The year 2008 might have been a slightly early point in time to release expanded editions of the first several
Radiohead albums, so
Capitol greased the reissue pipeline with
The Best Of, a 17-track disc with a track list that is as debatable as any other. The idea of squeezing the band's first six albums into something resembling a definitive one-disc introduction seems almost as wise as presenting
A Collection of Great Dance Songs (incidentally a
Capitol release) as the one true and useful introduction to
Pink Floyd, but to be more fair, the disc does cover just about all of the basics: all the singles and emphasis tracks, from
Pablo Honey's
"Creep" through
Hail to the Thief's
"2+2=5," along with a small assortment of the band's better-known album cuts. One track apiece comes from
Pablo Honey (1993) and
Amnesiac (2001); three are from
Kid A (2000), four are from
OK Computer (1997), and six are off
The Bends (1995). The primary problem, of course, is that
Radiohead are much more an albums band than a singles band, especially from
OK Computer onward, so a natural reflex for someone who has valued the band since
The Bends is to shriek in mild agony; in principle, a best-of
Radiohead compilation is similar to a DVD containing somewhat thoughtfully picked scenes from films made by a specific director. For a very casual fan who has absolutely no interest in exploring beyond the songs he or she heard on the radio or through
MTV and the like, this set will do (it has
"Creep" and half of
The Bends, after all, and then a bunch of "the weird stuff"), but otherwise it clearly serves a purpose more meaningful for the label than anyone else. ~ Andy Kellman
