Radiohead. The God of big things.

Radiohead. The greatest rock band ever.

OK Computer. Arguably, their best album.

CONS: It's an acquired taste. You need to listen to the songs again and again before you start appreciating them.
PROS: It's an acquired taste. But once you "acquire" it, its bye bye to everyone else's music. Radiohead is the way to go.

CONS: Thom Yorke's vocals. They are screechy and very high pitched at times. Its hard to decipher what he's singing. You may need a copy of the lyrics. At least, I did.
PROS: Thom Yorke's vocals. Once you get the hang of the songs, you realize that only Yorke's vocals can do justice to them. They fit in perfectly with the mood and the theme of the album.

CONS: The open-ended lyrics. They mean NOTHING specific. Or they mean everything. Depending upon how you look at it.
PROS: The open-ended lyrics. They mean nothing specific. Or they mean EVERYTHING. Depending upon how you look at it.

Rolling Stone named them Band of the Year for 1998, Spin magazine did the same. Entertainment Weekly pronounced their CD the Album of the Year. People said they had the Best Song for 1997. US called them one of the biggest entertainment stories of 1997. The New York Times put them on the top 10 list for 1997. So did the Los Angeles Times. What's all the fuss about? Radiohead. They also picked up a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best Alternative Music Performance for OK Computer. As Rolling Stone says, they are "a stunning art-rock tour de force." That's what all the fuss is about.

OK Computer really is an amazing album. Below, listed in order of my preference, are the songs that make up OK Computer.

'Paranoid Android'. A musical masterpiece. It's amazing how many different music styles they've captured in a single six minute song. I love the way the song switches suddenly from a cacophony of sounds to a slow beat, and then speeds up again. The middle part where he cries "Rain down / rain down / come on rain down on me" is, for me, the highlight of the song. Oh, and I almost forgot. Some amazing guitar work as well. :-)

'Exit music'. Slow and hushed, it captures the theme of the album effectively. Written for the closing credits of the movie 'Romeo and Juliet', it's about people in love who ought to run away before their love runs into rough weather. "Pack / and get dressed / before your father hears us / before all hell breaks loose".

'No suprises'. This was one of the big hits of the album. The song contains catchy, upbeat music, but sad and depressing lyrics. Nice contrast. Simple music, but effective. It's about someone who's fed up with everyday life.

'Let down'. Again, a musical masterpiece. It starts off slowly, building up and up, culminating in a huge burst. Yorke wails about, well, I'm not sure exactly what it is that he wails about, but it sure as hell is good to listen to. ;-)

'Climbing up the walls' is one strange and eerie piece. The music and the Thom Yorke's voice are disturbing and strange. I love it for it's novelty value (though I guess that you could say that about all of Radiohead's songs ;-). This song can best be described as "scary". It relies heavily on strings, but not in the conventional way.

'Subterranean homesick alien' deals, amongst all things, with alien abduction. It's beautiful and has a sort of groovy feel.

'Airbag' starts out with some nice beats and cool guitar work courtesy of Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien. It's about having a near death experience, more specifically, staying alive after a bad car crash. It reflects Thom Yorke's paranoia about vehicles. "In a fast German car / I'm amazed that I survived / an airbag saved my life".

'Karma Police' is a nice effective piece. It starts off with some piano work that later blends in with the other musical instruments. The song is all about saying "F*** you" to those in authority.

'Electioneering' is another song that captures the core theme of the cd. Its a loud crunching rock and roll song. It's political in nature, Thom complaining about people who make promises right and left to win votes. "I will stop, I will stop at nothing / say the right things when electioneering / I trust I can rely on your vote".

'Lucky'. A slow track that is probably as close to a "happy" song that Radiohead are going to get.

'The tourist' is another slow track, that deals with conventional tourists rushing around, trying to cram everything in their two day trips, seeing without really seeing.

'Fitter Happier'. This is probably the only Radiohead song that I hate. It has really great lyrics, but everything gets spoiled by the vocals. It's not a human voice. Thom ran the lyrics through his Mac Computer, and the result is a synthesised computer voice, without any tone or inflection. I absolutely hate this song. This song mars an otherwise perfect album.

OK Computer isn't full of singles. It doesn't have a top ten hit. It's success is formed through word of mouth and critically positive views. To this day, many don't know who Radiohead is. That's the beauty of this band. They make music from their hearts and don't let commercialism and money get in their way. That's rare for today's rock bands. OK Computer is a great album by a great rock band. A must have in any ones collection. Highly recommended.