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I know there's a general consensus that this is a concept album - listen to how many times plane crashes, car wrecks and machines are mentioned - yet I have always attributed that to Yorke's generally dour lyrical viewpoint. This was back when I still had a few friends at record companies, and a dear lady at Capitol (hello Leslie M, wherever you are today) sent me a three song sampler of this because she new how much I liked Radiohead.The sampler contained "Karma Police," "Paranoid Android" and "No Surprises." Before the CD came out, I was telling friends that this was the most amazing stuff I'd heard all year. More importantly, "Ok Computer" is an album that (like "Sgt Pepper") collects songs that pull together thematically. Thom Yorke had taken the themes of modern alienation he so adeptly explored on "The Bands" and matched them with music that both slowed down and toned down to haunting textures and electronics.
A friend recently commented to me that if Radiohead's The Bends was their Revolver, then OK Computer was their Sgt. To my ears, the concept was coming up with the post-Pink Floyd equivalent of sonic quilting for the modern age. While "Karma Police" and "No Surprises" have become something of radio-airplay staples, this is a CD that works as a complete listen. Pepper's moment.
Johnny Greenwood's guitars are almost non-existent, relegated to sudden bursts save for "Electioneering." More often than not, it is Yorke's voice that is the primary instrument, weaving in and out of the songs in either a whisper ("Exit Music For a Film") or his rock howl ("Lucky"). In "OK Computer," Radiohead succeeded more than anyone before or since. I am inclined to agree with his analogy, for as much as I like "The Bends," the astounding emotional scope of "OK Computer" took me completely by surprise when I first heard it in 1997. By the time the full CD had been in my player for a couple weeks, I was thinking it was the best album of the year.
You need to have it. This Album is one of the best albums ever of any genre. Great music and a huge turning point for the band.
OK is a critique of modern civilization; of fat hungry bosses and the apathetic youth being consumed by technology. It grips you right away.Every song is magnificent and is a big step away from The Bends(itself a great album). There isn't one track that isn't worth listening to; even the spoken word "Fitter Happier" and the heavily distorted vocals on "Climbing Up The Walls" serve as enjoyable listens. I don't know what this amazon reviewer is talking about. This album doesn't take getting used to.
all tracks stick like tacks. listen to it now and it takes me back. got this in 1997. was 12 years old.
The actual instrumental parts of the songs aren't bad, and I do like the experimentation with different sounds, but it often fails epically, like in "Fitter, Happier". The lyrics are for the most part flat and obscure, and I don't find any "deeper meaning" behind them. I usually like this genre of music, but there is just so much better stuff out there. A few of the songs on here, like "Karma Police", "No Surprises" and "Exit Music for a Film" are OK, but I find Thom Yorke's singing voice to be really irritating.
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