Arranging is the step that is missing from a lot of rock music. Many groups consider the song to be finished once the harmony (i.e. the chords) and the melody are done, producing an effect that usually sounds underwritten. If a group features one or more great players, their improvisational abilities (sometimes thought of as "arranging in the moment") can mask this fact. But even better is when the band is comprised of great arrangers, as is the case with Radiohead, a group that has developed their arranging abilities to an unprecedented level in rock music. And they didn't start out that way. Their first album, Pablo Honey (1993), although it shows some of their promise, almost approaches grunge music in its lack of development. Their next album, The Bends (1995), was a huge step forward with many (but not all) of the tracks showing their abilities at full power. OK Computer (1997) was the first in their unbroken string of five straight masterpieces, culminating in 2007's In Rainbows. The primary factor that led to these accomplishments was their growth as arrangers. In my post of June 25, I wrote about their songwriting process, which I learned about from a New Yorker article by Alex Ross entitled "The Searchers", the main point here being that their method of working requires that each member of the group be entirely responsible for creating his own parts, and in a band that features three guitarists, and has made two albums largely dominated by electronic instrumentation (Kid A and Amnesiac), that means creativity was (and is) required. More tomorrow. (Suggested listening: "I Might Be Wrong", "Scatterbrain", "Reckoner")