Another thought:
When I think about my introduction to the band via Pablo Honey back when I was 13, it blows my mind that the band that wrote "Creep" took the path they did.
To that point, Radiohead is one of only a few bands that I was able to follow from the beginning. Every year or so I get the itch and take yet another deep-dive into their catalog, and it never ceases to amaze me just how well these records have aged. Even The King of Limbs has recently revealed itself to me as an underrated gem.
So, in the spirit of this thread, I'm going to offer my own 'as of today' rankings:
9. Pablo Honey — A nice little album for what it is, but if Radiohead had stayed in this lane, I likely would've lost interest decades ago.
8. The Bends — Back in '96, this was my favorite Radiohead album (and one of my favorite records period). Unfortunately for The Bends, the band kept making albums. Still, there are some stellar tracks here, and when I'm in the mood for some straight-up rock, this album scratches that itch.
7. The King of Limbs — Like I said above, I've recently acquired a new appreciation for this album. The abbreviated track-listing and the somewhat inconsistent approach is the only thing that relegates this to the bottom third of my list.
6. Hail to the Thief — I'll echo what many others have said: trim this album by three or four songs and you have a top-3 Radiohead album. As it stands, you have a necessary bridge between the cold electronica of Kid A/mnesiac and the blissfully organic In Rainbows.
5. Amnesiac — I go back and forth on Kid A and Amnesiac as to which album is the better of the two. Honestly, the answer is probably a mix that combines the best 6 or 7 tracks from each record. That said, while I think Kid A is the more consistent album, Amnesiac has the session's two best songs, ("Pyramid Song," "Knives Out")
4. Kid A — In addition to the comments above, I'll add that Kid A is sonic masterpiece. Somehow, this record sounds less dated to me with each passing year.
3. A Moon Shaped Pool — It's hard to believe that it's already been six years...this is such a beautiful album. I tend to penalize recent releases in an effort to combat recency bias, but this album has continued to climb up my rankings as I fall more in love with each listen.
2. OK Computer — Genre-defining masterpiece about which novels have been written. I loved it the moment I first heard it, and the album has aged brilliantly over the years.
1. In Rainbows — A brilliant, cohesive masterpiece that continues to impress. In and of itself, this is easily the band's high-water mark, but when taking into consideration the 'second disc,' In Rainbows is in my top-5 albums of all time (routinely flirting with the top spot)
Well, there you go. Considering the overall quality, this is really a matter of very-good to best. I sincerely hope there's another record on the horizon, but if the band called it a day here, I'd be more than satisfied with their body of work.
Topic: Radiohead v. 2016-2024 (2nd album by The Smile featuring Yorke/Greenwood coming) (Read 20429 times)