Not exactly in-depth treatment of the band and their career; should work well as a starting point for people new to the band, but if you've followed the trajectory of their career and their development for a couple of, cough, decades (because you're basically old, like me), you won't really find anything eyebrow-raising in these pages.
That said, it's a fast, entertaining read.

Not for me, I couldn't get past the tone of voice in this book which seemed to be rather a lot about what the biographer was thinking instead of his subject being central to this biography. Honestly, how is this next quote useful in any way to describe the lives of the members of Radiohead?!

"Tom Hollander, one of those 'I've seen his face but I can't remember his name' actors."

What has always fascinated me about Radiohead is tha fact that every album seems different from the other. And this book digs into that, exploring their extremely creative and innovative style, starting from the band members' childhood lives and first musical experiences and going deeply into the recording of the albums, the creative process and their influences.
I found it extremely well written and researched, definitely recommended both for the band's fans and also for people who wants to know more about them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and Palazzo Publications for a copy of “ Radiohead” for an honest review .

I’ve loved music by Radiohead for years but knew next to nothing about the people behind the band name.
I found this book really interesting ..There is something about the group that stands out from the crowd , and their music has kept its originality and stays fresh.
Recommended

Thomas Edward Yorke, Philip James Selway, Colin Charles Greenwood, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, and Edward John O’Brienwere products of the prestigious Abingdon School, a private educational establishment boasting a rich legacy extending way back into the eleventh century. While these individual names may not immediately ring a bell, collectively they send rock music cognoscenti into sheer raptures. This quintet till date has produced and sold over 30 million copies of their albums. Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Radiohead

Cerebral, chaotic and cathartic, Radiohead (a name inspired by the song Radio Head on the album "True Stories" by Talking Heads, is emblematic of innovation that is remorseless and ruthless. The band has reinvented itself so many times, and with such vengeance that it is impossible to strait jacket them into any one category of music. Britpop; Progrock; Bossa Nova are all for the less ambitious. Radiohead is destruction. When their first tremor inducing sensation “Creep” rocked the music world like never before, the group did their level best to distance themselves from the song. They strove their best to ensure that their next album ostracized the “Creep” style, let alone remotely resembling it. This extraordinary iteration of conception, adulation, rejection and recreation has been emblematic of the Radiohead way of art for the last four decades. John Aizlewood in a thunderous fashion (reminiscent of Radiohead’s patented eccentricities) brings to his readers the story of one of the most sophisticated and evolved rock bands (sorry for the bracketing of a genre) of our time. Radiohead's innovation transcended mere music. They upended and literally dismantled the music industry when they put out one of their albums "Rainbows" on the internet and allowed their fans to download the record at a price which they wished to pay! And boy, did the fans pay!

The music of Radiohead stands at the intersectionality of the ingenious and the intellectual. While masters of experimentation, the band also leverages on the rich academic influences of its members. Phil Selway, in addition to his versatility with the drums also distinguished himself in English and History at Liverpool Polytechnic, Ed O’Brien not just strummed the strings of his guitar, but also immersed himself into the intricacies of the dismal science. He studied Economics at Manchester. Colin Greenwood (the older of the siblings), did a thesis on Raymond Carver at Cambridge’s oldest college, Peterhouse, in addition to doubling up as a member of the judging panel that judged the prestigious Arts Council-funded Next Generation Poets competition. The heart of the band, and one of rock music’s greatest vocal performers, Thom Yorke finished a course in Literature and Fine Art at the University of Exeter. Jonny Greenwood was the only odd-man out. He dropped out of a course in Music and Psychology from Oxford Brookes, and that too at the goading of his tutor who saw Jonny’s seraphic potential with a guitar.

The eclectic nature of their songs bear ample testimony to Radiohead’s literary influences. “Nice Dream” pays encomium to Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 masterpiece “Cat’s Cradle”; “The Bends” is a homage to Ben Okri’s haunting novel, “The Famished Road”; and “No Logo” was a direct impact of Naomi Klein’s biting polemical angst against rampant corporate culture and branding that bore the same title as the song.

