History Music / RADIOHEAD

+Music/{{REM}}, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{U2}}, Music/DJShadow, Music/MilesDavis, Music/EnnioMorricone, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/ThePixies, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/JeffBuckley, Music/JoyDivision, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SonicYouth, Music/TheBeachBoys, Music/PhilSpector, Music/ScottWalker, Krzysztof Penderecki, Music/{{Autechre}}, Music/AphexTwin, Music/{{Can}}, Music/{{Neu}}, Music/Underworld, Music/CharlesMingus, Alice Coltrane, Music/OlivierMessiaen, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/NeilYoung, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/CrowdedHouse, Music/{{MIA}}, Spank Rock, Liars, Music/{{Burial}}, Modeselektor, Music/{{Cardiacs}}, Music/HappyMondays, Music/BoardsOfCanada...

+Music/{{REM}}, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{U2}}, Music/DJShadow, Music/MilesDavis, Music/EnnioMorricone, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/ThePixies, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/JeffBuckley, Music/JoyDivision, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SonicYouth, Music/TheBeachBoys, Music/PhilSpector, Music/ScottWalker, Krzysztof Penderecki, Music/{{Autechre}}, Music/AphexTwin, Music/{{Can}}, Music/{{Neu}}, [[Music/UnderworldBand Underworld]], Music/CharlesMingus, Alice Coltrane, Music/OlivierMessiaen, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/NeilYoung, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/CrowdedHouse, Music/{{MIA}}, Spank Rock, Liars, Music/{{Burial}}, Modeselektor, Music/{{Cardiacs}}, Music/HappyMondays, Music/BoardsOfCanada...

+Music/{{REM}}, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{U2}}, Music/DJShadow, Music/MilesDavis, Music/EnnioMorricone, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/ThePixies, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/JeffBuckley, Music/JoyDivision, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SonicYouth, Music/TheBeachBoys, Music/PhilSpector, Music/ScottWalker, Krzysztof Penderecki, Music/{{Autechre}}, Music/AphexTwin, Music/{{Can}}, Music/{{Neu}}, Music/CharlesMingus, Alice Coltrane, Music/OlivierMessiaen, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/NeilYoung, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/CrowdedHouse, Music/{{MIA}}, Spank Rock, Liars, Music/{{Burial}}, Modeselektor, Music/{{Cardiacs}}, Music/HappyMondays, Music/BoardsOfCanada...

They formed in 1985 as an Music/ElvisCostello-influenced {{new wave|Music}} band called On a Friday, this being the only day of the week they were allowed to rehearse at the private school they all met each other at. After signing to Creator/{{EMI}}, they changed their name to Radiohead ([[TitledAfterTheSong taken from the name of a]] Music/TalkingHeads [[Music/TrueStories song]]) and blended in with the alt-rock scene of the early '90s. Eventually, the style of their early albums (''Music/PabloHoney,'' ''Music/TheBends'') [[GrowingTheBeard would give way to more ambitious sounds]] that incorporated echoey, operatic rock (''Music/OKComputer'') and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental]] [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Music/KidA,'' ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}'') [[TakeAThirdOption before eventually finding something of a happy medium]] (''Music/HailToTheThief'' and beyond). Long story short, every album is a NewSoundAlbum.

They formed in 1985 as a Music/ElvisCostello-influenced {{new wave|Music}} band called On a Friday, this being the only day of the week they were allowed to rehearse at school. After signing to Creator/{{EMI}}, they changed their name to Radiohead ([[TitledAfterTheSong taken from the name of a]] Music/TalkingHeads [[Music/TrueStories song]]) and blended in with the alt-rock scene of the early '90s. Eventually, the style of their early albums (''Music/PabloHoney,'' ''Music/TheBends'') [[GrowingTheBeard would give way to more ambitious sounds]] that incorporated echoey, operatic rock (''Music/OKComputer'') and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental]] [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Music/KidA,'' ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}'') [[TakeAThirdOption before eventually finding something of a happy medium]] (''Music/HailToTheThief'' and beyond). Long story short, every album is a NewSoundAlbum.

+Music/{{REM}}, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{U2}}, Music/DJShadow, Music/MilesDavis, Music/EnnioMorricone, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/ThePixies, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/JeffBuckley, Music/JoyDivision, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SonicYouth, Music/TheBeachBoys, Music/PhilSpector, Music/ScottWalker, Krzysztof Penderecki, Music/{{Autechre}}, Music/AphexTwin, Music/{{Can}}, Music/{{Neu}}, Music/CharlesMingus, Alice Coltrane, Music/OlivierMessiaen, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/NeilYoung, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/CrowdedHouse, Music/{{MIA}}, Spank Rock, Liars, Music/{{Burial}}, Modeselektor, Music/{{Cardiacs}}, Music/HappyMondays, Music/BoardsOfCanada...

