@@Guitargate Yup they were the first major band to do it. And even with that model the album made more from digital sales than digital sales of all previous Radiohead albums combined according to Thom
@@Guitargate They pretty much invented the pay model and proved it could work. They put the album up for free on the internet and let people pay what they want if they wanted. I think the average was ~$5.
Literally all ive done for years . Things with 3 views pop up straight away on my youtube cos ive searched so much. Just watched a young american listening to ok computer for the first time. Im obsessed 😍
This was mostly written by Johnny Greenwood (they guy playing the keyboard). He is a full on composer, writing orchestral music and he has done the scores for movies like There Will Be Blood and The Master. This song originally started as one of his orchestral compositions titled Arpeggi that they then adapted for the band. So it sounds so complex and layered because the original was intended to be played by an entire orchestra, and somehow they condensed it down to be played by their 5 person guitar band.
From my favorite band radiohead to my favorite director and my favorite films of all time, the master and let there be blood!! Who is the constant, the f**king genius johnny greenwood!
Dude im so happy to see a musician who never dove into or "understood" Radiohead dive into Radiohead. They are truly the greatest band of the last 30 years.
"I feel like I am in a dreamscape and I'm not sure where the center is." - The best description of Radiohead I've ever heard and he does it on contact. Fucking phenomenal
Hahaha you said "watch them be childhood friends" and thats exactly what they are. Radiohead has had the exact same members since they were teenagers in english boarding school. Nobody has ever left the band or been replaced. It's incredible honestly
Yeah! I loved that too! It’s unbelievable. After 30 years of loving them I’m still stunned by the massive karmic, cosmic alignment that must have happened to bring 5 guys together who are this good, and all geniuses in their own right, but collectively beyond verbal description - AT SCHOOL.
@@kirkwarburton2277 Truth is, it wasn't the meeting of 5 masters, it was 5 passionate guys who all pushed each other to be masters, any of them would just be regular people on their own, but together they improved their craft and pushed each other to all become legends.
Actually, back when they were called On a Friday there was another member before Johnny joined in iirc. But yeah, as Radiohead, they've always been the same.
@andremartinez Yes it’s funny, Jonny was trying to get in on his older brother’s band, playing the recorder at first😂 Damn good job they saw fit to get him in properly.
The drummer is Phil Selway. Basically a human metronome with insane, super-crisp and accurate chops. This song is bananas, the band is bananas, and I’m so glad you’re discovering the majesty that is Radiohead. One of my all-time favorite bands.
@@EarleMonroethere probably is a click running through all their in ear monitors to keep it all together. Particularly in the section where he drops out. Don't get me wrong, Phil is a genius.
I think that’s actually Clive Deamer in the video, he was their second drummer starting in 2011 sayeth google 🤘 Phil Selway is a human metronome but so much more with his range of styles (Myxomatosis and Amazing Sounds’v Orgy etc) drums are my instrument. Johnny Greenwood is their 3rd drummer because he can play just about anything.
@@Julian.Castro nah, it’s all body language, they just do multiple takes, Thom is the perfectionist who probably drives them a bit crazy but makes them great. But… on Bloom live from the basement (much better than album version btw) you can just barely make out an electronic metronome sound, and that’s a very complex song with 3 drum parts, 2 syncopated, bassline and vocals, but the sound could just be a product of Thom’s guitar rhythm which is just a real bendy gcgcgcgcgcgc with echo (maybe not those two notes but it sounds like it 😂)
@@bryankelly3647 That’s definitely Phil and not Clive. This was recorded and released in 2008. But I was curious about Phil’s in-ears, and the guys at The King of Gear (who know WAY more than most about all the gear RH uses) say that Phil never uses a click. Ed said in an interview once that they had one small recorded bit on one tour, out of 60-70 songs they’d practiced for the tour. It might’ve been the glitchy percussion on 15 Step (pre-Clive because he plays it now) but Ed didn’t specify. TKOL basement show may have had recorded parts since that album is so sample heavy, but in general they create everything live each night. Someone has probably cataloged different live versions of songs and the tempos they played at on different night. There are some seriously obsessed Radiohead fans out there
The arpeggiation is purposefully random. Like when the sun sparkles on a lake. It's a texture that can't be achieved by writing out notes, only by deciding on behaviors. Very modern way of creating.
In an interview they said 'Pointillism', the painting technique where you only use small dots, was an inspiration for this song. Your analogy is on point.
When I was learning to play guitar, I went to my teacher one day and said "I think I"m done". He asked what I meant and I said "I just can't do this anymore". He dug deeper and asked what changed my mind since I was learning quite quickly. I explained that I listened to "In Rainbows" album and decided that I will never be able to compose anything like what I had heard, between Bodysnatchers or Jigsaw, I'd never be able to.... I'm done. He laughed and said "Jesus man... it's f'n Radiohead. What type of standard are you learning to? Your very first song you learned was Karma Police. Shut up and get back to practice. Nobody's going to be Radiohead except Radiohead". It was good advice, I still play. I still can't arrange like them. I'm ok with that.
To me the two guitar arpeggios overlapping and clashing so vividly remind me of the ripples on the surface of the ocean, and how light refracts through water. So god damn creative and beautiful it hurts.
Awesome visual to describe the sound. Also goes with the lyrics on reckoner. "Because we separate like ripples on a blank shore" Also goes with the title too lol. 🐠 🐟
I experience it as a journey into deeper and deeper water, murky at first until suddenly a wonderful tapestry of sea-life reveals itself, but I love yours too!
exactly, im just paralyzed listening to it. every time they come on, this song particularly, i have to just sit cause they somehow make you use every part of your sense with just sound.
Agreed. It’s just beyond comprehension that something so beautiful was created. I’d love to see a brain scan of myself or anyone listening to this. Just to see how many parts of the brain light up. It just makes me feel so euphoric. “Let Down” had been my favorite until I heard this.
I have “I hit the bottom and escape” with the amnesiac Minotaur tattooed on my arm. It’s my favorite tattoo. Radiohead is my favorite band of all time and it was always the favorite of two of my best friends who passed away about a year apart. Also it means two things in reference to my life. It can either mean “I hit rock bottom of addiction and got clean and escaped” or “I hit the bottom of my mental health and ended it” It reminds me that I have a choice.
Reaction wise, this is my favorite MP video. His looks are priceless 17:20 "get the fuck out of here.." 17:30 "Imma 'bout to lose my shit" 18:04 brain implosion, shit officially lost 😂
Once he said "I'm gonna lose my shit" and went back once, I was eagerly anticipating his reaction to the last segment. And he just gave up and listened to the chaos like a regular person lol.
The guitar layering in this song is some of my favorite ever. Michael, you should really just listen to the entirety of the “In Rainbows” album because it’s a masterpiece.
@@the_oslovian It's not even Radioheads best album. It's a masterpiece though. Gotta be Kid A or AMSP though. In Rainbows is an easier listen for sure. AMSP is so gorgeous though its insane
Yeah, In Rainbows may not be their career peak, but there’s something about that album that makes it my go-to, more than any other. It’s an absolute delight, especially when it really was kind of under the radar at the time!
Ed's background vocals are so underrated. Sometimes he sounds _just like_ Thom. It's uncanny. Jonny Greenwood is amazing and flashy, but I feel like Ed is the glue that holds the band together.
I’m a music teacher in a rock band performance program and we’re doing weird fishes this weekend! Putting it together is a challenge but these kids are nailing the feeling and navigating this chaotic landscape beautifully! You’re right though, we did not break out the one page chord charts for this one. The three guitar players have pages and pages of notes. But you know what’s cool? The kids that chose this group really love Radiohead. The people who like music like this find eachother somehow and now there’s a new generation reverse engineering it, can’t wait to see what these kids do next fueled with the lessons infused in learning this song and playing it live
My son at age 14 comes to me and says, "Dad, I've got to tell you something. I've really got a problem..." Oh God, what can this be...? "I only want to listen to Radiohead." *sighs* "Son, we've all been there, and some of us never come out the other side..." Still, it shows there is hope in this bleak and beautiful universe
@@ununderstood working on it, the school has the videos and there’s all this liability around posting the video publicly, if they ever do, it will be from an official account owned by the school, but if it happens, I’ll try to remember to post a link here. They killed it at their show, I was so proud!! Also side note, the first song I ever wrote, recorded and mixed on my own was called “understood”
You're going to be told by about 100,000 comments "You really should do a video on How To Disappear Completely". And all 100,000 of those comments are correct. That song is effing majestic. Like straight-up timeless composition.
Totally agree - and just to call out the fact that a knowledgeable guy called Barnaby Martin has published an a remarkable video essay analysis of "How To Disappear Completely" on his @ListeningIn channel. His detailed analysis of the complex harmonies & structure from a composition perspective reveals the hidden beauty and power of this unique RH masterwork th-cam.com/video/o4MIxTm0FWQ/w-d-xo.html
Yeah but it's not really a "guitar song" for a guy that does mostly guitar(from what I've seen). I personally feel like he would have more fun with a song like "Body Snatchers", or "Just". But at the same I do love "How to disappear completely". Just not sure if it's right for this channel.
I sent this to my dad the night before he passed and I can’t help but wonder if he ever got to listen to it. He was an amazing musician and I would’ve loved to see his reaction.
He heard it as he entered the next world, whether or not he heard it in this one. It is the sound of angels. Angels arguing with devils and turning them back to the light
@hannah6505... i'm 57 years old and my daughter is 20. We've always had a strong connection through music and, in stumbling upon your comment here, I just wanted to send you some peace and light. Sounds like you had a very beautiful relationship. Hope you're healing from the loss.
