Take the World’s Hardest Quiz

On Nov. 4, Radiohead will emerge from a seven-year slumber when they kick off a European tour at the Movistar Arena in Madrid. At the moment, there are no shows on the books outside of Europe. There’s also no evidence they’ll be unveiling any new material. “So we’ll play anything in any order, at any time,” bassist Colin Greenwood revealed on The Adam Buxton Podcast. “We sort of take a busking attitude to the Radiohead set list.” Hardcore fans from all over the planet will be descending on Spain for the opening shows, and many will likely follow them as the tour continues throughout Italy, England, Denmark, and Germany. Those die-hards will likely do quite well on this quiz. If you’re a bit more casual in your Radiohead fandom, best of luck to you.

0 to 30 percent correct: Don’t despair. View this as a wonderful opportunity to dive deep into the world of Radiohead. Start with the core-album catalog, and then comb through the Rolling Stone article archive. We recommend David Fricke’s 2001 cover story, Mark Binelli’s 2008 cover story, and an in-depth oral history of OK Computer tied to our 2017 cover story about the 20th anniversary of the album. It’s a lot to digest, but you’ll emerge with a lot of Radiohead knowledge. 

31 to 60 percent correct: Very nice. You’re well on your way toward becoming a superfan. If you want to dig deeper, check out Steven Hyden’s book This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s “Kid A” and the Beginning of the 21st Century and James Doheny’s Radiohead: The Stories Behind Every Song. There’s also a vast, vast world of Radiohead concert bootlegs to explore. A good place to start is the official live videos they’ve posted on their YouTube channel. Start with Peru 2018. It’s excellent. 

61 to 100 percent correct: Impressive! There’s not a ton about Radiohead we can teach you at this point, but there are many online resources, including Ateaseweb and the “cold storage” section of the dormant fan site Green Plastic. And this history of their live shows is very detailed, even if it ends in 2001. In today’s era of social media, fan sites just aren’t as active as they were back in the days of Kid A. Many of them have gone dark. Thankfully, Radiohead have turned their own light back on. We’ll see you at the shows in the fall.

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