Album Reviews
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View In retrospect, the seeds of a powerful band were there from the beginning. Pablo Honey was a spotty affair, but Yorke's soaring, Bono-esque voice and the instrumental prowess of the band pointed to Radiohead's more ambitious second outing, The Bends. On that record, the music not only complemented Yorke's pretty voice and pensive lyrics but it built on them, sculpting his expressions of inner conflict ("I need to wash myself again to hide all the dirt and pain….") into universal meditations on the kind of primal anguish that we all experience from time to time. The songs were stronger – owing more to the Beatles this time than to U2 – and Radiohead had expanded their palette to include heavy doses of psychedelic guitar, electronics and hints of glam rock.
On OK Computer, Radiohead take the ideas they had begun toying with on The Bends into the stratosphere. At a time when they could have played it safe, selling their psychedelic souls for more radio-friendly rock & roll, Radio-head have released a concept album whose theme – based on rock's age-old fear of the imminence of a world run by computers – unfolds gradually during the course of the album's 12 songs.
OK Computer is not an easy listen. From guitarist Jonny Greenwood's menacing riff that introduces the opener, "Airbag," to Yorke's fragile pleas to "slow down" on the final track, "The Tourist," each song takes time to reveal itself as a narrative link to the album's ultimately spiritual message. In the suite "Paranoid Android," acoustic and electric instruments float understatedly through the mix as Yorke sings, through clenched teeth, lines like "Ambition makes you look very ugly." Complex tempo changes, touches of dissonance, ancient choral music and a King Crimson-like melodic structure propel the song to its conclusion, where Yorke sings in a pleading voice, "God loves his children."
There are moments on "Paranoid Android" when Yorke sounds as though he's conjuring the spirit of Queen's Freddie Mercury. On several other tracks, Radiohead also draw from the past for inspiration. Yorke's throwaway words to "Karma Police" ("This is what you get when you mess with us") are rescued by the layered, "Strawberry Fields Forever" vibe of the music. "Let Down" is driven by Byrds-like chiming guitars. And the Eno-esque ambience of "Fitter Happier" – based around a computerized voice intoning platitudes like "Comfortable/Not drinking too much/Regular exercise at the gym ... /Calm, fitter, healthier and more productive" – gives the song a claustrophobic, Doll's House feel.
Like R.E.M.'s recent New Adventures in Hi-fi, the music on OK Computer has a surreal, cinematic quality. Also like the R.E.M. record, this album hints at some kind of dark spiritual crossroad. In the delicate "No Surprises," Yorke announces, "This is my final fit, my final bellyache." Where Radiohead might go from here is anyone's guess, but OK Computer is evidence that they are one rock band still willing to look the devil square in the eyes.
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- Airbag
- Paranoid Android
- Subterranean Homesick Alien
- Exit Music (For A Film)
- Let Down
- Karma Police
- Fitter Happier
- Electioneering
- Climbing Up The Walls
- No Surprises
- Lucky
- The Tourist
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Your Turn
Review 1 of 13
No Screen Name writes:
You have to be kidding me. Like every other person commenting on this album, 4 stars is an insult to this album's greatness. No soul? Listen to the chorus on the Tourist and during the last verse on Let Down as well as the ending to Exit Music. This album weaves in and out of containing soul as it should as it tells a story of struggle against control of technology without feeling.
Jun 3, 2008 00:35:52
Review 2 of 13
No Screen Name writes:
I bought the album bascically for the song "Karma Police". I'm guilty of that when it comes to a song that a band has and that's the only good one. To my suprise, "Paranoid Android" and many others like it swept me off my feet. From that point on, Radiohead was no doubt my favorite band. This album's good songs outnumber the bad 9 to 12!
Apr 22, 2008 18:11:46
Review 3 of 13
No Screen Name writes:
Remember, RS magazine has a long and inglorious track record of completely missing the mark on great albums. For example, they panned several of Led Zeppelin's early albums, all of which are now universally regarded as landmark masterpieces. Anything less than five stars for this stunningly beautiful and uniquely powerful record is laughable. After all the dust settled, OK Computer was clearly the single greatest record to emerge from the 90's, and without question one of the finest rock albums ever created. I suggest listening to it from beginning to end at least a dozen times before you pass judgement on this music. As is the case with most truly great material, it's brilliance is not necessarily immediately apparent or accessible, but once it penetrates and sinks in, you are pretty much hooked for life. That's another way of saying that this is one of those rare albums that actually sounds better with each successive listen. An absolutely essential record that belongs in every serious music collection, do not miss this masterwork.
Jan 13, 2008 11:26:58
Review 4 of 13
No Screen Name writes:
They gave it 4 stars because of Robert Christageau ...one of RS's most famous rock critics. He said OKC doesn't have any soul. What he doesn't realize is that that was the point. The album is meant to shake you to your bones until by the end you're sucked completely dry of 'soul'. Last time I checked musical groups can do whatever the fuck they want as long as they do it good. And OK Computer is arguably the best album of the 90's.
Nov 18, 2007 23:14:22
Review 5 of 13
No Screen Name writes:
DAVID FRICKE, ambition makes YOU pretty ugly.
How can you give this fantastic album a 4. The only excuse for this crime was if your [5] button fell of because of your neglect of using it. You have simply cheated a revolutionary album for its rightfull 5th star. Remember where it came from, where it is, and at least reward on of the best bands in the world for taking the next step to bring rock further up the stairs of evolution.
When rock finds its rest and becomes mainstream its pop!
Aug 3, 2007 18:16:16
Review 6 of 13
No Screen Name writes:
4 stars??? did Fricke actually listen to this album? this album is much closer to 6 stars giving the world not only "one of the best records of the year", but of modern memory. An absolute must have for all rock fans and once you have listened to it you will realise why Fricke is so wrong and why the word OK in the title is one of the biggest understatements in music.
Jul 30, 2007 16:12:48
Review 7 of 13
No Screen Name writes:
hahaha 4 stars hahaha
Jul 22, 2007 21:12:21
Review 8 of 13
No Screen Name writes:
How the fuck does this album get 4 stars!!??
Your guys' rating system is all fucked up.
OK Computer is the single greatest album ever made. The album that fucked rock n' roll in it's ass, and made everyone think of rock n' roll was still cool. This is the the sound of Rock n' Roll falling apart. i guess Rolling Stone's to scared to give it praise because they would be out work.
May 23, 2007 00:03:16
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