Im so sorry for your loss. Music is something so special to bond over and I hope with my whole heart and soul that he heard it. This makes me cry for you. Like fr, my heart just broke and I'm in tears thinking about this for you and literally want to hug a stranger from the internet. I promise you he's with you. You may already know that. Call him to you, and if you feel him, tell him you want to play it for him and then play it. He'll hear it. Sending you sm love. My dad passed recently too, and we both play guitar and we had a little bond through that.
Your dad was a dude! He raised someone cool enough to send him something so accomplished for his deathbed!? I bet the relaxation of it all, just sent him peacefully……….. “Ah…….! My work is good.”
Radiohead's music is like a landscape. Every flower, blade of grass and mountain is perfect and you can look at each of them individually if you choose to - but it's the cumulative effect that washes over you.
Facts their music is organic always changing evolving and pushing to new heights. The planet has its own rules and laws and is rich and ever living. Straight magic IMHO
The cool thing about Radiohead is they were able to have some huge hits early in their career which gave them the financial freedom to really explore their art as musicians and performs. This song is an example of this freedom and exploration, which has made them the Outstanding band they are. Artist in the highest sense.
There are a shit tonne of "legacy" bands that have had hits early in their career and could have went on to do unique stuff but havent. Radiohead are simply in a league of their own and it has nothing to do with how successful they were early. They just took the step to be different
@@dorkknight42 I think they're saying the early success gave them the financial freedom to pursue innovative music, not that the success itself was instrumental to their creativity or genius.
If you want to have this same experience again here are some songs: Paranoid Android (OK Computer), Pyramid Song (Amnesiac) and Jigsaw Falling Into Place (In Rainbows)
The Bloom video on TH-cam with Hans Zimmer is like a having a religious experience. Also Reckoner is phenomenal, especially Jonnys lemon playing skills
@@karinastafford7131 will forever be an advocate for bloom. their ‘from the basement’ performance of it is probably in my top 3 favorite radiohead live performances of all time
This is such a joy to watch. It feels like hearing Radiohead again for the first time through your ears. When you get to the lyrics you will understand that this isn’t only a dreamscape.. it’s an underwater dreamscape. In the modal textures and in the voicing of the chords, they paint fluid underwater images. Is it a stretch to imagine their arpeggios as so much vertical seaweed swaying? In a way similar to, say, Part of Your World from Little Mermaid or Sad Stephen’s Song by Duncan Sheik. One of the strengths of radioheads compositions is that they are synesthetic, simultaneously aural and visual, in a way that has always been so shocking to me.
As someone who is 39 years old and has been to jail multiple times for minor misdemeanors like possessing pot or trespassing to swim in a swimming pool (it was a holiday so the gym was closed and i cant go without swimming), I can say that this is above what I would even expect while in a jail or processing area.
Radoihead's catalogue is amongst the finest in rock music history. Conceptually, technically and finally deeply emotional connectivity. They have it all.
always thought of them as the beatles of the 90/2000s. I say this as a huge nirvana fan too haha. My nostalgia might be biasing me but hearing OK computer in 9th grade changed my life as a musician and a person
"Nude" was perfect to lift up the veil. "Weird Fishes" is excellent to discover their dynamic qualities, both rythmically and melodically. I think "Pyramid Song" captures their dreaminess in words. It is a challenging one, but loved by most, once you get it. At 14:33 you wonder who/how they write their songs just when you have the most complementary duo, Thom and Johnny, in the frame. If you want to feel their comforting melancholic vibes, go to "How to disappear completely". Musical madness with "Paranoid Android" and etherical bliss with "Reckoner". Also please note that although this 'from the basement' performence is excellent, their album sound is astounding as well. "Everything in its right place" is a fine example. Very interesting approach to reacting to Radiohead, man!
I don't play music. I just know how much I love Radiohead. I don't know the truth you're speaking behind the music theory, I just know the truth in my heart. I'm not watching this to learn the theory either, but to watch you fall in love with them. You tapped into a new audience you probably never intended to. Radiohead is so beautiful.
The best part of all this was your question at the end about how did they find each other... They all come from Abingdon in Oxfordshire which is a very small town south of Oxford. It's not some bustling metropolis where the likelihood of finding like-minded highly skilled bandmates is undoubtedly higher. It's a small parochial English town that has been around for nearly a thousand years. A place where the town tradition is throwing buns from the town hall roof when there's a Royal event. And it gave us Radiohead. 5 astoundingly creative and innovative musicians. All at once.
I am a gigantic Radiohead fan and this is my favourite Radiohead song. To have someone who loves music and the details and the complexities of it do a detailed analysis like this if it, is basically better than Christmas and a birthday combined. Thank you 😊🙏 I hope you will notice Johnny's live sampling when we get to it. 😁 Radiohead have been playing since they were young teenagers together. They were very lucky to go on so long together. I think they just have magic. Jonny the guitarist with the sampling and the genius things is an academy award nominee for best classic soundtrack. He has serious training and has even made his own computer program to get the sounds he want. So yeah, a lot of what you hear is him, together with Thoms great song writing skills and the others ability to put on just the perfect parts on their instruments. 😍 Welcome to this journey. It usually takes me about a few months to get past the guitars and then move other to other instruments and then eventually the lyrics. Every song keeps giving for years. Good lyrics... Exit music for a film, Let down, Present tense, Glass eyes,and Videotape are up there for me.
I love this comment so much and I feel exactly the same about this song. I heard this live at Malahide Castle in 2010 (i think!). It was magical live. x
Yep! I didn't really find them until 2018. I mean i always liked them. But rhats when i out full albums on, by mysel etc.. Haven't looked back since. One of those bands j could listen tk over and over everyday as it's so unique.
This is by far the best TH-cam video I've watched in a long time. As a lifelong Radiohead fan (almost pre-fame, small room 500 person venues), and having had a love affair with them for ever, watching you (who I only just discovered) - discover them and fall in love with them is so heart warming. I don't understand your technical musicology, but I love to watch you unpick it (or try to) and talk about what you're hearing. It's making me fall in love with Radiohead for a second time. Thanks for your channel. You've got a new fan, right here.
Please, please, please make a series of videos, or a whole new TH-cam account if necessary, where we get to watch you listen to and connect with every Radiohead song in their entire back catalogue. All of your first time listens. Please grant us that joy! 💗🛸😍🌟
I love how towards the end, after they come back from "picked over by the worms and weird fishes," Michael's face changes and he kinda of stops trying to make sense of what's happening. I LOVE that about this song.
Lyrics for anyone curious: [Verse 1] In the deepest ocean The bottom of the sea Your eyes They turn me Why should I stay here? Why should I stay? [Verse 2] I'd be crazy not to follow Follow where you lead Your eyes They turn me Turn me into phantoms (Way out) I follow to the edge (Way out) Of the earth (Way out) And fall off Yeah, everybody leaves (Way out) If they get the chance (Way out) And this (Way out) Is my chance [Chorus] I get eaten by the worms And weird fishes Picked over by the worms And weird fishes Weird fishes Weird fishes [Outro] Yeah, I I hit the bottom Hit the bottom and escape Escape I I hit the bottom Hit the bottom and escape Escape
So what's actually happening here, now that I can hear it clearly in stereo, is that you have two guitarists playing conflicting patterns of 8th notes. In the right speaker, you have one guitarist playing a series of 10-note repeating patterns. In the left speaker, you have another guitarist playing these moving 3-note arpeggios. All 8th notes, but beginning and ending at different times. Then, at the bridge, the guitarist in your left speaker moves over to the electric piano, where he continues playing 3-note patterns (a different one this time though) as the singer picks up a guitar and plays yet a third 3-note pattern. After the break, the guitarist in the left speaker returns with a droning e-bow melody with a pitch shifter. The singer plays the prominent melody on his guitar (panned center) and the guitarist in the right speaker is now using some kind of time warping/looping pedal to generate what sounds like a sped-up and backwards sample of the earlier 10-note repeating patterns. Gonna go put on some Bob Seger now or something, give my ears some rest
Bingo good job and not everything they make is like this but their entire calalog is filled with interesting ideas and there are a lot of good songs and melodies at the core. I think they are like my generations Beatles in that every album is so different from the previous ones but it is still their sound in a way. Check out this whole basement session and the other more out there (even more proggy?) one for The King Of Limbs they are both so great.
To be fair Thom is a bit more than a voice. But then the same could be said about all of them and still (somehow) SO SO SOSOSOSOSO Underrated. Someone said above that they're one of the best bands of the last 30 years - pretty hard to argue with that.
I am no musician so I have no idea what is going on. All I know is that this is one of my favorite songs that I have heard. It is a gotdamn portal to another dimension! The entire In The Basement performance of In Rainbows should be saved and protected so that it survives the apocalypse.
I’m pretty sure these guys are time travelers. Their music doesn’t just improve with age, it feels like some of it shouldn’t have existed at all at the time of its original recording. Some of their songs made absolutely no sense to me until years later, almost as if my brain wasn’t mature enough to handle them at the time. This is the vibe that kids rock out to in 2050. Just for fun, let’s see what the public thinks of it in 2007. The raw emotions that hit me with their music are brand new to my system. The combination of tension, anxiety, frustration, despair and grief mixed with love, eternal bliss, new beginnings, positivity and hope all intertwined. They take you on a journey that can be uncomfortable at times but so worth it in the end. You become your better self just by listening and absorbing. Wow. The power of Radiohead. Pure genius!!
