REVIEW: Radiohead, OK Computer (Capitol)
- Scott Byron
Radiohead's third album, OK Computer, is a rarity in recent history - a grand, well-thought-out, sonically adventurous *album*. It's hard to come up with a contemporary comparison for this: an album that's a full-fledged experience, where the *sounds* are as important as the words. Each of the tracks here has been carefully constructed, with layers of guitars, multiple rhythms, and all sorts of other things on top and inside. And then the tracks themselves have been placed together into a coherent whole.
The way it all falls together has an almost Pink Floyd-ish quality. Which is not to say that Radiohead now sounds like Pink Floyd. They don't. But love 'em or hate 'em, Pink Floyd set the standard for grand concept albums. And OK Computer is grand in that same way, and somewhat thematic, loosely examining man's interaction with technology. Thankfully, Radiohead stops short of the sometimes-pretentious narrative style that sometimes dragged down Floyd's work. [Though I must say that the band's announced intention to make videos for every song on this album may push them over the edge into pretension. Still, the animated video for "Paranoid Android" is pretty great. Whatever.]
To fully experience this fine work, I encourage you to listen to OK Computer straight through, perhaps through headphones. And play it loud. Focus on the details. The way Thom Yorke's vocals float above "Lucky" but nestle into the center of "Let Down" and "Subterranean Homesick Alien." How the latter's lush textures swirl and carry the listener, in stark contrast to the bold contrasts in the sections of the "Paranoid Android" suite. Pay close attention to how the sound effects, distant drums and vocal treatments give "Climbing Up The Walls" an eerie, otherworldly quality which morphs into majestic crescendos. Revel in the truly amazing guitarwork throughout.
Or just ignore all of that, turn up the volume, turn out the lights, and experience it.
