Song · Radiohead
“15 Step” by Radiohead
From the album In Rainbows (2007)
“15 Step” by Radiohead appears on 3 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2007 and 2024. It was first released in 2007 on the album In Rainbows. Its best result is #53 on The Best Opening Tracks of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #60 indie & aaa song of 2007.
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Video from YouTube (Radiohead). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"15 Step" is the first thing you hear on In Rainbows, Radiohead's 2007 album, and it opens the record with a rhythm puzzle instead of a riff. The song goes back to 2005, when the band were fooling around with odd meters; Thom Yorke built it on his laptop, taking his cue from the handclap groove of Peaches' "Fuck the Pain Away". It lurches along in 5/4, a drum machine stuttering under syncopated drumming while a smooth guitar line glides over the top, and critics loved how easily it fused the band's electronic and rock instincts.
It was road-tested long before release, debuting in Copenhagen and staying in the set for every show of the 2006 tour. Nigel Godrich produced and mixed it, and a Hideyuki Kota animation, chosen through a storyboard contest the band sponsored, became its video in 2008.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 60 | WXPN Philadelphia, PA | WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2007 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 53 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2024 | 315 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
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