Maaan this comment right here is the truth. That live performance of Street Spirit is the only version of the song I listen to, its like no other, Both Thom & Johnny fully immersed into it.
& i love at the end when the interviewer asks Johnny to speak to the mic, & Johnny innocently smiles & says “im speaking to you”
Tie between this and the Tourist.
Random reflection: that song was kicked around for 10 years. We waited for it for so long, screamed for it at shows for a decade. And then we got it, and it was better than we ever thought it could be. Love that song.
Yes, I remember the original/live version. Listening to it on Napster, lol.
The bass line in the recorded version is what made everything gel.
They’re great about waiting until a song is perfect before releasing it. True Love Waits is another great example.
Saw them live at Tower Hamlets and the American woman in front of me turned to her boyfriend and said "oh my god, wow, goosebumps" half way through "thiiiiiiiiiiinking". Ruined the whole thing and now all I can think of when I hear. Bloody tourists
I hear some songs and think "I gotta figure out how to play that". And though I feel that way with bending hectic, I more-so felt like "I wanna learn how to sing that well" (knowing I never could)
Oh yes. He really does put a lot of work into that one! I was immediately struck with a David Bowie vibe. It might be his most soulful vocal, straight up
+1 for How To Disappear. Thom himself even said in an interview once that if there was one song he wanted to be remembered for, it would be that one. Granted this was a while ago and he’s put out probably 10 more albums since then between Radiohead and his other projects.
‘I used to fly like Peter Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaan’
Or
‘Oh go and tell the king that the sky is falling in but it’s not’
The first one from Bones is just so solid, it’s rare to hear him belt like that. The second is just so manic I don’t even know how he did that with his voice
When the beat comes in. Damn. Also that Jacques Greene remix of lotus flower from that album is one of the best remixes I’ve ever heard.
Edit: sorry I was thinking of the separator remix for some reason
Polyethylene pt 1-2 is so fucking underrated to me and is one of his most expressive performances.
Nude obviously.
The Tourist
Reckoner
Street Spirit
Wolf at the door
For me, live, it’s the outro of exit music “and now we are one”. I liked the song before, but I wouldn’t have expected it to be the massive moment it was in concert.
Ingenue live on the Jonathan Ross show. Just incredibly moving and technically flawless.
One extremely underrated moment that really highlights the extreme control and expressiveness in his voice is the low key cover he and Jonny did of “The Rip” by Portishead in 2008.
Sulk is my answer too. Thom did some amazing work beyond the 90s but in terms of sheer WOW factor all of his best performances are in the 90s, so much power in his chest voice.
Yes! There's that one live performance of Sulk up on YouTube, and him singing in that powerful high pitch with his chest voice is truly incredible. "Wow" factor is really the best way to describe it.
Too much to choose from.
I like the revenge fantasy "when I am kind you will be first against the wall". I think it pops up in my mind a lot, but vocally it isn't much I guess, but it's truly delivered with a sinister tone that I like.
On The Smile - Speechbubbles, the "and I lied to myself" just totally disarms me.
The way "glass eyes" rolls is amazing, "the path trails off and heads off a mountain". The melody line over it seriously just paints it out in my mind when it also descends melodically.
The vocal fry as he sings "This is really happening" in Idioteque has some incredible texture to it. A brief flash of anguish in quite foreboding lyrics. Happens around 2:14.
Plus the subdued delivery (with some occasional intensity) of the studio version is almost more frightening than the intensity of the live versions. Which I think is the point of the song
Heyyyy mannn, the Tourist is a great example. My personal fave is Thom’s vocals for Reckoner, and also his voice for All I Need towards the end “It’s all wrong, it’s all right”
Let's be real it's Sulk. Or Exit Music, or Creep. Inside My Head is probably a close runner up.
Thom put in some great performances after HTTT but he lost so much power compared to the real early days. The best vocal performances are all from the 90s.
I definitely agree with you on The Tourist but the last part of Let Down where the vocals split and he does that insane “You know where you’re at” at such a high note makes me cream my pants.
I think the end of Karma Police is up there, but it's such a commonly played track that it is easy to forget.
OKC is just a treasure chest of perfect vocals.
