Flux #5 - Radiohead

In all my years of listening to music, and with all the content that I’ve either shown someone, or someone has shown me, there’s been a continuous ‘desire’ to have validation in what you listen to - meaning, it’s nice to know someone else thinks the song you’re showing them is sick. Maybe it’s an emotional thing, where humans feel compelled to share happiness with others, or, perhaps in a bit of a more ‘egotistical’ way, people like knowing that they don’t listen to garbage. And we can go on and on about how “music is reflection of self”, and how there’s no cohesive way to state whether music is good or bad, but this concept is very interesting when discussing the discovery of music, which at Bald With Hair!, is something I love to discuss.

Now, I do plan on writing an article that talks specifically about this concept and goes into far more detail, but the idea comes into play with today’s band, who I think is one of the most polarizing groups I’ve ever listened to. Basically, you either ‘get it’, or you don’t… and by ‘it’, I just mean Thom Yorke’s rather intimidatingly odd voice and droopy eye lid.

Radiohead holds a special place in my heart, mostly because of how I got into them, and because of the specific time I was going through in my life… but also, to put it simply, their music is sick. And while I have shown them to my friends and gotten very negative responses, even being told to “turn this shit off” on multiple occasions, once you break that first barrier and finally connect with their ecclesiastic discography, you’ll be quick to see why and how they’ve earned their acclaim of being weird sad spacey rock guys who sometimes go “beep boop”.

The five band members, of whom have remained consistent since the band’s inception, met in an independent school for boys in Oxfordshire in the mid 80’s, then going by the name On a Friday. They eventually took the name Radiohead from a song by Talking Heads, and in 1993, released their first full-length record, Pablo Honey. Any big fan of Radiohead will most likely tell you how much of a drag this album is, and how the song “Creep” has transcended into full-fledged memes about the group, but the truth is that Pablo Honey features some kickass cuts that helped the band progress, particularly the opening and closing tracks.

The sophomore release of The Bends saw a different approach from their debut, leaning less on the brit pop angst that made “Creep” such a hit, and focusing more on textured sounds, matured vocals, while still making more approachable ballads, like the hits “Fake Plastic Trees” or “High and Dry”. The album acted as a turning point for where the band was headed, but I don’t think any of the members knew the type of content they’d be creating in just five years time.

In 1997, the band released their third album, OK Computer, which could probably have an entire blog post dedicated to itself. Now often regarded as the band’s magnum opus, it saw the incorporation of more avant-garde and ambient influences, and showcased the diversity in their sound that they’ve become known for. Hits like “Paranoid Android” captured the volatility of their music within a six-minute window, and softer songs like “No Surprises” showed their ability to create serious and intimate emotions, built by intricate lyrics like “A handshake of carbon monoxide.” And for me personally, it was the album that made everything click, especially the song “Subterranean Homesick Alien” which has now become my favorite song by the band. However, this may be the point where the polarization begins to show, as some listeners I’ve tried to get into the album couldn’t get passed Thom Yorke’s whiny and incoherent lyrics, nor could they stomach the abnormalities in sections like the endings of “Airbag” and “Karma Police”, or the track “Fitter Happier”. And they have every reason to feel that way. OK Computer isn’t for everyone, but if you like the band, you most likely hold this album toward the top of your list.

Feeling the hangover of their most successful work to date, leading them to almost split up entirely, Radiohead then took just about the biggest left turn in modern music, releasing the album Kid A at the turn of the century, followed by Amnesiac less than a year later. Completely veering from their destined course, they instead went full speed ahead into an album that relied more on cosmic synths, and head-scratching displays of noisy electronica that made you question whether it was the same band. Thom Yorke apparently pulled phrases out of a hat for many of the quizzical lyrics (like the classic, “yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon), and for the most part, this album is just plain weird. It divided fans and critics alike, but in the end, it has garnered universal acclaim, and is considered one of the greatest records of all time by Rolling Stone. The follow up, Amnesiac, was compiled from leftover tracks during the recording sessions for Kid A, and many people feel like it’s more of a B-side compilation than a standalone album. However, it does feature some REALLY great tracks, like “Pyramid Song”, “I Might Be Wrong” and “Like Spinning Plates”. But again, it’s really really strange, and should NOT be the first thing you show a new listener of the band.

2003 saw the release of Hail to the Thief, which saw a return to more of the rock oriented sound that was the framework of Radiohead, while still incorporating some of the newer electronic elements of the last two albums. Its track list is a bit long, and even Thom Yorke has said he wishes they’d made it shorter, but again, some career defining tracks can be found, like “There, There” and “2+2=5”.

Perhaps their most approachable album then followed in 2007 with the release of In Rainbows, backed by a landmark decision to make it a “pay-what-you-want” digital download from the internet. The album features greatly matured cuts that showed Radiohead’s ability to blend genres as they progressed, while still maintaining their ambient allure. Songs like “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” showed that they could still rock, while subtler tracks like “Nude” and “Reckoner” were more delicate and poignant. Thom’s voice is less whiny as well, and Jonny Greenwood’s work throughout the album is arguably his best to date. I’d say if you’re trying to break into Radiohead, here would be a fantastic place to begin.

They followed up with The King of Limbs in 2011, arguably the weakest since their debut, containing only eight songs that once again saw a rise in electronic influence, as Yorke’s taste seemed to indicate from his various side projects and solo works during the years between this and In Rainbows. Like all of their albums, it still has good songs, but many people feel as if it’d be a more complete work had it been a bit longer with more meaningful tracks. But songs like “Lotus Flower” and “Bloom” kick ass, even though it felt like the aging band members were nearing the later parts of their careers.

Radiohead then released A Moon Shaped Pool in 2016, a harrowing and emotional album that seemed to mirror the state of Thom Yorke’s marriage with his now late ex-wife. The songs are personal, deeply passionate, and at times, downright sad. The album is still very accessible, however, and new listeners could easily fall in love with cool cuts like “Daydreaming” or “Deck’s Dark”, while getting a glimpse into a long lasting career that, for a second, could’ve been considered at its conclusion. However, I do feel like Radiohead will release one final album within the next year or two, and then hang up their boots.

There is a hell of a lot to unpack when diving into this band, but I do feel as if this playlist accurately shows the progression, de-progression, and everything in between for these weird brits who rediscovered themselves multiple times along their career. It may not click immediately, or ever for that matter, but never before have I seen a band blend so many genres so well, while still retaining an original and authentic sound that stretched nearly three decades.

Without further ado, I present the fifth playlist in the Flux series, Radiohead.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4koArHHUqx3nCb3ZK7olgP?si=9RPXDdM2RB-OUgHzRBZ1PQ