School of Rock
Random article All articles A–Z
2 languages

OK Computer

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Album

OK Computer · After the tour for The Bends, the band did not want to make another introspective album. Radiohead recorded the album in 1996 and early 1997, in a converted barn near Didcot in Oxfordshire and at the country house St Catherine's Court near Bath. Nigel Godrich, with whom the group had recorded the charity song Lucky in five hours in 1995, grew into a co-producer. The strings were recorded at Abbey Road Studios.

The lyrics deal with consumerism, alienation, technological anxiety and paranoia. The sound is densely layered, with natural reverb and few overdubs. Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Lucky and No Surprises were released as singles. The label EMI expected little of the record, but it received a great deal of praise, won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and helped steer British rock away from Britpop. In 2014 the Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Lucky, the song that was recorded in just five hours in 1995. According to Yorke it was the first mark on the wall for this album: notice the atmosphere, which already points ahead to the rest of the record.

Track list

  1. 1Airbag4:48Apple Music ↗
  2. 2Paranoid Android6:27Apple Music ↗
  3. 3Subterranean Homesick Alien4:28Apple Music ↗
  4. 4Exit Music (For a Film)4:27Apple Music ↗
  5. 5Let Down4:00Apple Music ↗
  6. 6Karma Police4:24Apple Music ↗
  7. 7Fitter Happier1:57Apple Music ↗
  8. 8Electioneering3:51Apple Music ↗
  9. 9Climbing Up the Walls4:45Apple Music ↗
  10. 10No Surprises3:49Apple Music ↗
  11. 11Lucky4:19Apple Music ↗
  12. 12The Tourist5:27Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

Categories: Albums and songs