We bow to the absolute musical genius of Johny Greenwood and lyrical and illustrative scene-painting of Thom Yorke. This song (and particularly the lyrics) has always made me feel like riding a massive ocean current from one side of the word to the other…passing coral reefs, deep sea trenches, shipping lanes...gorgeous, big and me revealing in my happy insignificance. There was an interview that Thom Yorke gave after OK Computer was released in ‘97 where he said that they wanted Air Bag to “feel like a car crash” and for No Surprises to “sound like a child’s toy” and that it was great that people picked up on that. I’ve looked at the band in a very impressionist light ever since - focusing on what the theme and feel conjures up.
Yeah it’s like he perfectly verbalized the way I feel about the music better than I ever could or even thought about that deeply. I was laughing too in amazement.
All the confused faces are when Jonny decides to go off and do his own thing, whilst Ed just stays with what they both started at the beginning, that's what makes this song unique.
What amazes me about these Basement performances is how they recreate this music live....if you watch Bloom it's so.incredinly complex...but they manage it.
In Rainbows is one of the top 10 best albums of all time, no question.... Maybe even top 5. Everything song is perfectly positioned on the album, the production is 100% perfection and the music is 100% perfect. Cry every time I listen to it front to back. Agree?
100%, especially the crying part. Every time I think I’m good when I make it through Nude with dry eyes, then I hear “becaaaause we seeeparaaaate like RIPPLES on a blaaaAaaank shooore” and I I’m toast
I was just about to say, the emotions that well up listing to this song in particular and Nude... so powerful. I know that there has been turmoil in my life and I listen to this album in the dark and just melt into the chair I'm in.
More! This whole set blew my mind. I always thought they were doing everything with crazy studio tricks, and then I saw this and nope, they're just effing wizards.
Took me a long time to figure out what made Radiohead special. It used to be that Thom's voice was a hurdle for me to get over and kind of wrote them off for a long time. Their music is so diverse and complex, I can see how they appeal to musicians, such as myself. They are one of those bands that don't always appeal at first listen, but over time they grow on you.
The fact that I can watch a musicians brain melt as he listen to this song, makes me feel like I am not alone as I listen to this song❤Thank you RadioHead
My favourite part of this video is at 8:02 where you seem to stop trying to figure it out and just enjoy the ride. One of my all-time favourite Radiohead songs, really blissful. As for the lyrics, my own take is that marine biologists find that the deeper you go in the ocean the weirder the fishes. Maybe that's how it is with human emotions, the deeper you go the weirder things get.
They are friends from prep school/art school. The turning point in their sound from early albums to the later recordings was an incorporation in of electronic music (ambient, drum and bass, even dub). This was they can incorporate in more jazz and rhythmic textures than a traditional rock band. I also hear a lot of television in the divergent guitar lines. Glad to hear you are getting it!
The thing about their influences is that they all have drastically different backgrounds and inspirations. Phil's solo work sounds folk-adjacent, Thom dj's and is very much an edm/idm/hiphop fan, Johnny writes and conducts orchestral music, Ed's album was like some 70's Latin-American funk/soul, and I dont believe Collin has much solo work but I do believe it was him that was wanting hiphop producer Dr. Dre to produce Kid A. Quite the variety.
It was just a relatively “normal” UK private secondary boys school (although I get that being private and for boys only makes it a bit less “normal”! 🤔😜). It wasn’t an art school and it wasn’t a “prep school” (in the UK that’s a school for up to 13 year olds and these guys were older than that when they formed the precursor to Radiohead together).
I absolutely love seeing someone who is so proficient in their knowledge and understanding of music hearing something for the very first time and being blown away by it. The expressions on your face and look in your eyes just made me laugh and smile so much. I've never seen you so dumbfounded, flabbergasted, and discombobulated at a song before and it's brilliant to see. I thank you wholeheartedly for bringing those emotions back to me as a Radiohead fan and appreciator of music.
I'm having an uncanny feeling right now because I discovered this channel just half an hour ago and I was immediately hooked after your Radiohead video, told myself "I wish there was more of it" and refreshed the page. Great job on knowing what your audience wants! I'm stoked to watch more :) Edit: I love how you gave up at some point and just accepted Radiohead as it is lol. As for the new song suggestion, "jigsaw falling into place" is my fav song by them, probably followed by "paranoid android" which kinda changed my whole point of view aboout music, I didn't know music could be so free!
oh my god i am so jealous of everyone who just discovered raidohead...and how many more beautiful songs they will hear and enjoy...so jealous. if only I could forget them and hear them again for the first time, how nice that would be
Not a musician but “In Rainbows” is my fav album ever. Weird fishes might be my fav song on that album. Without understanding the complexity it has such a consistent drum groove that I get lost in while the layered guitars wash over me. I never ever get sick of it. Watching you break it down gives me a whole new way to appreciate something that I already appreciate so much. Do the whole Radiohead catalog.
In Rainbows is a masterpiece. Light some candles or dim the lights, alone or with someone you love. Listen from start to finish. It’s truly a transcendent experience.
I think the key to understanding this song is listening to the studio recording. Then listen to the live versions and see how the band members almost improvise with the layers of arpeggiated guitars.
Maybe my favorite moment in any TH-cam video. You’re having a really good go of figuring out what’s going on, then around 8:04 just stop, eyes get glassy, and let the song move you. Absolutely amazing
The layering of arpeggios at different points of the chord; each of the three guitar players accenting at different points adds to your idea of soundscaping…more times than not…this is done in the studio and not live…the greatness of Radiohead…
For me the reason why Radiohead’s music is so complicated and yet so fascinating and mystic is because of its astrological structure. Every instrument can be seen as a planet with its own quality orbiting around the sun in its own tempo. Instruments would clash or connect with other instruments depending on how their qualities align and their position with each other. The music fits because all instruments orbit around the same sun: every instrument has the same intention and meaning. For me this became most clear when dancing on the song Videotape. It feels like being pulled apart by the different instruments and rhythms. Although astrology has a bad reputation of being superficial, it does aim to explain the complicated dynamics which are part of our lives. We also move at different rates and we are also different in our own way. And yet we also are moving in the same direction and we feel connected. This perspective explains why Radiohead’s music feels to have so much space: there is! Because the instruments are not playing the same rhythm it does not feel like a crowded bus. Each instrument is like a planet moving through its own space.
It's really nice that the first thing commented on is Phil Selway's drumming. Man is a machine. I've never listened to one of his lines and felt an inexplicable urge to play it, but I want just a fraction of his ability to keep time. They can be messing about with so much variation in the song and he's just... there, keeping the rhythm where it's supposed to be. The guitars and vocal melodies wander and you feel like you're floating in a dreamscape, and then there's a transition to bridge or chorus, and everything aligns with the drums and it's like stars exploding.
This video is amazing. I'm a drummer and a massive Radiohead fan. I can understand how you can't even begin to play the guitar. The second the song starts you just listen, it paralyzes you. You can't do anything except listen. This is exactly how they play live no matter the size of the space. The timing is always dead on.
I very much want to keep you going down the Radiohead rabbit hole. For the next one, I think you should do How To Dissappear Completely. It's Thom Yorke's favorite Radiohead song (mine too) and fits right into that "let's look at the lyrics this time" vibe you're looking for that you mentioned at the end of this vid. It was written during or about a nervous breakdown Thom had when they first got massive fame. Cheers!
This is not my favorite song of theirs, but you are right that it is an excellent choice for the next video and specifically the lyrics. Great suggestion.
Its fun trying to watch someone so talented like Micheal trying to deconstruct natural perfection. It's why i'm introducing my young teens to this amazing music, as now its so base and computerized for them. Cannot dissect genius it is often impossible.
"Like a metronome" is a fantastic way to describe Phil Selway. He's an absolutely incredible drummer, and I love that he's one of those drummers who, like Glenn Kotche and others, have raised drumming from "merely" timekeeping to its own artistry.
'How To Disappear Completely' would be a fantastic song to react to. So trance-like and beautiful. I'd like to hear you give some insight as to why what they play has such an effect on the listener.
I agree but he is not giung to really feel the emotional impact of the song if he keeps stopping it I think a more groovt tune like Jigsaw Falling In To Place might be better.
19:50 I love that you worked out from this song that they must be ‘childhood friends … or complete strangers’ They met and started playing together in school, had their first hits right out of uni; this song is an evolution from their original dynamic.
They all graduated from college except for Johnny (the "lead" guitarist and keyboards who is the bass players younger brother). Johnny was at Oxford learning guitar under Iggy Pop's guitarist. He left school early to join the band. It has paid off. Johnny has also won a Grammy for a score he did for a movie.
Weird Fishes is a song where the guitars don't make sense, because they are the environment. We are in an adventure on the deep ocean, the arpeggi is the life moving and behaving on itself, the kelp moving and flowing without a pattern; because life is unpredictable, and you can't just know where it is. The drums keep our time moving foward, the bass give us context, and the vocals are our guide through this strange adventure with these weird fishes.
Watching johnnys riffs blow this dudes mind is so gratifying to see. I also don’t understand how he’s so good and plays the way he does. A wholly unique musician we are lucky to have in our world
Live version of Paranoid Android on ‘Later…With Jools Holland’. There are three weird mic artefact noises on Thom’s mic that you can clearly ignore, but it’s one of the very best live performances of one of the best songs I’ve ever seen and heard. It will blow your mind.
