I have recently been rifling through my entire cd collection,, because I realised recently that I really don't listen to 60% of the cds that I own. So, its out with any Oasis which remains, equally any Marilyn Manson (shush, I went through an 'awkward' patch) and various other delights I won't bore you with. I came across this album as I was doint this, and stopped. I hadn't listened to this album for a good year, especially since Kid A was released and was so bad it broke my heart, and it all flooded back to me, just what I had been missing.
This album is epic. It is a journey that needs to be endured to the end to be even slightly comprehended. It won't be understood in one or two listens, and some os the album will never be understood, it remains a secret in the mind of Thom Yorke and co. possibly a mystery even to them. However, let this not detract us from the fact that this album is one of startling quality.
I bought the album the day of its release, and found myself really quite disappointed by its quality at first. I knew from the outset this was a good album, but it wasn't The Bends, and in my eyes there was nothing wrong with The Bends - they didn't need to change. But Radiohead are a band that evolves, sometimes in the wrong way (Kid A), and OK Computer is a very different album, but it is of equal worth. It isn't nearly as instant as its predecessor, because at least to me, The Bends was instant love. OK Computer needs to be nurtured. Take for example 'Fitter Happier'. My first thoughts were "what the fudge is this?!?!" but I was taking it the wrong way. I just listened to it as a seperate track from the whole scheme of the album, and I hated it. However, when I listened to the album right through, it fits, its good, the whole thing tells a story.
The mood of the album is really hard to define. Its really quite claustrophobic, oppressive, you feel its going to turn on you. I haven't experienced that all that often in music, with the exception of early Manics, and its special. It makes listening an experience which can't be repeated, it defines an album, singles it out as a classic. Thats certainly what OK Computer is.
Another thing to note, and something which consistently puts Radiohead above the rest are the lyrics. They are crazy, aggressive, choking, confusing and utterly captivating and really do show Radiohead as the band that they are, intellectual without being pompous.
After my initial disappointment with this album I found it become a firm favourite with me. There are stand out songs, for example No Surprises, Electioneering and Paranoid Android. However, I can imagine this being an album in which it was difficult to select singles from. This is an album which needs to be heard, and no amount of typing is going to get you to understand it, so if you haven't already purchased it I would get a lend of a friends, or maybe bite the bullet and go get it, whatever, but I'm pretty sure you'll like it.
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Whilst one suspects some kind of pre-millennial hysteria prompted Q magazine's readers to ... more
vote OK Computer The Greatest Album Ever Made scarcely five months after its release, it certainly doesn't look stupid up there in the pantheon. Following the hot...
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