Radiohead

Who the monkey are these old British guys?
You probably don't recognize any of the people in the picture above but you most definitely have heard of their music! Radiohead is an extremely famous band who gained worldwide recognition from their lead single Creep off their 1993 album Pablo Honey. Does that ring a bell? I'm sure if I played it right now you would be singing along and experiencing a vast amount of emotions from its angsty and somewhat depressing lyrics. Although the song propelled them into becoming a well recognized band, it also became their worst nightmare. People at their shows would be constantly heckling them to play Creep and wouldn't care for the other songs they had to play. As the years passed they released numerous albums, like my personal favorite, The Bends in 1995. The Bends shows a new-found maturity of the band, writing on a more personal level and playing music that seems more comfortable to them. I could spend all day talking about their albums and music but I'll do that later on; first you need to understand the people behind Radiohead. Thom Yorke is the frontman for the band who sings and plays guitar. He is ranked in the top singers of the world by Rolling Stone and even plays in another band with the Red Hot Chili Pepper's bassist, Flea. Jonny Greenwood, the lead guitarist, achieves almost alien like sounds with his unique playing style. Jonny's brother, Colin, is also in the band playing bass. On the drums is Philip Selway, and on rhythm guitar, Ed O'Brien. 

Why do I love them so much?
The band simply captures so much emotion and feeling into their songs that it begins to rub off on you. In today's modern music, it is fairly common to hear songs about smoking weed or performing some other ludicrous act, so it is nice to hear something that actually has meaning behind it. Most bands like to stick to the same old sound and continue writing the same type of music that got them popular. Radiohead, on the other hand, does the exact opposite. When their 1997 album Ok Computer was so greatly received and everyone awaited their next album with the same kind of sound, the band decided to completely change their style. They ditched most of their guitars and focused on more ambient sounding computer noises that still lead to a number one album. Radiohead was one of the first alternative rock bands that I had gotten into, but it wasn't so easy getting into them. To be truthfully honest, the main reason I started listening to Radiohead was to impress my now girlfriend. She was an extreme fan and I only knew a few of their songs. I skimmed through their music and thought it was some of the weirdest music I had ever heard. As time progressed they slowly but surely made their way into becoming my favorite band. From their garage rock sound in their earlier albums to their synthy electronic loops in their latest album The King of Limbs, Radiohead can get you thrashing your head to dancing along to their funky grooves. Below is an example of one of their newer tracks, "Lotus Flower," that can get anyone up and dancing.

Their live shows and a brief review of their albums!
Almost two years ago I went to my first music festival, Coachella, with 3 of my good friends and had the time of my life seeing some of the greatest bands in only one weekend. Of course the band that stole the show was Radiohead. They had a great setup of screens which displayed very trippy and stunning visuals that went with the song they were playing. The greatest part of all was the energy the whole band brought as Thom Yorke danced around the stage and even talked to some members of the audience!

Radiohead has a total of 8 studio albums that were released from 1993-2011. I'm only going to cover The Bends, Ok Computer and In Rainbows to keep this short! The Bends is a departure from Radiohead's first album and finally showed that they were a band to be reckoned with. This album has what I personally believe to be the most beautiful song ever written, "Fake Plastic Trees." From its minimal chord progression into a swift guitar solo it truly encompasses singer Thom Yorke's melodic falsetto voice. Ok Computer is considered a landmark record of the 90's and was extremely well reviewed by critics. It contains such songs as "Paranoid Android," which ultimately is the "Bohemian Rhapsody" of the 90's and "Karma Police," a more piano driven song. Ok Computer is one of the first Radiohead albums I got into and will always remain as one of my favorites! Lastly, the 2007 album In Rainbows was actually released to the public on a pay-what-you want basis, meaning fans could buy the album from a penny to hundreds of dollars. It features a more diverse selection of songs, from ambient and creepy sounding songs like "All I Need" and "Nude" to more rock based ones like "Bodysnatchers," the album does not disappoint!

How much do I really like this band?
Radiohead in my opinion is easily one of the best bands in existence. They have continuously put out music that never seems to disappoint and always leave me wanting more. They are a must-see band live and I would recommend everyone to listen to their discography. I easily give them a 10/10! Try giving them a listen and let me know what you think of them. I'll leave some videos you should all check out down below!

Live performance at Glastonbury:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYDgY3bbmTs

Paranoid Android:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVxzFwM_fb0

Sources:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/thom-yorke-20101202

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/14/radiohead-o2-arena-london-review