Radiohead

Radiohead independently released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), originally as a digital download for which customers could set their own price, and later in physical form to critical and chart success. Radiohead s work has appeared in a large number of listener polls and critics lists. The musicians who form Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, a boys-only public school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Although Yorke, O Brien, Selway, and Colin Greenwood had left Abingdon by 1987 to attend university, the band continued to rehearse often on weekends and holidays. Nevertheless, as On a Friday s number of live performances increased, record labels and producers became interested. The record was a critical and commercial success worldwide, it topped the UK Albums Chart and reached number two in the US, being nominated for a Grammy Award and the Mercury Music Prize.

Radiohead s popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK Computer has often been acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s. Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in Radiohead s musical style, as the group incorporated experimental electronic music, Krautrock, post-punk and jazz influences.

The album s lyrics took a more observational, less personal tone than The Bends, expressing what one magazine called end-of-the-millennium blues . OK Computer was the band s first number one UK chart debut, propelling Radiohead to commercial success around the world. They then resumed recording, again outside a traditional music studio, settling instead at a 15th-century mansion, St.

Critics praised the album for having a more accessible sound and personal style of lyrics than their past work; it sold more than three million copies within one year of release. In May 2009 the band began new recording sessions with producer Nigel Godrich. In a mid-2009 NME interview, Yorke suggested that Radiohead would turn their focus from full length albums to releasing EPs, including the possibility of an EP of orchestral music. Among Radiohead members earliest influences were Queen, Scott Walker, and Elvis Costello; post-punk acts such as Joy Division and Magazine, R.E.M., The Pixies, The Smiths and Sonic Youth. Since their formation Radiohead have lyrically been spearheaded by Yorke, but musically, songwriting is a collaborative effort, and it has been noted in interviews that all the band members have roles in the process. The band maintains a close relationship with their producer Nigel Godrich, as well as with graphic artist Stanley Donwood. The band s first six albums, released via EMI, had sold more than twenty-five million copies by 2007.

Radiohead s musical style on these songs was similar to that of Kid A in their fusion of electronic music and jazz influences, though more reliant on the use of guitars. Released in March 1992, its chart performance was very poor.

Grant Gee, the director of the No Surprises video, accompanied and filmed the band, releasing the footage in the 1999 documentary Meeting People Is Easy. The song was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993).

Some critics compared the band s early style to the wave of grunge music popular in the early 1990s—to the extent of Radiohead being dubbed Nirvana-lite In the first few months of 1993, Radiohead began to attract listeners elsewhere. Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of guitar-driven rock, electronics and lyrics inspired by war, was the band s final album for their major record label, EMI.

Radiohead s third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international fame. I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, released in November 2001, featured performances of seven songs from Kid A and Amnesiac along with the acoustic, previously unreleased True Love Waits . During July and August 2002 Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain, playing a number of newly written songs.

Impressed by the band, he and his partner Bryce Edge produced a demo tape and became On a Friday s managers; Radiohead recorded their debut release, the Drill EP, with Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge at Courtyard Studios. Radiohead contributed Talk Show Host , as well as a newly-recorded song called Exit Music (For a Film) , to Baz Luhrmann s adaptation of Romeo + Juliet late in the year.

Lucky , released as a single to promote the War Child charity s The Help Album, In August 1996 Radiohead toured as the opening act for Alanis Morissette, seeking to perfect their new songs live before completing the record. Yet it won both praise and criticism in independent music circles for appropriating underground styles of music, while some mainstream British critics saw Kid A as a commercial suicide note , labelling it intentionally difficult and longing for a return to the band s earlier style. Amnesiac, released in June 2001, comprised additional tracks from the Kid A recording sessions.

During this time the band also released a music video compilation, 7 Television Commercials, as well as two EPs, Airbag/How Am I Driving? and No Surprises/Running from Demons, that compiled their B-sides from OK Computer singles. Radiohead were largely inactive following their 1997–1998 tour; after its end, their only public performance in 1998 was at an Amnesty International concert in Paris. In October 2000 Radiohead released their fourth album, Kid A, the first of two albums from these recording sessions. Catherine s Court, near Bath.

