Via its 12 tracks, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Colin Greenwood and Philip Selway anticipated a soulless, tech-saturated future. That foreboding anxiety is central to Radiohead’s critically lauded OK Computer. With their gradual infiltration of our daily lives then a pretty unthinkable idea for most, the rapid development of computing – not least the potential of the internet – led a swelling company of forecasters feeling uneasy, particularly as an unknowable new century ominously loomed. This body of work really was the start of a new sound for the band and probably their last heavily guitar-based album before they would transition into a more electronic and experimental sound.But back in 1997, computers were still clunky desktop affairs.

‘OK Computer’ is one of those records that is so solid that it’s difficult to choose favourites, as every song on the album is equally as good as the next, however, ‘Paranoid Android’ and ‘Karma Police’ are probably the most well-known.

Despite EMI predicting that its sales would be low due to its uncommercial sound and their perceived difficulty in marketing it, the record reached #1 in the UK, selling in excess of 4 million copies worldwide, becoming the band’s highest-selling release. ‘OK Computer’ saw it’s rise during the decline of Britpop and heralded a new era for the next generation of British bands. He was also influenced by Elvis Costello, R.E.M., PJ Harvey and The Beatles’ ‘A Day In The Life.’ The lyrics were more abstract than the band’s previous output, covering topics from transport to technology to death to globalisation and anti-capitalism. Godrich was also an assistant engineer on their previous release, ‘The Bends,’ and would become as important to Radiohead as George Martin was to The Beatles.Īccording to Thom Yorke, the foundations of this album were based on the 'incredibly dense and terrifying sound' of Miles Davis’s ‘Bitches Brew’ (#87). It was the start of a professional partnership with producer, Nigel Godrich, with whom they had recorded a charity single (‘Lucky’) at the behest of Brian Eno. Like Pink Floyd for Generation X, Radiohead pushed the boundaries of production.

‘OK Computer,’ Radiohead’s third release, was a creative breakthrough for the band, and a turning point in ‘90s alternative music.

Rating of ok computer radiohead