent ballads, Radiohead surprised everyone with Kid A. Kid A (much like its successor, Amnesiac) was layered with ambient and free jazz elements that strayed far from the out-front guitars of Radiohead's past work.

Critically Kid A was lauded, but some fans have never forgiven the band for the sudden departure from previous albums.  If you already enjoy ambient or more multi-genre music, then Kid A and Amnesiac may be good starting points.  Otherwise, the band's other work may prove more welcoming.

Just 'Cause You Feel It

Radiohead have warily returned to the rock sensibilities of their OK Computer era work, but they have undoubtedly kept with them the experience of a band that knows its way around a synthesizer or two.  With Hail to the Thief, their sixth album, their sound was a hybrid of several different impulses, formed by Nigel Godrich into a whole.  While not always cohesive, the album has more than enough tracks to offer someone perusing Radiohead's catalog for favorites.

Finally, there's the most recently released full album by the band, In Rainbows. While retaining the unique sound they have cultivated over the years, In Rainbows finds Radiohead delving into subjects they usually don't cover: romance, sex and family.  It's an interesting juxtaposition, and the resulting music seems to point the way toward a next step for the group: down to earth, conscious without being self-conscious, comfortable for perhaps the first time in years as a "rock band."

Hopefully this guide gives you a brief overview of the band and the progression they've followed as their discography grew. With these things in mind, you can go forward and see for yourself what has won the five musicians such acclaim from the media and from music fans alike.