Radiohead
OK Computer
[Capitol]
Rating: 10.0
Thru space at 1.2 light years per hour, Radiohead's
third piece of incredible work, OK Computer, is not only
their best yet, but one the year's greatest releases.
The record is brimming with genuine emotion, beautiful and complex
imagery and music, and lyrics that are at once passive and fire-breathing.
OK Computer is like tossing David Bowie, old U2, Spacehog and lots
of Pink Floyd into a blender and pushing the 'kill' button.
Thom Yorke's fragile vocals backed by the intricate guitar duels of
Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway's intense, rhythmic
pounding and the subtle but effective bass guitar of Colin
Greenwood sends an energetic flare clean through your speakers, hurtling
into the room around you and charging the air with static electricity.
When Yorke sings, "In an interstellar burst / I am back to save the
universe," you believe him.
OK Computer is the first album to intellegently express vehement hatred
toward the corporate world's replacement of human emotion and personality with
robotic behavior in their attempt to be "more professional." Yorke's
disgust with self- help programs and "successful" businessmen is the focus, and if
you're a person with any integrity whatsoever that's set foot in a Class A
office building, you can probably relate.
Radiohead only seem to get better as time progresses, but Thom Yorke's expressed
some doubt as to whether or not they can ever top this record. If they can, they'll
have established themselves as one of the most outstanding rock bands the '90s had
to offer. If not, they still came out of the deal with one album of unadulterated
genius. Time will tell.
-Ryan Schreiber