Last Night a CD Saved My Life
June 17, 1997.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of Radiohead’s OK Computer and I can’t let it go past unmentioned; the record is far too important to me. When the album came out I was definitely a Radiohead fan, but it wasn’t until OK Computer and the ensuing tour that I became a HUGE fan. I remain one today (in case this is your first visit to this site).
I remember listening to OK Computer a lot in the summer of 1997. It was a summer of transition for me and the record, with its themes of movement and modernity, certainly soundtracked those few months of my life. However, unlike a lot of records that scored a particular time in my life, when I listen to the album now I am not instantly reminded of that summer. I’m not sure why, but the record has a timeless quality: it’s not OF any time in my life. In fact, it sounds as fresh to me ten years later as it did the day I bought it back in 1997. Even now I still find some new sound on the record, whether it be a twitter in Let Down or a distorted guitar in Climbing Up the Walls. No other record has ever constantly evolved like this one.
The music itself is just perfect. Two of my favourite songs of all time are on the album (Exit Music (for a film) and Let Down). Paranoid Android remains an ambitious piece of music that seems to inspire many imitators today. The seldom performed Electioneering remains a vicious tirade against…well a lot of things. And Climbing Up the Walls, which was my least favourite song when I got the record (I was 17 after all), is so incredibly dark and terrifying. In fact, it’s one of favourite tracks on the album today. It’s funny how a brilliant record can grow and mature along with you. I think this is one of the reasons why OK Computer is not stuck in any nostalgic moment for me.
Beyond the music, the album is also responsible for a lot of who I am today. I remember asking my dad when I was 17 and listening to Electioneering what IMF stood for. Maybe the record just arrived at a time in my life when I was becoming more aware of social justice, corporate power, and politics, but I really do think the album, and the band themselves, are largely responsible for shaping my ideas about the world. That doesn’t mean I walk around parroting Thom Yorke’s views on everything, but all of a sudden I was exposed to a record full of ideas that I wanted to pursue on my own. The views I hold today about the environment, US foreign policy, and the situation in Tibet can all be traced back to OK Computer.
I’ve made friends because of the record. I’ve traveled to various parts of the world to see the band because of the record. In fact, there’s a decent chance I wouldn’t be sitting here in Sydney today if it wasn’t for OK Computer. It has been an unbelievably powerful record in my life and I can’t believe it’s been ten years since I first put it on and heard that opening abusive guitar line in Airbag and that final, pitch perfect *ting* on the triangle that closes the record.
After all that noise, all that confusion, all that anger and passion…that *ting* remains the most perfect ending to any album ever.
Lucky live at Glastonbury 1997 (THAT gig)
Happy Birthday, OK Computer.
June 17th, 2007 22:18
Awesome read man, the mighty OK Computer is definitely in my top 5 of all time.
I finally got the chance to see them in 2004 and it was simply mind blowing – almost a religious experience. I couldn’t believe it when they played my favourite RH song – Exit Music.
You could’ve heard a pin drop in the entire Sydney Entertainment Centre when it was played.
June 18th, 2007 09:03
i got into radiohead in 2004. when i was 17.
i hated them so much. my friend told me that i had to see this band.
so i missed their show.
then i heard OK Computer
and im just killing myself everyday for missing that aus tour.
i hope they come back.
June 18th, 2007 21:06
That just made my day seany.
thanks : )
June 18th, 2007 23:20
Truly a great read, I was dazzled by OK Computer when I first heard it too. But your feelings with this album are exactly why music can mean so much. Somehow The Bends is still my favourite Radiohead album but OK Computer is definitely a landmark in music.
June 19th, 2007 14:09
Seany you encapsulated my thoughts perfectly. well said buddy!
Angus, hearing Exit Music at the Ent Cent gig in 2004 remains the greatest single musical experience of my life.
It was also the first time i recognised the importance of lighting as an emotive device. remember when that synth kicked in… BOOM! with the lights.
and Electioneering (probably the most ignored song on the album), is the greatest ever cowbell song! i have this idea that the cowbell actually has some deeper metaphorical explanation related to the theme of the song..