When it comes to the bands zenith, for me I always find my way back to OK Computer. It would be awesome to have Michael's input on that album, Airbag and Paranoid Android would be my top picks :) Lyrically speaking as well!
It's like witnessing an epiphany!! My favourite band for almost 30 years, so the stunned and wonderous expressions on your face made me quite emotional! Best Radiohead reaction I've seen. Very genuine. I sincerely hope you continue down this path. We'll gladly walk it with you.
Great reaction from Michael! His remark, _"I'm in a dreamscape,"_ was spot-on. They paint with music. Brilliant artists. Also, watch the young musician and hip hop fan Caveman Jack react to _Kid A_ - the Radiohead album he hilariously picked at random for his first experience of the band. It's a delight.
"I'm gonna lose my shit." LOL! Holy Fuck, when this song breaks out (into "Arpeggi?"), it takes off like a rocket. What a transition; so propulsive! I love the sound of them breaking thru all that mechanical precision. Can't think of anyone more qualified to deconstruct Radiohead than Michael! As he says, most bands use drums to anchor the rhythm and propel it forward. Radiohead, on the other hand, prioritizes harmonic & melodic interplay over rhythm. As a result, their drummer is purely mathematical; in fact, it's hard to imagine anyone conceiving that tempo prior to the advent of the drum machine - something that renders rhythmic interplay nearly impossible. (Check out Jojo Mayer for the ultimate in mathematical drumming!) Joy Division borrows from the same playbook, e.g., in their live take of "She's Lost Control," and "Transmission." However, the main difference btw them and Radiohead is Joy Division's instruments fall, mechanically, into lockstep w/ the beat. Radiohead, on the other hand - as Michael points out - uses drums as a foundation to elicit harmonic & melodic exploration, rather than a rhythmic one; a unique way to structure a song, provided you have the musicians to pull it off (as Radiohead clearly does!)
Its interesting what they do to get that guitar texture in the beginning. This was actually the first song from Radiohead a friend showed me years back and the way he sold me on it was showing me the cool thing they did with the guitars. The guitars are playing regular 8th notes and the pattern is a 3 note grouping. Both guitars start playing in unison. but before long Johnny Greenwood breaks off into a new pattern which is still regular 8th notes but in a 5 note grouping. So they parts line up different every time while at the same time still changing chords right on beat with the bass line. Brilliant part writing!
I’ve only met two other people in my life that love Radiohead as much as I do. I am always surprised that there are other people that understand how great they are.
So well articulated. Even as a huge Radiohead fan, the first time I hear an album I always think, "Yep, this sounds like Radiohead". Then, as I listen to the album over the years, I always find things that I have never heard before. The In Rainbows album is a perfect album, it may take you 4 or 5 listens to compute what you have just heard, but the album is perfect. You can tell they really care about every single note.
Watching the reaction of a first time listener of In Rainbows is incredible. Such a life changing album. The more times you listen, the more parts jump out at you, very captivating. The lyrics will blow you away. I find their main ideas revolve around politics. Thanks for doing these.
The 8 min point … the smile and joy of hearing this song, giving up to its mastery and just enjoying as opposed to trying to pick out aspects. The ultimate sign of a masterpiece on a first hearing.
I always come back to this reaction, because there are so few of them. This is a symphony for 3 electric guitars, one bass guitar and one metronome drum 🙂 It is something special..well its radiohead..
The wonderful thing about Radiohead is the approach to writing changes with each album. Never standing still, yet remaining interesting and relevant, is so rare.
As a fan of Radiohead from the 90's - I can't help but say I was having so much fun watching them rip your brain apart. :D I believe that, like many of the classic bands, they are a generational group. They change so much, but the heart and the ability is so in the forefront of their music. And don't worry - if you want groove, just listen to some back catalogue... it's there. Everything is there.
Remember boys and girls, this masterpiece of an album was released as “pay what you want” incredible…
Really?!
@@Guitargate Yup they were the first major band to do it. And even with that model the album made more from digital sales than digital sales of all previous Radiohead albums combined according to Thom
@@Guitargate They pretty much invented the pay model and proved it could work. They put the album up for free on the internet and let people pay what they want if they wanted. I think the average was ~$5.
I still feel bad about only paying $7 for the download. I purchased the vinyl, though.
@@Guitargate Yep! Was released for digital download and was any donation you wanted to make. People on average paid a few $
My new favorite phenomenon in life is watching people who somehow missed Radiohead hear Radiohead songs for the first time. It’s magical.
Can you imagine being able to give your virgin ears that experience again???
yes, the fact that you yourself can't live through that once again, but can somehow empathise to a level with someone else doing that - is great
Literally all ive done for years . Things with 3 views pop up straight away on my youtube cos ive searched so much. Just watched a young american listening to ok computer for the first time. Im obsessed 😍
I’m having that awakening now with Radiohead. 🤩✨❤️
It’s really interesting that you brought up Tool, because I think there are a lot of similarities between them and Radiohead. Great comparison.
This was mostly written by Johnny Greenwood (they guy playing the keyboard). He is a full on composer, writing orchestral music and he has done the scores for movies like There Will Be Blood and The Master. This song originally started as one of his orchestral compositions titled Arpeggi that they then adapted for the band. So it sounds so complex and layered because the original was intended to be played by an entire orchestra, and somehow they condensed it down to be played by their 5 person guitar band.
Agree, The Soundtrack for 'Norwegian Wood' that he composed is a masterpiece as well
Johnny is a genius
From my favorite band radiohead to my favorite director and my favorite films of all time, the master and let there be blood!! Who is the constant, the f**king genius johnny greenwood!
@@flaminguo There Will Be Blood.
I’ve seen them at least 10 times. Amazing, but not as good as ween
"It's not that it's complicated, it's just not where my brain thinks it is."
Welcome to Radiohead ❤
Radiohead truly is a universe in & of itself
Exactly!
Seriously.
exactly. I commented above that this song in particular is one you should let ride a little longer before stopping to dissect it.
please do jigsaw falling into place
Dude im so happy to see a musician who never dove into or "understood" Radiohead dive into Radiohead. They are truly the greatest band of the last 30 years.
Exactly. I am so about these variables
I concur.
I would say maybe the most creative band, but not the greatest because that’s a very subjective qualification.
Ever since the release of OK Computer I've always said Radiohead is the Pink Floyd of my generation.
Completely agree no one comes close!
"I feel like I am in a dreamscape and I'm not sure where the center is." - The best description of Radiohead I've ever heard and he does it on contact. Fucking phenomenal
I almost don’t believe this was the first time he listened to it but I’m sure it is
Yes! ✨⚡️🫠
Yeah. I agree
For some reason watching this guy be completely baffled by Radiohead's music is one of life's simple pleasures.
same here
Experiencing great art for the first time is such an amazing feeling
Hahaha you said "watch them be childhood friends" and thats exactly what they are. Radiohead has had the exact same members since they were teenagers in english boarding school. Nobody has ever left the band or been replaced. It's incredible honestly
Yeah! I loved that too!
It’s unbelievable. After 30 years of loving them I’m still stunned by the massive karmic, cosmic alignment that must have happened to bring 5 guys together who are this good, and all geniuses in their own right, but collectively beyond verbal description - AT SCHOOL.
@@kirkwarburton2277 Truth is, it wasn't the meeting of 5 masters, it was 5 passionate guys who all pushed each other to be masters, any of them would just be regular people on their own, but together they improved their craft and pushed each other to all become legends.
Actually, back when they were called On a Friday there was another member before Johnny joined in iirc.
But yeah, as Radiohead, they've always been the same.
@ddplzz. Agreed! Although it’s still amazing that they all that maestro potential, not all do.
@andremartinez Yes it’s funny, Jonny was trying to get in on his older brother’s band, playing the recorder at first😂 Damn good job they saw fit to get him in properly.
The key to figuring out the rhythmic center to any Radiohead song is to just watch Thom's head bob. Thom's head is essentially a biologic metronome.
And if that fails, look at Colin.
@@aperturius I frankly think Selway is just following the head bob.
Lmao😂😂😂
That was great
hahaha so true!!
there is no RYTHM in radiohead. they do whatever the fuck they want and it works
The drummer is Phil Selway. Basically a human metronome with insane, super-crisp and accurate chops. This song is bananas, the band is bananas, and I’m so glad you’re discovering the majesty that is Radiohead. One of my all-time favorite bands.
I’m glad he didn’t think that Philip’s in-ears might have been a click track, because he does not need one. You’re right that he is a human metronome!
@@EarleMonroethere probably is a click running through all their in ear monitors to keep it all together. Particularly in the section where he drops out. Don't get me wrong, Phil is a genius.
I think that’s actually Clive Deamer in the video, he was their second drummer starting in 2011 sayeth google 🤘 Phil Selway is a human metronome but so much more with his range of styles (Myxomatosis and Amazing Sounds’v Orgy etc) drums are my instrument. Johnny Greenwood is their 3rd drummer because he can play just about anything.
