However, I have to admit that, following the success of "Creep", I didn't pay much attention to Radiohead. "The Bends" came and went, and the only song I liked from that record was "High and Dry".

Then came 1997 and "Ok Computer". Rave reviews and the standout singles "Karma Police" and "No Surprises" piqued my curiosity, which finally got the better of me when I finally went out and bought the album. Upon first listen, I was far from impressed. Aside from the aforementioned singles, I liked "Subterranean Homesick Alien" on the level that one likes any old radio single (i.e., it was catchy, and caused me to hit repeat on my CD player several times). But the rest of the album seemed, somehow, unreachable.

Fast forward a few months later, when I popped OKC into my CD player again, and listened to it from start to finish for the first time since I bought it. Where before, I found the jolting guitar at the start of "Airbag" disconcerting, I now took comfort in it. Suddenly, I was able to see the epic beauty of "Paranoid Android". "Subterranean Homesick Alien" became more than just another radio song; I finally heard and understood the simultaneous tranquility and desperation in its lyrics (Yorke makes alien abduction sound like quite the sublime experience). "Exit (Music For A Film)" and "Let Down" proved exquisite in both their pain and their majesty. And, on "Lucky" and "The Tourist" I found songs in which I could literally lose myself. Most importantly, I found a moment in each song that touched my soul (when Thom Yorke sings "it's going to be a glorious day" for the second time on "Lucky"; or when the chanting begins on "Paranoid Android"; or Yorke's sweet scream of "you'll know where you are" near the end of "Let Down"). Now, I understood what all that raving was about at the end of 1997, when critics tripped over themselves to praise this album as one of the decade's best. It would be another four or five listens before I could fully process the thematic content of the lyrics on the album. Once I did, the power of the album truly struck me. On OKC, Radiohead vocalize the anxieties we all share about living in this microwaved age, but are too scared or deadened to verbalize ourselves. Are we sacrificing our humanity at the altar of technological advancement? Radiohead seem to reach a pretty bleak conclusion on OKC, but, in the end, the album moved me so much that I bought "The Bends", an equally stunning gem. As with OKC, it took me a few listens to get into "The Bends", but the thing I've come to love about Radiohead's music is its very inaccessibility. It is NOT easy. It is (to employ an overused critical term) DIFFICULT.

But I'm finally starting to understand that Radiohead are worth it. Worth the hype. Worth the pretension (real or perceived). Worth a permanent place in any album collection. Worth more than just one listen. Worth the work it takes to fully comprehend their albums. Most of all, Radiohead are worth the hope that rock music can do more than entertain, and even move. Radiohead are proof that rock music can still challenge our comfortable existence (see "Fitter Happier"), question our most deeply held beliefs, and leave us thinking long after the last note has played.

I affectionately call "OK Computer" my learning album. I had to learn to love it, and I would not have had it any other way.


Might appeal to fans of space 1999   August 22, 2005
 31 out of 78 found this review helpful

horrible trash...whiny, whiny, bohooo, bohooo

Just shut up and sing. Radiohead are the worst band ever..this album is the ultimate proof why.


Radiohead Are Worth It   October 27, 2000
 28 out of 32 found this review helpful

Can it really be 7 years and three albums since I began college and adopted "Creep" as my personal anthem of alienation? Forget Thom Yorke; that song was about ME, damnit-LOL! I heard it and projected my own angst and depression onto the lyrics.

However, I have to admit that, following the success of "Creep", I didn't pay much attention to Radiohead. "The Bends" came and went, and the only song I liked from that record was "High and Dry".

Then came 1997 and "Ok Computer". Rave reviews and the standout singles "Karma Police" and "No Surprises" piqued my curiosity, which finally got the better of me when I finally went out and bought the album. Upon first listen, I was far from impressed. Aside from the aforementioned singles, I liked "Subterranean Homesick Alien" on the level that one likes any old radio single (i.e., it was catchy, and caused me to hit repeat on my CD player several times). But the rest of the album seemed, somehow, unreachable.

