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THE REVIEW
If you want to understand Radiohead, you must start with this album. Even though chronologically it is the third album by Thom Yorke & Co. (fourth if you also count the EP "my Iron Lung"), "Ok Computer" represents the perfect synthesis of what the English group had done in the past and will do in the future, namely a perfect mix of rock tinged with electronics alongside lyrics infused with unease and an almost paranoid sense of malaise, beautifully interpreted by Thom Yorke's plaintive voice.
(Almost) abandoning the acoustic and brit-pop-like tones that characterized "The Bends" and "Pablo Honey," the album opens with "Airbag," where electronic elements are already present in a rock track with laid back guitars. The paranormal suite "Paranoid Android" is the album’s gem (and perhaps of their entire discography) with a tense acoustic beginning that flows into an intermezzo of distorted guitars, where the accumulated tension explodes until it settles in the chanting verse "...rain down, rain down, come on rain down...".
At this point, the album could end here, but there are still songs like the melancholic and sad ballad "Exit Music (for a film)" (don't worry if it makes you want to cry, it's completely normal), the happy and almost carefree "Let Down," and the splendid "Karma Police," where Thom Yorke's piano and voice take center stage. It concludes with the high-energy "Electioneering," "Climbing Up The Walls," which sounds like a trip-hop track by Massive Attack with an almost industrial beat, and the dreamy lullaby "No Surprises."
Twelve songs that are enough to make an undeniable masterpiece of the nineties that paves the way for Radiohead's purely electronic albums like "Kid A" and "Amnesiac."
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Summary by Bot
OK Computer is Radiohead's defining album that perfectly merges rock with electronic influences. The review highlights key tracks and Thom Yorke's emotive voice. The album is praised as a 90s masterpiece that marks a turning point for the band’s future electronic direction.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The members are Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway. They evolved from guitar-based alternative rock into work that incorporates electronics and orchestration.120 Reviews
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By condor
Take me on board their beautiful ship / Show me the world as I love to see it.
I’d show them the stars / And the meaning of life.
By dado
Everyone is so tense I wish they would descend into a country lane late at night while I'm driving.
I would show them the stars and the meaning of life, they would have me committed but I would be fine.
By hobbit1
Listening to the record is like looking at that cover again... Perfect harmony between visual and sound art.
It’s as if someone penetrated your brain and never stopped, a subterranean alien that kidnaps you and takes you to another planet.
By Piroz
It is an album that captures you, never bores you, doesn’t sadden you, and after daily stress, it actually relaxes you.
Radiohead could be a good step forward in the right direction.
By Sgt Pepper
"OK Computer is a masterpiece on the brink of perfection, which must be listened to from start to finish without interruptions."
"A true journey in a monolith of melancholy, alienation, and suffering, which represents one of the greatest artistic testimonies of the end of the 20th century."