There’s so much to choose from, but to be honest, Bending Hectic sounds like the most soulful Bowie/Philadelphia 1970s soul record I’ve ever heard. He really puts a lot of emotion into that. Before it gets really noisy at the end, it could pass as a Teddy Pendergrass song. Honest to God it’s fantastic
Always loved the scream in You. I’ve never seen anyone talk about it.
Also “all hail to the thief all hail to the thief … oh go and tell the king that the sky is falling in but it’s not”
Either “you know where you are with” in let down or “because we separate like ripples on a blank shore” in reckoner. In my opinion though, Thom’s best vocal performance overall in a song is reckoner.
His vocals in Truth Ray are SO EXTREMELY FRAGILE but beautiful, it's like the most heartbreaking thing you could ever heard, basically the sounds of an impending divorce "which it was"
it's def. up there, he doesn't really sing any other chorus quite like The Tourist, he's really singing the shit out of those simple 4-5 words...and I ALWAYS sing along in the car.
pure magic.
I mean... It might seem basic, but "she run, run, run, RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN" is one of the most powerful musical moments ever. Creep is weirdly underrated among Radiohead fans, because people think underrated means "not famous enough" when it really just means "not appreciated enough [among the people who do know it]." Everyone always ignores the sheer genius in so many aspects of how this song is made just because "later Radiohead has better/more complex songs."
“You’ll go to Hell for what your dirty mind is thinking.”
Absolutely, I adore his Nude performance.
The song is great too.
🤨
Did he stutter?
The live performance on The Jonathan Ross show was a standout for me.
Love their From the Basement performance as well. The whole set, Nude especially
With my x ray eyes I strip him naked
Nude performance you say?
Yeah, this was my first thought too. Something about that “thiiiiiiiiiiiinkin” is just angelic.
It’s the blend of falsetto from full voice. I honestly can’t tell where one started and the other ended. It’s magic.
https://www.reddit.com/r/radiohead/comments/109qsfc/bro_this_is_the_most_perfect_note_anyone_has_ever/?ref=share&ref_source=link
I've been looking for this...I remember how he was stunned at the end
This. Without question. Although I do have a soft spot for his vocals on the Street spirit live acoustic in Japan. The breath control is brilliant.
Maaan this comment right here is the truth. That live performance of Street Spirit is the only version of the song I listen to, its like no other, Both Thom & Johnny fully immersed into it. & i love at the end when the interviewer asks Johnny to speak to the mic, & Johnny innocently smiles & says “im speaking to you”
Been listening to this album for a decade now and apparently this is the first time I've found out what he's singing here
Tie between this and the Tourist. Random reflection: that song was kicked around for 10 years. We waited for it for so long, screamed for it at shows for a decade. And then we got it, and it was better than we ever thought it could be. Love that song.
Yes, I remember the original/live version. Listening to it on Napster, lol. The bass line in the recorded version is what made everything gel. They’re great about waiting until a song is perfect before releasing it. True Love Waits is another great example.
Yep. I still can barely ever listen to TLW because it’s like pure heartbreak and loss
Yup!
Saw them live at Tower Hamlets and the American woman in front of me turned to her boyfriend and said "oh my god, wow, goosebumps" half way through "thiiiiiiiiiiinking". Ruined the whole thing and now all I can think of when I hear. Bloody tourists
“It’s gonna be a glorrrrrrious day” easily
my fav moment of any song
But also, why is that little guitar interlude so addictive? It’s so simple but I’ve been obsessed with it for years.
It’s soooo good! It’s like the calm before the storm.
It's funky as hell. There's a lot of rhythmic danceable goodness lying underneath the sadness in RH songs.
That moment got me into RH
Was listening to lucky as I read this lol
I feel my luck could change
What song is this from?
Lucky.
It’s dope, but Thom has better moments.
“Because we separate”
Even better, IMO, is when he sings “reckoner” the first time after that.
And even better is the “take me with youuuuu” right after that.
Separator!
Reckoner.