@@Julian.Castro nah, it’s all body language, they just do multiple takes, Thom is the perfectionist who probably drives them a bit crazy but makes them great. But… on Bloom live from the basement (much better than album version btw) you can just barely make out an electronic metronome sound, and that’s a very complex song with 3 drum parts, 2 syncopated, bassline and vocals, but the sound could just be a product of Thom’s guitar rhythm which is just a real bendy gcgcgcgcgcgc with echo (maybe not those two notes but it sounds like it 😂)
@@bryankelly3647 That’s definitely Phil and not Clive. This was recorded and released in 2008. But I was curious about Phil’s in-ears, and the guys at The King of Gear (who know WAY more than most about all the gear RH uses) say that Phil never uses a click. Ed said in an interview once that they had one small recorded bit on one tour, out of 60-70 songs they’d practiced for the tour. It might’ve been the glitchy percussion on 15 Step (pre-Clive because he plays it now) but Ed didn’t specify. TKOL basement show may have had recorded parts since that album is so sample heavy, but in general they create everything live each night. Someone has probably cataloged different live versions of songs and the tempos they played at on different night. There are some seriously obsessed Radiohead fans out there
The arpeggiation is purposefully random. Like when the sun sparkles on a lake. It's a texture that can't be achieved by writing out notes, only by deciding on behaviors. Very modern way of creating.
Thoughtful.
Love your analogy. Sweet
Like sparkles on a lake 😭stoooop I love how your mind thinks. If you write, whatever it is, I'd read it. 🥺❤🔥
In an interview they said 'Pointillism', the painting technique where you only use small dots, was an inspiration for this song. Your analogy is on point.
When the sun sparkles on a lake. Yes!
When I was learning to play guitar, I went to my teacher one day and said "I think I"m done". He asked what I meant and I said "I just can't do this anymore". He dug deeper and asked what changed my mind since I was learning quite quickly. I explained that I listened to "In Rainbows" album and decided that I will never be able to compose anything like what I had heard, between Bodysnatchers or Jigsaw, I'd never be able to.... I'm done. He laughed and said "Jesus man... it's f'n Radiohead. What type of standard are you learning to? Your very first song you learned was Karma Police. Shut up and get back to practice. Nobody's going to be Radiohead except Radiohead".
It was good advice, I still play. I still can't arrange like them. I'm ok with that.
To me the two guitar arpeggios overlapping and clashing so vividly remind me of the ripples on the surface of the ocean, and how light refracts through water. So god damn creative and beautiful it hurts.
EXACTLY the metaphor that I think of when they do that polyrhythm (polymelody?).
It also applies a bit to Let Down.
The part was the stop before the breakdown always reminds me of water splashing on the ground that quickly settles.
Awesome visual to describe the sound. Also goes with the lyrics on reckoner. "Because we separate like ripples on a blank shore"
Also goes with the title too lol. 🐠 🐟
I experience it as a journey into deeper and deeper water, murky at first until suddenly a wonderful tapestry of sea-life reveals itself, but I love yours too!
They always made me think of bubbles.
12:57 "I feel like I'm using a different part of my brain"
Every Radiohead fan: Yes!
exactly, im just paralyzed listening to it. every time they come on, this song particularly, i have to just sit cause they somehow make you use every part of your sense with just sound.
Soooo true!
The *dopamine* that I get from Radiohead is unmatched. My favorite band since like 5 years old lol
"...its not there my brain is?
I think we have a new mmber or the Radiohead familiy.
Welcome Michael :)
your generation can no longer write a whole sentence…
Weird Fishes is my favorite song ever. My ears and brain will never understand how such a beauty was created
Agreed. It’s just beyond comprehension that something so beautiful was created. I’d love to see a brain scan of myself or anyone listening to this. Just to see how many parts of the brain light up. It just makes me feel so euphoric. “Let Down” had been my favorite until I heard this.
I have “I hit the bottom and escape” with the amnesiac Minotaur tattooed on my arm.
It’s my favorite tattoo. Radiohead is my favorite band of all time and it was always the favorite of two of my best friends who passed away about a year apart.
Also it means two things in reference to my life. It can either mean “I hit rock bottom of addiction and got clean and escaped” or “I hit the bottom of my mental health and ended it”
It reminds me that I have a choice.
The entire album is perfection
Fr stick my headphones on and just submerge into it. Blissful.
Reaction wise, this is my favorite MP video. His looks are priceless
17:20 "get the fuck out of here.."
17:30 "Imma 'bout to lose my shit"
18:04 brain implosion, shit officially lost 😂
And then proceeds to just sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride.
Almost like he's done trying to analyse ----- and become a fan.
I'm cackling like a witch haha
I think he's trying to work out how Jonny is making those sounds - it's a delay pedal with a reverse setting
😂😂😂
Once he said "I'm gonna lose my shit" and went back once, I was eagerly anticipating his reaction to the last segment. And he just gave up and listened to the chaos like a regular person lol.
The guitar layering in this song is some of my favorite ever. Michael, you should really just listen to the entirety of the “In Rainbows” album because it’s a masterpiece.
Best album of all time. Both discs!
@@the_oslovian It's not even Radioheads best album. It's a masterpiece though. Gotta be Kid A or AMSP though. In Rainbows is an easier listen for sure. AMSP is so gorgeous though its insane
@@shankrl1 I agree that AMSP is indeed much more heart wrenching and beautiful, but in Rainbows have it all, a song for everything.
Yeah, In Rainbows may not be their career peak, but there’s something about that album that makes it my go-to, more than any other. It’s an absolute delight, especially when it really was kind of under the radar at the time!
I love it but its no OK Computer or Kid A.
Where they build to where Ed O'Brien comes in with his backing vocals is one of my favorite moments in recorded music.
Ed is sooo awesome in this song! They all are, of course.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDD
Ed's background vocals are so underrated. Sometimes he sounds _just like_ Thom. It's uncanny. Jonny Greenwood is amazing and flashy, but I feel like Ed is the glue that holds the band together.
i had the privilege of meeting Ed one night and telling him almost exactly that.
@@reesebeeman8446 omg that's awesome man, what did he say to you?
I love the moment at about 8:15 where you just give up and listen in. It's a complex matrix of sound all blended to a unit
Gives me goosebumps ❤
The smile on his face says it all 😂
I’m a music teacher in a rock band performance program and we’re doing weird fishes this weekend! Putting it together is a challenge but these kids are nailing the feeling and navigating this chaotic landscape beautifully! You’re right though, we did not break out the one page chord charts for this one. The three guitar players have pages and pages of notes. But you know what’s cool? The kids that chose this group really love Radiohead. The people who like music like this find eachother somehow and now there’s a new generation reverse engineering it, can’t wait to see what these kids do next fueled with the lessons infused in learning this song and playing it live
My son at age 14 comes to me and says, "Dad, I've got to tell you something. I've really got a problem..."
Oh God, what can this be...?
"I only want to listen to Radiohead."
*sighs*
"Son, we've all been there, and some of us never come out the other side..."
Still, it shows there is hope in this bleak and beautiful universe
God but I wish I could be where these kids are at in life right now 🥹
Put that on TH-cam!
@@ununderstood working on it, the school has the videos and there’s all this liability around posting the video publicly, if they ever do, it will be from an official account owned by the school, but if it happens, I’ll try to remember to post a link here. They killed it at their show, I was so proud!!
Also side note, the first song I ever wrote, recorded and mixed on my own was called “understood”
You're going to be told by about 100,000 comments "You really should do a video on How To Disappear Completely". And all 100,000 of those comments are correct. That song is effing majestic. Like straight-up timeless composition.
Yes, Thom Yorke said it was his favorite song, without hesitation.
True facts.
Totally agree - and just to call out the fact that a knowledgeable guy called Barnaby Martin has published an a remarkable video essay analysis of "How To Disappear Completely" on his @ListeningIn channel. His detailed analysis of the complex harmonies & structure from a composition perspective reveals the hidden beauty and power of this unique RH masterwork th-cam.com/video/o4MIxTm0FWQ/w-d-xo.html
Yeah but it's not really a "guitar song" for a guy that does mostly guitar(from what I've seen). I personally feel like he would have more fun with a song like "Body Snatchers", or "Just".
But at the same I do love "How to disappear completely". Just not sure if it's right for this channel.
@@SR91313 body snatchers and just are great ones for sure.
just had another listen to There There, and that'd be a good one too.
That feels like a real smile. He can't believe what he's hearing. This is the magic of music and Radiohead
I sent this to my dad the night before he passed and I can’t help but wonder if he ever got to listen to it. He was an amazing musician and I would’ve loved to see his reaction.
He heard it as he entered the next world, whether or not he heard it in this one. It is the sound of angels. Angels arguing with devils and turning them back to the light
I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope your holidays retain their warmth and magic. I know how challenging that can be in the shadow of grief.*hug*
@hannah6505... i'm 57 years old and my daughter is 20. We've always had a strong connection through music and, in stumbling upon your comment here, I just wanted to send you some peace and light. Sounds like you had a very beautiful relationship. Hope you're healing from the loss.
Im so sorry for your loss. Music is something so special to bond over and I hope with my whole heart and soul that he heard it. This makes me cry for you. Like fr, my heart just broke and I'm in tears thinking about this for you and literally want to hug a stranger from the internet. I promise you he's with you. You may already know that. Call him to you, and if you feel him, tell him you want to play it for him and then play it. He'll hear it. Sending you sm love. My dad passed recently too, and we both play guitar and we had a little bond through that.
Your dad was a dude! He raised someone cool enough to send him something so accomplished for his deathbed!?
I bet the relaxation of it all, just sent him peacefully………..
“Ah…….! My work is good.”
Radiohead's music is like a landscape. Every flower, blade of grass and mountain is perfect and you can look at each of them individually if you choose to - but it's the cumulative effect that washes over you.