They formed in 1985 as a Music/ElvisCostello-influenced {{new wave|Music}} band called On a Friday, this being the only day of the week they were allowed to rehearse at school. After signing to Parlophone, they changed their name to Radiohead and blended in with the alt-rock scene of the early '90s. Eventually, the style of their early albums (''Music/PabloHoney,'' ''Music/TheBends'') [[GrowingTheBeard would give way to more ambitious sounds]] that incorporated echoey, operatic rock (''Music/OKComputer'') and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental]] [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Music/KidA,'' ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}'') [[TakeAThirdOption before eventually finding something of a happy medium]] (''Music/HailToTheThief'' and beyond). Long story short, every album is a NewSoundAlbum.

Their artwork is also [[SurrealHorror quite weird.]] The website of the man responsible for most of that artwork, Stanley Donwood, is just as [[http://www.slowlydownward.com/ odd.]]

** They're named after the Music/TalkingHeads song [[Music/TrueStories "Radio Head."]] Talking Heads frontman Music/DavidByrne expressed bemusement at this during his inauguration of the band at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, noting how he'd always dismissed that piece as a "Tex-Mex ditty."

* CustodyBattle: "Morning Bell" from Kid A is about divorce, with a suggested solution being "cut the kids in half". The line itself is likely a reference to [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%203:16-28&version=NLT 1 Kings 3:16-28]], which is about the custody of a child, but not in the context of divorce.

* PeekABangs: Jonny Greenwood's signature look.

** 10 for ''In Rainbows:'' A ten letter title, ten tracks, tens prominent in the album art and in promotional material, and was announced ten days before release. All of this indicates a link to ''OK Computer,'' released ten years before ''In Rainbows.'' A popular theory is that the two albums are companion pieces, released ten years apart; this culminated in the "[[http://puddlegum.net/radiohead-01-and-10/# 01 and 10]]" playlist.

** For "Pulk / Pull Revolving Doors," Thom spoke the words and applied autotune with ridiculous pitch shifting settings.

---> One can only guess at how this love song of gentleness and intimacy reads two decades later, but the effect is like stumbling upon an old love letter years after a relationship has grown cold. Where there was once a hint of redemption in its devastating refrain, "Just don't leave" now sounds like the longest (and saddest) goodbye.

** "Treefingers" has this role on ''Kid A,'' serving as an {{ambient}} interlude sandwiched between a depressing ballad that concludes the first half of the album and a straight up hard-rocker that kicks off the second half.

---> [[MadnessMantra YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION]] [[BrokenRecord YOU-HAVE-NOT-BE-EN-PAYING-ATTENTION-]]''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis PAY-ING-AT-TEN-TION!]]''

* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: Thom has been known to sing an eerie, slowed down version of the chorus of Music/{{REM}}'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It" as an intro to "Everything in Its Right Place." He does ''not'' sound fine.

** A stranger case; "Hunting Bears" comes off like this for "I Might Be Wrong" on ''Amnesiac'', since the two are very similar but don't follow each other on the album. See SiameseTwinSongs below for more.

* DeusAngstMachina: ''The Bends'' is an album that goes on and on about the emptiness, pain and futility of life. [[SubvertedTrope However]], [[AnAesop the last line on the album proposes]] [[ThePowerOfLove a solution]] (although, with given context, it sounds more futile and desperate than calming).

** "Everything in Its Right Place" also frequently extends well beyond its normal running time when performed live; the version included on ''I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings'' runs for 7:42, and there are longer ones. A performance on a particularly well regarded 2000 bootleg of the band in Berlin stretches almost to ten minutes (although some of that is applause from the audience, who really loved the song).

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Thom Yorke. This is ironic, since he doesn't scream "sex symbol"...but [[StupidSexyFlanders even straight men lust after him.]]

** "Karma Police" has a man being chased by a car with Thom sitting in the backseat. Once the man finds out that the car has a gas leak, he takes out a match and lights up the gas trail. The car starts backing away, but eventually gets consumed in flames shortly afterwards. The camera turns to look back to the backseat -- and Thom isn't there.

* GriefSong: "True Love Waits" has overtones of grieving in the way that it is presented on ''A Moon Shaped Pool,'' though in previous live performances it came across as a relatively straightforward love song.

** "The Bends," though according to the band it's tongue in cheek.

---> I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
---> I'm a reasonable man, get off, get off, get off my case.

---> I will eat you all alive, and I will eat you all alive, and I will eat you all alive, and I will eat you all alive,
---> And there'll be no more lies, and there'll be no more lies, and there'll be no more lies, and there'll be no more lies.

** Also "Climbing Up the Walls," which is about a ImplacableMan stalking his victim... [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Or something.]]