“Riot shields, voodoo economics,
it’s just business, cattle prods and the IMF. I trust I can rely on your vote.”
or maybe ive just listened to the album too much
June 19th, 2007 20:41
As all the boys have said, Sean Sean, your description of more than “just an album” was perfect.
OKC is what gave me radiohead, if that makes sense.
Before then, I had only heard The Bends a few times and knew them as that band from England who sang “Creep”.
A lot of what you describe about RH helping to shape your views on the world, I had already done with U2 and along came OK Computer and made me also look even further into how a song, how music can really change someone’s outlook on life and the way they take on the world.
Apart from all that, it to me is the greatest piece of a music story of my generation.
I may personally hold Achtung Baby closer to my heart, but OK Computer is what I would call the greatest album of my time.
and on a far more mushy personal note, it is also the reason I found you.
Everyone say “awwww”
June 19th, 2007 20:44
oh and Angus and Chucky… Im with you on Exit Music.
When I am 84 and talking to the grandkids, I will rate that as one of the most amazing moments I ever experienced with music.
June 19th, 2007 21:44
i shudder to think what the world would be like without ok computer.
especially my own life.
couldn’t really think of a more deserving cd to be referred to as “epic”
June 20th, 2007 01:54
Great post, I second everyhing, and, man are you ever right about Electioneering!
I have to say the highlight of the 2004 Ent Cent gig for yours truly was when they broke into ‘My Iron Lung’. Something about the warm, slow opening feeback hum from the three guitars and the complete unexpectedness of it just made my night.
June 20th, 2007 17:21
Great write-up Sean. For me it was ‘Kid A’ that opened up my musical horizons and changed my tastes completely. Then I went back to their old albums and was continuously impressed.
Having seen them live was a life altering musical moment for me.
June 21st, 2007 09:05
i’m sitting here smiling to myself about how an album changed your life. it sounds so dramatic and almost unbelievable but i know that it’s true because it has had a similar effect on me.
okc was the catalyst for my awakening as a musician. jonny greenwood and ed o’brien created such amazing soundscapes that i bought a whole bunch of their pedals (and others) to try and create my own sounds.
as amanda, chucky and angus have already said, exit music at the syd ent centre was magical. when someone dared to scream out, there was urgent “shushing” from the surrounding fans.
also, have i mentioned i got thom’s setlist from that show? i’ve got it framed and stuck up in my room.
sorry for the essay.
June 21st, 2007 10:52
I too have the setlist!
I got Ed’s right after the show (1st night)
I had to utilise what little hand-eye coordination skills I had to grab it, in the form of a spectacular dive.
It’s proudly up in my room, like a hunter displaying a deer head.
June 21st, 2007 20:09
and i’ve got 2 setlists from the japan tour a few days before they came to australia! (this was before i lived here)
June 21st, 2007 22:35
you went to japan to see radiohead?
angus, you and i must have been quite close that night because i dived on thom’s set list which had been thrown out (scrumpled up into the gaffa tape by the roadie for good measure).
i took a photo of mine as it is.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulletgod/580770014/
June 21st, 2007 23:43
Yeah…I went to see the band and to visit a friend who was living their at the time. Spent a month in Japan and saw all 4 shows of their Japanese tour. It was awesome as we had passes for backstage/afterparties and I got to meet the band too. then i flew home via LA and saw them end the tour at Coachella (this was just after the cancelled Melbourne show). GREAT TRIP.
And thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts about the band/album.
June 21st, 2007 23:45
oh yeah…my setlists:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/areminder/515723174/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/areminder/515723164/
June 22nd, 2007 22:10
yeah that second sydney gig of ’04 still remains my favourite of all time, even ahead of Morrissey in Manchester, and that’s really saying something. never thought i’d be in a place where nearly 10000 people could be in silence, not even a funeral could hold that.
OK Computer sneaks into my top 5 all time favourite albums. im with you sean how it effected my views on global crises etc. well that and also when the South Sydney Rabbitohs got kicked out of the NRL coz Rupert Murdoch deemed them unprofitable. but i guess OK Computer helped me answer questions about why is this happening to my footy team? as well as other less important matters like the environment and world poverty
thanks for the read, sean. looking forward to the 10 year Kid A anniversary!