The Best of Radiohead was released on Tuesday. This disappointing compilation didn’t include any songs I, and I imagine most Radiohead fans, didn’t already own. Futhermore, a bunch of Radiohead songs jumbled together on two discs borders on sacrilege. Would you tear random pages out of several books, staple them together, and then sell them? A boxed set would have been a much better product.
Honestly, if this greatest hits collection is a cynical attempt by a record company to monetize their Radiohead catalog (as some people are suggesting in their reviews of The Best of Radiohead), a better way to cash in on Radiohead would be to release a compilation of all of the b-sides before Kid A. These b-sides are hard to find and are a great reminder of why many of us fell in love with Radiohead’s early sound. Radiohead fans would buy this collection of b-sides in droves. It would be a great product that serves not only the record company, but also the artists and the fans.
Case in point, “India Rubber” and “Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong” are incredible songs that harden back The Bends. It would be a shame for gems like these to molder in some dusty archive.
From Fake Plastic Trees - Part 1:
“India Rubber”
From My Iron Long:
