Project 1001: OK Computer by Radiohead
For a minute there / I lost myself, I lost myself / Phew, for a minute there / I lost myself, I lost myself /
“Creep” is a really good song but it never made me a fan of Radiohead. This album is fine. Nothing wrong with it. The lyrics are often dour and kind of depressing. So maybe that’s why I don’t warm up to this record? Who knows. OK Computer is a good album but it won’t crack my regular rotation. My rating:
AllMusic gave a highly positive review:
“Using the textured soundscapes of The Bends as a launching pad, Radiohead delivered another startlingly accomplished set of modern guitar rock with OK Computer. The anthemic guitar heroics present on Pablo Honey and even The Bends are nowhere to be heard here. Radiohead have stripped away many of the obvious elements of guitar rock, creating music that is subtle and textured yet still has the feeling of rock & roll. Even at its most adventurous -- such as the complex, multi-segmented "Paranoid Android" -- the band is tight, melodic, and muscular, and Thom Yorke's voice effortlessly shifts from a sweet falsetto to vicious snarls. It's a thoroughly astonishing demonstration of musical virtuosity and becomes even more impressive with repeated listens, which reveal subtleties like electronica rhythms, eerie keyboards, odd time signatures, and complex syncopations. Yet all of this would simply be showmanship if the songs weren't strong in themselves, and OK Computer is filled with moody masterpieces, from the shimmering "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and the sighing "Karma Police" to the gothic crawl of "Exit Music (For a Film)." OK Computer is the album that established Radiohead as one of the most inventive and rewarding guitar rock bands of the '90s.”1
Slant magazine said, “A decade after its release, OK Computer’s influence can be heard in countless acts on both sides of pond.” And, “The album took guitar rock to places it had never gone before.”2
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Bruno MacDonald wrote:
“Complete with unsettlingly indistinct artwork, OK Computer topped transatlantic charts and was - in the band’s view - overrated. But it still sounds as ambitious and ravishing as it did in 1997.” 3
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime Playlist: 229. OK Computer by Radiohead
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For details about this project, read this: Project 1001 Albums
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #214
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: n/a
• RIAA certification: 2x Platinum | May 4, 20065
Released on May 21, 1997. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G.6
• Number one album: Spice by the Spice Girls7
• Number one movie: The Fifth Element by Luc Besson8
• Most watched TV programs: Er, Seinfeld, Movie: The Odyssey Part 1, Friends, Fired Up, Suddenly Susan, Touched by an Angel, Movie: The Last Don, Part 2, Home Improvement, 9
• NYT bestseller, fiction: Pretend You Don’t See Her by Mary Higgins Clark10
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt11
Some other albums released that month
• Flaming Pie by Paul McCartney
• Middle of Nowhere by Hanson
• The Colour and the Shape by Foo Fighters
• Blue Moon Swamp by John Fogerty
• Hourglass by James Taylor
• I Got Next by KRS-One
• Marching to Mars by Sammy Hagar
• NSYNC by NSYNC12
Sport
• May 17 122nd Preakness: Gary Stevens aboard Silver Charm wins in 1:54.
• May 18 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, DuPont CC: Christa Johnson wins her only major title on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff over Leta Lindley.
• May 25 Todd and Mel Stottlemyre become 1st father and son to win 100 games in Major League Baseball.13
Notable Births
• May 20 Omar Apollo, American singer-songwriter (Ivory), born in Hobart, Indiana.
• May 24 Exzavier Whitley, American folk singer ("Finally Happy"), born in Omaha, Nebraska.
• May 27 Soccer Mommy [Sophia Allison], American singer-songwriter ("Circle the Drain"), born in Zürich, Switzerland.14
Historical Events
• May 20 US President Clinton signs an executive order barring new US investment in Burma (also known as Myanmar), effective May 21 and renewable annually.
• May 22 Kelly Flinn, US Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.
• May 27 1st all female (20 British women) team reach the North Pole.15
Notable Deaths
• May 29 George Fenneman, American radio and TV announcer (You Bet Your Life), dies at 77.
• May 29 Jeff Buckley, American musician and singer ("Hallelujah"), drowns at 30.
• May 30 West Arkeen, American musician, best known for co-writing several Guns N' Roses songs (It's So Easy, The Garden), dies of a drug overdose at 36.16
MacDonald, Bruno, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Fifth printing, ed. by Robert Dimmery p. 798.
Ibid.