Radiohead

Before the torrent of praise for this 1997 album, Radiohead were far from being one of the world's most revered bands. On OK Computer, they pull out influences as disparate as Miles Davis, Ennio Morricone and DJ Shadow, and flip their focus from inward despair to outward desolation and oppression. With layers of arpeggios, distortion, electric piano, strings, even cowbell, the band take inspiration from the bleakest corners of the collective consciousness and create a haunting beauty. This edition collects B-sides and live cuts that previously were scattered across singles and EPs.

Some bands are born into greatness, others grow into it. Radiohead fall into the second
category, but as these rarity-filled collector's editions show, they grew fast. The grungy,
glammy Brit pop of Pablo Honey (1993) was a worthy debut, with the heroically
self-loathing "Creep" and Thom Yorke's slightly worrisome admission "I want to be Jim
Morrison." You can hear hints of a different fate in the bonus tracks, though: Am... More >