An Airbag Saved My Life
 Mar 28th, 2001
Advantages:
60 minutes of bliss
Disadvantages:
Let Down is a let down
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Originality
Lyrics
Quality and consistency of tracks
How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Value for Money
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  rawduu
About me:
Only one exam left to go before we finish for the summer break :D
Member since:20.03.2001
Reviews:29
Members who trust:37
Review rated by 49 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
When Radiohead entered the studio to record the follow-up to Pablo Honey, the world didn't expect the five boys from England to produce anything as great as "Creep" but when "The Bends" was released in 1995, critics and fans bought it up and named it, arguably, best album of 1995. When the boys returned to the studio to work on LP3, critics and fans expected a rerun of The Bends. In the summer of 1997, the world, for me and many across the world, changed forever. Ok Computer, a record encompassing every emotion imaginable, wrapped in a 5 inch plastic disc, changed my way of thinking forever. Why? I simply can't answer that yet. This album constitutes a different approach to recording for Radiohead. Nigel Godrich, a good friends of Radiohead, had previously produced the b-side Permanent Daylight and was brought along to produce Ok Computer. The band asked Godrich to build them a makeshift studio where they could record when they liked. Titled Canned Applause?, this is where Radiohead started to record the follow-up to 1995's ultra-successful The Bends.
Track 01 - Airbag The original title for this song An Airbag Saved My Life was penned by Thom Yorke when he read an Automobile Association Manual. This song represents Radiohead's first foray into the world of samples and drum loops. The song is loosely based on a three second clip of drummer Phil Selway at work behind the kit. This arena rock anthem opens up Ok Computer perfectly just as Planet Telex did for The Bends. The band would more often than not open up their shows with this song, after walking in during Fitter Happier. Airbag is another song about cars, a fear
that Thom Yorke has. According to Yorke, the song is about the thrill people get after almost getting in a car crash.
Track 02 - Paranoid Android Track two is the strangest, longest, and most complicated song off the album. Spanning 6 and a half minutes, Paranoid Android is composed of many speed changes. Once the album was completed, this track was sent to radio stations world-wide. Soon thereafter, those same radio stations demanded a shorter edited version be sent to them. Once the stations had realized no such version would arrive, Paranoid Android began to play in earnest. Some believe this song is about the fall of the Roman Empire although it has never been confirmed. The video is a cartoon. The under-aged hero enters a bar with his friend, has a few drinks. He later exits the bar and climbs atop a lamp post. He later plays ping-pong with a helicopter-flying angel before returning to his friend. A politician accidently cuts off his arms and legs but is rescued by large-breasted mermaids. The hero and his friend pay a woman to undress herself and the video ends. A decidedly bizarre video for a bizarre track. Excellent nonetheless.
Track 03 - Subterranean Homesick Alien Written about an essay Yorke had written in grade school, this song was first performed in 1995 but was later modified, adding electric keyboards in its final version.
Track 04 - Exit Music [For A Film] When asked to contribute a song for the ending credits of the modern take of Romeo + Juliet, Yorke delivered a soft acoustic number which the band were reluctant to modify claiming it was already good in its demo stage. The entire song is based around the moment when Juliet (Claire Danes) has a Colt 45 to her head. A truly beautiful number.
Track 05 - Let Down A video was made for this track. The band, however, disliked the final product and decided to cancel its release. Let Down is to me, the only disappointing track on the album, or maybe I just have not fully grasped at its significance yet. One day maybe...
Track 06 - Karma Police The second single to be released is accompanied by a brilliant video. The viewer is placed inside a vehicle who is chasing a rather out of shape man. The tables turn as the old man light a trace of gasoline trailing from the car and ignites the vehicle with the viewer inside. Brilliant piano. Karma Police is probably the most commercially-accessible song off Ok Computer.
Track 07 - Fitter Happier The most original track to grace CDs in years. All vocals are fed through a Macintosh program that reads the words and speaks them. They sound a little like Mr Hawking speaking (no disrespect meant). Even though its just random banter and clumsily played piano (thank you Thom), the track is a buffer between Karma Police and Electioneering. During the north american tour in 1997-98, the band would walk on stage while this was playing on the speakers.
Track 08 - Electioneering After the mysterious and strange Fitter Happier comes another guitar-heavy song, Electioneering. According to Yorke, this song is about how the band was performing its shows in 1995-96, going city to city, selling themselves to their fans. Capitol Records originally hoped to make this song into a single but after the band had reworked the song in the studio, Capitol balked. Although its live version is outstanding, the one found on Ok Computer lacks a certain edge that the other has. This was perhaps intentional of the band since the boys didn't regard this song as a single as their label did.
Track 09 - Climbing Up The Walls Possibly my favorite track off the album, this is the only Radiohead song which i deem to be creepy. Maybe its the strings, all quarter-tones apart or Yorke's wailing at the end. It may also rely on the fact that it was written about the monster that hides in the closet when we were all young, it is something with which we can all associate. Live, the album is introduced by Johnny taking out a radio and tuning it to classical music stations. This song stands out among the oddities of Ok Computer and is one of my personal favorites.
Track 10 - No Surprises The third single off Ok Computer is accompanied by a bizarre video. It in, Thom Yorke is encased in a plastic bubble, visible only from the neck up. As he sings along, the plastic casing slowly fills up with water until Yorke is engulfed completely. After what seems like hours, the casing empties its contents and a suffocating Yorke can take a few breaths. This song proved to be difficult to capture on tape. The band recorded upwards of 8 distinct versions before settling on their original concept. Although probably the quietest song off the album, the band manage to include other instruments that they had previously never imagined using for a song. Such an instrument is the glockenspiel which Johnny Greenwood takes command of when playing the song in a live setting.
Track 11 - Lucky Lucky is most probably the happiest song found on Ok Computer...or at least as happy as a Radiohead song gets. Originally released on the Help! compilation, the band wishes to remix the track to include it on their third album but proved to be impossible. The band left it as it was and it remains as one of my favorite Radiohead songs.
Track 12 - The Tourist The Tourist is a perfect ending for such a masterpiece. Written entirely by Johnny Greenwood, the band would end every show on their 1997-98 shows with this track. After listening to new and improved Radiohead for over sixty minutes, there is no other way to conclude such a work than with The Tourist. I find it interesting that the final note on the album is one strike of the triangle.
This album deserved every single bit of praise from magazines world-wide and critics. Not in recent memory has a band so talented ever have a chance to shine its bright light upon the world as this band has for me.
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01.06.2005 12:06
as you perfectly say it, this album changes the way one perceive the world, it's a masterpiece. Good review, good trip through radioheads universe. coralie
18.05.2005 22:39
Loved this album, used to chill to it after school, all those years ago. Fab review. Rob
30.04.2003 23:33
I've recently started to re-discover Radiohead so might have to do an op sometime. Nice one, Andy