Even during their punishing road tours, books were never far away from a Radiohead band member. Colin neutralized tour exhaustions by immersing himself into “The Collapse of British Power” by Correlli Barnett, while Jonny combated a vigorous bout of RSI by wearing an arm brace and seeking refuge in “The Sayings of The Vikings”.  

Radiohead began life as a nondescript band with an insipid and singularly unimaginative name “On a Friday”. If somebody had ventured to hazard a guess that four decades later (in 2019) this motely crew would be inducted into  the Roll Hall Of Fame, both the performers and their modest audience would have done a double take. A chance encounter with an EMI representative hurled the band into the limelight with their first album “Pablo Honey” in 1993. This was the album that contained the ubiquitous strains of “Creep”, strains that continue to reverberate strongly even to this day.  

"The Bends” followed in 1995. If “The Bends” eviscerated “Creep”; “Ok Computer” (1997), universally regarded as Radiohead’s greatest ever achievement, just blasted “The Bends” out of the water. “Kid A” and “Amnesiac” in the 2000s became the nemesis of “Ok Computer”. This sustained, conscious and almost celebratory cannibalism was what projected, nay, hurtled Radiohead into the deepest imaginations of their adoring fans. Even the most die-hard Radiohead worshipper could not predict the contours of the succeeding album. This restless, and almost nebulous philosophy of Radiohead was captured succinctly by the Rolling Stones Magazine: “In order to save themselves, Radiohead had to destroy Rock & Roll.” Radiohead did not believe in any zeitgeist. Zeitgeist was them. Each one a Freddy Mercury; everyone a David Bowie.

Aizlewood’ s book is a breezy concoction of Radiohead exploits. They garnered fans by the legion. David Cameron once famously said if he was to be stranded on an island one of the choices of his songs would be “Fake Plastic Trees”. Radiohead also did their bit – and more - for charity. active in promoting political, human rights, and environmental activists for more than two decades, the band has been associated with "Missing People", Albert Kennedy Trust, Fair Trade Resource Network, and Friends of the Earth among others. When a hacker stole some of their music and demanded a huge ransom, Radiohead made an entire cornucopia of musical records public, priced them dirt cheap and made over the proceeds to Extinction Rebellion.

A paradox of absolute misfits yet inseparable brothers of destiny, Radiohead has been regaling millions unfailingly and incomparably for the last forty years. It is the fervent wish of every fan and fanatic that they will continue enthralling them for the next forty as well.

Radioheads – Masters of the mysterious.

Radiohead: Life in a Glasshouse by John Aizlewood is published by Palazzo Editions and will be available for sale beginning 5th May 2022. Thank you Net Galley for the Advance Reviewer Copy.

In essence, this is Radiohead's story narrated through their albums and concerts. Apart from the extensive and detailed reference to songs, that might be a bit overwhelming at times, you can find some hints on how they developed their music, inspirations, and how they really struggled and dealt with their issues to be a successful band for so long.
For me it has been a slow and engrossing reading accompanied by my old CDs and YouTube playlists of some Radiohead music videos. I must acknowledge that this is my first approach to Radiohead's biography. I have always attached more importance to the music than to the technical points and the context in which it has been created. By reading it, I've added a new dimension to their music so I recognize it has been an enriching experience.
Thanks to Netgally, Palazzo Editions and John Aizlewood for a copy to review in exchange for an honest opinion

This is a brilliant gift for any Gen-X or elder millennial who grew up with Radiohead and their ever-evolving sound. This takes a look at Radiohead's history and evolution, without being gossipy or speculative.

Such a riveting read, For over three decades they have charted a singular course. As their music has become more beautiful, more strange, and more uncompromising, the band who make it have become more popular, evolving from the indie clubs of Britain to Stadia across the globe, while selling over 30 million albums……recommend to all music lovers!

There were 'No Surprises' in this book. Although it tells the story of the band, as promised, for me it was a 'Let Down'. I'm trying not to 'Sulk' about it, but I thought I would really like this book more than I did.

