It's not always good to be the Next Big Thing, at least from an artistic standpoint. There are some pretty heavy expectations tied to being an up-and-coming act. Most NBT bands manage to get away with one great album before collapsing or at least disappointing everyone who proclaimed them the future of (insert style) music. For Radiohead, commercial and critical success opened up the possibility of artistic freedom, a privilege they would use to their full advantage as they approached the third decade of their careers.

• 2+2=5

• Sit Down, Stand Up
• Backdrifts
• Go To Sleep
• There There
• A Punchup at a Wedding
• Myxomatosis
• A Wolf at the Door

The general consensus about 2003's Hail to the Thief is that it's a good album that doesn't do a whole lot that Radiohead hadn't done before, which is only partially true. Thief isn't as harsh a departure or as deep an experiment as the Kid A/Amnesiac period work, but it's not backtracking, either. Sure, "2+2=5" sounds like classic Radiohead (though it should be noted that it's the most energetic track the band had recorded in years), but the most interesting parts of the album are in new genre explorations. "Backdrifts" is nothing if not Radiohead-does-hip-hop, while "A Punchup at a Wedding" is an indication of the jazzy sound Radiohead would embrace a few years later. Hail to the Thief is also part of an artistic atmosphere that really blossomed between 2001 and today. It hasn't been named yet and it may never be, but there was a clear essence of frustration, fear and outrage in a lot of popular art during those years. In music, Hail to the Thief has affected contemporaries in albums like Beck's Modern Guilt and Neon Bible by The Arcade Fire. It's intense, defiant art that expresses a revolt against the confusion and insanity of a troubled era.

• 15 Step
• Bodysnatchers
• Down in the New Up
• Nude
• Up on the Ladder
• Bangers and Mash
• Reckoner

In 2007, Radiohead released In Rainbows as a download on their official website, allowing fans to pay whatever amount they wanted, including nothing. This maneuver was part of a rash of similar free, online releases by popular artists. The band wasn't as vocal as some of their contemporaries about exactly why they were giving their album away. Radiohead hasn't had all that much to say about the music industry, so it's more likely that it was just a savvy business decision. The record sales seem to reflect that. Between the Radiohead name and the Internet pre-sale, the band somehow convinced the entire Anglophone world to buy a couple million copies of a jazz album. In Rainbows owes more to Miles Davis and Tom Jones than it does to Kurt Cobain and John Cage. Don't let the glitchy studio tricks fool you, "15 Step" and "Down is the New Up" are just evolved jazz songs. Hell, it's hard to listen to "Bodysnatchers" and not hear at least a little Tina Turner in the mix. In Rainbows proves that, with the right label, people can be convinced to consume things they otherwise wouldn't even approach. A new band couldn't pull this album off, but Radiohead definitely could.

Radiohead is at work on a new album, though no due date has been announced yet. Press releases from the band are overwhelmingly positive. Hopefully a happy Radiohead can produce as much good work as their Kid A era misery.