Now, there’s no fault here with EMI, Radiohead’s recording label until recently — when the band severed ties with the industry in general and released In Rainbows (in my top five music list for 2007) directly through the web, pay what you think it’s worth. EMI supported and (perhaps) nurtured the band’s work until In Rainbows, so it has every right, and lots of reasons, to release the “best of” now. As to the reasons, aside from lucre, a Radiohead greatest hits may entice listeners to the band, and some of these individuals may begin an exploration of the band that takes them to the music in totality.

That would be a good thing. And, truth be told, you could own Radiohead: The Best of and be quite contented listening to Creep or No Surprises or Anyone Can Play Guitar or Fake Plastic Trees, all “greatest hits” in EMI’s view. So, let’s hope it drives listeners to Radiohead’s entire catalogue.

Everything selected for this release, despite what I’ve said, is a greatest hit, in its peculiar way. Or I should say, a great song (but then “great” is nearly pejorative here because much of the work is too enigmatic to be considered good or bad, much less great.) EMI, though, on balance, has done us a favor. The band might disagree.

But if you have to start in the middle with Radiohead, so to speak, start here. Then listen to OK Computer, one of the most troubling and compelling and confounding albums of the last 20 years. From there, I suspect, if you’re open to it, you’ll be “all in” on the group and will hear for yourself the unnerving, spectral sounds of Kid A, a jolting musical achievement. And then others.

EMI is issuing “the best of” on two discs, at least in one release version. [N.B., full release includes limited edition 2-CD, and quadruple vinyl and digital editions.] Its song selection is just about right; surely one disc would be a kind of assault against the band.

What Radiohead releases in the future is likely to be distributed simultaneously via the web and more traditional outlets, but not through a major label. EMI’s release represents a kind of send off for the band and, importantly, is at least a nod, and perhaps a bow, to Radiohead's accomplishments.

In its way, it’s a tribute to a band that’s not really a band.