** The lines "I don't know why I feel so tongue tied / I don't know why I feel so skinned alive" are included in both "Cuttooth" and "Myxomatosis." Additionally, "Cuttooth" was a track that was supposed to be on ''Amnesiac'' but was held off for unknown reasons.

* RedOniBlueOni: [[SiblingYinYang Played with in the case of the Greenwood brothers]]. Personality wise, Colin is the red, known for being chatty, energetic, and excitable. The shy, soft-spoken, and self-deprecating, Jonny, on the other hand, is the blue. On stage, the roles are flipped. Colin becomes the blue, keeping close to Phil's drum kit to focus on the groove, whereas Jonny becomes the red, and thrashes his guitar dramatically, with his limbs and hair flailing around.

* RemixAlbum: ''TKOL RMX 1234567'' is a compilation of remixes from ''Music/TheKingOfLimbs''--with many them remixed by the same musicians who inspired the style of the original album.

*** The song's [[UncommonTime bizarre beat]] and the background chirps were reportedly created from playing a ton of records all at the same time (creating white noise) and feeding them through a drum machine.

** There's a very well hidden sample in "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy." The recurring downward melody appears to be played by a keyboard or distorted string instruments -- but if you speed the song up, it's revealed to be a loop of a choir doing vocal exercises.

--> "He doesn't like talking to cameras -- throughout the session at Alvernia, a representative of the studio kept trying to pull him away to tape a five minute Q and A for a video press kit, and he did everything he could to get out of it, short of faking a nosebleed."

** "The Tourist" and "Airbag" from ''OK Computer.'' They tell a coherent story together, but are placed in reverse order, [[BookEnds with "The Tourist" at the end of the album and "Airbag" at the beginning.]]

* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein : Thom's singing is often a hypnagogic mumble, but when the slurring is hard enough, only a few words can be understood. Particularly bad cases are "Myxomatosis", "Pyramid Song", and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz7d6IL2cYc live performances of "2+2=5"]].

** "Daydreaming" has a reversed and slowed down sample of Thom's voice at the end of the track, to Lynchian effect.

*** Depending how you count it, "Sail to the Moon" has as many as 30 or 40 time signature changes, though it's such a subdued song that you might not notice. It's easily Radiohead's most extreme deployment of this trope. [[http://pastebin.com/Hf04Q6Ym Take a look.]]

* LongTitle:
** Thom [[DiscussedTrope discussed this]] in an ''OK Computer''-era interview: apparently, an early working title for what would become "Nude" was "Your Home Is At Risk If You Do Not Keep Up Repayments". He dropped it because it wasn't catchy enough.
** "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box."
** A lot of ''Hail to the Thief'' songs, since each song has a main title and a secondary one in parentheses. "Where I End and You Begin (The Sky is Falling In)," "The Gloaming (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold)," "A Punchup at a Wedding (No No No No No No No No)," and "Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky)" are particularly notable examples.
** "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief." Fans just call it "Tinker Tailor."

* ''Music/HailToTheThief'' (2003) [not to be confused with [[HailToTheThief the trope of the same name.]]]

They formed in 1985 as a Music/ElvisCostello-influenced {{new wave|Music}} band called On a Friday, this being the only day of the week they were allowed to rehearse at school. After signing to Parlophone and changing their name to Radiohead, they blended in with the alt-rock scene in the early '90s. Eventually, the style of their early albums (''Music/PabloHoney,'' ''Music/TheBends'') [[GrowingTheBeard would give way to more ambitious sounds]] that incorporated echoey, operatic rock (''Music/OKComputer'') and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental]] [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Music/KidA,'' ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}'') [[TakeAThirdOption before eventually finding something of a happy medium]] (''Music/HailToTheThief'' and beyond). Long story short, every album is a NewSoundAlbum.

They formed in 1985 as a Music/ElvisCostello-influenced {{new wave|Music}} band called On a Friday, this being the only day of the week they were allowed to rehearse at school. After signing to Parlophone and changing their name to Radiohead, they blended in with the alt-rock scene in the early '90s. Eventually, the style of their early albums (''Music/PabloHoney,'' ''Music/TheBends'') [[GrowingTheBeard would gave way to more ambitious sounds]] that incorporated echoey, operatic rock (''Music/OKComputer'') and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental]] [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Music/KidA,'' ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}'') [[TakeAThirdOption before eventually finding something of a happy medium]] (''Music/HailToTheThief'' and beyond). Long story short, every album is a NewSoundAlbum.

They formed in 1985 as a Music/ElvisCostello-influenced {{new wave|Music}} band under the name On a Friday, this being the only day of the week they were allowed to rehearse at school. After changing their name they became part of the alt-rock scene in the early '90s. The style of their early albums (''Music/PabloHoney,'' ''Music/TheBends'') [[GrowingTheBeard would soon gave way to more ambitious sounds]] that incorporated echoey, operatic rock (''Music/OKComputer'') and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental]] [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Music/KidA,'' ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}'') [[TakeAThirdOption before eventually finding something of a happy medium]] (''Music/HailToTheThief'' and beyond). Long story short, every album is a NewSoundAlbum.

