OK Computer
OK Computer is Radiohead’s 1997 third studio album, combining experimental rock with themes of technology, alienation, and modern life.
Paranoid Android: A six-minute Radiohead song on OK Computer, built from contrasting sections and shifts in mood. Its abrupt structural changes introduce the album’s adventurous approach to song form.
Nigel Godrich: An English record producer and audio engineer known for his long collaboration with Radiohead. His production helped shape the album’s detailed, spatially varied sound.
Radiohead: An English rock band formed in Abingdon in 1985. OK Computer was made by the band as it moved beyond the sound of its early hits.
Technological alienation: A sense of estrangement associated with technological systems and mediated life. The album gives this unease form through mechanical voices, screens, and automated routines.
Britpop: A 1990s British rock movement associated with bands including Blur and Oasis. OK Computer stood apart from Britpop’s emphasis on direct, guitar-led pop songs.
Karma Police: A Radiohead song on OK Computer, ending with a distorted vocal fading into noise. Its polished ballad form gives way to one of the album’s defining studio effects.
St Catherine's Court: A historic country house in Somerset, England, where Radiohead recorded much of OK Computer. The house’s rooms supplied distinct acoustics for the album’s recordings.
The Bends: Radiohead’s 1995 second studio album, featuring guitar-driven alternative rock songs. Its success gave the band room to pursue a less conventional follow-up.
Consumerism: A social and economic pattern that emphasizes the acquisition and consumption of goods. Songs such as “Fitter Happier” connect self-optimization with consumer culture.
Kid A: Radiohead’s 2000 fourth studio album, known for electronic textures and a departure from conventional rock. Its radical shift followed the experimental direction established on OK Computer.