OK Computer [CD]

A friend of mine once said that Radiohead were the kind of band who it was easy to admire, and yet difficult to like. I always agreed, preferring the accessibility of bands like Oasis and The Stereophonics to the intensive coolie labour it could sometimes take to listen to Radiohead. Then, last summer, I went to see Radiohead play at Victoria Park in London. And I saw the light.

This album can ask a lot of the listener, but if you can really give into the music and just let it carry you off, you can become so consumed by these songs that you find yourself suddenly opening your eyes at the end of a track, blinking in surprise at the fact that you are actually back in the real world. They tear your soul open, and force you to confront those feelings for which you probably don't even have a name. Despair perhaps, numbness perhaps, but above all, the way it can sometimes feel just to be a human in the 20th Century.

It's hard to pick a stand out track (even the pretty much tune free "Fitter, Happier" makes for compelling listening), but "Exit Music (for a film)" is one of the most touching, fragile and beautiful songs you will ever hear. When you consider Thom Yorke wrote it as a soundtrack to the end of Romeo and Juliet, the lyrics become even more intense; "Today, we escape, we escape". "Don't lose your nerve. I can't do this - alone".

If you have ever felt alone, disenfranchised, pointless or depressed, this record will connect with you in a way you may have never thought possible. And that contact will make you feel better. Less alone. It makes you feel like there are other people out there who feel like this. It's a record which takes you on a journey through the darker parts of the soul. A record about how it feels to be human.

Oh, and it's very, very good (did I mention that?).

i discovered the wonders of Radiohead when reading a certain magazines recent top 100 poll in which OK Computer was 2nd, The Bends 4th and Kid A 37th, or something like that. I had always had an impression of OK Computer as being a weird album of electronics and machines - this was prior to actually hearing any songs, a reader of this magazine had commented 'it is like floating down a river and being hit by a marshmallow'. Well. if you say so. As a result i purchased The Bends, Radioheads magnificent 2nd album, a 100 times better than their debut Pablo Honey, which while good in parts (Creep, Anyone Can Play Guitar and Prove Yourself) lacking a general consistency, that characterised their next 2, to make it a great album. So, The Bends proved to be an inspired buy packed with intelligent lyrics, mental guitar but also emotion. I then resolved to pluck up the courage to buy OK Computer. I still hadn't heard any songs - not having the music channels and they are rarely, if ever, played on the radio but i like to take risks and often this is the best way and i bought the album. Now if you are still with me i will explain why it is probably my favourite record ever. My first listen left me slightly unconvinced (as many do) however, my concentration on it was limited as i attempted to revise for my physics gcse. The next day i went for a walk with the dog and took my walkman loaded with a OK. Now if you ever want to get into a cd this is the best way - on your walkman. The music pumps straight into your ears, other sounds are blocked out and yopu begin to hear the little intricacys that make albums great - hidden guitar, wondrous vocals, a surprising drum beat. All of these hit me as i listned to OK Computer and since then more and more have come to light and that is the pleasure of this album - every time you listen to it something new and amazing can happen that you have never heard in it before. The 1st track 'airbag' is unfortunately perhaps the greatest let down of the album it just doesnt do anything special apart from the great lyric 'in an instellar burst, i'm back to save the universe' a great statement of intent from Thom Yorke as this album may not save the universe but it will restore for those who have lost their love and faith in music a little sanity. 'Paranoid Android' is where this album really kicks off - at just over 6 minutes long and in 3 sections that has led to the Bohemian Rhapsody comparisons but thankfully without the scarabuche bit. Jonny Greenwoods awesome guitar riffs lift this onto a different planet. 'Subterranean Homesick Alien' is surely one of the weirdest but best song titles in recent times and the song is equally as good, like the rest of the album containing beautiful, tortured lyrics with brilliant musicianship. Exit Music is surely the most beautiful song ever written it is packed with emotion and Thom's finally refrain 'we hope that you choke' along with the excellent acoustic guitars is simply undexcribable in terms of quality. 'Let Down' is another fantastic anthem 'let down and hanging around squashed like a bug in the ground'. It is followed by the exceptional Karma Police, and then Fitter Happier a change in style from the left field guitars to computerised voice lamenting the modern world but this shouldnt but anyone of as it is another highlight which segways perfectly between Karma Police and the up tempo if still downbeat and critical 'Electioneering' probably their fastest song ever. 'Climbing Up Walls' claustrophobic feel is the perfect intro to 'No Suprises' with the glockenspiel clanging and Thoms call for a handshake of carbon monoxide as long as he gets 'no alarms and no surprises'. Lucky the penultimate track would have been the perfect ending with an almost sing along quality but Radiohead lumped 'Tourist' on the end which in many ways doesn't stand up to the rest of the album - none the less this album is a must buy for any music fan there is no way that you will regret it - unless you dont like it - but that wouldn't happen, would it?

The Summer this album came out I completely overdosed on it. I made it my soundtrack to a pc-game called doom which was popular around the same time. By the end of the Summer I felt my voodoo doll had been pricked with needles containing some grade-A heroin. Subsequently, it was an amazing high go to a Radiohead live gig in Dublin, standing as if in a wind tunnel, barely able to stand my ground as this amazing music washed over me. It's legalised drugs, simple as that.