I felt that the content was over-reliant on quotes from magazine interviews and preoccupied with how Radiohead songs resembled other artists' work. It focused on the band members' personalities, the tour schedules and album tracklists. Indeed, the information was 'Packd [Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box]'. The book is aimed at an American audience, evidenced by the word choices and the painstaking explanations of the British education system. It should therefore appeal to any Radiohead fan and I'm sure there are many who would enjoy this book more than I did. If you 'Just' want to learn about the band's history, without the bother of piecing it together yourself from various sources, then it's worth a read. 'There [There'] are some nice photographs included, with odd captions.

I found the journalistic writing style so irritating. It was 'Like [Spinning Plates]' reading a very long article in a music magazine. I just wished the author would slow down and take the time to discuss the songs and their meanings more. 'I Might Be Wrong' but I had the impression he doesn't even like Radiohead that much, that he admires some of their albums in a critical way without being an ardent fan. I would have appreciated a 'Little [by Little]' personal narrative on why he wrote the book, how he got into Radiohead's music, whether he has met them or seen them perform, etc.

In summary, this book has 'Everything in its Right Place' regarding the band's history but not a lot of original insight, I felt. That was the last Radiohead pun in this review, 'I Promise'.

[Review will be on my blog, 13th April]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Palazzo Editions for an advanced copy of this biography and musical history book.

Radiohead is a band that reinvented the idea of reinvention. Every album seems different, as if the band had shed members and songwriters, starting anew in a brand new studio, recording as they went, writing on the fly, all while learning what all the levers, switches and dials did. I have enjoyed their music for years while knowing very little about the band outside the name of one or two the members. While working in an independent music shop when their second album The Bends was released, I remember hearing it and going wait this was the same band that did that song Creep, a song that in my head made them a one-hit wonders, and never to be talked of again. John Aizlewood in his study, Radiohead: Life in a Glasshouse gives a ver absorbing and exhausting account of the band, their creativity, travails and rise to superstardom.

The book gives a very full accounting of Radiohead's childhood and lives in the Oxford area of England. Slowly they coalesced in to their first band iteration, One Friday. After signing to a major label, the first change was to their name, becoming Radiohead. This change, except for their sound and style was the only major change, keeping the same band members for the last 30 years. After the success of the single, Creep, the band began to adapt their sonic DNA allowing technology and other creative ideas to help make their music what they want it to be, darn the consequences. This attitude has kept them not only at the top of the charts, but one of the most respected bands out there.

The book is very good, extremely well-written and though a tad snarky at times, with a few asides and snipes that go on a little, are still fun to read. The research is very comprehensive, sometimes overwhelming about the band and its members, but still very interesting and full of fun facts. However it is the recording of the albums where the book shines, capturing the sessions, the songwriting, the many influences, outside forces, and sometimes sheer luck that created albums like O. K. Computer and In Rainbows.

Recommended for fans of the band, music lovers and for people who create art. This book will inspire those who make or want to make things no matter what it is no matter how personal, or weird. Stick to your dreams, your ideals and keep going, You'll find you audience. This is the first book that I have read by Mr. Aizlewood and I look forward to reading more.

I don't think my anecdote about meeting Radiohead has been on goodreads before – the fluke that a five-date uni mini-tour to promote "The Bends" hit my city, allowing people who somehow (virtually pre-Internet) found out about it to get a short live set, a playback, a free T-shirt (with the slogan "plug me in I'm your best friend" on the front it's definitely better than anything Waste have charged £30+ for) and a chance to meet the quintet. Oh how Thom rankled when he turned from what he must have assumed was the last few records to sign to see me, with mine; oh how I would grow to rankle at my Drill EP 12" being back at my parents'.

Now, the fact I can work out on which page this mini-tour would have been, had it got a mention, is testament to the kind of Radiohead book this is, and the kind of band they are. There is a fervent ability for their fans to know everything inside and out, helped by digital "box sets" of about six years of cutting room floor material, and the way it's often possible to follow tracks' gestation for years before they get released (they're never the one to take the "what do you have for track seven, Ed?" route). And this book carries less of that than some fans will want – much less, perhaps.

This, then, is akin to the author's recent Joy Division/New Order volume (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4302350585), although if memory serves that was a heck of a lot more pictorial. The making-of details are slender for some readers, the biography on the general browser side as opposed to the fanatic, and the musical discussion not pandering to the Pseuds Corner writing the records would seem to herald. It does take us year by year through all the solo efforts, classically-minded film scores and all the occasions Thom put a CD out everyone had downloaded years before, though, so the arc of all the five players is fully realised.

