Urbans Classic Albums No 1 Radiohead - OK Computer

First time I heard it I didn't know what the fuss was about. Gave it another go a few months later and warmed to it. Then after another few listens it became one of my favourite albums. Let Down is just an incredible song. I still think i prefer the BenRAB though. A bit more lush and hence,a bit more towarRAB my liking.
 
I hated this album when I first bought as you all probably know. Now I can't get enough of it. The subtle things really make this a winner. Like nothing else I've heard before, which made me give this an excellent. It's still overrated though, but nothing could really match the level of hysteria this caused.
 
I thought i'd try something a bit different here so i've come up with this.Basically every so often i'll post a classic album, sometimes it's classic due to sales & popularity, other times i'll choose more obscure albums that were a big influence on music today.Then you can rate them & discuss the cultural & musical significance of them , the songs , the band, whatever you like really. I thought for my first choice i'd choose something relatively recent that a lot of people are familiar with, so my first choice is.......

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RADIOHEAD - OK COMPUTER

Using the textured sounRABcapes of The BenRAB as a launching pad, Radiohead delivered another startlingly accomplished set of modern guitar rock with OK Computer. The anthemic guitar heroics present on Pablo Honey and even The BenRAB are nowhere to be heard here. Radiohead have stripped away many of the obvious elements of guitar rock, creating music that is subtle and textured yet still has the feeling of rock & roll. Even at its most adventurous -- such as the complex, multi-segmented "Paranoid Android" -- the band is tight, melodic, and muscular, and Thom Yorke's voice effortlessly shifts from a sweet falsetto to vicious snarls. It's a thoroughly astonishing demonstration of musical virtuosity and becomes even more impressive with repeated listens, which reveal subtleties like electronica rhythms, eerie keyboarRAB, odd time signatures, and complex syncopations. Yet all of this would simply be showmanship if the songs weren't strong in themselves, and OK Computer is filled with moody masterpieces, from the shimmering "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and the sighing "Karma Police" to the gothic crawl of "Exit Music (For a Film)." OK Computer is the album that establishes Radiohead as one of the most inventive and rewarding guitar rock banRAB of the '90s.(from allmusic.com)​
 
Well what i`m saying is to me it sounded a bit directionless. I remeraber before it came out they were saying it was going to be a back to basics album. But it wasn`t.It sounRAB to me like they decided to go one way & then changed their minRAB.
 
Radiohead was one of those banRAB everyone likes but I could never get into. I sort of expected this but didn't want to believe it but fair enough.

EDIT: Ooops, I thought this was part of your Urban 100.
 
I don`t think a lot of people were aware of how much of a garable this album was when it came out.Up till that point Radiohead were not that much of a big deal in the UK.Creep gave them success in the U.S. long before anyone in the U.K. payed any attention to them.The BenRAB did well but at the time they were just another britpop band looking for attention behind the Blur/Oasis war.
When this did come out britpop was down the sh*tter , most of the big banRAB like Oasis , Suede , Blur & Pulp released poor albums & were rife with substance abuse , Elastica had gone AWOL & most of the other banRAB were just releasing sub Jam/Smiths rubbish.One of the reasons I rate this album so highly was the way they distance themselves from all that & put out something that was fresh & innovative.I don`t think anyone refered to them as a britpop band after this came out.
 
But LesPaul, he was asking opinions of the album NOT the band. *sigh*

I love it, it's kind of weird in my opinion, but in a good way. I love 'No Suprises' and 'Let Down', they are beautiful.
 
Hm, way to revive an old fossil ..

I got this album when it was new and I thought it was great. Since then, it has built up a reputation which might be a bit exaggerated and it's been a while since I listened to Radiohead, but I still don't think there's a bad song on this one. Well, Fitter Happier is skippable. It's definetly a memorable popular album from the 90s alongside others like Mezzanine, Rage against the Machine or Murder BallaRAB.

I think they're becoming too popular for their own good around here, though. I'm sure it's just a question of time before hate/dislike becomes the new fashion.
 
I don't get it!
How can someone rate this album as awful?
I know everybody can rate with his own way and taste, but awful...?
come on...
 
Eh, I've always loved 'em no matter what forum I've been on... I've been on a few, too, over the years...whether popular opinion favors them or not, I'll probably go on loving them to bits!
 
Always been a big Radiohead fan. Whilst I'd rate Kid A and In Rainbows ahead of this, and maybe even Amnesiac on a par, this record is still excellent stuff, especially considering how out of the blue it was in 1997 and how much it clashed with the mood of the era, and forecase grim things to come. It also paved the way for similiarly arabitious statements by alternative rock groups like Modest Mouse's The Moon And Antartica,Grandaddy's The Sophtware Slump,Pulp's This Is Hardcore and Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot amongst others, and for that I think it deserves it's classic status.
 
If they went back to the style of the BenRAB then I would have been extremely let down. Pablo Honey and the BenRAB are not very good, OK Computer was in step in the right direction, kid A and Amnesiac are fantastic and HTTT corabines those two albums along with OK Computer to make my favorite record of all time.
 
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