The masterpiece. Start here if you want to understand why critics call them "the Pink Floyd of the 90s." Kid A (2000) The Vibe: A frozen computer learning to cry. Essential Track: Everything In Its Right Place

A chaotic masterpiece. Drop the needle on There There and feel the thunder. Phase 5: The Digital Liberation (2007–2011) In Rainbows (2007) The Vibe: Warm, sensual, and human. Essential Track: Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

After two albums of electronics, Radiohead plugged their guitars back in, but they kept the drum machines. Hail to the Thief is messy, overlong, and furious. It’s the sound of Yorke screaming about the Iraq War and media manipulation. It lacks the precision of OK Computer , but it has a visceral energy that their later, cleaner work misses.

Imagine you spent three years waiting for OK Computer 2 , and instead the band handed you a glitchy IDM album with no singles, no guitar solos, and a voice run through a telephone modulator. That was 2000. Today, Kid A is hailed as prophetic. It’s jazz, krautrock, and electronic music melting into a white Arctic landscape.