Radiohead: Top 100 Songs

Radiohead Top 100 Songs

This experimental-rock group formed in Oxford, England, in 1989. Since the beginning, the group has maintained the same lineup of singer Thom Yorke, brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar) and Colin Greenwood (bass), with Ed O’Brien on guitar and Phil Selway on drums. Click here to see other best-of lists from performers and here to see other best-of lists from songwriters and/or producers.

---

Spotify Podcast:

Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast Radiohead’s OK Computer: 25th Anniversary, which draws from this list. Premiere: June 2, 2022 at 7pm CST. Tune in every Tuesday at 7pm for a new episode based on the lists at Dave’s Music Database.

---

Awards:

Top 100 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists (see sources at bottom of page) as well as compilations and live albums by the featured act. Also includes are songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. The two-letter codes after songs indicate which albums and EPs the songs appear on. DMDB Top 1%: 1. Creep (1992) PH, B1 2. Paranoid Android (1997) OK, B1 DMDB Top 2%: 3. Karma Police (1997) OK, B1 4. Fake Plastic Trees (1995) TB, B1 DMDB Top 5%: 5. High and Dry (1995) TB, B1 DMDB Top 10%: 6. Just (1995) TB, B1 DMDB Top 20%: 7. Idioteque (2000) KA, MW, B1 8. Street Spirit (Fade Out) (1995) TB, B1 9. There There (2003) HT, B1 10. No Surprises (1997) OK, B1 11. Pyramid Song (2001) AM, B1 12. Lotus Flower (2011) KL Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 13. Everything in Its Right Place (2000) KA, MW, B1 14. Let Down (1997) OK, B2 15. My Iron Lung (1994) IL, TB, B1 16. Reckoner (2007) IR 17. Jigsaw Falling into Place (2007) IR 18. Burn the Witch (2016) MP 19. Lucky (1995) OK, B1 20. Optimistic (2000) KA, B1 21. Knives Out (2001) AM, B2 22. Nude (2007) IR 23. The Bends (1995) TB, B1 24. Exit Music (For a Film) (1997) OK, B2 25. How to Disappear Completely (2000) KA, B2 26. 2 + 2 = 5 (2003) HT, CL, B1 27. True Love Waits (2001) MW, MP, B2 28. Planet Telex (1995) TB, B2 29. Go to Sleep (2003) HT, B2 30. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (2007) IR 31. Anyone Can Play Guitar (1993) PH, B2 32. Talk Show Host B2 33. The National Anthem (2000) KA, MW, B2 34. I Might Be Wrong (2001) AM, MW, B2 35. House of Cards (2007) IR 36. Stop Whispering (1993) PH, IT 37. Bodysnatchers (2007) IR 38. Airbag (1997) OK, AH, B2 39. All I Need (2007) IR 40. Codex (2011) KL 41. Life in a Glasshouse (2001) AM 42. Where I End and You Begin (2003) HT 43. Myxomatosis (2003) HT, CL 44. Videotape (2007) IR 45. Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2) (1997) AH 46. The Daily Mail (single, 2011) 47. Pop Is Dead (single, 1993) 48. You and Whose Army? (2001) AM 49. Daydreaming (2016) MP 50. Bloom (2011) KL 51. Kid A (2000) KA 52. 15 Step (2007) IR 53. Like Spinning Plates (2001) AM, MW 54. Fog (2001) CL 55. Rabbit in Your Headlights (Uncle with Thom Yorke, 1998) 56. Pearly (1997) AH 57. A Wolf at the Door (2003) HT 58. Scatterbrain (2003) HT, CL 59. Morning Bell (2001) KA, MW 60. You (1992) PH, B2 61. Blow Out (1993) PH 62. Separator (2011) KL 63. Motion Picture Soundtrack (2000) KA 64. Spectre (single, 2006) 65. A Reminder (1997) AH 66. Thinking About You (1992) PH, IT 67. Killer Cars (1993) IT 68. I Will (2003) HT, CL 69. Black Star (1995) TB 70. Climbing Up the Walls (1997) OK 71. Banana Co. (1993) IT 72. Sail to the Moon (2003) HT 73. Cuttooth (B-side of “Knives Out,” 2001) 74. Palo Alto (1998) AH 75. The Tourist (1997) OK 76. Lurgee (1992) PH 77. Subterranean Homesick Alien (1997) OK 78. Bones (1995) TB 79. (Nice Dream) (1995) TB 80. A Punchup at a Wedding (2003) HT 81. Gagging Order (2003) CL 82. Staircase (single, 2011) 83. Little by Little (2011) KL 84. Last Flowers to the Hospital (2007) IR2 85. Morning Bell/Amnesiac (2001) AM 86. Meeting in the Aisle (1997) AH 87. Electioneering (1997) OK 88. Dollars and Cents (2001) AM, MW 89. Vegetable (1993) PH, IT 90. Give Up the Ghost (2011) KL 91. Down Is the New Up (2007) IR2 92. These Are My Twisted Words (single, 2009) 93. Four Minute Warning (2007) IR2 94. How I Made My Millions (B-side of “No Surprises,” 1998) 95. The Trickster (1994) IL 96. Permanent Daylight (1994) IL 97. Worrywort (B-side of “Knives Out,” 2001) 98. In Limbo (2000) KA 99. We Suck Young Blood (2003) HT 100. Bullet Proof…I Wish I Was (1995) TB Albums and EPs PH Pablo Honey (1993): 8 songs IT Itch (EP, 1994): 5 songs IL My Iron Lung (EP, 1994): 3 songs TB The Bends (1995): 11 songs OK OK Computer (1997): 11 songs AH Airbag/How Am I Driving? (EP, 1998): 6 songs KA Kid A (2000): 9 songs AM Amnesiac (2001): 8 songs MW I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings (live, 2001): 8 songs HT Hail to the Thief (2003): 11 songs CL Com Lag (EP, 2004): 6 songs IR In Rainbows (2007): 8 songs IR2 In Rainbows: Disk 2 (2007): 3 songs B1 The Best of (compilation, 2008): 17 songs B2 The Best of: Special Edition (compilation, 2008): 13 songs KL King of Limbs (2011): 6 songs MP A Moon Shaped Pool (2016): 3 songs Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Radiohead Dave’s Music Database: “Best-of Lists for Performers” Dave’s Music Database: “Best-of Lists for Songwriters and/or Producers” American Songwriter Billboard Buzzfeed Chaospin Classic Rock History Consequence of Sound Culture Map Houston Culture Sonar The Death of the Mix Tape Diffuser Discogs Exclaim Fact Mag Guardian Guitar Junky Louder Oregon Live Paste Pop Matters Ranker Rate Your Music Red Bull Return of Rock The Ringer Rolling Stone Spinditty Sports Alcohol The Top Tens Uproxx Wandering Tunes First posted 5/24/2022; last updated 6/2/2022.

Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool released

A Moon Shaped Pool Radiohead

Released: May 8, 2016 Peak: 3 US, 12 UK, 2 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 0.17 US, 0.1 UK Genre: experimental alternative rock

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Burn the Witch [3:40] (5/3/16, 23 AA, 29 MR) Daydreaming [6:24] (5/6/16, --) Decks Dark [4:41] Desert Island Disk [3:44] Ful Stop [6:07] Glass Eyes [2:52] Identikit [4:26] The Numbers [5:45] Present Tense [5:06] Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief [5:03] True Love Waits [4:43] All tracks written by Radiohead. Total Running Time: 52:31 The Players: Thom Yorke (vocals) Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards) Ed O’Brien (guitar, effects) Colin Greenwood (bass) Phil Selway (drums)

Rating: 4.152 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “A cursory glance at A Moon Shaped Pool may suggest a certain measure of indifference on the part of Radiohead. Its 11 songs are sequenced in alphabetical order – a stunt befitting a Pixies concert or perhaps a Frank Black box set, not a proper album – and many of these tunes are of an older vintage: the group began work on the opening Burn the Witch at the turn of the century, while the closing True Love Waits first appeared in concerts way back in 1995. These are the elements of a clearinghouse, but with Radiohead appearances are always deceiving.” AMG “A Moon Shaped Pool doesn’t play like an ill-considered collection of leftovers; it unfurls with understated ease, each silvery song shimmering into the next. The pulse rarely quickens and the arrangements seldom agitate, yet the album never quite feels monochromatic. Sly, dissonant strings grace some cuts, acoustic guitars provide a pastoral counterpoint to an electronic pulse, Thom Yorke’s voice floats through the music, often functioning as nothing more than an element of a mix; what he’s saying matters not as much as how he murmurs.” AMG “Such subtle, shifting textures emphasize Radiohead’s musicianship, a point underscored when this version of ‘True Love Waits’ is compared to its 2001 incarnation. There, Yorke accompanied himself with a simple acoustic guitar and he seemed earnest and yearning, but here, supported by piano and strings, he sounds weary and weathered, a man who has lost his innocence.” AMG “What he and Radiohead have gained, however, is some measure of maturity, and with this, their music has deepened. Certainly, sections of A Moon Shaped Pool contain an eerie, disconcerting glimmer, usually attained through power kept in reserve – nothing stabs as hard as the sawing fanfare of ‘Burn the Witch,’ while the winding, intersecting guitars that conclude ‘Identikit’ provide the noisiest element – yet the album as a whole doesn’t feel unsettling. Instead, there’s a melancholic comfort to its ebb and flow, a gentle rocking motion that feels comforting; it’s a tonic to the cloistered, scattered King of Limbs and even the sleek alienation of Kid A.” AMG “Radiohead are recognizably the same band that made that pioneering piece of electronica-rock but they’re older and wiser on A Moon Shaped Pool, deciding not to push at the borders of their sound but rather settle into the territory they’ve marked as their own. This may not result in a radical shift in sound but rather a welcome change in tone: for the first time Radiohead feel comfortable in their own skin.” AMG Notes: A special edition bonus disc added the songs “Ill Wind” and “Spectre.”

