10 Most Underrated Radiohead Songs
6. 15 Step - In Rainbows
By the time it actually came out back in 2007, In Rainbows was already a gamechanger for the world of music. Along with having the first pay what you want brand of music marketing, the album itself was a tour de force of music, showing that Radiohead still had the power to wow their audience 10 decades after OK Computer had dropped. And we should have all seen it coming from the first sounds of 15 Step.
Like all Radiohead classics, this entire track was built on a risk, with Thom and the band experimenting with different rhythm experiments before finally coming out with the tune that we know now. Before the rest of the band even comes in, it's hard to tell where the actual center of the groove is with just Thom singing, and when the beat finally does arrive, it somehow becomes even more difficult.
Outside of the normal rules of songwriting, there are a few moments in this song that almost don't have a time signature, letting the music breathe and flow freely before dropping us back into the groove again. Also a special mention needs to be made for the Grammy performance of this song, where Radiohead teamed up with a marching band to layer one more extravagant touch onto the song. Even though this is about as prog-adjacent as it gets, this is about the catchiest you can expect from a progressive song.