The Radiohead performance that changed music forever: “A pivotal moment in the history of music”
Very few words are needed to try and argue that the emergence of Radiohead in the 1990s was one of the most significant musical developments of the 20th century.
The Oxfordshire band may have arrived at the tail end of the era, but they did so with. brand new way of thinking that would not only change the musicians around them, but set out a stall for their own evolution and a revolution in sound. If you think this is all hyperbole from yet another music journalist captivated by the band’s ability to drift between rock, glitching electronic and a uniquely singular output, then listen to another rock icon.
Dave Grohl knows a musical turning point when he sees one. After all, he was a vital part of one of the most significant bands of all time, Nirvana, a group that changed the direction of popular music with the release of their 1991 masterpiece, Nevermind.
Not only was Grohl a member of Nirvana, but he’s also been in several other widely influential acts, ranging from the hardcore heroes Scream, stoner-rock masters Queens of the Stone Age, and his primary artistic outlet for nearly 30 years, Foo Fighters. Elsewhere, there’s also been the critically acclaimed supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, which he starred in alongside Led Zeppelin maestro John Paul Jones and Queens of the Stone Age leader Josh Homme.
Being an accomplished musician, featuring in a remarkable number of significant acts and rubbing shoulders with the best in the business, from Paul McCartney to newcomers like Wet Leg, shows that Dave Grohl is a man who knows what he’s talking about when it comes to music. He has more insider knowledge than most.
When sitting down with former Squeeze man Jools Holland to promote his book The Storyteller on Later in 2021, Grohl was asked to pick out some of the best performances from the BBC show’s extensive archive. While all of his choices were compelling, his final one was Radiohead performing OK Computer‘s era-defining ‘Paranoid Android’ in 1997. A significant performance that asserted the Oxford group as one of the most important of all time, Grohl called it “a pivotal moment in the history of music”.
The performance is typical of the band’s breathtaking ability. A group which had, only a few years prior, been set up to be a new set of MTV rock posterboys with their mega-hit ‘Creep’ had now seemingly rejected every notion of that blueprint and painted their own map of events, a curious shade of mauve. They were deeply introspective; they handled performance with due care and attention, allowing the work to emanate from their expression. They felt different and once again opened up sensitivity in the space of rock music. For Grohl, it was a seismic moment.
He said: “Well, I mean, you know, this was a pivotal moment in not only Radiohead’s career, but I think in the history of music. You know, when they made the OK Computer record, I honestly felt like that was the beginning of some kind of revolution, musically, and, of course, as a live band, one of the greatest live bands of all time performing a song that was challenging the audience to join them in this crazy revolution.”
The Foo Fighters leader continued: “And ‘Paranoid Android’ live, it’s not exactly like the record; it’s better because it’s happening, and of course, I really do feel like that record changed the landscape of popular music for years to come. But this particular performance, I remember watching it thinking, ‘Oh my god, here we go again. It’s time for another revolution.’ Great.”
That revolution unfurled with every note. While uniqueness and sensitivity had been a part of the rock music scene for some time, what Radiohead provided more so than any other band at the time was an evolution of sound. Radiohead proved that they could push into new spaces and, as long as the work was good enough, could convince an audience to follow them.
Watch Radiohead perform ‘Paranoid Android’ below.
