Welcome back everyone. Well so far I have discussed an album from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. So it’s now time to bring on the 1990’s! The very first album on this blog that was released while I was alive is Radiohead’s third studio album, OK Computer, released on June 16, 1997. The album reached #1 in the UK, but only #21 in the US, as the band was still considered that one hit wonder that recorded “Creep”. This album has more commentary by critics and others than perhaps any other album I’ve discussed so far, as its been quoted as the “Pet Sounds” of this generation - making the reference to the famous Beach Boys album that dramatically altered the way popular music was recorded. You hear all these different sounds throughout the album, and there’s definitely a reason to agree to that claim.

This album has been on the top of many lists as the greatest album produced in the last 30 years. It’s also been listed as one of the most overrated albums of all time, as one BBC radio show put it at #6 as the most overrated of all time. Maybe you agree, maybe you don’t. I personally love the album, and I want to share with you why it might be worth a listen if you’ve never given it a chance before.

First off, I love an album that makes you think. Peeling the different layers of this album is a lot of fun, something in which I believe gives it such replay-ability. There are so many new things to discover on this record each time you hear it due to its depth. This piece of art rock brings on themes of isolation, technology, boredom, insanity, and wraps it all together to explain to the listener that it's all connected. These themes are the causes of and responses to each other. What drives these themes home are not just the haunting lyrics that Thom Yorke provides, but it's the atmospheric sounds of the band that puts you in that state of mind. I just can’t get over all the different sounds you hear throughout the album.

From Left to Right: Phillip Selway (Drums), Thom Yorke (Guitar & Vocals), Jonny Greenwood (Lead Guitar), Ed O’Brian (Guitar), Colin Greenwood (Bass)

The band recorded the album away from the city and its busy ways of life. It’s self-produced with much assistance from Nigel Godrich, who has since gone on to produce some great albums with Beck, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers just to name a few. They started in a converted shed in Oxfordshire (beautiful area by the way), then moved into a mansion owned by Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn herself) near Bath, England (also a beautiful place). Like my review on the Judas Priest album British Steel, Radiohead also incorporates all the different ways to use sounds in the mansion - for instance using the reverberation from the stone staircases, and the acoustics of the ballroom. Much of what we hear is totally live, with little overdubs. There are many first takes on the final production too. Yorke wanted to convey authenticity and emotion in his singing, and believed that could only be done by what he created the first time, preventing him from thinking too much into what he might want to do.

An interesting thing I dug up that came from Thom York was that he brought up Miles Davis in regards to the album (my last blog was on the Davis album, Kind of Blue). He stated he was looking for a Bitches Brew feel to the album, something that was a terrifying sound that is also super dense in what is available for the listener. The band wanted to build up their sound and then see it crash down.

The flow of the album certainly takes on that feel. You get an introduction to how the band feels about the world around them with tracks like “Airbag” and the masterpiece “Paranoid Android”. The fear and discontent from songs like “Exit Music (For a Film)”, “Let Down”. The crashing down of the system in “Electioneering” and “Climbing Up the Walls”. Then finally reminding you of the monotony of life in the great tune “No Surprises”, and how you are personally creating this life, with technology feeding into your lonesome feelings of isolation and apathy.

Radiohead claims this isn’t a concept album (even though they said they spent two weeks debating the order of the tracks), but it seems pretty close to one to me. There are other tracks I failed to mention here, but no song on this album is just filler in my opinion. Each song has its own feeling and tone, with an amazing orchestration of sounds that keep you interested throughout the length of the album. In addition, some of the songs here are just absolutely haunting in how they conveyed (Exit Music, Climbing Up the Walls, Lucky). The emotion and mood these songs provide are fantastic.

So that’s my summary of OK Computer, an album that in 2014 the Library of Congress deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The vinyl record I have of this is from the 2017 remaster for it’s 20th anniversary. Titled “OKNOTOK 1997 2017”, it provides an entire additional album of tracks that were recorded around the time period, but were not ultimately used for the album. Some tracks are great, some are just ok.

Have your own thoughts on this album, including whether or not it’s overrated? Please share either on social media or on the Gamezilla Media discord. In addition, if you love gaming and movies, check out the five podcasts on Gamezilla Media, and consider being a patron on Patreon!

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Sphinx

Sphinx's Music Blog - Radiohead: OK Computer

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