The popular perception of Radiohead is that, after peaking with OK Computer – an hour-long howl against the rise of the machines – the band ironically shunned guitars in favour of glitchy electronics. Two decades later, this reissue (effectively 2008’s Collector’s Edition plus three excellent unreleased songs) proves that Radiohead’s reputation derives from their music’s depthless humanity, not its instrumentation: the impotent fury of Exit Music and Karma Police, Let Down’s euphoric ennui, the numbed night terrors of Climbing Up the Walls… The world’s greatest rock band, pushing the limits of what they, or anyone else, could achieve.
