Nine months ago I received a message asking how to get into Radiohead. Being a highly enthusiastic and overly excitable Radiohead listener, I sent her seven paragraphs on where to start depending on her current tastes. I have still not heard back. Hopefully you will find this more helpful than she did.
The image above is a flowchart of how I suggest beginning with Radiohead. While there is a case to be made for starting in chronological order to see their evolution and the surprising decisions and switches made between albums, many of their best and more immediately appealing albums were released later in their career, so starting with these to get a sense of the band as a whole may be more enjoyable than feeling obligated to listen in order.
There are two recommended starting points on the chart — OK Computer and In Rainbows. The simplest way to put it would be: start with OK Computer if you like more ‘rock’ music and start with In Rainbows if you prefer more acoustic music, but this is awfully, disgustingly crude and not a suitable demarcation of listeners. So I suggest reading the descriptions of each album below and starting with whichever grabs your attention most, but keeping in mind the flow chart as a recommended order.
If you want a preview of each album before committing to a full listen, you can also listen to the “notable tracks.” I just implore you to listen to everything in full and in order once you choose your album. You also might want to bookmark this post for future reference.
Pablo Honey
This is Radiohead’s debut album. While it may not be one of their best works, it is still an enjoyable instance of early 90’s alternative rock. It also contains one of their most well-known songs, “Creep.” While this song itself may be a good entry point into the discography, especially because you likely already know it, the rest is probably best tackled out of curiosity after listening to other albums first.
Notable tracks: “Creep,” “You,” and “Blow Out.”
The Bends
The Bends resembles a significantly upgraded version of Pablo Honey. It still falls under the broad “alternative rock” classification, but it strips away some of the grunge influence and shows the first signs of the rich and varied arrangements that Radiohead would perfect on future albums. It contains two more of the band’s most popular tracks, “High and Dry” and “Fake Plastic Trees” which are also good entry points in isolation. While this album is not on the flow chart as one of the starting points, it can act as another good access point, especially because it is more “conventional” than many of their future albums while still being creative, enjoyable, and well-executed.
Notable popular tracks/singles: “High and Dry” and “Fake Plastic Trees.”
Other notable tracks: “The Bends,” “My Iron Lung,” “Just,” and “Street Spirit (Fade Out).”
OK Computer
This is quite possibly a perfect album. It is incredibly cohesive, with every moment being intentional and highly memorable from a musical standpoint as well as tightly weaving together the lyrical themes to create a fantastically intricate piece. It is impossible to describe the experience of listening to this album in a short description like this one, so I recommend just listening to it. It is also an excellent entry point, being both fairly accessible and arguably the best example of Radiohead’s work.
Notable tracks: “Paranoid Android,” “Karma Police,” “Exit Music (For a Film),” and “Lucky.”
Kid A
Kid A places the listener in a desolate, icy landscape with brief moments of eerie, unsettled warmth on tracks such as “How To Disappear Completely” and “Motion Picture Soundtrack.” It is one of Radiohead’s most immersive and cohesive projects, constructing a distinct visual world through sound, and a definite highlight in their discography, but it is not necessarily the best starting point and could benefit from the context of other albums.
Notable tracks: “Idioteque,” “How to Disappear Completely,” “The National Anthem,” and “Motion Picture Soundtrack.”
Amnesiac
Recorded during the same sessions as Kid A, Amnesiac is something of a complementary album that seems to explore the world established by Kid A from a different point of view. It is one of the band’s odder, more experimental releases, focusing more on creating sound worlds than traditionally-structured songs. It also incorporates more of the jazz influence that was introduced on Kid A (“The National Anthem,” for example) on tracks such as “Life in a Glasshouse.” I would suggest listening to it after becoming well acquainted with Kid A.
Notable tracks: “Pyramid Song,” “Life in a Glasshouse,” and “Knives Out.”
Hail to the Thief
While this album is often overshadowed by the “tighter,” more focused projects, it is an excellent album in its own right. The entire second half of this album is absolutely fantastic and contains some of the most immediately catchy songs in the band’s discography. Many of the tracks, especially “There, There” also have fantastically lush, warm instrumentals, indicative of what would be developed on their next album, In Rainbows.
Notable tracks: “There, There,” “Where I End and You Begin,” “A Punchup at a Wedding,” and “Myxomatosis."
In Rainbows
Tied with OK Computer for my favorite Radiohead album. It is more acoustic than their previous albums and creates lush soundscapes with remarkable instrumentations and harmonies. The album as a whole encapsulates a very particular type of beauty and almost gives the listener a physical sense of warmth. It is a fantastic starting point and an album that invites frequent listens. Try listening to it when wrapped up in a warm blanket on a foggy morning for maximum effect.
Notable tracks: “Nude,” “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” “Jigsaw Falling Into Place,” and “Reckoner.”
The King of Limbs
This is one of Radiohead’s shorter albums, and is most enjoyable if it is approached more as an EP or collection of songs than a “major work.” Much like Hail to the Thief, its second half is phenomenal. The pair of “Give Up the Ghost” and “Separator” might be my favorite in the band’s discography. As a whole, however, it isn’t quite as tightly constructed or cohesive as other projects, although it does contain intriguing glimpses of more experimental moments such as “Feral” in addition to the previously mentioned beauty of the two final tracks.
Notable tracks: “Lotus Flower,” “Give Up the Ghost,” and “Separator.”
A Moon Shaped Pool
This one is much sparser and quieter than its predecessors, but it is absolutely beautiful and showcases a different side of the band that is more present in the members’ (especially Thom Yorke’s) solo material. It is mostly based around piano and electronics and conveys a combination of peace and resignation, often simultaneously.
Notable tracks: “Decks Dark,” “Daydreaming,” “Present Tense,” and “True Love Waits.”
Extra material
This includes EPs and side projects and is best explored after you are familiar with all of the ‘main continuity’ albums. Some of the most notable are A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile, a band consisting of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and drummer Tom Skinner from Sons of Kemet, Anima by Thom Yorke, Amok by Atoms for Peace, KID A MNESIA, which includes extra material from the Kid A/Amnesiac sessions, OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017, which contains extra tracks from the OK Computer sessions, Supercollider / The Butcher, The Daily Mail / Staircase, “Ill Wind,” “Spectre,” Street Spirit (Fade Out) EP, and Knives Out EP. Jonny Greenwood’s classical and film score work is also fantastic, especially his score for There Will Be Blood and his contributions to the Krzysztof Penderecki / Jonny Greenwood album by the Aukso Orchestra and Marek Mos.
I hope this is helpful and that you enjoy your listening journey!