Five controversial covers of Radiohead that are ‘almost’ better than the originals
Some 11 years ago, back in 2014, when ChatGPT wasn’t a thing and ‘AI’ was only really ever referenced in terms of that creepy film with Haley Joel Osment in it, some scientists at the University of Malaga in Spain put together a computer named ‘Iamus’.
The machine was essentially a piece of software and an algorithm that could produce its own compositions in order to supercede the effort of humans and thereby make ‘perfect’ music.
The major problem they had, however, was that five gentlemen from Oxfordshire in the UK, colloquially known as Radiohead, had already achieved this in 1997 when they released the album OK Computer. And even more concerningly for our nerdy Spanish chums, they did it again when they released the album In Rainbows in 2007.
Now, due to the esteem that Radiohead are held in by other musicians, covering any of their songs is a brave pastime in and of itself. Nobody really sings like Thom Yorke, they can’t drum like Phil Selway, and they can’t produce half or even a quarter of the noises that Jonny Greenwood can wrench out of a guitar or a keyboard. They can’t write tunes as complex as ‘Pyramid Song’ (which has about six different time signatures) or as emotive as ‘Everything in Its Right Place’ from Kid A.
But that’s not to say they shouldn’t give it a darn good go. They might not match the original magic, but they occasionally get close, with sometimes the majesty of the compositions unlocked even further by talented artists bringing their own skills to the party.
We’ve picked some of these covers and, to underline, we are not saying they are better than Radiohead’s originals. We don’t want angry letters. We’re just saying they’re very good, that’s all. Ok? Ok.
Five Radiohead covers that match the original
Damien Rice – ‘Creep’
Damien Rice’s seminal 2003 album O is so unbelievably good that we give him carte blanche to cover anything he likes, really, including the song on Pablo Honey that took Radiohead from the clubs of Oxford to global attention.
Back in the day, Rice would bookend his own song ‘The Blower’s Daughter’ live by segueing into ‘Creep’, examples of which you can find elsewhere on YouTube. But here, he covers it just with an acoustic guitar, the power of his voice matching that of Thom Yorke on the towering high notes.
Vampire Weekend – ‘Exit Music (for a Film)’
If the point of a great cover is to add your own spin or stamp on a song, then New York’s Vampire Weekend certainly do that on this cover of track four on OK Computer.
Using several layered flutes on an intro to underpin Ezra Koenig’s singing, we’re then treated to a scattered, programmed drum beat and a sparse middle section that almost breaks down completely. But it’s in the final 90 seconds that the cover really takes off with that famous crescendo of beats and vocal building to an a cappella finale.
Hanson – ‘Optimistic’
Alright, bear with us here. Yes, it’s Hanson, the one who did ‘MMMBop’. Yes, the ones with the teeth-grindingly irritating child drummer back in the day. No, we haven’t lost our minds. No, we know it shouldn’t work. No, they probably shouldn’t be covering a song from Radiohead’s existential Kid A. But, nevertheless, they do, and it sounds absolutely amazing.
They might have been young when they started out, but they had the technical understanding to pin this cover and give it the heft it deserved, with punchy drums keeping up in a glorious harmony with the tambourine and the lead singer’s impressive vocal chops.
The Darkness – ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’
At the risk of asking you to bear with us twice in a row, The Darkness covering Radiohead sounds like one of those ideas that should be shot down as fast as someone comes up with it.
The only way it could possibly work, especially on a song as haunting and emotional as The Bends’ ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’, would be if Justin Hawkins and co went entirely unhinged and made it into a glam heavy metal rock festival of noise including throwing in a guitar line from an entirely different Radiohead song halfway through. What’s that you say? They do just that? Alright then, excellent.
Finneas – ‘Fake Plastic Trees’
From the ridiculous to the sublime, we have Billie Eilish’s older brother to thank for this beautifully realised live version of Fake Plastic Trees, stripped down to just gentle piano and a picked acoustic guitar.
Finneas O’Connell allows the delicacy of the lilting melody to do its own work, losing himself entirely to the song. By the time he reaches the “She looks like the real thing…” moment about three-quarters in, you can tell he knows how good it’s sounding, and you imagine he might be shedding a tear under those trendy sunglasses.
