OK Computer was released to universal acclaim upon its release, and is often considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time. Given Radiohead’s track record with deluxe vinyl releases, I had zero hesitation about shelling out 100+ on the Kid A Mnesia box set, which turned out to be an epic mistake because of how riddled the LPs are with surface noise (as has been discussed ad nauseam on this forum). That’s what I had to write about because that’s what was going on, which in itself instilled a kind of loneliness and disconnection. Everything I was writing was actually a way of trying to reconnect with other human beings when you’re always in transit. But I was using the terminology of technology to express it. The paranoia I felt at the time was much more related to how people related to each other. Yorke, however, explained that it stemmed mostly from his personal experiences travelling non-stop in a touring band. The album’s lyrical themes and composition has it hailed as way ahead of its time, predictive of society’s obsession with technology, and the isolation and paranoia that comes with it. Lots of people, lots of ideas, and we all could pull in the same direction. It was very high-level thinking, conceptual, moving forwards in terms of sonics, and beautiful songs. Then new-ish engineer and future Radiohead mainstay Nigel Godrich told Rolling Stone of the recording sessions: After feeling like they were becoming an extension of this Coca-Cola thing, they dramatically shuffled up their sound for the first. The band had been pinned as the new Nirvana after their debut album, Pablo Honey, and entered the rock charts with Creep.

The result was 1997’s OK Computer, which was designed as a deliberate reaction against the grunge movement of the 1990s. OK Computer is the first Radiohead album that truly shocked their fans. Despite not having a hit anywhere near the size of “Creep”, Radiohead’s previous album The Bends (1995) was successful enough for their record company EMI to give them complete creative control.

Ok computer radiohead vinyl