Facts their music is organic always changing evolving and pushing to new heights. The planet has its own rules and laws and is rich and ever living. Straight magic IMHO
This is one of the most brilliant comments I've ever read. Acknowledgement.
@@blocks9609👈 I second this!!
“Watch them be like childhood best friends”
They formed the band in High School
Yep, and the two GREENWOOD boys (lead guitar/keyboards/various music making inventions & bass player) are brothers.
Recently found out i'm currently living in the same street where Thom lived...kind of like that being a massive admirer.
The cool thing about Radiohead is they were able to have some huge hits early in their career which gave them the financial freedom to really explore their art as musicians and performs. This song is an example of this freedom and exploration, which has made them the Outstanding band they are. Artist in the highest sense.
Yea! They are true artists in every sense of the word 🙌🏼
It really was a boon. The Bends was such a good "Rock Album," but it was a blessing to the world of music that they branched out.
There are a shit tonne of "legacy" bands that have had hits early in their career and could have went on to do unique stuff but havent. Radiohead are simply in a league of their own and it has nothing to do with how successful they were early. They just took the step to be different
@@dorkknight42 I think they're saying the early success gave them the financial freedom to pursue innovative music, not that the success itself was instrumental to their creativity or genius.
@@dorkknight42 Yeah, but none of those bands have Johnny Greenwood AND Thom Yorke. They are on a different level.
If you want to have this same experience again here are some songs: Paranoid Android (OK Computer), Pyramid Song (Amnesiac) and Jigsaw Falling Into Place (In Rainbows)
And Bodysnatchers and Let Down
And Bloom, my current love.
The Bloom video on TH-cam with Hans Zimmer is like a having a religious experience. Also Reckoner is phenomenal, especially Jonnys lemon playing skills
@@karinastafford7131 will forever be an advocate for bloom. their ‘from the basement’ performance of it is probably in my top 3 favorite radiohead live performances of all time
Pyramid song, their best song.
This is such a joy to watch. It feels like hearing Radiohead again for the first time through your ears. When you get to the lyrics you will understand that this isn’t only a dreamscape.. it’s an underwater dreamscape. In the modal textures and in the voicing of the chords, they paint fluid underwater images. Is it a stretch to imagine their arpeggios as so much vertical seaweed swaying? In a way similar to, say, Part of Your World from Little Mermaid or Sad Stephen’s Song by Duncan Sheik. One of the strengths of radioheads compositions is that they are synesthetic, simultaneously aural and visual, in a way that has always been so shocking to me.
Also fun to hear groups of eleven notes in a row… so fluid how all the parts come and go
As someone who is 39 years old and has been to jail multiple times for minor misdemeanors like possessing pot or trespassing to swim in a swimming pool (it was a holiday so the gym was closed and i cant go without swimming), I can say that this is above what I would even expect while in a jail or processing area.
this was beautifully written, what a wonderful description of a song that i have never come close to adequately describing in my entire life
Radoihead's catalogue is amongst the finest in rock music history. Conceptually, technically and finally deeply emotional connectivity. They have it all.
always thought of them as the beatles of the 90/2000s. I say this as a huge nirvana fan too haha. My nostalgia might be biasing me but hearing OK computer in 9th grade changed my life as a musician and a person
@Savior Money -I usually tend to say the opposite but I get your meaning👍
Amen
"Nude" was perfect to lift up the veil. "Weird Fishes" is excellent to discover their dynamic qualities, both rythmically and melodically. I think "Pyramid Song" captures their dreaminess in words. It is a challenging one, but loved by most, once you get it.
At 14:33 you wonder who/how they write their songs just when you have the most complementary duo, Thom and Johnny, in the frame.
If you want to feel their comforting melancholic vibes, go to "How to disappear completely". Musical madness with "Paranoid Android" and etherical bliss with "Reckoner".
Also please note that although this 'from the basement' performence is excellent, their album sound is astounding as well. "Everything in its right place" is a fine example. Very interesting approach to reacting to Radiohead, man!
This, all you said is spot on.
Well said! 👍They are all soooo good! I mean imagine what "burn the witch", "Street spirit" and even "Just" will put him through 😁
I was just working out how to fast track "Pyramid Song" directly to Michael.
Michael -- if you want drum texture as the key component -- Pyramid Song.
pyramid song and reckoner 100%
Reckoner would be a great song to review.
I don't play music. I just know how much I love Radiohead. I don't know the truth you're speaking behind the music theory, I just know the truth in my heart. I'm not watching this to learn the theory either, but to watch you fall in love with them. You tapped into a new audience you probably never intended to. Radiohead is so beautiful.
Absolutely! ❤
The best part of all this was your question at the end about how did they find each other...
They all come from Abingdon in Oxfordshire which is a very small town south of Oxford. It's not some bustling metropolis where the likelihood of finding like-minded highly skilled bandmates is undoubtedly higher. It's a small parochial English town that has been around for nearly a thousand years. A place where the town tradition is throwing buns from the town hall roof when there's a Royal event.
And it gave us Radiohead. 5 astoundingly creative and innovative musicians. All at once.
I am a gigantic Radiohead fan and this is my favourite Radiohead song. To have someone who loves music and the details and the complexities of it do a detailed analysis like this if it, is basically better than Christmas and a birthday combined. Thank you 😊🙏 I hope you will notice Johnny's live sampling when we get to it. 😁
Radiohead have been playing since they were young teenagers together. They were very lucky to go on so long together. I think they just have magic. Jonny the guitarist with the sampling and the genius things is an academy award nominee for best classic soundtrack. He has serious training and has even made his own computer program to get the sounds he want. So yeah, a lot of what you hear is him, together with Thoms great song writing skills and the others ability to put on just the perfect parts on their instruments. 😍 Welcome to this journey.
It usually takes me about a few months to get past the guitars and then move other to other instruments and then eventually the lyrics. Every song keeps giving for years. Good lyrics... Exit music for a film, Let down, Present tense, Glass eyes,and Videotape are up there for me.
God Vitals Videotape’s lyrics are both crushing and beautiful. I fucking love Radiohead.
I love this comment so much and I feel exactly the same about this song. I heard this live at Malahide Castle in 2010 (i think!). It was magical live. x
@@stroketheboat Thank you, now I love you a bit too, I think. ❤️ Incredible live, yes.
dude your radiohead top list is soooo like mine .
@@kapilchawlamusic thanks dude, good taste.
So happy to see that you're diving deeper in the Radiohead world. You are in for an incredible journey my friend !
shut up morn
Ditto came to say this, can’t wait to dig into to the Jerry Course too. Feel like Mike helps validate my taste in music
I wish I was new to Radiohead to discover it all all over again
Yep! I didn't really find them until 2018. I mean i always liked them. But rhats when i out full albums on, by mysel etc.. Haven't looked back since. One of those bands j could listen tk over and over everyday as it's so unique.
This is by far the best TH-cam video I've watched in a long time. As a lifelong Radiohead fan (almost pre-fame, small room 500 person venues), and having had a love affair with them for ever, watching you (who I only just discovered) - discover them and fall in love with them is so heart warming. I don't understand your technical musicology, but I love to watch you unpick it (or try to) and talk about what you're hearing. It's making me fall in love with Radiohead for a second time. Thanks for your channel. You've got a new fan, right here.
Please, please, please make a series of videos, or a whole new TH-cam account if necessary, where we get to watch you listen to and connect with every Radiohead song in their entire back catalogue. All of your first time listens. Please grant us that joy! 💗🛸😍🌟
And maybe give Bjork, Oceania a listen please, @Guitargate
Why would you pay a youtuber
Eventually the poor lad will simply be speechless
This From The Basement is one of the most magical performance I've ever streamed.
I love The King Of Limbs from the basement almost as much.
@@jameshannagan4256 Was about to make this comment. 👍
@@kingshawukee So was I! 😁😇
@@jameshannagan4256 You beat me/us to it 😉💪
I revisit that stream from time to time, magical
I love how towards the end, after they come back from "picked over by the worms and weird fishes," Michael's face changes and he kinda of stops trying to make sense of what's happening. I LOVE that about this song.
Aw man, when he starts rubbing his thumb against his cheek in bewilderment. So good lol
Lyrics for anyone curious:
[Verse 1]
In the deepest ocean
The bottom of the sea
Your eyes
They turn me
Why should I stay here?
Why should I stay?
[Verse 2]
I'd be crazy not to follow
Follow where you lead
Your eyes
They turn me
Turn me into phantoms (Way out)
I follow to the edge (Way out)
Of the earth (Way out)
And fall off
Yeah, everybody leaves (Way out)
If they get the chance (Way out)
And this (Way out)
Is my chance
[Chorus]
I get eaten by the worms
And weird fishes
Picked over by the worms
And weird fishes
Weird fishes
Weird fishes
[Outro]
Yeah, I
I hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape
I
I hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape
Love to see like WTF on your face when Johnny starts doing his weird shit on guitar at the end of the song 😂
I'm 50 years old and I've been a fan of this band since their Pablo Honey days.... their musical journey is just mesmerizing
I’m 5’ 7” and I like them too.
Same man. I remember when I first heard Creep on MTV. Been a huge fan ever since
@@pipkingdom 😂
12-11 years younger and i feel quite the same.
me too!
Watching someone completely stumble over every word while trying to explain Radiohead is completely natural.