They formed in 1985 under the name On a Friday, this being the only day of the week they were allowed to rehearse at school. Originally an Music/ElvisCostello-influenced {{new wave|Music}} band, and then a standard alt-rock band in the early '90s, the style of their early albums (''Music/PabloHoney,'' ''Music/TheBends'') [[GrowingTheBeard soon gave way to more ambitious sounds]] that incorporated echoey, operatic rock (''Music/OKComputer'') and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental]] [[ElectronicMusic electronica]] (''Music/KidA,'' ''Music/{{Amnesiac}}'') [[TakeAThirdOption before eventually finding something of a happy medium]] (''Music/HailToTheThief'' and beyond). Long story short, every album is a NewSoundAlbum.

The band is known for their [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority anti-establishment]] lyrics and, since ''Kid A,'' rejecting many of the standard promotion forms of the industry. Most notably, the band opted to promote ''Kid A'' (which was highly anticipated after the success of ''OK Computer'') with a series of one-minute-long videos featuring snippets of each song from the album. Furthermore, the group opted to allow fans to name their own price for the right to download their album ''Music/InRainbows'' online off of their website.

+Music/{{REM}}, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{U2}}, Music/DJShadow, Music/MilesDavis, Music/EnnioMorricone, Music/{{Queen}}, Music/ThePixies, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/JeffBuckley, Music/JoyDivision, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SonicYouth, Music/TheBeachBoys, Music/PhilSpector, Music/ScottWalker, Krzysztof Penderecki, Music/{{Autechre}}, Music/AphexTwin, Music/{{Can}}, Music/{{Neu}}, Music/CharlesMingus, Alice Coltrane, Music/OlivierMessiaen, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/NeilYoung, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/CrowdedHouse, Music/{{MIA}}, Spank Rock, Liars, Music/{{Burial}}, Modeselektor, Music/{{Cardiacs}}, Music/HappyMondays, Music/BoardsOfCanada...

* DreamTeam: Radiohead and ''Music/HansZimmer'' on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODsUpq0WAYY "(Ocean) Bloom"]].

** "Thinking About You:" "[[ADateWithRosiePalms [...] 'cause I'm playing with myself [...] ]]"

* ADateWithRosiePalms:
** "Thinking About You."
** "Nude" heavily alludes to this ("You paint yourself white/And fill up with noise"). The video supports this by way of feather ejaculate. No, really.

The members have also put out solo work. Singer/principal songwriter/frontman Thom Yorke has released three albums and additionally did scoring work for ''Film/Suspiria2018''. Guitarist Jonny Greenwood, the only classically trained musician of the group, has found considerable independent success as a film composer, most notably serving as the {{associated composer}} of Creator/PaulThomasAnderson from ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' onward. Drummer Philip Selway [[StepUpToTheMicrophone began pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter]] in 2010, with two albums already under his belt, whilst guitarist Ed O'Brien released his solo debut in 2020.

+Music/{{REM}}, Music/DavidByrne, Music/{{Beyonce}}, Music/{{Drake}}, Music/{{Muse}}, Music/{{Coldplay}}, Music/KanyeWest, Music/GrizzlyBear, Music/{{Travis}}, Music/AltJ, Music/SnowPatrol, Music/DavidBowie, Music/TameImpala, Liars, Music/StevenWilson, Music/ArcadeFire, Music/{{Elbow}}, Music/{{Foals}}, Music/OneRepublic, Doves, Music/ThirtySecondsToMars, Music/{{Mogwai}}, Everything Everything, Music/{{Panchiko}}, Music/Deadmau5, Music/RedVox...

** "Where I End and You Begin:"
--> I will eat you all alive and I will eat you all alive...

* DarkerAndEdgier: The lyrical and sonic content of ''The Bends'' was generally much darker and sadder than those of ''Pablo Honey''. From ''Kid A'' onwards, the band ventured into a much more sinister era of post-rock electronica.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The lyrical and sonic content of ''The Bends'' was generally much darker and sadder than those of ''Pablo Honey''.

* RefrainFromAssuming:
** "Just" is sometimes appended with "(You Do It to Yourself)" for this reason. The title appears in the song 3 times. The refrain appears 15 times.
** The same also applies to "Street Spirit (Fade Out)."
** "Creep" often appears on filesharing sites as "So Fucking Special" after its best known lyric.
** Both "Myxomatosis" and "Cuttooth" have been mislabeled as "Tongue Tied."
** "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box" is probably out there on hundreds of filesharing websites mislabeled as "Reasonable Man."