A Detuned Radio : Radiohead's Musical Journey

Radiohead is one of the most influential Band of last few decades which earned them the title 'Beatles of the 21st century'. Their brave and creative approach added a new dimension to music. This blog will only touch the surface of their musical works and try to explain what made Radiohead a legend.

Radiohead are a English band formed in the late 80's. Their first studio album 'Pablo Honey' was released in 1993. Even though, Pablo Honey wasn't the musical masterpiece a artist would hope for it had the song 'Creep'. Creep was a huge commercial success and still remains the most streamed Radiohead song to this day. At a time when band music was getting louder, they were set out to walk a different path.

Their second  studio album 'The Bends' released in 1995 which was a step up from their last album in terms of quality. The album sounds like instead of trying to be loud and popular, they were more confident in there approach to rock music. Which clearly worked because it was number 4 in the UK and gave us beautiful songs like High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees as well as rebellious rock songs like  My Iron Lung, Black Star.

Despite the success of 'The Bends' Radiohead was still trying to discover their sound. In 1997 the world was not ready for what came next, Radiohead released 'OK Computer' which took them from a notable British band to the most important rock band. Ok Computer was so profoundly human and creative that it stood the test of time and in the conversation to be considered as one of the greatest album of all time. The albums meaning full lyrics and perfect mixture of organic and electronic sound all together represents how society wants people to act more like computers and show less human emotions. This can be noticed in songs like No surprises, Paranoid android and Karma police.




After Ok Computer Radiohead was destined to become the biggest band of  their time both commercially and critically. Instead, Radiohead did something no one saw coming. They completely changed their sound and released 'KID A' in 2000. The response of KID A was mixed because there was nothing that sounded like KID A. It was Radiohead welcoming the world to 21st century. Its influences on electronic and rock genres was later appreciated by naming it the best album of 2000's by many outlets. Songs like Everything in its right place had a massive impact on electronic music which was the future back then. Almost like KID A was ahead of its time.

In the first half of 2000's Radiohead released 'Amnesiac' and 'Hail to the Thief ' which was more Radiohead songs everyone wanted.

Probably in 2007 Radiohead truly found the sound they were looking for. In 2007 they released 'In Rainbows', It is probably the most beloved Radiohead album because it represent everything Radiohead did up until that point and some more. It was a more mature Radiohead album. The lyrics were more poetic, the sound was soft and calming. The album revolved around the feeling of life, the fear of death and everything in between. It's hard mention few songs when the whole album is so profound, but if I had mention one it would be Weird fishes,. The album won Grammy award for best alternative music.

Later, Radiohead released two more albums in there career which are The King of Limbs(2011), A moon shaped pool (2016). The King of Limbs was short and experimental using innovative rhythms but songs like Lotus flower , Give up the ghost made it worth it. 'The moon shaped pool' is a beautiful conclusion to Radiohead's musical journey. Personally I would not mind if its Radiohead's last album ever.



Radiohead members

Radiohead head made a name for them selves by constantly not letting themselves stuck in a box. Their work influenced mainstream artists like Coldplay. Radiohead's songs are used a lot in movies and tv shows for their capability to portrait different emotions. They pushed the boundaries of music theory and created some extraordinary songs for which Radiohead is respected.  They truly are A Detuned Radio.






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