OK Computer, Radiohead

WHO: Radiohead

Radiohead is an English rock band popular that was formed during 1985. It consists of five members: (pictured left to right below)

• Thom Yorke: lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboard
• Jonny Greenwood: lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments
• Colin Greenwood: bass
• Ed O'Brien: guitar, backing vocals
• Phil Selway: drums, percussion, backing vocals

*tracks on Ok Computer written by all band members

Radiohead is known for their unique style that was influenced early on by bands such as Queen, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, as well as individuals including Elvis Costello and Miles Davis.

WHEN/WHERE:

The album was recorded in Oxfordshire and Bath, mostly in the historic mansion St. Catherine’s Court from July 1996 to March 1997. While recording in St. Catherine’s Court, the band took advantage of the different rooms and their accompanying acoustics. The vocals for “Exit Music (For a Film)” even had a natural echo from recording on a stone staircase in the mansion.

It was released on:

• 21 May 1997 (Japan)
• 16 June 1997 (UK)
• 17 June (Canada)
• 1 July (US)

MUSICAL ANALYSIS: Taking a closer look at the 12 tracks...

1. Airbag

This track begins with an opening, intense riff from guitarist Greenwood (the same riff in fact also closes the song) The song continues with a moderate tempo upheld by the drums and consistent melody sung by Yorke. An accident between Yorke and his girlfriend inspired the song, in which an airbag allowed Yorke to leave the accident unhurt. As the album opener, this song brings forth the idea that we are not quite in control of everything but at the same time should not go through life being scared. The addition of beeping sounds also adds to the technological feel of the album.

2. Paranoid Android

The song takes its name from Marvin the Paranoid Android of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a comedy science fiction series. The song again follows a moderate tempo with a more acoustic sound than the previous song but also more electrical influences. The tempo goes from moderate to a bit faster along with an increase in loudness. The song can be broken up in to four sections, based on the changes of instrumentation and tempos.

3. Subterranean Homesick Alien

The title references a Bob Dylan song “Subterranean Homesick Blues” while the lyrics describe a narrator that is isolated and dreams about being abducted by aliens. They speculate that their friends would not believe the story when returning to Earth and he would remain as an outsider and misfit. This slow tempoed song uses electric keyboards to create a cold, space kind of atmosphere.

4. Exit Music (For a Film)

This song was inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and the lyrics provide a general summary of the story. Yorke notes that the song is dedicated to Romeo and Juliet and is “a song for two people who should run away before all the bad stuff starts”. He also compared the slow acoustic start of the song to Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison with the simple vocals paired with an acoustic guitar. The loudness of the song heightens with the introduction of strong drums but then concludes with the soft fading of Yorke’s voice and acoustic guitar.

5. Let Down (4:59)

The song's lyrics are, Yorke said, "about that feeling that you get when you're in transit but you're not in control of it—you just go past thousands of places and thousands of people and you're completely removed from it." The song also contains layered guitar and electric piano melodies. Yorke also based the song on the skepticism of emotion that is key within Generation X and influenced the entire approach to the album.

6. Karma Police (4:21)

Similar to other songs, the main instrumentation of Karma Police is the acoustic guitar, drums/percussion, and electric piano. The moderate tempo and chord progression are closely linked to that of the Beatles’ “Sexy Sadie” and has two main verses that are followed by different ending sections. The song ends with a buzzing and fuzzy electrical sound. The inspiration for the title and lyrics comes from a joke during the band’s The Bends tour when Jonny Greenwood said "whenever someone was behaving in a particularly shitty way, we'd say 'The karma police will catch up with him sooner or later.”

7. Fitter Happier (1:57)

This song is the first on "Side 2" and has an extremely different sound than the other tracks from the album. The radio like broadcaster is a synthesized voice talking in a monotone voice that is speaking the lyrics that is supposed to the voice of a Macintosh computer. Yorke described these lyrics as the most disturbing he had ever written. This track was considered to be the opener for the album but was put in a later slot when the band decided it would be off-putting for the album.

8. Electioneering (3:50)

This is the album's most rock oriented track as the heavy drums and electric guitars follow an up tempo beat with increasing loudness. It is also the most politically oriented, as it focuses on the Poll Tax Riots that was the largest protest taking place in central London in March of 1990 .

9. Climbing up the Walls (4:45)

Softer vocals than the last few tracks, this song is layered with a string section, ambient noise and a percussion section. The vocals fade into itself as Yorke changes it into a wrenching scream. The inspiration for this song comes from the time Yorke spent as an orderly in a mental health facility during the time in which a policy was created to deinstitutionalize mental health patients.

10. No Surprises

This soothing, electrical sounding track was recorded in a single take. It includes an electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and glockenspiel. It was intended to replicate the mood of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”, the soul music of Marvin Gaye, and was inspired by the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”. The song was first recorded at a faster tempo and then the playback was slowed down for Yorke to overdub his vocals onto, all to achieve a slower tempo that could still be played well on the instruments. The song has a gentle melody that contrasts with the harsh lyrics that focus on things like a “heart that’s full up like a landfill”.

11. Lucky

Lucky was inspired by the Bosnian War and was the one track that was to capture to true terror of the conflict. The dark tone and politically explicit lyrics pushed the band and entire album one step further from the “Britpop” style. The electric guitar plays a main role in the song and links it to the common rock style, arena rock. With a moderate tempo and moderate loudness, the song has a slow but strong way of making an impact.

12. The Tourist

The final closing track of the album is viewed as the least Radiohead sounding song out of all. Yorke said it was chosen as the closing track because "a lot of the album was about background noise and everything moving too fast and not being able to keep up. It was really obvious to have 'Tourist' as the last song. That song was written to me from me, saying, 'Idiot, slow down.' Because at that point, I needed to. So that was the only resolution there could be: to slow down." Accompanying the lyrics, is a slow tempoed song that uses light percussion and guitar with a steady beat and overall sound.