Radiohead
The Best Of
EMI Records
By Mike Randall
In 2007, when Radiohead decided not to make its catalog available on iTunes, the issue at hand was that the band preferred to keep its individual bodies of work in tact, and not sell albums on a per-track basis. Feeling this compromised countless levels of the artistic process, they sought other outlets to distribute their music – both digitally and physically. Following the release of In Rainbows, we all know how it turned out, but at the time, a spokesman from their label said they respected Radiohead’s wishes.
Fast forward to June 2008 and what lands on music store shelves? A greatest hits compilation that spans Radiohead’s entire career – excluding In Rainbows, which in terms of reach, may or may not be the greatest “hit” of the band’s tenure (of course, it wasn’t released on EMI’s watch). Whether or not you agree with the politics of the situation (the band doesn’t, but that’s a separate article), EMI certainly has the right to put out such a record and the focal point should be the music. Which, by the way, still sounds damn good, whether or not it’s a traditional album.
While listening to the first of two discs (Best Of is available in 17-song single disc or 30-song double disc options), mostly out of anxious curiosity over what would be included, I decided not to look at the track list in advance. Halfway through, I got to thinking that it wasn’t all that different than listening to a live Radiohead show: hearing a song like “2+2=5” after “Idioteque” wouldn’t be an uncommon occurrence even on the current tour. Then, instead of analyzing how well one song flowed into another, I started to ponder how great it would be if instead EMI had released a full concert of Radiohead’s, which other than the too-short I Might Be Wrong following the Kid A/Amnesiac tours, the band haven’t been officially documented in the setting they shine brightest.
At last I was able to regroup and focus on the task at hand after a few listens, and by the time I arrived at the album-closing gem “True Love Waits” (taken from the aforementioned I Might Be Wrong) for the third or fourth time, other than a couple of Pablo Honey tracks that have dated themselves, I found myself re-blown away by a catalog that is filled with tracks that can be deemed greatest hits in the context of this album. The expected songs (“Creep,” “Fake Plastic Tees,” High and Dry,” “Karma Police”) are all here, and choosing the rest must have been like blindly dipping your hand into a grab bag of money – you can’t go wrong. Still, with no previously unreleased material, it could have been named after one of disc one’s best songs: “No Surprises.”
Drawing heavily from what most would consider the peak of Radiohead’s creativity, nearly half the record is comprised of classics from 1995’s The Bends and 1997’s OK Computer. What’s astounding is how perfectly the anthemic alt-rock of tracks like “Planet Telex” and “Just” sit alongside the space rock alienation of “Airbag” or “Paranoid Android.” The glue that takes Radiohead from point A to Point B to Point C and D and E is clearly the limitless falsetto of Thom Yorke. No one else can create such soaring melodies out of a couple words like he can, using his voice as integrally as a guitar, drum or keyboard. Tracks like “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” and “Exit Music (For a Film)” are just as goose-bump-inducing today as they were a decade ago.
Anthology probably would have been a better working title for this record, as a testament to a band that has never been totally embraced by the mainstream and hasn’t exactly put huge dents in the singles charts. As every Radiohead album represents a different leap in sonic texture, Best Of will serve as the perfect entry piece for someone new to the band looking to see which phase of the band’s career is most interesting before committing to an album. Those that have been around the block with Radiohead, however, can continue logging miles on their old copies of The Bends or spinning a bootleg of the show they just downloaded.
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