Subsequently, the band enlisted Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade—who had worked with US indie bands Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.—to produce their debut album, recorded quickly in an Oxford studio in 1992. The band released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in February 1993. Meanwhile, Pyramid Song and Knives Out , Radiohead s first issued singles since 1998, were modestly successful, and I Might Be Wrong , initially planned as a third single, expanded into Radiohead s thus far only live record.

Godrich made his name with Radiohead, working with the band since The Bends, and as producer since OK Computer. . Most of the rest of the album was complete by the end of 1996, and by March 1997, the record was mixed and mastered. Radiohead released their third album, OK Computer, in June 1997.

It stalled at number 22 in the UK charts, as Creep and its anthemic follow-up singles Anyone Can Play Guitar and Stop Whispering failed to become radio or video hits. Rather than being a stylistic sequel to OK Computer, Kid A featured a minimalist and textured style with less overt guitar parts and more diverse instrumentation including the ondes Martenot, programmed electronic beats, strings, and jazz horns. Kid A received a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year in early 2001.

Radiohead are an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. Pop Is Dead , a non-album single later disavowed by the band, sold equally poorly.

The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, beats), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboard, other instruments), Ed O Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesizers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion). Radiohead released their first single, Creep , in 1992. After Amnesiac s release, the band embarked on a world tour, visiting North America, Europe and Japan.

High and Dry became a modest hit, but The Bends peaked at 88 on the US album charts, which remains Radiohead s lowest showing there. In late 1995, Radiohead had already recorded one song that would make their next record. They then recorded the new material in two weeks in a Los Angeles studio with Nigel Godrich, adding several tracks later in Oxford, where the band continued their work into the next year.

The film is also notable for documenting earlier versions of songs that were never released or were not released until years later, such as How to Disappear Completely , Life in a Glasshouse and Nude . Creep had been played very frequently on Israeli radio by an influential DJ, and in March, after the song became a hit on that country s charts, Radiohead were invited to Tel Aviv for their first live gig overseas. Unexpected attention to the single in America caused the label to improvise new promotional plans, and the band shuttled back and forth between continents, playing over 150 concerts in 1993. The band began work on their second album in 1994, hiring veteran Abbey Road studios producer John Leckie.

Despite peaking at number 21 in the US charts, the album eventually met with mainstream recognition there, receiving the first Grammy Awards recognition of the band s career, a win for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year. The release of OK Computer was followed by the Against Demons world tour. Chris Hufford, Slowdive s producer and the co-owner of Oxford s Courtyard Studios, attended an early On a Friday concert at the Jericho Tavern.

Radiohead members described the recording process as relaxed, in contrast to the tense sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac. Yorke denied that Hail to the Thief s title was a comment on the controversial 2000 US presidential election, explaining that he first heard the words in a BBC Radio 4 discussion of 19th century American politics. Radiohead began work on their seventh album in February 2005. Radiohead s seventh album, In Rainbows, was released through the band s own website on 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which customers could make whatever payment that they wanted, including nothing; the site only advised, it s up to you . In Rainbows was physically released in the UK in late December on XL Recordings and in North America in January 2008 on TBD Records, In Rainbows received overwhelmingly positive reviews, among the best of Radiohead s career. Largely composed of melodic rock songs, the new record also found the band experimenting with song structures and incorporating some ambient, avant garde and electronic influences.

Tensions were high, with mounting expectations on the band to deliver a superior follow-up to match or exceed the success of Creep . My Iron Lung, an EP and single released late in 1994, was Radiohead s reaction, marking a transition towards the greater depth they aimed for on their second album. While Radiohead were seen as outsiders to the Britpop scene that dominated the media s attention at the time, they were finally successful in their home country with The Bends, The buzz generated by such famous fans as Michael Stipe, along with distinctive music videos for Just and Street Spirit , helped to sustain Radiohead s popularity outside the UK. However, Radiohead s growing fan base was insufficient for them to repeat the commercial popularity of Creep worldwide.