Radiohead is an English rock band formed in 1985 who are credited with some of the most experimental and significant alternative rock developments of all time, and ranking their best albums can be as difficult as splitting a hair nine different ways. Radiohead released their debut album Pablo Honey in 1993 in the middle of the alternative rock boom and the emergence of grunge. However, they quickly found their own sound and their experimental, singular, often politically and philosophically charged music proved they were capable of sounds and ideas that rose above similar iconic bands of the time like U2, Nirvana, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Consisting of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); the brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass); Ed O’Brien (guitar, backing vocals); and Philip Selway (drums, percussion), Radiohead has released nine studio albums over the course of their long career. Special mention must always be made to their longtime producer Nigel Godrich who was instrumental in guiding the band’s sound and direction that has earned 25 Grammy nominations and six wins. Their varied music has penetrated all corners of pop culture, even popping up in the titles of movies like Knives Out. Each Radiohead album has something very special to offer, but some are better than others.
9 The King Of Limbs (2011)
The King of Limbs is Radiohead’s shortest album by far at only 37 minutes and 34 seconds, and that length may be a signal that the band was having trouble putting together a fully formed piece. There is something slight about this album, but when it does kick into full gear with songs like “Give Up the Ghost” and “Codex”, it stands up with the rest of Radiohead’s discography. The problem is those moments are in between too many disparate tracks. However, Yorke’s convulsive dancing in the “Lotus Flower” music video did lead to some funny memes (via Know Your Meme).
8 Pablo Honey (1993)
Radiohead’s Pablo Honey is their first album and it shows. While the talent of each band member is on full display, Pablo Honey is inevitably concerned with staying within the lanes of early ’90s grunge rock, making the album sound a little too much like a Nirvana imitator. However, there are certain songs, “You” and “Ripchord”, that hint at the unusual and distinct sound the band would later develop. “Creep” also must be mentioned not because of the band’s historical disdain for it, but because it just so happens to also be one of the greatest tracks in their discography.
7 A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
In 2007, Jonny Greenwood teamed up with Paul Thomas Anderson to score the incredible There Will Be Blood. Since then, he has scored many more of Anderson’s films as well as Spencer and Power of the Dog among others. He brings this orchestral intensity and ambition to A Moon Shaped Pool, which was a return to form for Radiohead after The King of Limbs. Their efforts saw them nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song (“Burn the Witch”) at the Grammys. The album ebbs and flows between surprisingly calm tracks and dark, throbbing electronic beats.
6 Hail To The Thief (2003)
Hail to the Thief is an angry, loud, and occasionally exhausting work that is a huge product of the time considering its backdrop of the war on terror. It’s no coincidence that on album artist Stanley Donwood’s cover art, “FEAR”, “OIL”, and “DANGER” are prominently placed in the collage of assorted words. The album was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and won for Best Engineered Non-Classical Album at the Grammys. Radiohead is successful in capturing a live sound for this album, and it feels jam-packed with ideas, particularly the opening song “2 + 2 = 5”, but it could have used some tighter editing.
5 Amnesiac (2001)
Despite being nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and winning Best Recording Package at the Grammys, Amnesiac was always going to have a difficult time escaping the shadow of Kid A, for which it is a companion piece. Released only eight months after that monumental album, Amnesiac still has some truly worthy songs. It’s half conventional with songs like “I Might Be Wrong” and “Knives Out” and half experimental with tracks like “Pyramid Song” that were recorded in the same sessions as Kid A. It may not be revelatory, but it is powerful and a piece of Radiohead at its best.
4 In Rainbows (2007)
In Rainbows saw a switch from overt political messaging to something much more personal. In this album, Radiohead manages to blend their strange sounds with songs like “Reckoner” and pop melodies like “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”. Often coming off as cold and distant in their music, Radiohead almost has love songs here, particularly in “All I Need”. The album won Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. Their unorthodox self-release where Radiohead allowed fans to pay what they’d like on their website is proof the band has never been afraid to challenge the status quo.
3 The Bends (1995)
After Pablo Honey, Radiohead could have continued on a traditional grunge path and probably have been successful on the strength of their musicians alone. Instead, they released The Bends and proved that there was so much more to explore in alternative rock. It’s melancholic but uplifting, racing but steady. The Bends features some of Yorke’s best vocal work in tracks like “High and Dry”. There’s simplicity in “Fake Plastic Trees”, haunting darkness in “Street Spirit”, and power chords in “The Bends” meaning there’s something for everyone on this album. Coldplay and Muse don’t exist without an album like The Bends.
2 OK Computer (1997)
OK Computer was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Alternative Music Album at the Grammys and that doesn’t begin to explain the album’s impact. It was the first album to be produced by Godrich and was a massive leap in experimentation that probably should have made it unmarketable. Instead, OK Computer went double platinum in the US. Including a song written for Romeo + Juliet, “Exit Music (For a Film)”, OK Computer is filled with hit after hit that makes it impossible to choose a standout track. Radiohead hones their ethereal textures and political lyrics in one of the best albums of all time (via Rolling Stone).
1 Kid A (2000)
If OK Computer is where Radiohead proved how far a band could take the limits of the alternative rock genre, Kid A smashed through those barriers creating something wholly unique that many bands are still trying to emulate. This is an album that could only have come from a band who was bored and worn out from their OK Computer tour. Kid A breaks so many conventions of rock, that it’s hard to say it even is rock, that is until the first few thrumming chords or “National Anthem” begins. “Everything in its Right Place” is an unbelievably confident start to the album without even a guitar on the track.
The titular song “Kid A” feels like it was both composed, written, and performed by an alien. Kid A frustrated audiences on release but that now is just an indicator of how far ahead of the time it was (via Rolling Stone). It won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and was nominated for Album of the Year and the fact that this Radiohead album is only slightly better than the others shows just how significant their contributions to music have been.
