Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Colin Greenwood (bass), Phil Selway (drums, percussion) and Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals).

Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992. The song was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead's popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international fame. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK Computer is often acclaimed as one of the landmark records of the 1990s.^[1]

Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in Radiohead's musical style, as the group incorporated experimental electronic music, krautrock and jazz influences. Kid A, though somewhat polarising at the time of its release, is now frequently recognised as one of the most important albums of the 2000s.^[2] Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of piano and guitar driven rock, electronics and lyrics inspired by war, was the band's final album for their major record label, EMI. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a digital download for which customers could set their own price, and later in physical form to critical and chart success. Radiohead's eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), was an exploration of rhythm and quieter textures, which the band released independently.

Radiohead have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide,^[3] with the band's work being placed highly in both listener polls and critics' lists, they have the distinction of doing so in both the 1990s and 2000s.^[4][5] In 2005, Radiohead were ranked number 73 in Rolling Stone's list of "The Greatest Artists of All Time", while Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien were both included in Rolling Stone's list of greatest guitarists, and Thom Yorke in their list of greatest singers.^[6] In 2009, Rolling Stone readers voted the group the second best artist of the 2000s.^[7]

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Style & Songwriting:

Among Radiohead members' earliest influences were Queen and Elvis Costello; post-punk acts such as Joy Division and Magazine; and significantly 1980s alternative rock bands such as R.E.M., Pixies, The Smiths and Sonic Youth.^[9][11][24] By the mid-1990s, Radiohead began to adopt some recording methods from hip hop, inspired by the sampling work of DJ Shadow.^[9] They also became interested in using computers to generate sounds.^[108] Other influences on the group were Miles Davis and Ennio Morricone, along with 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, and Phil Spector's "wall of sound" productions for girl groups.^[9][28] Jonny Greenwood also cited composer Krzysztof Penderecki as an inspiration on the sound of OK Computer.^[28] The electronic music of Kid A and Amnesiac was inspired by Thom Yorke's admiration for glitch, ambient techno and IDM as exemplified by Warp Records artists such as Autechre and Aphex Twin, and the album also sampled from early computer music.^[15] The jazz of Charles Mingus, Alice Coltrane, and Miles Davis, and 1970s krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!, were other major influences during this period.^[109] Jonny Greenwood's interest in 20th century classical music also had a role, as the influence of both Penderecki and composer Olivier Messiaen was apparent; for several songs on Kid A and later albums, Greenwood has played the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument popularised by Messiaen.^[11] While working on Hail to the Thief, Radiohead put renewed emphasis on guitar rock.^[48] Since beginning to record In Rainbows, Radiohead members have mentioned a variety of rock, electronic, hip hop and experimental musicians as influences, including Björk, M.I.A, Liars, Modeselektor and Spank Rock.^[110][111] Since leaving their major label, the band members have been interviewed less frequently, more often posting "office charts" of their favourite songs of the moment on their blog Dead Air Space. In 2011, Thom Yorke denied Radiohead had ever set out deliberately to change musical styles or to make "experimental music", saying band members are "constantly absorbing music" and a variety of musicians are always influencing their work.^[112]

Since their formation, Radiohead have been lyrically and musically spearheaded by Thom Yorke. Although Yorke is responsible for writing nearly all the lyrics, songwriting is a collaborative effort, and it has been noted in interviews that all the band members have roles in the process.^[41] As a result, all the band's songs are officially credited to "Radiohead".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead

Radiohead: The Best Of is a compilation album of English alternative rock band Radiohead. The album features singles, album tracks and one B-side the band released from 1992 to 2003 while with EMI.^[6] The first disc, also available separately, comprises the majority of the band's charting hits, while the second disc concentrates on less commercially successful singles and other tracks. All of the material on both discs had been previously released. The sleevenotes for the compilation were written by British music journalist Chris Salmon. As a parallel release, a DVD compilation featured 21 music videos,^[7] of which nine were released on DVD for the first time. The compilation debuted at number 4 in the UK album charts, and critical reception to the compilation was generally positive.

This is the first released compilation of Radiohead's songs, but it had not been sanctioned by the band;^[8] it was prepared by EMI after the band's departure, and Radiohead band members did not participate in selecting the tracks. Nevertheless, according to interviews the band had major input through their career in the choice of most of their singles that were later included on the compilation. A few non-singles which remain regulars in the band's live sets were also included, such as "Idioteque" and "Everything in Its Right Place" from Kid A, their only album until The King of Limbs without singles.

