That being said, OK Computer is one of my favorite albums. Each track on the album has the ability of conjering up different emotions, and by the end, the emotional wirlwind leaves me dizzy. The album's central theme of encountering genuin beauty in our world of technology, yet being unable to shake a certain feeling of unease, comes across perfectly. It's funny that the people who are angered by this album may be the people it was really geared towards. It attempts to send the message that you don't have to be compliant all the time: treasure your individuality, don't let anyone take it away from you. At least that's what I got from this album, which brings the point across beautifully with it's layered sounds and melodic, peircing, and haunting vocals. I'm genuinly moved by this album everytime I listen to it. For those that think I'm saying this just to be hip, and cannnot and do not want anyone to have opinions different than their own, I'm with Tom Yorke in saying "We hope that you Choke."


God loves his children, yeah...   February 4, 2000
 162 out of 194 found this review helpful

If it is possible for (less than) an hour's worth of music to encapsulate all that is misguided, shallow and spiritually vacant about the foundations that modern Western society is built on, it is Radiohead's masterpiece, OK Computer. Intense, uncomfortable, dark and moving, OK Computer is the culmination of an incredible progression from the relative mediocrity of Pablo Honey, through the flawed brilliance of The Bends to an astounding third album which they may not be able to surpass. Apparently Thom Yorke almost went mad trying to decide the track order, but from the opening bars of Airbag, with it's uncomfortable, frankly bizarre, guitar line, to the microwave oven's ring that marks the end of The Tourist, the whole is incontestably a journey of the brain, the heart and the senses that seems to make perfect sense. The manic, Bohemian Rhapsodiesque apocalyptic soundtrack that is Paranoid Android still renders me speechless today. The pure beauty of the final chorus of Let Down, the frazzled mute trumpet solo on Climbing up the Walls, the fact that Johnny Greenwood seems to have reinvented the guitar and above all Thom Yorke's unutterably beautiful voice throughout, leaves you questioning quite where five middle class blokes from Oxford discovered the ability to move you so much. Before OK Computer, yuppies networking were an irritating banality. After OK Computer they are pure evil. My eyes have been opened...


Three Stars   February 14, 2005
 69 out of 155 found this review helpful

This record deserves a solid two or three stars for the strength of tracks like "Paranoid Android" and "Subterranean Homesick Alien." However, to hurt its average score on the website, I figured a 1-star rating would be more appropriate. Anyways, as for the review:

Radiohead fans possibly make up one of the most obnoxious majorities on the planet. Ravenously scouring the internet for every mediocre B-side and unreleased live track, claiming that anyone who disagrees with their canonization of these self-important Brits simply "doesn't understand music" -- they make up the only thoroughly pop fanbase that has ever swallowed so much elitist propaganda. Let's tear down all the facades here and now: as of the year 2005, the Radiohead fans are the John Mayer fans are the Incubus fans, and there is nothing "elite" about them.

Nevertheless, OK Computer still stands as Radiohead's defining moment. You could even call it a "masterpiece" if such a term could ever be applied to a record with such a weak opening track and final stretch. Importantly however, with a band that has been defined by severely hit-and-miss records ever since The Bends (their first recording to contain at least one good song), the title of defining moment applies to the record where the pieces fit most often. OK Computer definitely has a respectable share of triumphs: tracks 2 through 6 of this record are excellent achievements in modern "rock" music. Unfortunately, OK Computer is not an album that works as a cohesive whole -- the atmosphere may be maintained until the end, but that does not mean that the record amounts to more than a fleeting adrenaline rush tapering into an overlong unimaginative lull.

Essentially, Radiohead is a singles album with no radio-ready material. Its A-side is loaded with nothing but direct hits (minus the childish lyrics and uninspired composition of "Airbag"), while the B-side (starting with the fatally pretentious and momentum-wrecking "Fitter Happier") flounders in a ponderous stupor, jolting us out of our slumber only for the raucous mess of "Electioneering." Does it utterly demolish the musical artists that Radiohead fans love to stack it up against (Avril Lavigne, Limp Bizkit, any manner of pop-culture schlock)? Absolutely. Does that mean it can hold a candle to the vast array of superior albums that were released before and since? Hardly.

OK Computer surpasses the dumb U2 plundering that characterized Radiohead's previous material, and it is far better than the emotionally vacant experiments that followed it (including the absolutely abysmal hollowness of Hail to the Thief). Unfortunately, it still holds true to the perplexing problem inherent in all Radiohead material: the lyrics are sophomoric, it isn't particularly intelligent, it is far from emotionally moving...in fact, it rarely moves beyond its admittedly clever gimmick of aurally representing the "isolation" of our era. So why does everyone like it so much? Do that many people in the world today feel so isolated by technology? Or are we all just buying into the idea that weird music that sounds experimental but isn't too hard to listen to is musical genius? Contrary to popular belief, this music is not "difficult" -- in fact, it shows its hand quite readily. But apparently, generous use of strange electronic sounds and production effects in addition to cryptic lyrics is what it takes to be the greatest band of all time.

I would also like to play a game called "name one good band that has truly been influenced by Radiohead" (keeping in mind that Radiohead is simply a moodier, less anthemic U2 with a heavier electronic influence). And no, Coldplay and Muse don't count.

Sorry, Radiohead fans, you can vote that my review wasn't "helpful" to you but that doesn't mean that these moaning Brits are anything more than a passing fad, and will never be placed in the canon of real musical achievements, nor will their middlingly inconsistent albums.


Radiohead's best   October 11, 2002
 46 out of 50 found this review helpful

I agree with another reviewer that this CD deserves an average rating of 5 stars and not 4.5. This album is a masterpiece and will go down in history as one of the greats of the 90's. What's interesting about Radiohead is that they weren't as commercialy succesful as other bands from the 90's yet they remain one of the most powerful and original bands out there. Most people don't realize that after their monstrous hit "Creep" Radiohead produced their best music.

This indeed is an album and not just a collection of songs. From the first track "Airbag" all the way to the sixth track "Karma Police" the album flows seamlessly with emotional continuity and thought. Thom Yorke's lyrics are haunting and deeply symbolic. From rich layerd guitar sounds, out of this world keyboard riffs and of course Thom's unforgettable vocals the sound of this album is unforgettable. I must have listened to this CD hundeds of times and it never gets old because there is always something new for me to discover. What's great about OK Computer is that it combines the experimentation of Kid A and Amnesiac and the brilliant guitar work of The Bends. Ok Computer won't disappoint and belongs in your music library.


Pink Floyd They're not.   May 9, 2004
 35 out of 83 found this review helpful

This has got to be the most overrated albums of all time. The production is bad(you can hear the compression, and it's irritating), and the songs are a weak attempt to turn '70s classic rock into '90s alternative.
What really gets to me is how anyone could compare this album to Dark Side Of The Moon. DSOTM was a masterpiece, this, is a travesty, a sham, and a Mockery.. It's a Traveshamockery.