OK Computer

OK Computer is a rock album by the band Radiohead. It was recorded at St Catherine's Court, the country house of Jane Seymour near Bath, mixed at Abbey Road Studios and released on June 16, 1997 in the United Kingdom and on July 1 in the United States. The album met with wide critical acclaim and commercial success, putting the British group at the forefront of modern rock. Arguably Radiohead's most significant breakthrough work, OK Computer was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998 in the category of Best Alternative Music Performance which it won later that year. OK Computer is consistently featured on many critics' "best albums" lists, including a number 1 placing in a 1998 Q magazine readers' poll. In 1997 it was placed at number 7 in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM; while in 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 94. The album also came as Number One in the Top 100 Albums program broadcast on Channel 4 on April 17, 2005 in Britain.

The album's design is a collage of images and text by Stanley Donwood, who is credited with design on several Radiohead covers. Some of the text is hidden, including several phrases in Esperanto. Translations into English can be found in the unofficial Radiohead FAQ (see External links).

Recording history and trivia

The songs were first started in early 1996. By July of that year, "Subterranean Homesick Alien", "Electioneering", "The Tourist" and "No Surprises" had been written. In August the band toured as the support act for Alanis Morissette in the USA.

Recording in the suitably haunted St Catherine's Court started in September. Much use was made of the different rooms and atmospheres throughout the house. Nigel Godrich was in charge of the recording, which was completed by Christmas. The final mixing was completed over January and February of 1997.

• "Let Down" was recorded at 3am in the ballroom.
• "Exit Music (For a Film)" was recorded in the chilly stone entrance hall. Of this song Thom Yorke said, "It was the first performance that we recorded where every note of it makes me really happy."
• "Paranoid Android", a reference to the depressed robot Marvin from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was an amalgamation of three songs.
• "Subterranean Homesick Alien" is a play on the title of Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues.
• "Fitter Happier" is 'sung' by a computer voice, precisely that of the default voice for MacinTalk Pro spoken text software on Apple Computer's Power Macintosh.

References to other works

It has been argued that the songs can be linked to characters and events in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (see External links). The band themselves maintain that although the songs have a common theme centred around modern living, they do not deem OK Computer to be a concept album. Yet since each song appears to be from the viewpoint of a different person in the modern world, it is a thematic concept album.

The album also contains several references to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Track listing

(All songs written by Radiohead)

1. "Airbag" – 4:44
2. "Paranoid Android" – 6:23
3. "Subterranean Homesick Alien" – 4:27
4. "Exit Music (For a Film)" – 4:25
5. "Let Down" – 4:59
6. "Karma Police" – 4:22
7. "Fitter Happier" – 1:57
8. "Electioneering" – 3:51
9. "Climbing Up the Walls" – 4:45
10. "No Surprises" – 3:49
11. "Lucky" – 4:20
12. "The Tourist" – 5:25

• "Paranoid Android", "Karma Police" and "No Surprises" were released as singles; "Airbag" was released as part of the Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP in 1998.
• "Let Down", "Lucky", and "Climbing up the Walls" were released either as limited edition singles or promos.

External links

• Radiohead Unpackt – an in-depth interpretation of OK Computer, Kid A and Amnesiac.
• Archive of OK Computer and 1984 Comparison Thesis, from defunct fan site "followmearound.com"
• unofficial Radiohead FAQ
• BBC Radio 2 Review.