Radiohead on Vinyl: Where to Start and Where to Go Next

Few bands have earned the right to reinvent themselves as thoroughly as Radiohead. Formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in 1985 by schoolmates Thom Yorke, brothers Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Philip Selway, the five-piece spent a decade turning a single breakout hit into a career-long argument that guitar music could keep moving forward. What began as anxious, hook-driven alternative rock became, by the turn of the century, one of the most restless and influential catalogs in modern music.

The story tends to get told in two halves. The early records, made largely with producer Nigel Godrich, built Radiohead into the thinking listener's rock band. Then, at the height of that success, they walked away from the template entirely, folding electronics, jazz, and studio abstraction into songs that still ache like the old ones. Following that arc on vinyl is one of the most rewarding runs you can take through a single artist's shelf.

Here is where GOOD TASTE Records suggests you start, and where to go once the first few records have done their work. Each of these is carried in the shop, and the whole run stays close at hand.

Radiohead - Pablo Honey Vinyl LP

The 1993 debut is where it all begins, and it is a rawer, more straightforward record than the band would soon become known for. Pablo Honey introduced the world to "Creep," the self-lacerating anthem that both launched and briefly boxed in the band. Hearing it now, you can already sense the ambition straining against the grunge-era conventions around it.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The 1993 debut, home to the era-defining "Creep"
• The essential starting point for the full Radiohead arc
• A snapshot of the band before the reinventions began

Radiohead - The Bends Vinyl LP

Released in 1995, The Bends is the record that turned one-hit alt-rockers into a great band. Songs like "Fake Plastic Trees," "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," and "High and Dry" pair widescreen guitars with a new emotional depth, and Godrich's presence behind the board starts to shape the sound. For many listeners this is the first truly essential Radiohead album.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The 1995 breakthrough that established the band's ambition
• Includes "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"
• The bridge between the debut and the classic run to come

Radiohead - OK Computer (2016 Press) Vinyl LP

The 1997 third album is the one most people reach for first, and for good reason. OK Computer is a prescient, anxious meditation on technology, alienation, and speed, carried by "Paranoid Android," "Karma Police," and "No Surprises." This 2016 pressing keeps the landmark in print and on the turntable where it belongs.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The 1997 album widely regarded as the band's masterpiece
• Includes "Paranoid Android," "Karma Police," and "No Surprises"
• The clearest single entry point into everything Radiohead does

Radiohead - Kid A Vinyl LP

In 2000, at the peak of their acclaim, Radiohead abandoned the rock playbook. Kid A traded anthems for synthesizers, drum machines, and processed textures, and somehow lost none of the feeling. "Everything in Its Right Place," "Idioteque," and "How to Disappear Completely" mark the moment the band redrew its own map. It rewards patience and repeat listening in equal measure.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The 2000 pivot into electronic and abstract territory
• Includes "Everything in Its Right Place" and "Idioteque"
• The record that defines the band's second act

Radiohead - Amnesiac Vinyl LP

Drawn from the same sessions as Kid A but released in 2001, Amnesiac is its more song-driven, occasionally warmer companion. "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out" sit alongside the smoky jazz coda of "Life in a Glasshouse," and the double-LP pressing gives the record room to breathe. Treat it as the second half of a single restless statement.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The 2001 companion to Kid A, cut from the same sessions
• Includes "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out"
• A double LP that plays beautifully alongside its sibling

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief Vinyl LP

The 2003 sixth album pulls the two Radioheads together, letting live-band urgency and electronic texture share the same room. Hail to the Thief runs long and loose by design, with "2 + 2 = 5," "There There," and "Sail to the Moon" among its high points. It is the sound of a band exhaling after two decades of tension.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The 2003 record that reconciles the band's guitar and electronic sides
• Includes "2 + 2 = 5" and "There There"
• A looser, more spontaneous entry in the catalog

Radiohead - In Rainbows Vinyl LP

Released in 2007, famously self-released online first as a pay-what-you-want download, In Rainbows is Radiohead's seventh album and one of their warmest. "Nude," "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," and "Reckoner" fold all the band's experiments back into intimate, human-scaled songs. If OK Computer is the head, this is the heart, and it is the record newcomers tend to fall for fastest.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The 2007 album that reintroduced warmth and intimacy
• Includes "Nude," "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," and "Reckoner"
• Often the easiest record for new listeners to love

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool Vinyl LP

The band's ninth album, from 2016, is its most orchestral and elegiac. A Moon Shaped Pool leans on Jonny Greenwood's string and choral arrangements, gathering long-gestating songs like "Burn the Witch," "Daydreaming," and a finally recorded "True Love Waits" into a quietly devastating whole. It is the natural place to end the journey, and the reason to start it over.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The 2016 album, lush with orchestral and choral arrangements
• Includes "Burn the Witch," "Daydreaming," and "True Love Waits"
• The band's most patient and emotionally direct record

If You Like Radiohead

A few carried artists that share Radiohead's restless spirit, from the guitar roots to the electronic detours:

• The Smile: Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood's angular trio with Tom Skinner, the closest thing to a fourth act.
• Pixies: the loud-quiet-loud blueprint the young Radiohead openly studied.
• Aphex Twin: the electronic visionary whose textures echo through Kid A and Amnesiac.
• Portishead: Bristol atmosphere and dread that rhymes with Radiohead's darker corners.
• Beck: a fellow shape-shifter who treats every album as a fresh set of rules.

Ready to dig in? Browse the full Radiohead collection for every pressing we carry, then keep exploring through the wider Rock and Electronic shelves. It's all in GOOD TASTE.