PORTSMOUTHPOINT

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Favourite Album: 'OK Computer' by Radiohead

Posted on 4:06 PM by Unknown
The fifth of a series of articles (originally published in the ‘Fight Club’ issue of Portsmouth Point magazine) exploring favourite music albums. Today, Ben Wallis explains why Radiohead's 'OK Computer' is his favourite album.

Radiohead are a band who will always divide opinion, comparisons with Marmite come to mind. Having released their first album twenty years ago in 1993 and remaining active to this day, the band have explored a wide range of styles through 8 albums, any of which are worthy of praise and critical analysis, but it is the third album 1997's 'OK Computer' that just manages to stand above the rest, defining Radiohead as one of the most innovative bands of the modern era. The album's brilliance comes from the combination of musical excellence, artistic commentary on modern life and cultural significance. Through his lyrics, Thom Yorke explores themes of consumerism, social alienation and modern isolation, with a penetrating degree of emotional honesty that makes OK Computer a stark and unforgiving commentary on the state of modern life, that is as meaningful now as it was 16 years ago.

Ok Computer is an album that refuses to abide by convention, in contrast to the simplicity of britpop at the time, the album is ambitious using unconventional song structures, such as the six minute long 'Paranoid Android' and focusing on irregular chord progressions. Similarly the guitar work of Jonny Greenwood is exceptional; solos are innovative and aggressive in defiance of tradition and tear songs apart and build them up again. Guitar is also used to express the emotions of particular songs, for example in 'Subterrarian Homesick Alien' the guitar takes on an airy and otherworldly feel that perfectly reflects the subject matter of the song. Usually instrumentation is also seen in 'Climbing Up The Walls' where strings are used to create a dark and tense atmosphere, rather than their typical use in a pop song. Showing once again the album's adventurous and experimental nature, that it pulls off so convincingly.

Lyrically OK Computer is the Radiohead album when singer Thom Yorke was at the height of his powers. It's full of striking, beautiful and thought provoking imagery, an example that stands out is found on 'No Surprises' where Yorke sings, "A heart that's full up like a landfill" comparing the centre of the human body and emotion with a place for disposing waste is a tragic image and is an example of the imagery that fills the album.

Significantly, the album is a commentary on the modern lifestyle, track 7 'Fitter Happier' is not technically a song, as there's no singing, instead a computerised voice reads a series of goals for modern life, "Fitter, happier, more productive, comfortable, not drinking too much" and so on. As the list progresses contradictions and ironies emerge, "Concerned, but powerless. An empowered and informed member of society." The whole piece is worthy of analysis equal in length to this article; it is a criticism of the ideal lifestyle presented to us and the conformity that Thom Yorke feels so oppressed by.


Often described as 'The first 21st centaury album' OK Computer stands as a great album due to it's far reaching influence. It signalled the end of the Britpop era ruled by Blur and Oasis by being something completely different and sounding truly cutting edge. After this Radiohead spawned a host of imitators and they have been cited as influence by many of the most successful bands of the next decade, such as Muse, Coldplay and Bloc Party. The calm and moody characteristics of much modern 'indie rock' can be attributed to the impact of Radiohead on the music industry.


So what makes an album the greatest ever? In my opinion: musical excellence, innovation, lyrical depth and influence; OK Computer does all of these. It is an album of an exceptional band at their best; experimental enough to be interesting and not scared to take risks, but still a commercial success, charting at number one in the UK, and with a depth of meaning that sadly absent in much of the music industry. 
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in Music | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Recipe: Fifteens
     by Patrick McGuiggan The definitive Northern Ireland traybake is the ‘Fifteen’. They are so delicious I assumed that they would be fairly ...
  • 'Porphyria's Lover': A Feminist Reading
    Josh Rampton offers a Feminist reading of Robert Browning's poem 'Porphyria's Lover'. This article was originally published ...
  • Favourite Films: Skyfall
    by Tom Harper Upon my recent exploration of the latest movie archives I was stopped dead in my tracks by Disney and Pixar’s recent announcem...
  • Interview: with Melissa Smith of ‘The Exonerated’
    by Taylor Richardson Melissa Smith , who plays a main role in the school’s production of The Exonerated , answers five questions surroundi...
  • Why Are We So Fascinated By The Gothic?
    Lucy Cole The Nightmare by John Henry Fuseli, 1781 (wiki commons) Since its humble beginnings in 1764, with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of O...
  • Portsmouth Point Poetry – War and Humanity in 'The Iliad'
    by George Laver  Priam (left) pleads with Achilles (centre) for the return of the body of his son, Hector (below). (source: bc.edu)    ...
  • Is Texting Killing The English Language?
    In this  TED talk , linguist John McWhorter analyses the linguistics of texting: " Texting properly isn’t writing at all — it’s actual...
  • Hackers: Pain Relief
    by Gregory Walton-Green , with an introduction by Benjamin Schofield Introduction Prompted by a writing exercise in Hackers, here Gregory ...
  • Is Lack of Sleep a Problem for PGS Pupils?
    by Hattie Gould and Annie Materna (image source: uratexblog.com) Sleep deprivation is a continual problem for teenagers and can be the caus...
  • Why The US Supreme Court Has Made The Right Decision Regarding Gene Patenting
    by Tim Bustin (source: biopoliticaltimes.org) On Thursday, the US Supreme Court ruled that human genes may not be patented, as “a naturally ...

Categories

  • Art and Literature (72)
  • Blog Exclusive (466)
  • Creative Writing (36)
  • Current Affairs (55)
  • Economics (12)
  • Film and Drama (62)
  • Food (12)
  • From Parents (1)
  • From Teachers (54)
  • Hackers (12)
  • History (21)
  • Language (17)
  • MUN (1)
  • Music (58)
  • Personal (45)
  • Philosophy and Religion (20)
  • Photography (66)
  • Psychology (13)
  • Science and Tech (41)
  • Sport (58)
  • Travel (14)

Blog Archive

  • ▼  2013 (346)
    • ▼  September (21)
      • Hollister : A Short Play
      • Is Bale the Real Deal?
      • Mathematical Fallacies
      • RN/RAF Summer Camp 2013
      • Review: "I Wanna Be Yours"
      • The Swedish: T/S Gunilla
      • Seafront at Sunset
      • A Response To "Why Abortion Should Not Remain Legal"
      • Why Abortion Should Not Remain Legal
      • In Defence of Warhammer (40k)
      • You’re Not Too Cool For Summer School
      • A Warning To Voters Down Under...
      • My 5 Sports-People of the Summer
      • Squirrel in the Classroom
      • Poem: By The Sea: A War’s Tale
      • Photographs: 5 Summer Beaches
      • PGS at the International Theatre Festival, Avignon
      • Photography: The Belt of Venus
      • Favourite Album: 'OK Computer' by Radiohead
      • Photograph: On Milton Common III
      • Poem for Sunday: Pevensey Beach
    • ►  August (20)
    • ►  July (43)
    • ►  June (52)
    • ►  May (42)
    • ►  April (41)
    • ►  March (42)
    • ►  February (38)
    • ►  January (47)
  • ►  2012 (153)
    • ►  December (41)
    • ►  November (48)
    • ►  October (45)
    • ►  September (19)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile