Personal, subjective rankings with a short commentary.

Number 1

“The National Anthem” by Radiohead

Album: Kid A (2000, Parlophone/Capitol)

Track: 3

Runtime: 5:51

Radiohead stands apart as the only British band on this list. While the Smashing Pumpkins came out of the Nineties Grunge scene and Nine Inch Nails worked within the milieu of industrial music, Radiohead put out hit records in the Nineties. It was part of the Britpop phenomenon (Blur, Oasis), but unlike their poppier counterparts, Radiohead sang about anomie and ennui.

“Creep” and “Karma Police” represent their hit singles. “The National Anthem” is another beast entirely. It begins with a hypnotic heavy bass line and builds with a swooning guitar and theremin combo over Thom Yorke’s mournful vocals. At once relentless and ethereal, it would seem like yet another sad song by Britain’s most famous sad-boys. Then the saxes kick in. The song seems to threaten to implode from its barely-contained energy. It just keeps building and building, a dam ready to burst into total chaos. At the end, the instruments hold in a caesura of sustained dissonance. The end is a sort of Anti-“A Day in the Life,” with Radiohead most definitely not the Beatles.

If you can find it, Radiohead’s performance of “The National Anthem” on SNL is the stuff of legend.