So what's actually happening here, now that I can hear it clearly in stereo, is that you have two guitarists playing conflicting patterns of 8th notes. In the right speaker, you have one guitarist playing a series of 10-note repeating patterns. In the left speaker, you have another guitarist playing these moving 3-note arpeggios. All 8th notes, but beginning and ending at different times. Then, at the bridge, the guitarist in your left speaker moves over to the electric piano, where he continues playing 3-note patterns (a different one this time though) as the singer picks up a guitar and plays yet a third 3-note pattern. After the break, the guitarist in the left speaker returns with a droning e-bow melody with a pitch shifter. The singer plays the prominent melody on his guitar (panned center) and the guitarist in the right speaker is now using some kind of time warping/looping pedal to generate what sounds like a sped-up and backwards sample of the earlier 10-note repeating patterns. Gonna go put on some Bob Seger now or something, give my ears some rest
Bingo good job and not everything they make is like this but their entire calalog is filled with interesting ideas and there are a lot of good songs and melodies at the core. I think they are like my generations Beatles in that every album is so different from the previous ones but it is still their sound in a way. Check out this whole basement session and the other more out there (even more proggy?) one for The King Of Limbs they are both so great.
Love your concluding sentence, thank you for the laugh
Greenwood is a master musical orchestrator and Tom Yorks voice is so unique!👌🏻🙌🏻
To be fair Thom is a bit more than a voice. But then the same could be said about all of them and still (somehow) SO SO SOSOSOSOSO Underrated.
Someone said above that they're one of the best bands of the last 30 years - pretty hard to argue with that.
I am no musician so I have no idea what is going on. All I know is that this is one of my favorite songs that I have heard. It is a gotdamn portal to another dimension! The entire In The Basement performance of In Rainbows should be saved and protected so that it survives the apocalypse.
Agreed 👍🏼
I’m pretty sure these guys are time travelers. Their music doesn’t just improve with age, it feels like some of it shouldn’t have existed at all at the time of its original recording. Some of their songs made absolutely no sense to me until years later, almost as if my brain wasn’t mature enough to handle them at the time. This is the vibe that kids rock out to in 2050. Just for fun, let’s see what the public thinks of it in 2007.
The raw emotions that hit me with their music are brand new to my system. The combination of tension, anxiety, frustration, despair and grief mixed with love, eternal bliss, new beginnings, positivity and hope all intertwined. They take you on a journey that can be uncomfortable at times but so worth it in the end. You become your better self just by listening and absorbing. Wow. The power of Radiohead. Pure genius!!
I could not agree more.
YES
Indeed
The drums are the water, the guitars and lyrical melody and tone are all the fish
We bow to the absolute musical genius of Johny Greenwood and lyrical and illustrative scene-painting of Thom Yorke. This song (and particularly the lyrics) has always made me feel like riding a massive ocean current from one side of the word to the other…passing coral reefs, deep sea trenches, shipping lanes...gorgeous, big and me revealing in my happy insignificance.
There was an interview that Thom Yorke gave after OK Computer was released in ‘97 where he said that they wanted Air Bag to “feel like a car crash” and for No Surprises to “sound like a child’s toy” and that it was great that people picked up on that. I’ve looked at the band in a very impressionist light ever since - focusing on what the theme and feel conjures up.
Please do more Radiohead, Michael! It’s a joy watching you trying to figure out their songs. I’d love to see 2 + 2 = 5.
any deep dive into thief would be great
🤭
Maybe my favorite
Agree
@@manyvibes1540 why the chuckle?
Seeing somebody finally understand Radiohead brings me an otherworldly sense of joy. I couldn’t help but laugh 😂
Yeah it’s like he perfectly verbalized the way I feel about the music better than I ever could or even thought about that deeply. I was laughing too in amazement.
All the confused faces are when Jonny decides to go off and do his own thing, whilst Ed just stays with what they both started at the beginning, that's what makes this song unique.
What amazes me about these Basement performances is how they recreate this music live....if you watch Bloom it's so.incredinly complex...but they manage it.
How To Disappear Completely is by far my fav song from Radiohead and you could hear one of their best lyrics
Came here to say this.
Great song
Exquisite
In Rainbows is one of the top 10 best albums of all time, no question.... Maybe even top 5. Everything song is perfectly positioned on the album, the production is 100% perfection and the music is 100% perfect. Cry every time I listen to it front to back. Agree?
100%, especially the crying part. Every time I think I’m good when I make it through Nude with dry eyes, then I hear “becaaaause we seeeparaaaate like RIPPLES on a blaaaAaaank shooore” and I I’m toast
Often I get misty but it always packs an emotional punch that no other band does.
Arguably Radiohead has multiple albums in the top ten best albums of all. It's just down to which albums.
I personally like Ok Computer more, but its hard to find any faults with in rainbows
I was just about to say, the emotions that well up listing to this song in particular and Nude... so powerful. I know that there has been turmoil in my life and I listen to this album in the dark and just melt into the chair I'm in.
Mate, you have to react to more Radiohead. This doesn't even scratch the surface.
More! This whole set blew my mind. I always thought they were doing everything with crazy studio tricks, and then I saw this and nope, they're just effing wizards.
YOU DID IT!!!! The second you posted "I Finally Get Radiohead" this is exactly what I had going through my head! You rock Mike!
Took me a long time to figure out what made Radiohead special. It used to be that Thom's voice was a hurdle for me to get over and kind of wrote them off for a long time. Their music is so diverse and complex, I can see how they appeal to musicians, such as myself. They are one of those bands that don't always appeal at first listen, but over time they grow on you.
Radiohead is a crazy rabbit hole. And I love all of it! “The Tourist” and “How To Disappear Completely” are some of my favorite of theirs
Great choices!
Yup. Radiohead is outside the confines of language.
The fact that I can watch a musicians brain melt as he listen to this song, makes me feel like I am not alone as I listen to this song❤Thank you RadioHead
My favourite part of this video is at 8:02 where you seem to stop trying to figure it out and just enjoy the ride. One of my all-time favourite Radiohead songs, really blissful. As for the lyrics, my own take is that marine biologists find that the deeper you go in the ocean the weirder the fishes. Maybe that's how it is with human emotions, the deeper you go the weirder things get.
They are friends from prep school/art school. The turning point in their sound from early albums to the later recordings was an incorporation in of electronic music (ambient, drum and bass, even dub). This was they can incorporate in more jazz and rhythmic textures than a traditional rock band. I also hear a lot of television in the divergent guitar lines. Glad to hear you are getting it!
Also, 2 of them are brothers. Jonny and Colin Greenwood, guitar, etc. and bass respectivley.
The thing about their influences is that they all have drastically different backgrounds and inspirations. Phil's solo work sounds folk-adjacent, Thom dj's and is very much an edm/idm/hiphop fan, Johnny writes and conducts orchestral music, Ed's album was like some 70's Latin-American funk/soul, and I dont believe Collin has much solo work but I do believe it was him that was wanting hiphop producer Dr. Dre to produce Kid A. Quite the variety.
It was just a relatively “normal” UK private secondary boys school (although I get that being private and for boys only makes it a bit less “normal”! 🤔😜). It wasn’t an art school and it wasn’t a “prep school” (in the UK that’s a school for up to 13 year olds and these guys were older than that when they formed the precursor to Radiohead together).
Watching you discover this band in real time from the "In the Basement" performance is amazing! I think we all agree our minds were blown, too.
Thom Yorke NEVER fails to mind F and real musician..... and the crazy thing is how AMAZING they ALL are.
I absolutely love seeing someone who is so proficient in their knowledge and understanding of music hearing something for the very first time and being blown away by it. The expressions on your face and look in your eyes just made me laugh and smile so much. I've never seen you so dumbfounded, flabbergasted, and discombobulated at a song before and it's brilliant to see. I thank you wholeheartedly for bringing those emotions back to me as a Radiohead fan and appreciator of music.
His real-time discovery of this song takes me back to first time I heard it too 🙌🏼
I love the genre of first reaction videos for this reason.
I always learn something new from another person’s perspective on a piece of art.
I'm having an uncanny feeling right now because I discovered this channel just half an hour ago and I was immediately hooked after your Radiohead video, told myself "I wish there was more of it" and refreshed the page. Great job on knowing what your audience wants! I'm stoked to watch more :)
Edit: I love how you gave up at some point and just accepted Radiohead as it is lol. As for the new song suggestion, "jigsaw falling into place" is my fav song by them, probably followed by "paranoid android" which kinda changed my whole point of view aboout music, I didn't know music could be so free!
Oh wow, he hasn't heard paranoid Android. 😮😯🤩🙃😵💫😍
Jigsaw is my fave too!
If you try and break apart Radiohead.. you are left with a white canvas and 5 pots of paint. They live on a tier matched by very very few
oh my god i am so jealous of everyone who just discovered raidohead...and how many more beautiful songs they will hear and enjoy...so jealous. if only I could forget them and hear them again for the first time, how nice that would be
Not a musician but “In Rainbows” is my fav album ever. Weird fishes might be my fav song on that album. Without understanding the complexity it has such a consistent drum groove that I get lost in while the layered guitars wash over me. I never ever get sick of it. Watching you break it down gives me a whole new way to appreciate something that I already appreciate so much. Do the whole Radiohead catalog.
8:05 That “Oh shit” moment. I love watching people discover that Radiohead is way more than Creep.
In Rainbows is a masterpiece. Light some candles or dim the lights, alone or with someone you love. Listen from start to finish. It’s truly a transcendent experience.
I think the key to understanding this song is listening to the studio recording. Then listen to the live versions and see how the band members almost improvise with the layers of arpeggiated guitars.
