Radiohead : Music for a Global Future

Phil Rose delves into Radiohead’s work and its cultural context, drawing out how the music addresses political, environmental, and social crises. This book reveals the true depth and musical genius that has solidified Radiohead’s place in rock history and pop culture.

Since Radiohead’s formation in the mid-1980s, the band has celebrated three decades of creative collaboration and achieved critical acclaim across music genres as cultural icons. Recognized not only for their musical talent and daring experimentation, Radiohead is also known for its work’s engagement with cultural and political issues. Phil Rose dissects Radiohead’s entire catalog to reveal how the music directs our attention toward themes like cyber technology, the environment, terrorism, and the inevitability of the apocalypse. With each new album, Radiohead has sought to reinvent its sound and position in the music industry. Abandoning traditional distribution for their 2007 In Rainbows album, Radiohead experimented with a pay-what-you-want model that embraced the crowd-sourced commerce that has continued to gain prominence in modern consumer culture. In addition to chronicling the band members’ various solo projects, Rose outlines Radiohead’s political and civic activism. As the most up-to-date and thorough discussion of this landmark body of musical multimedia, Radiohead: Music for a Global Future recounts the band’s triumphs and tragedies along with their role at the forefront of adaptation both to a changing music industry and a rapidly changing world.