1. Radiohead : OK Computer

OK Computer changed my world. I had just bought my first cd player and was buying two new cds to go with it. I picked up New Adventures in Hi-Fi and OK Computer, mainly on the strength of Creep. I remember being completely unfamiliar with any of the music on the disc, but after the first listen decided I really liked “that long song” (Paranoid Android). I also remember sitting down with the liner notes and reading all the lyrics as the songs played. I was thoroughly intrigued by Stanley Donwood’s crazed artwork and hidden imagery. Every song on the disc is stand out. I limit myself listening to it so I can forget some of the best parts and rediscover them on another listen. It changed how I listened to music. I realized that these guys had influences that made them play the way they did, so I began investigating. The entire world of music not played on the radio spread before me. Commercial radio has been a non-entity to me and I have Radiohead to thank for that. I also went back and listened to their other cds and eps. I waited patiently for Kid A’s release, in the meantime starting a fansite. I took pictures of myself at the Grand Canyon holding up a signing saying “I’m OK” (which is actually a line from a b-side from this album call “Palo Alto”) I read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I decorated my school binders with various imagery from the album artwork. I taped multiple performances off of the TV. The album starts off strong with a memorable guitar line followed quickly by distinctive looped/compressed drums and sleigh bells (!?!) which is “Airbag”. It is a definite mood setter for the entire album. Electronics and traditional rock instrumentation are combined seamlessly to explore a future time when an “interstellar burst” is required for Thom to come “back to save the universe”. And the band was. Here in the first song is something completely different than their previous material. And it continues with the phenomenal “Paranoid Android”. We hear the voice of Fred from the Mac Speech program repeating “I maybe paranoid, but no android” while a sedate intro leads us in this 6 minute opus. I adopted “Ambition makes you look pretty ugly as my personal mantra, but I think it was probably misapplied. Nevertheless, the song chugs on with a total change right around 3 minutes as the guitars takes lead and Jonny does a crazy math-rock solo. Breakdown 30 seconds later as the melotron and choir with Thom as lead take over as he entreats the sky “rain down on me”. After the line “God loves his children / Yeah” the song shifts again with another crazed solo. There are definitely three different songs here, but some how it works. And they released it as a single. “Subterranean Homesick Alien” follows, with a much more sedate sound. The killer “Exit Music (for Film)” is the ultimate song for that task. Sparser than anything else on the disc, Thom sounds alone and scared as he contemplates his escape from the life he knows. Then, after Phil’s cymbal enters slowly, the full band kicks in after his toms hit at 2:47 and it all breaks loose. I must say it is one of the most emotional moments in music for me that I have ever experienced. “Let Down” following, bringing back memories of a more Bends-era Radiohead. Thom and Ed come out of separate channels, so it’s a great headphones song. “Karma Police” is one of favorite songs based on a piano. Especially Thom’s slurred delivery. I don’t think I’d ever thing to include the lyrics “Phew!” in a song. Next is “Fitter Happier”, which made me investigate the Mac Text-to-Speech program with the Fred voice even more. The self help lines we hear really Mark the beginning of the second half of the album. In “Electioneering”, Thom campaigns like candidate who is trusting in “your votes” but it seems like more of a business model than the people’s choice. “Climbing Up the Walls” is Radiohead at their most paranoid/psychopathic. Hollow drumming, groaning guitars/electronics, mumbled vocals? All there. “No Surprises” may sound happier with its glockenspiel, but a listen to the lyrics reveals lines like “I’ll take the job that slowly kills you” and “I’ll take the quite life / I’ll take the carbon monoxide”. Both “Lucky” and “The Tourist” are great songs in their own right, which fleshes out the album and keep the mood going. OK Computer made me realize an album can be a complete statement, a mood setter, and all the songs can work together. It really showed that Radiohead were more than a great Brit-pop band. They were saviors of the musical art form. For me anyway.