By the time Radiohead got around to recording the kaleidoscopic OK Computer, they were a band bursting with the sweltering necessity to pull away from the morose pessimism of The Bends. There was a need within these Oxford lads’ very souls to purge. The lure to merely fall back on old trends was vigorously rejected, especially in terms of Thom Yorke’s lyrics. OK Computerbecame about new beginnings and new directions.
Left in the bleedin’ powder were any comparisons to Nirvana and the grunge movement, as The Bends had granted the quintet their own musical self. With “High and Dry,” “Fake Plastic Trees,” and others, Radiohead had become born again.
It stands to reason, then, that OK Computer took the pensive scraps of The Bends and transformed them into something even greater. Radiohead had to become born again…again. But how?
Part of the progression involved taking over production duties themselves. The band had wanted to record away from swarming London, where The Bends was put down. With the help of Nigel Godrich, engineer for their previous record, OK Computer was constructed on the foundation of avoiding replication and heading in a new direction.
As Yorke told NME’s Andy Richardson in 1995, “The big thing for me is that we could really fall back on just doing another miserable, morbid and negative record lyrically, but I don’t really want to, at all.”
Recording took place in the Canned Applesauce studio in Oxfordshire and at Jane Seymour’s St. Catherine’s Court near Bath.
Optimism appears to bleed through as soon as OK Computer starts to play. The initial brush of guitar and the DJ Shadow-inspired electronic drum beat serves notice on “Airbag.” The bass, deliberately meagre, is entrancing. As soon as Yorke begins singing about car crashes and instant death, the buoyancy tries to fade.
Thanks to these fucking fantastic Collector’s Editions, Radiohead’s first three records have come round again complete with B-sides, rarities, and other surprises. The OK Computer set, just like Pablo Honey and The Bends, has been reissued as a two CD edition and as a Special Collector’s Edition with both discs and a DVD.
Following “Airbag,” OK Computer spins into the multifaceted classic “Paranoid Android.” Extraordinary both for its irregular constitution and absolute capacity, the tune invokes a Douglas Adams character. Haunting, piercing, fierce, “Paranoid Android” stands as a brilliant example of how a joke can sometimes wind up being something really special.
Growing as a band, much of this record still finds Radiohead faltering through their coping phases. The instruments fool around and bicker, sometimes haughtily refusing to budge and other times melting odd noises together with other odd noises to embrace something wholly elegant.
“Karma Police” is an example of this instrumental enmity. It surges with magnificence, dancing with itself almost obstinately. It’s an off-kilter piano ballad on its face, but Radiohead elects to seal with the shriek of Ed O’Brien’s AMS digital delay unit providing feedback. Another instance is “Climbing Up the Walls.” Fat bass guides the number like misshapen lounge music, while loops and transistor radio din showcase an alternate reality.
This – the superb fucking venture of spilling natural experimentation on to tape – is what makes OK Computer such a classic.
The two CD edition features music from the record’s three singles: “Paranoid Android,” “Karma Police,” and “No Surprises.”
The “Paranoid Android single rocks with the surging “Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2).” The track almost feels like an arena rocker, billowing with big guitar and thundering drums. “Pearly,” “A Reminder,” and “Melatonin” are included too.
Two remixes of “Climbing Up the Walls” highlight the “Karma Police” single. The sexy Zero 7 mix is especially impressive, while “Lull” and “Meeting in the Aisle” head things off.The busy guitar surge of “Palo Alto” opens the “No Surprises” single with energetic glee. Live recordings of “Airbag” and “Lucky” are also featured, along with the piano-led “How I Made My Millions.”
Finishing off the second disc are three tracks from the BBC Radio One Evening Session in May of ’97: “No Surprises,” “Climbing Up the Walls,” and “Exit Music (For a Film).”
As with the other two sets, the OK Computer Collector’s Edition is pretty fucking cool. The songs are not remastered, nor do they need to be, and the addition of the singles and live tracks makes for thrilling listening. This is one of the decisive albums in modern rock and the Collector’s Edition is a great way to get a true sense of what the OK Computer age was really all about for Radiohead. The raw experimentation that would later smooth out its own edges is worth experiencing over and over again.