Members of the band have expressed their disapproval of the compilation due to its hodgepodge track sequencing; the band once stated in an interview in 2003 that they would never release a greatest hits collection. Radiohead: The Best Of was prepared soon after they decided not to renew their contract with the label. In 2008 singer Thom Yorke said, "We haven’t really had any hits so what exactly is the purpose? There’s nothing we can do about it. The work is really public property now anyway... It’s a wasted opportunity in that if we’d been behind it, and we wanted to do it, then it might have been good".^[9] The compilation contains only songs to which EMI holds the publishing rights; all of the tracks were recorded before Radiohead's seventh studio album, In Rainbows (2007), as the band ended their contract with EMI in 2004 and signed with other labels for future distribution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead:_The_Best_Of

Track listing:

1. Paranoid Android 00:00
2. Go To Sleep 06:23
3. Blow Out 09:53
4. Knives Out 14:36
5. Climbing Up The Walls 18:52
6. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi 23:36
7. Optimistic 28:54
8. Pyramid Song 34:10
9. Separator 38:59
10. There There 44:20
11. Lucky 49:50
12. Idioteque 54:05
13. Bodysnatchers 59:14
14. High & Dry 1:03:16
15. The National Anthem 1:07:33
16. Airbag 1:13:24
17. Where I End And You Begin 1:18:09
18. Just 1:22:42
19. Reckoner 1:26:37
20. Thinking About You 1:31:28
21. Everything In Its Right Place 1:34:08
22. I Might Be Wrong 1:38:19
23. Fake Plastic Trees 1:43:10
24. Karma Police 1:48:01
25. How To Disappear Completely 1:52:23
26. Jigsaw Falling Into Place 1:58:14
27. You And Whose Army? 2:02:26
28. 2 + 2 = 5 2:05:06
29. Street Spirit (Fade Out) 2:09:01
30. Creep 2:13:17

Selected Lyrics:

Paranoid Android

Please could you stop the noise, I'm trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head
What's that...?  (I may be paranoid, but not an android)
What's that...?  (I may be paranoid, but not an android)

When I am king, you will be first against the wall
With your opinion which is of no consequence at all
What's that...?  (I may be paranoid, but no android)
What's that...?  (I may be paranoid, but no android)

Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking and squealing gucci little piggy
You don't remember
You don't remember
Why don't you remember my name?
Off with his head, man
Off with his head, man
Why don't you remember my name?
I guess he does....

Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height... height...
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height... height...
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me

That's it, sir
You're leaving
The crackle of pigskin
The dust and the screaming
The yuppies networking
The panic, the vomit
The panic, the vomit
God loves his children, God loves his children, yeah!

--song written by Radiohead

zentake: everybody wants to rule the world? Or at least a little piece of it. Vengeance is mine, the guy says. Petty disputes. Caught up in ego-garbage. The future is murder...

There There

In pitch dark I go walking in your landscape
Broken branches trip me as I speak
Just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean it's there
Just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean it's there
There's always a siren singing you to shipwreck (don't reach out, don't reach out [x2])
Stay away from these rocks we'd be a walking disaster (don't reach out, don't reach out [x2])
Just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean it's there (there's someone on your shoulder [x2])
Just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean it's there (there's someone on your shoulder [x2])
There there...
Why so green
And lonely [x3]
Heaven sent you
To me [x3]
We are accidents waiting
Waiting to happen
We are accidents waiting
Waiting to happen

--song written by Radiohead

zentake: the seafarer weathers the storms & stresses of the voyage. We're just passengers within ourselves. The sirens call us to the rocks, our own endings. Illusions all the way. Clear the psyche's cache of all the illusions you can stand.

Where I End And You Begin

There's a gap in between
There's a gap where we meet
Where I end and you begin
And I'm sorry for us
The dinosaurs roam the earth
The sky turns green
Where I end and you begin
I am up in the clouds
I am up in the clouds
And I can't and I can't come down
I can watch and cant take part
Where I end and where you start
Where you, you left me alone
You left me alone
X'll mark the place
Like the parting of the waves
Like a house falling in the sea
In the sea
I will eat you alive [x4]
There'll be no more lies [x4]
I will eat you alive [x4]
There'll be no more lies [x4]
I will eat you alive [x4]
There are no more lies [x4]
I will eat you alive [x3]

--song written by Radiohead 

zentake: again we're in the savage state. The course of empire drops us off into the epoch of ultimate desolation. Hope dies in the desert of what used to be love. Your former lover is now nothing more than a tasty morsel to be devoured. Care & you get hurt. Don't care & enjoy the stands, again & again & again; those "meaningless" all-nighters. They also sustain you, you damn cannibal...! 

Comment: Probably my favorite experimental rock/post-rock band. They are incredible. Worthy musicians heading for The Pristine Lands. They've had financial success. Nothing wrong with that unless the art suffers. But with Radiohead it hasn't. Long may they produce authentically inspired beauty.