If the critical success of The Bends was welcomed by the band (with the lack of immediate commercial success leaving them undaunted and more determined than ever), 1997’s OK Computer proved to be even more of a surprise, kicking off with a-then unheard-of six-minute single Paranoid Android, an ode to “how utterly powerless people are” as Yorke put it. The harsh, almost schizophrenic energy of the song – along with a typically offbeat animated video – propelled the song unfathomably to the top of the UK singles chart. Radiohead has once again followed their instincts to the letter and were rewarded for it.

Mammoth sales far exceeding expectation saw the band back out on the road with an ultimately exhausting world tour, the highlight of which was a now legendary headlining performance at England’s Glastonbury Festival. Although technically everything that could go wrong did, the mud-sodden crowd – this journalist being one of them – experienced what is remembered as probably the band’s finest performance.

Once again, despite their lack of commercial concern and staunch focus on their work, the band found themselves giants on the world stage, a position that frontman Thom Yorke loathed with ever-vocal admissions. The answer, once more, was to go back to basics, to put out a record that would confound the world all over again. The result: intense, sombre, electro-doodlefest sessions that would ultimately produce Kid A and its quick followup and companion release, Amnesia.

Playing for hours and painstakingly logging their results (even swapping instruments this time), the two albums offered no obvious singles and tested the patience of those who yearned for the quick-fire melodies of their previous releases. But once again, the band proved their instincts were right. The first track from these session, the aptly titled Everything in its Right Place, says it all, with its so-called ‘bedroom style’ approach.

Beyond the emotional rollercoaster of success, expectation and creative satisfaction, though, there lies a political awareness that remains an integral part of the band (Kid A and 2002’s Hail to the Thief, for instance, are barbed, direct comments on war and the misuse of power), an anti-rock star approach to life on the road, and an intense, bordering on obsessive, dedication to their craft.

Ed O’Brien admitted that Radiohead remains a band that is “emotionally honest” and that former producer John Leckie’s mantra of an album being “literally an aural snap-shop of a band at a given time” remains at the core of their work ethic. They’ve survived near breakups, near nervous breakdowns, near commercial meltdowns and as a result still pave the way for pioneering bands the world over.

Johnny Greenwood summed up the Oxford band’s longevity so amply displayed on this new collection by pointing out that “because we started so young, I guess this is what defined us when were 14, 15, so you stick with it really. It’s been our saving really.

“We’re lucky,” he added, “we’ve still got the mood that not only does everyone really want to be in this band, but also all of us are still very interested, obsessed even, in the music we’re recording, and what we’re gonna do next.”

Before the next chapter of the Radiohead story unfolds, the band’s unmatched legacy reminds us all how far they’ve travelled and gambled, leaving the mind to boggle at what they can do now to top it all. Which they surely will. For now, there’s over a decade’s worth of stunning music to soak up all over again.

Read Part 1