OK Computer - Radiohead > Reviews > Histerical and Useless

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Average
Value for Money

Advantages:	Possibly their finest moment to date
Disadvantages:	Some call it depressing

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

It was the summer of 1997, the usual sort of Irish summer of cloud and rain when the young and impressionable kfingleton walked the half mile down the hill, past the rugby fields and the new housing estate and into the town to pick up his most eagerly anticipated album of the year. It was the Saturday before the official release, so I felt rather smug in the knowledge that I would have it two days before the idiots who cued up to get the album at 00:01 on the Monday morning.

Why was my anticipation so great? Part of it was media hype, I suppose, a lot of it was the genius of The Bends, and then there was the Jools Holland performance in which they rampaged through Airbag, before Jonny surreally took on the xylophone for No Surprises. And of course there was anticipation because of Paranoid Android, the schizophrenic six-minute single was just so wonderful.

I had been down that road on similar journeys of anticipation before, most notably at what was the end of the greatest summer of my life to buy The Great Escape by Blur before it was released. I was taken in by the hype then and absolutely adored the album and I was constantly trying to write songs about cardboard stereotypes thereafter. But by 1997, The Great Escape seemed contrived and lacklustre, Radiohead were the new kings.

Obviously Be Here Now took me in that summer too, but I do remember listening to Heroes, the b-side to D’You Know What I Mean? (before I had even heard the a-side) and thinking that if the album sounded anything like that, it would be shite. But I didn’t heed my own words and got caught up in it all once more. But while these other albums of yesteryear have dated quicker than an Citroen, OK Computer still stands the test of time.

Why? While it has been voted album of the year / decade / century etc, I have to admit that I prefer a couple of other albums. I’m still not sure if it is better than The Bends. But what I am sure of is that it comprises of wonderful musicians playing the songs of a superb singer-songwriter.

There are many things that mark out OK Computer from Kid A. Most notably is the use of guitars! But the lyrics of Thom Yorke are full of wonderful nuances, corporate sloganeering with a lump of irony. "In a fast German car / I’m amazed that I survived / An airbag saved my life" is the cry in the guitar-heavy opener Airbag.

Prog rock takes over on track two, otherwise known as the ambitious single Paranoid Android. But again the lyrics are sublime too. The striking sarcastic growl "God loves his children, yeah!" finishes this classic track.

Then the album takes a more upbeat tempo with Subterranean Homesick Alien, which Bob Dylan fans went ballistic about. Who says Radiohead are downbeat, with lyrics like "The breath of the morning / I keep forgetting / The Smell of the warm summer air". This is the closest Radiohead get to a summer song. Next up is the jingly guitar sound of Let Down, which has a superb false ending. But don’t get me wrong here, this album is far from Vengaboys style bouncy pop!

There are darker sentiments jotted all over the record, most clearly stated in what could almost be an update of She’s Leaving Home by the Beatles, otherwise known as Exit Music (For A Film), previously used as exit music for a film (Romeo & Juliet). "Sing us a song / A Song to keep us warm / There’s such a chill / Such a chill".

Another dark moment comes from a track that first appeared almost two years earlier, but I remember mostly for being used on Match Of The Day in May 1998 when Arsenal won the league. Lucky comprises of a superb chorus riff, dark verses and the very apt lyrics for the gooners, "I feel my luck could change". Climbing Up The Walls is the closest song to anything on Kid A, with its minimalist guitars and with Thom’s voice distorted.

Other highlights (there are no low points) include the frantic and very sarcastic Electioneering, the bands most political song to date ("I trust I can rely on your vote"). Stephen Hawking seems to make a cameo appearance in Fitter Happier, a song that seems to echo Ewan McGregor’s monologue at the beginning of Trainspotting, and it uses Apple’s Simple Text program.

The other two singles taken off the album are genius in my opinion (though possibly not others). Karma Police is a great song to play in a smoke filled room or round the camp fire, but the original has wonderful rasping vocals. No Surprises is an ode to an easy middle class life. "Such a pretty house / Such a pretty garden" Thom ponders, but is it plain sarcasm or a realisation of the fate of the middle classes?

The final track may not live up to the beauty of either Street Spirit (Fade Out) or Motion Picture Soundtrack, but ‘The Tourist’ is a lovely, understated finish to a classic album. Again the lyrics are absolutely superb. "They ask me where the hell I’m going / At a thousand feet per second / Hey man slow down", what this really means is beyond me, but the elusiveness of the meaning is part of the genius. It's written by Jonny.

Reviewing an album that is over four years old may be a bit pointless, but I though that with the mixed responses to Kid A and the fact that views can change so quickly on whether an album is great or grating, it would be nice to look retrospectively. I love this album and it gets an airing on my stereo every so often (unlike Be Here Now). Maybe you hate it in retrospect, but it takes all kinds to make a world.