4. Reckoner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPWvpDm076o Artist: RadioheadAlbum: 'In Rainbows'Year: 2007 It will forever be known as the pay-what-you-like album. 'In Rainbows' was the tranquillity after the storm of 'Hail to the Thief'; a literal peace offering to fans, and it revolutionised the way we thought about an album's value. When fans talk about Radiohead, they usually gravitate to the question: "what did you pay for it?" But often people actually forget what a bloody good record it was. Ten songs long, no filler and some of the most relaxed music that Thom Yorke has ever written, 'In Rainbows' is sheer bliss, and the album's cornerstone is no different. 'Reckoner' is dazzling, from the soft guitar riff to the searching melody; it makes the the hairs on your body stand to end - especially during that otherworldly middle eight - and it barely shifts gear throughout. It's a composition of mixed emotions, too: it's both glitteringly hopeful about something, with a tear in its eye. And that's the power of Radiohead, to be so many things, so many ideas and so many feelings, but at the same time, just a few stirring notes of music and a purring plea of "Take me with you". That album didn't just take music in a new direction, it took the band to heavenly new places.