MiniDiscs [Hacked] | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 11 June 2019 | |||
Recorded | 1995–1997 | |||
Length | 978:52 | |||
Label | Self-released; distributed via Bandcamp | |||
Radiohead chronology | ||||
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MiniDiscs [Hacked] is a compilation album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in 2019. It comprises more than 16 hours of demos, rehearsals, live performances and other material recorded while Radiohead were working on their 1997 album OK Computer .
The recordings were taken from MiniDiscs belonging to the singer, Thom Yorke, and were not intended for release. According to some reports, a collector demanded a ransom from Radiohead, but he denied this and it was not corroborated by fans who negotiated with him. After the collector leaked the recordings online, Radiohead released them through the music sharing site Bandcamp for 18 days, with all proceeds going to the environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion.
The compilation received positive reviews. Though critics said that its size made it daunting for some listeners, they praised the insight into the making of OK Computer.
MiniDiscs [Hacked] contains more than 16 hours of demos, rehearsals, outtakes, and live performances recorded while Radiohead were working on their third album, OK Computer (1997). [1] The recordings were taken from MiniDiscs belonging to the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke. [1] They include unreleased songs, alternative mixes, early versions of OK Computer songs (such as an extended version of "Paranoid Android"), and versions of the later songs "Lift", "True Love Waits", "Nude", "Last Flowers", "Motion Picture Soundtrack" and "Life in a Glasshouse". [1] [2] "Poison" is an early version "Exit Music (For a Film)", with different lyrics. [3]
Though some of the recordings had been previously released on the 2017 OK Computer reissue OKNOTOK 1997 2017, [4] most were not intended for release. [1] On 5 June 2019, the recordings were leaked online by a collector using the name Zimbra, who said he had traded them for unreleased Beatles recordings. [5] They may have been stolen while archived material was being prepared for the OK Computer reissue. [5] The guitarist Ed O'Brien said they had been stolen from Radiohead's cloud archive. [6]
According to some reports, Zimbra initially demanded a $150,000 ransom from Radiohead not to release the recordings. [7] However, according to an investigation by Pitchfork , Zimbra had demanded no ransom and had instead hoped to sell the recordings to fans. [5] Zimbra told Pitchfork that the story had been taken "way out of context". [5] A fan who negotiated with Zimbra said he did not believe extortion was his intent: "He never told us anything to suggest he was trying to get money from the band, only from fans." [5] Zimbra released the recordings free after news broke on the discussion platform Reddit. [5]
On 11 June, Radiohead made the recordings available to stream and purchase from the music distribution site Bandcamp for 18 days. [8] All proceeds went to the environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion, [2] raising approximately £500,000. [9] The official release removed a 12-minute field recording and non-Radiohead material, such as several minutes of a James Bond score. [10] The guitarist Jonny Greenwood wrote on Twitter that the collection was "only tangentially interesting", [11] while Yorke wrote on the Bandcamp page: "As it's out there it may as well be out there until we all get bored and move on." [1]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 82/100 [12] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
The Guardian | [13] |
The Daily Telegraph | [14] |
Pitchfork wrote that MiniDiscs [Hacked] did not "make for an ideal listening experience" and would be of interest "only to the most diehard Radiohead fans". They observed a "few moments of brilliance (and strangeness)", including Yorke's acoustic songs, the extended "Paranoid Android", and an alternative version of "Lift" that "could have topped the charts". [1]
However, The Guardian felt MiniDiscs [Hacked] had merit "even for less nerdish fans", and wrote that was "an endlessly interesting chronicle of a band reinventing the mainstream by rejecting it ... [It shows] the inner workings of what is regarded by many as the greatest album of the 1990s, showing how they walked alongside and then turned away from the brash Britpop that surrounded them." [13]
The New Statesman wrote that "starting, skipping and scrolling" through the lengthy tracks "makes for a surprisingly liberating experience, akin to wandering Radiohead’s subconscious memory palace and occasionally encountering the familiar in a different form". [15] The Quietus praised the "stunning" live performances and particularly Yorke's demos, and wrote of the "unromantic revealing" of the process of creating music. [16]
MiniDiscs (Hacked) – a fan-made Google document cataloguing the recordings at the time of the leak |
Each MiniDisc is included as a single track lasting approximately an hour; the contents are not broken into individual tracks. [15] [17] Fans assembled a Google document to identify songs and timestamps. [17]
All tracks are written by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Philip Selway, Ed O'Brien and Colin Greenwood.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "MD111" | 1:10:47 |
2. | "MD112" | 1:01:27 |
3. | "MD113" | 1:05:08 |
4. | "MD114" | 57:21 |
5. | "MD115" | 57:04 |
6. | "MD116" | 25:57 |
7. | "MD117" | 55:28 |
8. | "MD118" | 57:03 |
9. | "MD119" | 53:37 |
10. | "MD120" | 58:17 |
11. | "MD121" | 1:00:21 |
12. | "MD122" | 1:13:13 |
13. | "MD123" | 17:52 |
14. | "MD124" | 1:12:22 |
15. | "MD125" | 56:10 |
16. | "MD126" | 1:08:04 |
17. | "MD127" | 26:49 |
18. | "MD128" | 41:52 |
Total length: | 16:18:52 |
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. They comprise Thom Yorke ; brothers Jonny Greenwood and Colin Greenwood (bass); Ed O'Brien ; and Philip Selway. They have worked with the producer Nigel Godrich and the cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. Radiohead's experimental approach is credited with advancing the sound of alternative rock.
