What Album Was Radiohead ‘s High Water Mark?

I know that Radiohead has had a successful career with many great albums. Which one do you figure is their pinnacle.

 

lots of great albums. In Rainbows is my current fav.

 

Hail to the Thief is my favourite, showing much artistic bravery in persuing their own road.

 

Kid A.

A daring, emotional and immense masterpiece. But this is a band who have a career like a mountain range. Peak after peak. The valleys are simply the periods between records.

 

i think creep is a great single, and ok computer a great lp. if not mixed a bit "strangely".

i never went "deep" on them lp wise.

 

Kid A by a country mile.

 

Voted Kid A but OK Computer is right there with it. I think all of the albums have something to offer but they vary widely in style (think Bowie.)

 

In Rainbows was the logical culmination of their musical journey up to that point.
rather selfishly, i wanted them to stay right there but the band has chosen wisely to keep moving and...more power to them

 

I went with Kid A, but have been listening to Moon Shaped Pool a bit lately.

 

Amnesiac. Took the cue from their previous high water mark Kid A and got just a little bit creepier and weirder.

 

The Bends is my favorite, but OK Computer is probably their artistic best.

 

OK Computer, followed by A Moon Shaped Pool. (Seriously, no votes for the latter?) I love Kid A but find I have to be in the right mood for it, which by default knocks it down a notch or two.

 

Lots of great albums and they all grow on you but Kid A seems to be the highwater mark. It is so adventurous and it flows so well.

 

difficult to pick one.it seems as if their career has had three maybe four phases already
1.the first two
2.ok computer-so great a phase of it's own.
3.kid A through Hail
4.the last 3 records.
hard to pick one.

 

Kid A was my gateway album so a sentimental favorite, however as others said, there are many high points to date. I am optimistic that they have yet to hit a plateau.

They also have a rich B-side/EP catalogue.

 

It's not the 1st album. It's not horrible, it has Creep, but I would have a hard time saying it's a good album. The rest of the albums are excellent. People say Rubber Soul or Revolver is The Beatles' best album. Maybe one of them are the best. But, Abbey Road is no lesser of an album in my opinion. I won't state which is the best Radiohead album.. But OK Computer is their Sgt Pepper's. Maybe not their best record, but it is renown as a special recording apart from the others.

 

OK Computer by a wide margin.

All albums preceding it have various good/great songs, to show the Promise Of A Great Band.

All albums subsequent to it have good/great songs, to convey the feeling that they’re almost hitting that high level again, but just not quite.

 

Ok Computer

But my fav is In Rainbows.

 

OK Computer with Kid A a close second. The Bends is my favorite.

 

Kid A for me. I actually like '00s Radiohead more than '90s Radiohead.

 

There is something about all their previous albums I would want to change (either drop a song, or substitute one for a B-side that I like better) but as far as songwriting, arrangement choices, and track sequencing, A Moon Shaped Pool is perfect... possibly a bit too compressed in mixing/mastering, but so is everything of theirs since Pablo Honey! On vinyl AMSP sounds great and it's a straight-through listen, no skip-aheads

 

The Bends is 2nd and In Rainbows is 3rd(although A moon Shaped Pool might catch it eventually with time). Seeing their Tour last Summer got me to finally buy the In Rainbows Deluxe Set. Maybe taking the Best 4-6 Songs from Kid A & Amnesiac and combining them into 1 Album would also make at least tied to 3rd for me.

However, I am biased as my #1 All Time Favorite Album(by Any Music Artist) is:

 

The Bends

 

The Bends is my favorite. It defined their sound as something all its own...not to mention the great tunes.

 

Good to see Pablo Honey received 3 votes (so far). Never understood the bad rep for this album. Yes, the sound is very different from later Radiohead work, but taken on its own merits, as an early '90s alt.rock album, it's not bad at all. And from what I recall is that upon release it also received relatively positive reviews.