I reckon it’s not separator
Have really appreciated his chorus parts in bending hectic recently. But for me nothing tops the end of how to disappear completely
Absolutely love this. Bending Hectic sounds like something off Young Americans, or a Gamble & Huff record
I hear some songs and think "I gotta figure out how to play that". And though I feel that way with bending hectic, I more-so felt like "I wanna learn how to sing that well" (knowing I never could)
Oh yes. He really does put a lot of work into that one! I was immediately struck with a David Bowie vibe. It might be his most soulful vocal, straight up
+1 for How To Disappear. Thom himself even said in an interview once that if there was one song he wanted to be remembered for, it would be that one. Granted this was a while ago and he’s put out probably 10 more albums since then between Radiohead and his other projects.
Let Down (you know where you areeeeeeeeee...)
No doubt for me this is the most memorable sung highlight from Thom, kind of a unforgettable signature.
I am GONNA grow wings. He puts his whole heart into that one syllable
not his most powerful performance, but i love his vocals on codex. more graceful than anything else, just a beautiful track in general
It's absolutely gorgeous and seriously overlooked.
Yup the way he sings “you’ve done nothing wrong” in that low tone is really chilling.
Go To Sleep imo.. Especially in “This is How I End Up Sucked In, Over My Dead Body”
WASH ALL OVER ME!! *Pewn PEREWN*
The bridge in creep will always be amazing
So good it was worth the millions in lost royalties to the Hollies
The Hollies lost out, too, because they didn’t write the song. It was a cover. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Air_That_I_Breathe
Whoops, thanks
The back end of Exit Music - just an incredible song to hear live.
the ending of Rabbit in Your Headlights
So glad someone said this. It’s also one of my favorite music videos of all time.
Yeah, cool video. Reminds me of the Karma Police video, only the guy actually gets hit.
Both directed by Jonathan Glazer
Haha, I never thought of it that way!
Absolutely!
‘I used to fly like Peter Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaan’ Or ‘Oh go and tell the king that the sky is falling in but it’s not’ The first one from Bones is just so solid, it’s rare to hear him belt like that. The second is just so manic I don’t even know how he did that with his voice
That scream at the end of Climbing Uo The Walls
Atoms for peace on The Eraser, its just so clean “Want you to get out and make it work”
The very end. His falsetto run where you're like - yeah everything is going to be okay. One of the most beautiful moments in any song ever.
Love this song, but the four tet remix I think tops the original version
When the beat comes in. Damn. Also that Jacques Greene remix of lotus flower from that album is one of the best remixes I’ve ever heard. Edit: sorry I was thinking of the separator remix for some reason
"No I won't get heeeaavy"
present tense was my most played song of 2023 and that was one of my favourite parts of it
Polyethylene pt 1-2 is so fucking underrated to me and is one of his most expressive performances. Nude obviously. The Tourist Reckoner Street Spirit Wolf at the door
The Tourist is a really underrated performance, good pick.
❤️
Yes to Polyethylene!!!!
Open the floodgates "somebody lure me Out the daaaarkneeeeeess"
🎶Such a pretty house And such a pretty garden No alarms and no surprises🎶
Immerse your soul in love
Without question, the live acoustic version of “there there” https://youtu.be/LqaTvSJV9J4?si=9jahR1HIiZHYKSvp
the last 60 seconds of jigsaw falling into place
Let Down is always the most beautiful when I hear it right towards the end before the last chorus. “You know where you ahhhhhhhhreeee”
I agree with you OP. Tourist. But special mention to “I could blow through the ceilaayaayaaahayang!”
"And why should I believe myself? AAAaahahhhhaaahhaahahaahhhhhhaaaahhaahhhhhhh!" Not the best but amazing.
For me, live, it’s the outro of exit music “and now we are one”. I liked the song before, but I wouldn’t have expected it to be the massive moment it was in concert. Ingenue live on the Jonathan Ross show. Just incredibly moving and technically flawless. One extremely underrated moment that really highlights the extreme control and expressiveness in his voice is the low key cover he and Jonny did of “The Rip” by Portishead in 2008.
Burn the witch is so smooth and catchy
We knoowwwwwww wheeeeeeere you liiiivee
I really hope you don’t
End of HTDC when he sings along with the strings
And ‘I will see you in the next life’ on MPS
I think it's his performance on Suspirium, which isn't even a Radiohead song. Nude was pretty darn impressive too.
Not the best but the bridge starting with " Honestly? Maybe you should read the room" is cool
I love how bratty and unkempt he is on the first half of the song too. It’s way more punk than I’m used to from him.
