From the small town of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, came five lads that quickly became one of the most influential bands of the 21st century known as Radiohead. Radiohead is so fluid with their music that it can appeal to all types of music listeners, whether it be visceral and big guitars, abstract and no guitars, or political with a dystopian atmosphere. And even after three decades of music making, they’re only having more fun with it and are showing no signs of slowing down. Radiohead’s influence and impact goes well beyond their commercial success and numerous critical acclaim.
History of the Artist
In 1986, Thom Yorke, Phil Selway, Ed O’ Brien, Colin Greenwood, and Jonny Greenwood met whilst attending Abingdon School and formed a band called On A Friday. The name is in reference to the band’s usual rehearsal day in their school’s music room. By 1987, Jonny was the only one left behind at Abingdon since he was two years behind the other members and they had departed to university. In 1991, On a Friday regrouped, where they shared a house on the corner of Magdalen Road and Ridgefield Road, Oxford. On A Friday signed a six-album recording contract with EMI and at the label’s request, the band had to change their name. It was changed to “Radiohead” which was taken from the Talking Heads song “Radio Head” off of their True Stories (1986). From then on, Radiohead recorded and released their debut album Pablo Honey in February of 1993 and only success follows afterwards.
Genre
Radiohead’s music is anything but simple. Some people classify them as eletronica, art rock, or experimental rock but the alternative rock genre overall is a good term to categorize them under. Other alternative rock bands like Tame Impala, Muse, and Arcade Fire are artists that share a common artistry with Radiohead. Tame Impala for example, have this guitar-heavy psychedelic pop sound that emanates similarities to Radiohead’s materiel since their music is often this spacey, ambient sound that is absolutely striking to listen to. Alternative rock is a genre that emerged from rock music and came out of the underground music scene in the 1980s. While a few artists like R.E.M. and The Cure achieved commercial success and mainstream critical recognition, many alternative rock artists during the 1980s were cult acts that recorded on independent labels and received their exposure through college radio airplay and word-of-mouth. The genre didn’t really become wildly popular until the 1990s when bands like The Cranberries and Smashing Pumpkins came onto the scene. From there, alternative rock hit the airways and many bands were able to come out commercially successful. The creation of alternative rock also helped the emergence of other various subgenres such as grunge, Britpop, and indie pop.
Two Decades of History
In the 1980s, music began to take on a different role and different sound all around the globe. For example, once companies like Sony, Phillips, and Polygraph announced their creation of the world’s first CD system on August 1 of 1982, this new change in technology have been a major factor in how music has been developed and consumed for decades. Due in part to its versatility and portability. Other decade defining things about the 80s is that it represented a wider social idealism. Multiracial lineups and embrace of black music was commonplace and white acts embraced funk and soul. Not until the 90s though did Radiohead reach the headlines with their first hit song “Creep”. They were seen as outsiders to the Britpop scene that dominated Europe at the time. Alternative rock was slow to catch on with mainstream music but once it did Radiohead’s timing was perfect. Major labels had began courting bands like R.E.M, Nirvana, and Jane’s Addiction.
Radiohead really benefited from the emergence of alternative rock from the underground phenomenon because it became so influential and important in people’s lives. With the release of Radiohead’s third album, OK Computer (1997), brought them international fame; noted for its complex production and themes of modern alienation, it is often acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s and one of the best albums in popular music. Radiohead fans number in the hundreds of thousands, their fierce devotion to the group so extreme it invites ridicule from the uninitiated.
Lenses
On their third album OK Computer, technology is a lense densely associated with this record and the band overall. They were inspired by the dislocation and paranoia of non-stop travel, it’s now largely understood as a record about how unchecked consumerism and an overreliance on technology can lead to automation and, eventually, alienation from ourselves and from one another. They also used a lot of reverberation and worked with audio separation. Digital samplers, electronic piano, and even synthesised voices were used in the production of this album too.
Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief album is an oppositional, anti-Bush album that dropped in 2003. This record is a miraculous record in its opposition towards widespread global capitalism and its leaders. During this era, liberal and leftist parties were weakened such to the extent that only a few lone cultural voices were present. Yorke and co. brought with them statements of political anger and how the Iraq War was an outrage. On the other hand, Radiohead run the risk, in their lack of support (thus far) for figures like Bernie Sanders in the States and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK. Yorke and co. are appearing as merely another band of wealthy English white guys who might occasionally recruit politics as an artistic catalyst, but who are unwilling or unable to divert time and energy to real political activism beyond an appearance at a climate-change concert.
Conclusion
Radiohead is one of the few bands that strives to create a sophisticated visual world for its music to inhabit and music is a lot like film in that way, evoking a kind of unmoored nostalgia—maybe for past emotions that have no connection to the band, or maybe for things that haven’t even happened yet. But it’s there, in the quiet between the rise and fall of strings, filling the pauses and refrains