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 6/3/2022.

Radiohead The King of Limbs released

The King of Limbs Radiohead

Released: February 18, 2011 Peak: 3 US, 7 UK, 5 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 0.37 US, 0.1 UK Genre: experimental alternative rock

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Bloom [5:15] (7/15/11, --) Morning Mr. Magpie [4:41] Little by Little [4:27] (7/4/11, --) Feral [3:13] Lotus Flower [5:01] (3/19/01, 20 AA, 33 MR) Codex [4:47] (8/15/11, --) Give Up the Ghost [4:50] (8/15/11, --) Separator [5:20] (7/29/11, --) All songs written by Radiohead. Total Running Time: 37:34 The Players: Thom Yorke (vocals) Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards) Ed O’Brien (guitar, effects) Colin Greenwood (bass) Phil Selway (drums)

Rating: 3.612 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings)

About the Album: “After a brief return to earth to deliver the tart, focused In Rainbows, Radiohead drift back into the ether with The King of Limbs. Like In Rainbows before it, the actuality of The King of Limbs is purposefully somewhat obscured by the hullabaloo surrounding the album’s surprise release – announced for a Saturday release on a Monday, shifted to a Friday.” AMG Also like its predecessor, KOL was released in a digital only format initially – on February 18, 2011 – and then released in a physical format later – on March 28, 2011. WK “In the case of KOL, such clamor is needed. Wispy and ephemeral, shimmering skin draped over the barest of bones, The King of Limbs doesn’t deliberately lack a solid foundation, songwriting traded for sound construction. Masters of mood that they are, Radiohead digitally weave stuttering, glitchy loops of drums and guitars with real instruments, Thom Yorke’s mournful moan and keening falsetto acting as a binding agent, creating an alluringly dour atmosphere.” AMG “Despite a pair of intellectually funky moments – Morning Mr. Magpie and Little by Little, grouped together at the beginning, giving the album a slight hint of momentum that quickly fades – this is rather monochromatic and not too far removed from the territory Radiohead began etching out with Kid A. Where that icy 2000 effort had the bracing chill of the new, The King of Limbs is familiar – not commonplace, but carrying a certain inevitability as its eight songs slowly unspool. There are no surprises in the floating textures, no delight in the details, no astonishment in how the band navigates intricate turns: this is the sound of Radiohead doing what they do, doing it very well, doing it without flash or pretension, gently easing from the role of pioneers to craftsmen.” AMG As Pitchfork Media’s Mark Pytlik said, it “well-worn terrain for Radiohead, and while it continues to yield rewarding results, the band’s signature game-changing ambition is missed.” WK “With eight tracks, and just over thirty-seven minutes of music, The King of Limbs is Radiohead’s shortest album to date. In 2009, commenting on the nature of future Radiohead releases, Thom Yorke stated that: ‘None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again. Not straight off. I mean, it’s just become a real drag. It worked with In Rainbows because we had a real fixed idea about where we were going. But we’ve all said that we can’t possibly dive into that again. It’ll kill us.’” WK “Michael Brodeur of The Boston Globe praised ‘the tense calm these eight songs maintain – a composure that feels constantly ready to crack’, commenting that ‘where In Rainbows was mellow but brisk – an album that felt on its way somewhere – these songs are eerie and insidious, creeping like shadows – and, often because of the haunting voice of Thom Yorke, the occasional chill.’” WK PopMatters called it “a beautiful record, one that begs more of a conscious listen than its predecessor, but one that provides equal – if different – thrills in doing so.” WK Ann Powers, of the Los Angeles Times music blog, summarized the album’s polarizing nature: “Some think it’s one of the band’s best efforts; others find it too low-key or similar to previous work; a few consider it awfully doomy, and a few others wish it were less abstract.” WK

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/30/2011; last updated 6/3/2022.