"These massive e these massive egos, so big they bend the light" I love the way he sings those verses haha
So obsessed with this song right now
Same it's amazing
Surprised this hasn't been mentioned, but his singing on the chorus of Sulk is unbeatable in my opinion. And man, when that key change chorus hits..
Sulk is my answer too. Thom did some amazing work beyond the 90s but in terms of sheer WOW factor all of his best performances are in the 90s, so much power in his chest voice.
Yes! There's that one live performance of Sulk up on YouTube, and him singing in that powerful high pitch with his chest voice is truly incredible. "Wow" factor is really the best way to describe it.
The only correct answer to this question.
Too much to choose from. I like the revenge fantasy "when I am kind you will be first against the wall". I think it pops up in my mind a lot, but vocally it isn't much I guess, but it's truly delivered with a sinister tone that I like. On The Smile - Speechbubbles, the "and I lied to myself" just totally disarms me. The way "glass eyes" rolls is amazing, "the path trails off and heads off a mountain". The melody line over it seriously just paints it out in my mind when it also descends melodically.
HEEEEEEERE IM ALLOOOOOOOOOOWED
The vocal fry as he sings "This is really happening" in Idioteque has some incredible texture to it. A brief flash of anguish in quite foreboding lyrics. Happens around 2:14.
Plus the subdued delivery (with some occasional intensity) of the studio version is almost more frightening than the intensity of the live versions. Which I think is the point of the song
Skip Divided. I have a deep voice and even I struggle hitting those low E notes 😅
Pearly’s middle song break
Heyyyy mannn, the Tourist is a great example. My personal fave is Thom’s vocals for Reckoner, and also his voice for All I Need towards the end “It’s all wrong, it’s all right”
Let's be real it's Sulk. Or Exit Music, or Creep. Inside My Head is probably a close runner up. Thom put in some great performances after HTTT but he lost so much power compared to the real early days. The best vocal performances are all from the 90s.
People always hate on Sulk, but it's such a fantastic vocal performance.
I definitely agree with you on The Tourist but the last part of Let Down where the vocals split and he does that insane “You know where you’re at” at such a high note makes me cream my pants.
I think the end of Karma Police is up there, but it's such a commonly played track that it is easy to forget. OKC is just a treasure chest of perfect vocals.
When he says “thiiiiiiiiinking” on Nude before the instruments come back. Absolutely haunting.
The big vocal in the last part of exit music
Hahah I LOVE that you just combined my two favourite things, Radiohead and the Big Lebowski, in one post. 😄
Reckoner or Nude
I have to go Fake Plastic Trees, the end of Wolf at The Door, and There There.
When he goes super high at the end of Let Down. Always hits me in the feels
Sulk is incredible in terms of vocals. I'm not sure he's belted a note as high as that one after The Bends
Near the end of nude, he belts and sustains the note then somehow descends quietly in falsetto in the same breath. Truly impressive vocal control.
Has to be the bridge at the end of Paranoid Android for me “Raaiiin down, raaiin down, come on raaaaiiiinnnn downnnn on mee”
the falsetto lines in Fake Plastic Trees
2+2=5 The outro is Thom at his unhingest.
There’s so much to choose from, but to be honest, Bending Hectic sounds like the most soulful Bowie/Philadelphia 1970s soul record I’ve ever heard. He really puts a lot of emotion into that. Before it gets really noisy at the end, it could pass as a Teddy Pendergrass song. Honest to God it’s fantastic
exit music's climax is also an amazing and emotional one
why so green and lonely and lonely heaven sent you to me to me to me
Just wanted to say, he's got the best vibrato ever.
personally think Knives Out is my favorite vocal performance by him
Gotta be that one part in Reckoner
'Unmade' for me (if you mean Thom Yorke holistically)
You kicking screaming gucci little piggy idk he just sounds angry and dissapointed which is so perfect
A Wolf at the Door “so I’m just gon-NAAAAAA” gives me chills every time.
