The English rock band Radiohead was first formed in Oxfordshire back in 1995 with Thom Yorke, brothers Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Philip Selway. Their first major-label debut album, "Pablo Honey" in 1993, gave the world one of the band's most enduring (and most hated) hit "Creep."
One of the most versatile acts since their 1993 debut, Radiohead have given fans songs to love and explore. To start your Radiohead vinyl collection, make sure to take a look at some of their works.
The Bends
Radiohead's 1995 sophomore album was produced by John Leckie and engineered by Nigel Godrich, who would become a long-time Radiohead collaborator and would produce all their subsequent works. "The Bends" marked the band's departure from their all-grunge sound, and started leaning towards cryptic lyrics and more variations due to their keyboards and guitars featuring more prominently.
Listen to some of Radiohead's earliest charting hits: "My Iron Lung," "Fake Plastic Trees," "High and Dry," "Just," and "Street Spirit."
Kid A
This double vinyl and gatefold album has some pretty neat tricks to it. British writer Nick Hornby once described the album as "commercial suicide," insinuating that Radiohead made the album weird on purpose as a move against their label and escaped their contract. However, the album went platinum in the UK in its first week and topped the US charts.
Listen to their foray in electronic music with "Idioteque," a funky, synthesizer-heavy "Everything In Its Right Place," and the jazzy "The National Anthem." Also, the CD version of it has a hidden booklet hidden inside the disc tray.
A Moon Shaped Pool
Their 2016 studio album was first released digitally before in CD and vinyl format. Get their ninth album and feel another facet of Radiohead's ever-changing sounds, this time featuring orchestral accompaniments arranged by the group's guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
The gold-certified double-vinyl, gatefold album comes with a digital download card. Listen to the string arrangement with guitar picks in charge of generating the percussive side of the sound. Follow it up with the piano ballad "Daydreaming," for a lulling, relaxing experience.
OK Computer and In Rainbows
"OK Computer," the band's third studio album in 1997, is widely regarded as the landmark work cementing Radiohead as pioneers in complexity in music producing and working on themes of modern alienation. It spawned the hits "Paranoid Android" and "Karma Police," among others.
Meanwhile, "In Rainbows" was released on October 10, 2007 - ten years after "OK Computer." Their seventh album was first released with a pay-what-you-want arrangement, before a retail release two-months later. "In Rainbows" contained "Bodysnatchers," "Nude," and "House of Cards."
Now, the added value of having both vinyl records is in a decade-long fan conspiracy that has become all but confirmed by Radiohead itself. "OK Computer" was recorded with the working title "Zeroes and Ones" or "01." "In Rainbows" was released 10/10, a decade after "OK Computer." To play the ten-year Radiohead mega-album, according to the now-defunct site Puddlegum, start with "OK Computer's" first track, "Airbag," and follow through with "In Rainbow's" opening track, "15 Step." Continue alternating the tracks until "OK Computer's" "Karma Police," making the preceding track "All I Need" from "In Rainbows" the tenth track.
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