Radiohead: A Retrospective, 1992-2003

Radiohead A Retrospective: 1992-2003

Overview: Experimental alternative-rock group formed in Oxford, England in 1989. Members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood formed The Smile in 2020 with drummer Tom Skinner (Sons of Kemet). The Players: Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar) Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards) Ed O’Brien (guitar, effects) Colin Greenwood (bass) Phil Selway (drums) On the Web: Radiohead.com (official site) Facebook Wikipedia Lists: Radiohead: Top 100 Songs

Awards:

The Studio Albums: Hover over an album cover to see its title and year of release. Click on the album to go to its dedicated DMDB page. Compilations: B1 The Best of (1992-2003, released 2008) B2 The Best of: Special Edition (2nd disc, 1992-2003, released 2008) Under each album snapshot, songs featured on the anthologies are noted. If the song charted, the date of the song’s release or first chart appearance and its chart peaks are noted in parentheses. Click for codes to singles charts.

Pablo Honey (1993): You [3:29] (5/5/92 on Drill EP) B2 Creep [3:56] (9/21/92, 34 US, 37 CB, 25 RR, 20 AR, 2 MR, 7 UK, 30 CN, 6 AU) B1 Anyone Can Play Guitar [3:38] (2/1/93, 32 UK) B2

Go to the DMDB page for this album to read more about it.

The Bends (1995): My Iron Lung [4:36] (10/8/94, 24 UK, 100 AU) B1 High and Dry [4:17] (3/11/95, 73a US, 18 MR, 17 UK, 62 AU) B1 Planet Telex [4:19] (2/27/95, --) B2 Fake Plastic Trees [4:50] (5/9/95, 65a US, 11 MR, 20 UK) B1 Just [3:54] (9/2/95, 37 MR, 19 UK) B1 Street Spirit (Fade Out) [4:12] (1/22/96, 5 UK) B1 The Bends [4:06] B1

Go to the DMDB page for this album to read more about it.

OK Computer (1997): Lucky [4:19] (11/4/95, --) B1 Paranoid Android [6:23] (6/7/97, 3 UK) B1 Karma Police [4:21] (8/6/97, 69 UK, 14 MR) B1 Let Down [4:59] (8/16/97 29 MR) B2 No Surprises [3:48] (1/24/98 4 UK) B1 Airbag [4:44] (4/21/98, --)B2 Exit Music (For a Film) [4:24] B2

Go to the DMDB page for this album to read more about it.

Kid A (2000): Optimistic [5:15] (10/7/00, 10 MR) B1 Idioteque [5:09] B1 Everything in Its Right Place [4:11] B1 How to Disappear Completely [5:56] B2 The National Anthem [5:51] B2

Go to the DMDB page for this album to read more about it.

Amnesiac (2001): Pyramid Song [4:49] (5/16/01, 13 UK) B1 I Might Be Wrong [4:54] (5/19/01, 27 MR) B2 Knives Out [4:15] (8/1/01, 13 UK) B2

Go to the DMDB page for this album to read more about it.

Hail to the Thief (2003): There There (The Boney King of Nowhere) [5:25] (5/10/03, 14 MR, 4 UK, 12 CN) B1 Go to Sleep (Little Man Being Erased) [3:21] (8/18/03, 32 MR, 12 UK) B2 2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm) [3:19] (11/17/03, 15 UK) B1

Go to the DMDB page for this album to read more about it.

The Best of Radiohead

Released: June 3, 2008 Recorded: 1992-2003 Peak: 26 US, 4 UK, 10 CN, 10 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.3 UK, 1.15 world (includes US and UK) Genre: experimental alternative rock

Tracks: (1) Just (2) Paranoid Android (3) Karma Police (4) Creep (5) No Surprises (6) High and Dry (7) My Iron Lung (8) There There (9) Lucky (10) Optimistic (11) Fake Plastic Trees (12) Idioteque (13) 2 + 2 = 5 (14) The Bends (15) Pyramid Song (16) Street Spirit (Fade Out) (17) Everything in Its Right Place Tracks (Special Edition, Disc 2): (1) Airbag (2) I Might Be Wrong (3) Go to Sleep (4) Let Down (5) Planet Telex (6) Exit Music (For a Film) (7) The National Anthem (8) Knives Out (9) Talk Show Host (10) You (11) Anyone Can Play Guitar (12) How to Disappear Completely (13) True Love Waits (live)

Rating: 3.280 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings)

About The Best of: This compilation pulled from Radiohead’s first six studio albums. The special edition added a second disc of material pulled from the same albums with two non-album cuts included: “Talk Show Host” from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, and “True Love Waits,” a recording from the I Might Be Wrong: The Live Recordings EP. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Talk Show Host (1/22/96, --) B2 True Love Waits (live, 8/20/01) B2

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Radiohead Wikipedia page for The Best of First posted 6/3/2022.