Radiohead: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, Phil
Selway.
Additional Personnel: Adam Cummings (guitar).
Engineers include: Nigel Godrich.
OK COMPUTER was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Award for Album Of The Year and
won the 1998 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance.
OK COMPUTER, Radiohead's third album, is the bombastic follow-up to
1995's sleeper hit THE BENDS, which left critics and listeners as impressed
with the band's ability as they were curious about their potential. In spite of
its technological-sounding title and apocalyptic sci-fi themes, OK COMPUTER is
firmly grounded in the rock verities. Waves of guitars rage beneath the haunting
melodies and near-hysterical fits of singer Thom Yorke. This complex, intense
swarm of guitars is held aloft by a solid, inventive rhythm section and an
impressive array of piano and keyboard textures.
“Paranoid Android” is a six-minute-plus epic with alternating time
signatures, wild dynamic shifts, drama and adrenaline to spare. “Let Down,”
with its double-tracked vocals and rhythmic throb, may give a brief glimpse back
at Radiohead's past, but at no point is OK COMPUTER anything but a hurtle
forward.
What the critics say…
Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.65) – Included in Rolling Stone's “Essential
Recordings of the 90's.”
Rolling Stone (7/10–24/97, pp.117–118) – 4 Stars (out of 5) –
“…OK COMPUTER – a stunning art-rock tour de force – will have you
reeling back to their debut, PABLO HONEY, for insight into the group's dramatic
evolution…”
Spin (9/99, p.122) – Ranked #9 in Spin Magazine's “90 Greatest Albums of
the ‘90s.”
Spin (1/98, p.86) – Ranked #2 on Spin's list of the “Top 20 Albums Of The
Year.”
Spin (8/97, pp.112–113) – 8 (out of 10) – “…Unlike their majestic
models U2, Radiohead take on techno without switching instruments or employing
trendy producers….As with post-rockers Tortoise, Laika, and Seefeel, Radiohead
have a fuzzbox or two and obviously know how to use 'em…”
Entertainment Weekly (Spring 2000, p.166) – Ranked #4 in EW's “Top
10 albums of the '90s”
Entertainment Weekly (7/11/97, pp.65–66) – “…Shrouded in wafting
guitars, swoony rhythms, and moody-blue strings, it shrugs off mosh-pit
conventions for a poignant delicacy and breadth, with Yorke's cracked-throat
voice the album's melancholy center….For all of Radiohead's growing
pains…their aim–to take British pop to a heavenly new level–is
true…” – Rating: B+
Q (6/00, p.91) – Ranked #2 in Q's “100 Greatest British Albums”
Q (12/99, p.92) – Included in Q Magazine's “90 Best Albums Of The
1990s.”
Q (10/01, p.112) – Ranked #1 in Q's “Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime”
Q (1/98, p.114) – Included in Q Magazine's “50 Best Albums of 1997.”
Melody Maker (12/20–27/97, pp.66–67) – Ranked #2 on Melody Maker's list
of 1997's “Albums Of The Year.”
Melody Maker (6/14/97, p.49) – “…unlike anything I've ever
heard….I definitley know it isn't good for me, and I'm certain it says more
about my life than I'd like….in terms of composition and performance,
it's very impressive. Radiohead have excelled themselves. They've seen the
future.”
Village Voice (2/24/98) – Ranked #2 in the Village Voice's 1997 Pazz &
Jop Critics’ Poll.
Mojo (Publisher) (p.67) – Ranked #3 in Mojo's “100 Modern Classics” –
“OK COMPUTER sought to disturb as much as delight. It's still
succeeding.”
NME (Magazine) (12/20–27/97, pp.78–79) – Ranked #2 in
NME's 1997 Critics' Poll.
