Some bands are timeless. The Beatles are a good example. Nirvana, too. Another once-in-a-generation band is Radiohead. The band has released some of the most iconic albums in the history of recorded music. Even with a band like Radiohead, however, some albums are better than others. Let’s rank them from worst to best.
Does Radiohead have “bad” albums? This writer doesn’t think so, but of course it’s a subjective question. There are too many variables and too many opinions. It can be hard to reach a consensus. Regardless, we’re going to try. Just don’t @ us please.
Some quick history: Radiohead met around 1987 at Oxfordshire’s Abingdon School in the United Kingdom. They were originally called “On a Friday” but renamed themselves in 1991. The band released its first single “Creep” in 1993 and it became a radio smash, but many thought they would simply be a one-hit-wonder.
The band’s second album, “The Bends,” blew this notion out of the water and surprised the world with its intense genre-mudding theatrics and songwriting. By the time “OK Computer” came out in 1997, they were the biggest band in the world.
Radiohead is Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keys); Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keys); Ed O’Brien (guitar and backing vocals); Colin Greenwood (bass); and Phil Selway (drums, percussion, backing vocals).
9. Pablo Honey (1993)
Look. We get it. Putting Pablo Honey at number 9 is like bowling with the bumpers on: easy. It doesn’t mean this is a bad album, it’s just that when you stack it up against its siblings there’s not really an argument to be made here. This is a band just finding its footing, but all of the elements are already there.
Of course, “Creep” is the song everyone remembers from this album, and with good reason. If Radiohead never released another album they would still have a place in rock history with that song. The “crunch, crunch” leading into the chorus will be the last sound we hear before the sun swallows the earth in a billion years.
8. Amnesiac (2001)
A beautiful, if uneven follow-up to Kid A, Amnesiac took the liminal but sometimes aggressive dreaminess of its predecessor and took it to the next logical step. “Pyramid Song,” which has a chorus silkier than a rain cloud and is just as morose, is such a standout out that it makes everything else on the album feel like filler.
“I Might Be Wrong” sounds like it’s coming at you from another dimension and “Like Spinning Plates” has one of the best reverse tape configurations of all time. It’s not necessarily easy listening but its standout tracks make up for the weaker moments.
7. The King of Limbs (2011)
The King of Limbs came at a strange time for the band. They had reinvented themselves so many times at this point, with the last album In Rainbows once again blowing a cannonball into the wall of popular music. This 37-minute album feels slightly disjointed, but bangers like “Lotus Flower” and “Codex” are standouts. It requires a careful listen but it’s often overlooked in the band’s catalog.
6. A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
This felt like Radiohead could take its foot off the gas and let go of having to steer music into those experimental depths, while still showing it still had a lot more to say. It has some incredible string arrangements and moments of pure arresting beauty, like “Desert Island Disk.” Lead single “Burn the Witch” is an anxious death march covered in a blanket. Not as well-received as some of the bands other albums, but a worthy entry in an incredible discography.
5. In Rainbows (2007)
From here on out you could probably put these final five albums in any order and you’re going to find a Radiohead fan out there who agrees with you. That’s how powerful this band was in its prime. When running on all cylinders, Radiohead is unstoppable. So many incredible songs on this album, including the percussive revelation of “15 Step” and the sly rubber bounce of “Reckoner,” replete with Thom Yorke’s beautiful falsetto. So many good songs!
4. Hail to the Thief (2003)
This was Radiohead’s so-called return to rock after two more experimental albums in a row. Some songs are fiery, like the lead single “There, There” and “Myxomatosis,” and others are dreamy and melody driven like “Go to Sleep.” Some criticism was aimed at the band over the album’s length, but this was the band in a room again playing off of each other. It’s full of ideas and charged with energy.
3. The Bends (1995)
The album that told the world Radiohead wasn’t just another alternative rock band. This album does not have a bad song on it, and sure that sounds like empty praise but it’s absolutely true. “(Nice Dream)” skips along a rainbow and “High and Dry” showcases Yorke’s beautiful singing voice. It didn’t have a “Creep” on it, and it didn’t need to. This was a rocketship that made everyone stop and take notice.
2. OK Computer (1997)
What can be said about this classic? It came out and pretty much changed the landscape of what a rock band could be. It’s another one where every song is good, and honestly this is one of the best records of all time. It was a departure lyrically and musically and the band even scored a monster hit with the lead single “Paranoid Android,” which clocked in at an unheard of 6 minutes and 27 seconds. “Airbag,” “Karma Police” and “Electioneering” are all-time greats.
1. Kid A (2000)
Why is Kid A number one? It’s just one of those albums that came out of nowhere and felt like it had nothing to do with everything going on around it. It was Radiohead at its most ethereal and experimental.
They took the robotic loneliness of the last album and added ambience, modular synthesizers, brass, strings, loops, vocoders – you name it. It’s so simultaneously dreamy and subtly ominous that it feels like it could soundtrack those scary AI fantasy videos on TikTok. It’s timeless and singular and there will never be anything quite like it again.