All told, little here is that original in concept or content, but the way it eases us through their history and weaves in and out of contemporary press cuttings will make it perfectly readable for anybody vaguely interested. A success, and one for over four stars.

This book provides an informative overview to Radiohead's catalog and career, which in my case was very helpful. Others with a little more background on the band may be seeking more.

Radiohead: Life in a Glasshouse is a comprehensive insight into Radiohead, their music, who they are individually and as a group, and their song -writing and -recording process.

You get a good glimpse into how they have evolved over the years, including their independent struggles with fame and how Radiohead has impacted them as individuals. John Aizlewood has some incredible knowledge and insight into each album and each and every track, giving you a great appreciation for Radiohead as artists. Does that mean I have a greater appreciation for some of their more out-there music? Sure. Does that mean I still don’t rate their earlier stuff far more than their later stuff? Nope.

“Radiohead are not like other bands.” is the blurb that accompanies the book, and I don’t think there could be a more fitting blurb. Radiohead are complicated, complex, and unique and have made some incredible music over their life-span. As a band, they have been a part of my life’s story and I will forever hold them up high as a transformative & inspirational band.

If you are a muso fan of Radiohead then this is the book for you. It was full of details of the chronology and song choices for each album but I really didn't learn anything new about the band. I know the band are all about the music and their private lives are just that but I was hoping that I would have known them better by the end, unfortunately not.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC. I have been a fan of Radiohead for the past 20 years, and admittedly didn't know much about the band before reading this book. I loved that the length of the book was on the shorter side, and we got fast facts in a chronological order from the formation of the band until what they are currently doing. I enjoyed the breakdown of each album, including details like where they recorded, reasons for omitting certain tracks, the album's concept, etc. Hearing the details behind the writing of certain tracks was also great. This book wasn't focused on just Thom Yorke, either; instead we heard about each band member's history and projects as well. I have never read anything by this author, but noticed he has written about other musicians, so I will check those out now. I think this memoir is great for casual to die-hard fans of Radiohead, and I have been motivated to rediscover their vast catalog of music after learning about recent reissues of albums through the book. 5 stars!

You know that band that just speaks to your soul? For me, that’s Radiohead, so I was very pleased to receive an advance copy of Radiohead: Life in a Glasshouse.

There’s a lot of information about the band in Aizlewood’s excellent book, from their younger days in public school to the early days of the pandemic. The author has written an engaging and informative work with this title.

I’d kind of given up on listening to music during my pandemic anxiety (not intentionally, it just happened) but during my reading of this, I re-listened to my old cd’s, re-watched some of Radiohead’s music videos, and my 45+ year old back hurt in protest after watching Thom Yorke arch his back like that in Fake Plastic Trees. In all seriousness though, reading this was such a gift because it brought back to me the knowledge that Radiohead’s music is still utter genius.

I haven’t read any of Aizlewood’s other works, but after reading this, I’m planning to.

Definitely recommended.

John Aizlewood follows up his sublime book on Joy Division & New Order by turning his considerable talents towards another idiosyncratic British band, the unique and groundbreaking Radiohead.
Written in his usual erudite, irresistibly flowing and ever-so-slightly irreverent style, Aizlewood charts the evolution of Radiohead from their early days as private school boys with potted histories of each band member, through their “a bit pants” gigs as On A Friday, onto Britpop-shunning stardom as Radiohead, and their enduring legacy as one of the most critically-acclaimed bands Britain has ever produced.
Every album is listed and analysed, with the chapters on the era-defining “O. K. Computer” and the game-changing “In Rainbows” being especially good, but the whole book is superb. Radiohead’s rise to the top wasn’t easy and Aizlewood’s sparkling prose brings the story of their eagerness to evolve from their surprise hit “Creep” and the later ups and downs of their career to vivid life.
Radiohead have always done their own thing and John Aizlewood’s book is a celebration of that. No surprises, this book is awesome.

Was not able to receive this book on my kindle, thus can't give it a rating. It never delivered after multiple attempts.