Apologies on the lateness of this posting, but the morning was hectic, culminating in me getting the rather impressive looking laptop from whence I am typing this update. But on to the meat of the entry.
Most of the words I could type about the sheer brilliance of OK Computer have already been said time and time again. But I don’t care, I’m gonna say it anyway. OK Computer is a work of creative genius unparalleled by any other artist in my lifetime. Musically Radiohead created a creepy, dystopian landscape that broke the boundaries of what a guitarist, drummer, bassist and singer were seen to be capable of. The twisted mechanics of “Paranoid Android”s guitars, meshed with Thom Yorke’s all-too-human wails build up a disarming mood (and for some reason when I hear this song I think of the movie Blade Runner. Hmph). Phil Selway’’s drums are simply inspired, and frequently my favorite part of the songs on this album; his introductory groove on album opener “Airbag” is nothing short of excellent. Johnny Greenwood stretches the sonic limits of his guitars on every song, making them sound as detached and unmusical as ever in some moments (namely the end of “Karma Police”), which again creates contrast with the ever-emotional but never forced Thom Yorke and his contributions to this record. And in the moments where the band sounds like, well…a traditional rock band (“Let Down”, “Electioneering”), it comes off so natural and poetic that it becomes clear there’s little Radiohead can’t do.
Lyrically, Thom Yorke again outdoes himself, using abstract words and images to portray feelings of paranoia and isolation in the most unconventional ways. With four syllables, Yorke crafts thoughts and images in one’s mind that summon Orwellian-level fear (the four syllables are “Karma Police”, if you missed that). While just listening without seeing the words Yorke uses seems to take away a bit from the experience of the album, the way Yorke is more focused on contributing to the musical landscape without putting too much emphasis on his words adds yet another layer of nuance to the 7-layer chocolate cake that is OK Computer.
With the possible exception of 2007’s In Rainbows, Radiohead has never been a better, tighter, more innovative unit than they were on this record. Creatively, everyone in the band is firing on all cylinders here, and with two prior albums as evidence, there’s no debate as to Radiohead’s musical proficiency. OK Computer is one of the few albums I consider a must-have for music fans, regardless of genre taste. It’s that good, and that important as a musical venture that everyone can take something away from it’s genius.
Radiohead – Airbag [iTunes] (YSI)
Radiohead – No Surprises [iTunes] (YSI)
==TJ==
Filed under: Album A Day | Tagged: Album A Day, Radiohead
Woooow. This is a lot of love for OK Computer. I don’t disagree, per se, with a lot of it, but… I think OK Computer is actually getting harder and harder to look back on. It was super important when it came out, but as more and more time passes, IMO, it gets a little less relevant. I know that’s kind of blasphemous, but, again, it’s just my opinion.
I think that’s happened with most of the “important” albums to come out in the last couple decades. I mean, in the last couple years Nirvana has suddenly become overrated in the minds of my generation. And I think that radio’s overplaying songs from American Idiot killed that album in the minds of a lot of people, and that’s a terrific album. Radiohead’s success was a bit more subdued ten years ago, at least from what I’ve researched (I wasn’t listening to mainstream music in 1997 when this record came out). That kind of humble success doesn’t happen as frequently nowadays, methinks.