Fast forward a few months later, when I popped OKC into my CD player again, and listened to it from start to finish for the first time since I bought it. Where before, I found the jolting guitar at the start of "Airbag" disconcerting, I now took comfort in it. Suddenly, I was able to see the epic beauty of "Paranoid Android". "Subterranean Homesick Alien" became more than just another radio song; I finally heard and understood the simultaneous tranquility and desperation in its lyrics (Yorke makes alien abduction sound like quite the sublime experience). "Exit (Music For A Film)" and "Let Down" proved exquisite in both their pain and their majesty. And, on "Lucky" and "The Tourist" I found songs in which I could literally lose myself. Most importantly, I found a moment in each song that touched my soul (when Thom Yorke sings "it's going to be a glorious day" for the second time on "Lucky"; or when the chanting begins on "Paranoid Android"; or Yorke's sweet scream of "you'll know where you are" near the end of "Let Down"). Now, I understood what all that raving was about at the end of 1997, when critics tripped over themselves to praise this album as one of the decade's best. It would be another four or five listens before I could fully process the thematic content of the lyrics on the album. Once I did, the power of the album truly struck me. On OKC, Radiohead vocalize the anxieties we all share about living in this microwaved age, but are too scared or deadened to verbalize ourselves. Are we sacrificing our humanity at the altar of technological advancement? Radiohead seem to reach a pretty bleak conclusion on OKC, but, in the end, the album moved me so much that I bought "The Bends", an equally stunning gem. As with OKC, it took me a few listens to get into "The Bends", but the thing I've come to love about Radiohead's music is its very inaccessibility. It is NOT easy. It is (to employ an overused critical term) DIFFICULT.

But I'm finally starting to understand that Radiohead are worth it. Worth the hype. Worth the pretension (real or perceived). Worth a permanent place in any album collection. Worth more than just one listen. Worth the work it takes to fully comprehend their albums. Most of all, Radiohead are worth the hope that rock music can do more than entertain, and even move. Radiohead are proof that rock music can still challenge our comfortable existence (see "Fitter Happier"), question our most deeply held beliefs, and leave us thinking long after the last note has played.

I affectionately call "OK Computer" my learning album. I had to learn to love it, and I would not have had it any other way.


The Future Is Here And It Sounds Something Like Thisy   January 21, 2000
 25 out of 29 found this review helpful

Thom Yorke sounds sick. Sick of the society we live in that is. A bleak, unpromising society so full of technology, mass transportation, pollution, and anxiety that there is little room for anything else, At least this is the picture Radiohead present to us with their third album, "OK Computer".

Listening to "Paranoid Android" we get a disturbing sense of what it is like to live in this nightmare world. Recorded in three parts this track is a perfect showcase for the album's complex and multi-layered sound.

In "Let Down" everyday existence is reduced to its most banal form: 'Starting and then stopping/Taking off and landing/The emptiest of feelings'. Things don't seem to get any better by the time we get to "No Surprises" as Yorke sings of 'A job that slowly kills you', and of 'Bruises that won't heal'. "Exit Music", one of the album's slower tracks is an exquisite, moving tale of young love and freedom.

"OK Computer" is more about escape than about resignation. It is about finding a place to belong, preferably away from the technological nightmare that surrounds us. In "Subterranean Homesick Alien" Yorke hopes that aliens will: 'Take me on board their beautiful ship, show me the world as I'd love to see it.'

Dark, brooding, and constantly full of surprises, "OK Computer" is a tense record that pushes rock music's boundaries in all directions. The sound of the future is here and Radiohead have kindly captured it in all its unpleasantness for us. Thank you Radiohead.


you are a funny boy   August 6, 2003
 25 out of 28 found this review helpful

Please excuse me while I bash a previous reviewer. to "The Cranky Reviewer": I feel the need to clarify a few things for you. Radiohead is the greatest musical occurence in contemporary music. They are not here to please your simple ears and mind. They know how to write, and they know how to play, and do both exeptionally well. If you had the mental capacity to listen to and understand the music in an intelligent way, you would find that it is the most brilliantly crafted, carefully and emotionally constructed music available. THIS IS NOT DANCE MUSIC, NOR IS IT MEANT TO BE. IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO DANCE MUSIC, BUY A F***ING DANCE CD. Thanks for your time and generous ignorance. I have been thoroughly amused by your petty and insignificant presence here - Allan
p.s. good luck with your duran duran