Maybe my favorite moment in any TH-cam video. You’re having a really good go of figuring out what’s going on, then around 8:04 just stop, eyes get glassy, and let the song move you. Absolutely amazing
Notice and comment about the same...the precise moment when it starts to kick him ❤️
The layering of arpeggios at different points of the chord; each of the three guitar players accenting at different points adds to your idea of soundscaping…more times than not…this is done in the studio and not live…the greatness of Radiohead…
Jonny😍
For me the reason why Radiohead’s music is so complicated and yet so fascinating and mystic is because of its astrological structure. Every instrument can be seen as a planet with its own quality orbiting around the sun in its own tempo. Instruments would clash or connect with other instruments depending on how their qualities align and their position with each other. The music fits because all instruments orbit around the same sun: every instrument has the same intention and meaning. For me this became most clear when dancing on the song Videotape. It feels like being pulled apart by the different instruments and rhythms. Although astrology has a bad reputation of being superficial, it does aim to explain the complicated dynamics which are part of our lives. We also move at different rates and we are also different in our own way. And yet we also are moving in the same direction and we feel connected. This perspective explains why Radiohead’s music feels to have so much space: there is! Because the instruments are not playing the same rhythm it does not feel like a crowded bus. Each instrument is like a planet moving through its own space.
Great sentiments
It's really nice that the first thing commented on is Phil Selway's drumming. Man is a machine. I've never listened to one of his lines and felt an inexplicable urge to play it, but I want just a fraction of his ability to keep time. They can be messing about with so much variation in the song and he's just... there, keeping the rhythm where it's supposed to be. The guitars and vocal melodies wander and you feel like you're floating in a dreamscape, and then there's a transition to bridge or chorus, and everything aligns with the drums and it's like stars exploding.
This video is amazing. I'm a drummer and a massive Radiohead fan. I can understand how you can't even begin to play the guitar. The second the song starts you just listen, it paralyzes you. You can't do anything except listen.
This is exactly how they play live no matter the size of the space. The timing is always dead on.
The confusion on his face is genuine. 🤣
I very much want to keep you going down the Radiohead rabbit hole. For the next one, I think you should do How To Dissappear Completely. It's Thom Yorke's favorite Radiohead song (mine too) and fits right into that "let's look at the lyrics this time" vibe you're looking for that you mentioned at the end of this vid. It was written during or about a nervous breakdown Thom had when they first got massive fame. Cheers!
This is not my favorite song of theirs, but you are right that it is an excellent choice for the next video and specifically the lyrics. Great suggestion.
@@michaelmanville89 agree!
Agree!
Its fun trying to watch someone so talented like Micheal trying to deconstruct natural perfection. It's why i'm introducing my young teens to this amazing music, as now its so base and computerized for them. Cannot dissect genius it is often impossible.
"Like a metronome" is a fantastic way to describe Phil Selway. He's an absolutely incredible drummer, and I love that he's one of those drummers who, like Glenn Kotche and others, have raised drumming from "merely" timekeeping to its own artistry.
'How To Disappear Completely' would be a fantastic song to react to. So trance-like and beautiful. I'd like to hear you give some insight as to why what they play has such an effect on the listener.
100% Agree with the lyrics!!
Its also the song thom yorke himself said was the best thing he's ever written, without hesitation
@@utariq2 i was just gonna mention the same
I agree but he is not giung to really feel the emotional impact of the song if he keeps stopping it I think a more groovt tune like Jigsaw Falling In To Place might be better.
19:50 I love that you worked out from this song that they must be ‘childhood friends … or complete strangers’ They met and started playing together in school, had their first hits right out of uni; this song is an evolution from their original dynamic.
They all graduated from college except for Johnny (the "lead" guitarist and keyboards who is the bass players younger brother). Johnny was at Oxford learning guitar under Iggy Pop's guitarist. He left school early to join the band. It has paid off. Johnny has also won a Grammy for a score he did for a movie.
Weird Fishes is a song where the guitars don't make sense, because they are the environment.
We are in an adventure on the deep ocean, the arpeggi is the life moving and behaving on itself, the kelp moving and flowing without a pattern; because life is unpredictable, and you can't just know where it is.
The drums keep our time moving foward, the bass give us context, and the vocals are our guide through this strange adventure with these weird fishes.
Watching johnnys riffs blow this dudes mind is so gratifying to see. I also don’t understand how he’s so good and plays the way he does. A wholly unique musician we are lucky to have in our world
And such a lovely unassuming guy with it. I recommend his appearance on the Adam Buxton podcast.
Live version of Paranoid Android on ‘Later…With Jools Holland’. There are three weird mic artefact noises on Thom’s mic that you can clearly ignore, but it’s one of the very best live performances of one of the best songs I’ve ever seen and heard. It will blow your mind.
When it comes to the bands zenith, for me I always find my way back to OK Computer. It would be awesome to have Michael's input on that album, Airbag and Paranoid Android would be my top picks :) Lyrically speaking as well!
Yes sir. That performance on Jools Holland is a masterpiece 🔥
It's like witnessing an epiphany!! My favourite band for almost 30 years, so the stunned and wonderous expressions on your face made me quite emotional! Best Radiohead reaction I've seen. Very genuine. I sincerely hope you continue down this path. We'll gladly walk it with you.
Yes to all of this! Made me a bit emotional as well!
Great reaction from Michael! His remark, _"I'm in a dreamscape,"_ was spot-on. They paint with music. Brilliant artists.
Also, watch the young musician and hip hop fan Caveman Jack react to _Kid A_ - the Radiohead album he hilariously picked at random for his first experience of the band. It's a delight.
Amazing song, one of their best. Also check out the Lianne La Havas version, beautiful rendition as well.
He did the smart thing and just listened.
"I'm gonna lose my shit." LOL! Holy Fuck, when this song breaks out (into "Arpeggi?"), it takes off like a rocket. What a transition; so propulsive! I love the sound of them breaking thru all that mechanical precision.
Can't think of anyone more qualified to deconstruct Radiohead than Michael! As he says, most bands use drums to anchor the rhythm and propel it forward. Radiohead, on the other hand, prioritizes harmonic & melodic interplay over rhythm.
As a result, their drummer is purely mathematical; in fact, it's hard to imagine anyone conceiving that tempo prior to the advent of the drum machine - something that renders rhythmic interplay nearly impossible.
(Check out Jojo Mayer for the ultimate in mathematical drumming!)
Joy Division borrows from the same playbook, e.g., in their live take of "She's Lost Control," and "Transmission." However, the main difference btw them and Radiohead is Joy Division's instruments fall, mechanically, into lockstep w/ the beat.
Radiohead, on the other hand - as Michael points out - uses drums as a foundation to elicit harmonic & melodic exploration, rather than a rhythmic one; a unique way to structure a song, provided you have the musicians to pull it off (as Radiohead clearly does!)
They did actually meet in school. Two of them are brothers as well.
It's amazing that the entire band went through that musical journey together.
his face was so confused... and then he smile. Love it!!!
Its interesting what they do to get that guitar texture in the beginning. This was actually the first song from Radiohead a friend showed me years back and the way he sold me on it was showing me the cool thing they did with the guitars. The guitars are playing regular 8th notes and the pattern is a 3 note grouping. Both guitars start playing in unison. but before long Johnny Greenwood breaks off into a new pattern which is still regular 8th notes but in a 5 note grouping. So they parts line up different every time while at the same time still changing chords right on beat with the bass line. Brilliant part writing!
I’ve only met two other people in my life that love Radiohead as much as I do. I am always surprised that there are other people that understand how great they are.
We are legion you are not alone.
Idk man, they're pretty famous. I live in a non-English speaking third world country but I have several friends who are Radiohead fans.
I understand..
Surprised that there isn't more. There should be more.
I did too and they both passed away. I miss just sitting and listening to Radiohead with someone who feels it like I do.
This might be my favorite Radiohead reaction, not surprised it was to weird fishes
So well articulated. Even as a huge Radiohead fan, the first time I hear an album I always think, "Yep, this sounds like Radiohead". Then, as I listen to the album over the years, I always find things that I have never heard before. The In Rainbows album is a perfect album, it may take you 4 or 5 listens to compute what you have just heard, but the album is perfect. You can tell they really care about every single note.
Watching the reaction of a first time listener of In Rainbows is incredible. Such a life changing album. The more times you listen, the more parts jump out at you, very captivating. The lyrics will blow you away. I find their main ideas revolve around politics.
Thanks for doing these.
It is mostly about coming to terms with your mortality.
@@jameshannagan4256 This is absolutely the primary theme of In Rainbows.
The 8 min point … the smile and joy of hearing this song, giving up to its mastery and just enjoying as opposed to trying to pick out aspects. The ultimate sign of a masterpiece on a first hearing.
I always come back to this reaction, because there are so few of them. This is a symphony for 3 electric guitars, one bass guitar and one metronome drum 🙂 It is something special..well its radiohead..
The wonderful thing about Radiohead is the approach to writing changes with each album. Never standing still, yet remaining interesting and relevant, is so rare.
As a fan of Radiohead from the 90's - I can't help but say I was having so much fun watching them rip your brain apart. :D
I believe that, like many of the classic bands, they are a generational group. They change so much, but the heart and the ability is so in the forefront of their music.
And don't worry - if you want groove, just listen to some back catalogue... it's there. Everything is there.
Yes, they can do everything. Fan since 1997 here. They have been my soundtrack through everything.