I Spent a Day Trying to Figure Out What People See in 'OK Computer'

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

I Spent a Day Trying to Figure Out What People See in 'OK Computer'

My last piece on the album made Radiohead fans deeply, deeply angry.
Ryan Bassil
London, GB

In this world it's okay to have opinions. Some of them are acceptable: chronic illness is bad, washing every morning is good, hanging up laundry is a monotonous task, etc. Others, however, are not. Take OK Computer, for example. The third album from Radiohead is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time: a showpiece of melodic brushstrokes, expansive rock music and primal anguish. Like other universally acknowledged things, thinking otherwise is unacceptable.

Advertisement

I know this because when OK Computer celebrated its 20th birthday this year I wrote a counter-piece to the unanimous praise it's received. I said the record was "the Trainspotting poster of the 'last great album' generation". Or to put it more succinctly: "just an album about stuff". In response, I was told "a member of my family would be sodomised" for every track on the album; asked if I had been paid for writing "clickbait" (which is weird, considering Radiohead tackle more intellectual topics than pro-rata employment); and told I should leave my useless job.

But hey: I guess that's the diehard Radiohead demographic for you. Like any militant fandom, some of them are always ready to put weight behind a less-than-worthy cause – in this case, me and my morose thought process. Then I began to think: If so many people are this angry, maybe OK Computer is unquestionably a masterpiece. Perhaps you are all right. I haven't understood Radiohead properly, have I? OK, I thought, I'll give it another go.

As I listened to the album and pondered the hate mail arriving in my inbox, I realised it was time to go outside and do something I imagine Thom Yorke would advise against or at least look down on, by virtue of it being a mass-marketed, readily available concept. I needed to live with this widely celebrated album some more, to confront some of the issues it seems to address, and write another "article" on it. First stop: where personality goes to die, otherwise known as London's financial district, charge of Thom Yorke's furore.

Advertisement

It makes sense to start here because if there's one theme of OK Computer I can get behind, it's political objection toward large corporations. I may be paranoid, but I'm not an android. Not like these woollen-trousered men, anyway. Screw you, little Gucci shoe-wearing male piggies! Bet they haven't heard "Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)".

Of course, this feeling has been with me since I signed up for my banking current account, aged 15. I have always disliked this perfectly designed maze of marble, deceit and ventilation systems. But if it takes Radiohead selling 30 million albums worldwide to encourage others to feel this way then I'm down for the cause. Plus "Electioneering" makes more sense to me now I'm in this environment.

Take this unnecessarily large symbol of insatiable greed. Why is it here?

Or this unnaturally cultivated plot of grass. The yuppies networking, the panic, the vomit, the panic, the vomit, God loves his children, God loves his children, yeah! I think I'm starting to get it, but I need to go deeper. People have said Radiohead sound best where there's space to become immersed, so I head to the London Underground, a premier destination of subterranean immersion.

Have you listened to music here? It's great. Close your eyes, turn the volume up to a level you will regret much later in life and become transported into another world. It's what Thom would have wanted. The deeper I go into the experience, the more I become fascinated with OK Computer. "Transport, motorways and tramlines / Starting and then stopping". It's just like the Central Line on any given day! As my journey comes to a close, I am ready to re-enter the world in a new state of mind, one in which OK Computer makes sense to me and is an ambitious, 5/5 comment on our society.

Advertisement

For example:

ATM machines: bad.

Advertising: a revolting scourge on society. Am I doing this right?

I was ready to concede defeat and head back to the office. As I think about the IMF and how a left-of-centre band successfully entered the mainstream without succumbing to commercial pressure there's a familiar rumble in my stomach: it demands food. I can still be a Radiohead fan and eat food from corporations, right? It's not like we all own farms and grow our own produce. And so I stroll into a McDonald's. No alarms and no surprises here. I order a large three-piece chicken select meal with a diet coke from the subservient cashier.

Mmmmmm. For a moment there I think I lost myself. That first sip is always the greatest. This is pure bliss. The chicken, too! I don't agree with some of McDonald's practices but it's hard to question the price per calorie factor. In many ways, it's a stroke of unparalleled genius available the world over.

And what's this?! I've only gone and won any reg McCafé hot drink (promotional rules apply). Questions start to buzz inside me like a fridge. Can Radiohead provide me with the same sustenance and joy as a worldwide corporation can? Upon purchasing one of their albums, is there an option to participate in the country's greatest gambling tournament? Do Radiohead concerts provide a seasonal menu to fans?

On the way out I notice some ketchup has made its way onto my shirt. With that I'm done with my Radiohead inspired anti-corporation stance. I need a replacement. The truth is, it's not what your money does for you, it's what you do for your money.

Advertisement

For example: shop in TK Maxx and save those pounds and look like a (Hugo) boss. Or at least a dad on a package holiday in Europe, hours before strawberry daiquiris sweat their way out from under his shirt. Friendly staff, good prices, great knock off clothing – who could argue with that? Not OK Computer, that's for sure.

On the track "Fitter Happier", Thom Yorke uses exercise as one of the props to reflect the unemotional and cold values of modern society. So on the way back to the office, new set of clothing in my photographer's bag, I decide to have a go at the recreational activity known as cycling. "Regular exercise at the gym / Three days a week"? To be honest Thom, I'm down with that. Yes, I do feel fitter. Yes, I do feel happier for it.

Besides – exercise aside – are Radiohead and their fanbase not completely based within the confines of everything they speak about on OK Computer? Look, here's a collection of some of their records on some unreasonably priced vinyl I found waiting to be purchased at a record store on the way back. And it was on CD, too! It seems weird a band who once sounded so anti-consumerism have so many different records for sale on a wide variety of formats. Then I realise, no one even has to pay for Radiohead's music anymore.

It's right here, on the "last desperate fart of a dying corpse", in Thom's own words! Either this is a pertinent comment on everything OK Computer talks about – from technology, to modern British life, to globalisation – or it's part and parcel of being a band people love and adore who have, in many ways, become their own corporation by self-releasing their later records and getting into that whole "pay what you like" model. It's awkward that now XL Recordings own the rights to Radiohead's back catalogue, most of their stuff is on Spotify after all, thus basically destroying a lot of what they seemed to stand for on this lionised third album.

However while Radiohead's OK Computer does talk about some Important Shit that Makes Sense When You Think About It, it's still a far more miserable listen than a lot of what exists out there in the world. Give me McDonalds, TK Maxx and an exercise bike over OK Computer any day. I'll feel much happier. And once again: I would still rather watch Fight Club than listen to this album because at least that take on misery has Brad Pitt and The Pixies in it.

You can find Ryan not scrolling through his ruined mentions on Twitter.

(All photos by Jake Lewis)