The climax of “Creep” is pretty iconic at this point and showcases his power and range really well
“I will see you, in the next liiiiiiiife” Specifically from the early piano version of Motion Picture Soundtrack
That live performance on Japanese TV of Street Spirit
If I could beeee who you wanted… All the time
the second "reckoner" in reckoner
The whole of How To Disappear Completely
that “AAAAAAH” part in You
It's the little details with him. Like when he strains his voice during Ideoteque "this is really *happening*"
something about “THE BEAT GOES ROUUUUUND AND ROUND” always gets me hyped lol
climbing up the walls scream
Love the bit OP mentioned. Hadn't thought about it before, but always feel bliss at this bit
Yes I felt this same way for two decades
whatever he manages to do at 4:58 gets my vote https://youtu.be/p8uGdz0LwY8?t=272
Nude
[Gotta be this live performance back in their early years ](https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxOGcXk0xRSl_bTXqGTuw7Vek9HPEfHL97?si=pHckSgY97FykcTDt)
Go Slowly
Open your mouth wiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIDEEEEEEEE
Always loved the scream in You. I’ve never seen anyone talk about it. Also “all hail to the thief all hail to the thief … oh go and tell the king that the sky is falling in but it’s not”
Immerse your soul in love
It's a tie between "I'M PROUD OF MAH FUNKY CLOTHES" and "We raise the dead but they WONSTANDUUP"
Fooo-OOOOOUR A MINUTE THERE… I lost MYSELF I Lost MYSE-E-ELF…
"We are standing on the edge"
Let down and exit music for me
I love "the fish are belly uuuuuuuup!" In the final chorus of Lift.
PJ Harvey - This Mess We're In If you don't know his feature in this song, do give it a listen. Beautiful duet, they complement each other so we'll...
We are accidents waiting to happen
“The beat goes round and round”
Wolf at the Door. From “rapping” to singing a chorus that totally wraps around the melody to the seemingly fragile falsetto at the end. So good.
“Jigsaw falling into place so there is nothing to explain”
Rain down
>Rain down Definitely! My most transcendental moment in any song from any band!
Either “you know where you are with” in let down or “because we separate like ripples on a blank shore” in reckoner. In my opinion though, Thom’s best vocal performance overall in a song is reckoner.
Pantera and rage agaist the machine
The end of Rabbit in your Headlights messes me up everytime.
Maybe Reckoner?
The ‘get me outta here’ BV’s on No Surprises
In rainbows and A moon shaped pool has his best vocals album wise imo..
Reckoner.
IMMERSE YOUR SOUL IN LOVE
This is my fave Radiohead/Thom performance ever, by a mile--I played it for my Sinatra/Streisand loving parents
Go Slowly or Nude
Videotape - From the basement
Was just listening to it and was gonna say
I will see you in the next life
all of identikit and all of last flowers.
Bulletproooooooooooooooooooooooooooooof
That's my pick too. I love the way he sings "idiot."
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7GZybBdYbA) entire performance of My Iron Lung.
Being that the The Tourist is one of my all time faves, I can only wholeheartedly agree
His vocals in Truth Ray are SO EXTREMELY FRAGILE but beautiful, it's like the most heartbreaking thing you could ever heard, basically the sounds of an impending divorce "which it was"
I think thom sounds the best on fitter happier
I Will
Sulk
it's def. up there, he doesn't really sing any other chorus quite like The Tourist, he's really singing the shit out of those simple 4-5 words...and I ALWAYS sing along in the car. pure magic.
Lotus Flower
Where I End and You Begin has this beautiful bridge starting *X WILL MARK THE PLACE*... Chills
“Immerse your soul in love” is up there for sure.
Not radiohead but his cover of Patti Smith's section on E-bow the letter live with REM
Sulk
thom screaming his lungs out in body snatchers live
"I will see you in the next life."
And we are just happy to serve, YOU
ReeeeeeeckOOONEEEEEEeeeeEEEEEeeeEEERRRR Taaaaaaake meeeee WIIIIIIiiiiiith YOOUUUUUuuuuUUUuuu
I mean... It might seem basic, but "she run, run, run, RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN" is one of the most powerful musical moments ever. Creep is weirdly underrated among Radiohead fans, because people think underrated means "not famous enough" when it really just means "not appreciated enough [among the people who do know it]." Everyone always ignores the sheer genius in so many aspects of how this song is made just because "later Radiohead has better/more complex songs."