OK Computer is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 21 May 1997. With their producer, Nigel Godrich, Radiohead recorded most of OK Computer in their rehearsal space in Oxfordshire and the historic mansion of St Catherine's Court in Bath in 1996 and early 1997. They distanced themselves from the guitar-centred, lyrically introspective style of their previous album, The Bends. OK Computer's abstract lyrics, densely layered sound and eclectic influences laid the groundwork for Radiohead's later, more experimental work.
Kid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with their producer, Nigel Godrich, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Departing from their earlier sound, Radiohead incorporated influences from electronic music, krautrock, jazz and 20th-century classical music, with a wider range of instruments and effects. The singer, Thom Yorke, wrote impersonal and abstract lyrics, cutting up phrases and assembling them at random.
Amnesiac is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 30 May 2001 by EMI. It was recorded with the producer Nigel Godrich in the same sessions as Radiohead's previous album Kid A (2000). Radiohead split the work in two as they felt it was too dense for a double album. As with Kid A, Amnesiac incorporates influences from electronic music, 20th-century classical music, jazz and krautrock. The final track, "Life in a Glasshouse", is a collaboration with the jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and his band.
The Bends is the second studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 13 March 1995 by Parlophone. It was produced by John Leckie, with extra production by Radiohead, Nigel Godrich and Jim Warren. The Bends combines guitar songs and ballads, with more restrained arrangements and cryptic lyrics than Radiohead's debut album, Pablo Honey (1993).
Hail to the Thief is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released on 9 June 2003 through Parlophone internationally and a day later through Capitol Records in the United States. It was the last album released under Radiohead's record contract with EMI, the parent company of Parlophone and Capitol.
Thomas Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. Rolling Stone described Yorke as one of the greatest and most influential singers of his generation.
"Paranoid Android" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their third studio album, OK Computer (1997), on 26 May 1997. The lyrics were written by singer Thom Yorke following an unpleasant experience in a Los Angeles bar. The song is over six minutes long and contains four sections. The name is taken from Marvin the Paranoid Android from the science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
"Karma Police" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 25 August 1997 as the second single from their third studio album, OK Computer (1997). It reached number one in Iceland and number eight on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it reached number 14 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was included on Radiohead: The Best Of (2008).
"No Surprises" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the fourth and final single from their third studio album, OK Computer (1997), in 1998. It was also released as a mini-album in Japan, titled No Surprises / Running from Demons.
"Nude" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released in March 2008 as the second single from their seventh studio album, In Rainbows (2007).
"The Bends" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead from their second studio album, The Bends (1995). In Ireland, it was released by Parlophone on 26 July 1996 as the album's sixth and final single, and reached number 26 on the Irish Singles Chart.
In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a pay-what-you-want download, followed by a retail release internationally through XL Recordings on 3 December 2007 and in North America through TBD Records on 1 January 2008. It was Radiohead's first release after their recording contract with EMI ended with their album Hail to the Thief (2003).
"Lift" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released in 2017. It was first performed in 1996; bootleg recordings were widely circulated, and it became a fan favourite. Radiohead recorded versions of "Lift" during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but abandoned it. Members of Radiohead said they had felt pressured by its commercial potential, and that it did not represent what they wanted to say at the time.
"I Promise" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released in 2017. Radiohead performed it several times in 1996 while touring in support of Alanis Morissette. They recorded it during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but felt it was not strong enough to release. In June 2017, "I Promise" was included on the OK Computer reissue OKNOTOK 1997 2017 and released as a download with a music video.
"True Love Waits" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. Radiohead worked on it for over two decades before releasing it on their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).
OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017 is a reissue of the 1997 album OK Computer by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released in June 2017, the album's 20th anniversary, following the 2016 acquisition of Radiohead's back catalogue by XL Recordings from EMI.
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A music leak is an unauthorized release of music over the internet. Songs or albums may leak days or months before their scheduled release date. In other cases, the leaked material may be demos or scrapped work never intended for public release. Leaks often originate from hackers who gain unauthorized access to the online storage of an artist, label, producer, or journalist.