OK Computer is the third album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997. Radiohead recorded the album in rural Oxfordshire and Bath, during 1996 and early 1997, with producer Nigel Godrich. Although most of the music is dominated by guitar, OK Computers expansive sound and wide range of influences set it apart from many of the Britpop and alternative rock bands popular at the time, and it laid the groundwork for Radiohead's later, more experimental work. While Radiohead do not consider OK Computer to be a concept album, its lyrics and visual artwork emphasise common themes such as consumerism, social disconnection, political stagnation, and modern malaise.
OK Computer reached number-one on the UK Albums Chart and marked Radiohead's highest entry into the American market at the time, debuting at number 21 on the Billboard 200. The album expanded the band's worldwide popularity, and has been certified triple platinum in the UK and Canada, double platinum in the US and platinum in Australia. OK Computer received considerable acclaim at the time of its release, and has been listed by music critics and listener polls as one of the greatest albums ever recorded.
Background
After the success of Radiohead's second album, The Bends (1995), the band decided to produce their third album themselves, although a number of producers, including Scott Litt, were offered a position to work on the album.Footman, p. 34 They were encouraged by recording sessions with engineer Nigel Godrich, who had assisted John Leckie in producing The Bends and had produced several Radiohead B-sides.Randall, p. 189 Bassist Colin Greenwood said "the only concept that we had for this album was that we wanted to record it away from the city and that we wanted to record it ourselves."
The band prepared for the recording sessions by buying their own recording equipment, though they consulted Godrich for advice on what to acquire. Godrich eventually outgrew this role and became co-producer on the album.Randall, p. 190–191
After the stressful tour in support of The Bends, the band took a break in January 1996 and expressed a desire to change their musical and lyrical style from that of their previous album.Footman, p. 33 Drummer Phil Selway said that "The Bends was an introspective album... There was an awful lot of soul searching. To do that again on another album would be excruciatingly boring." Singer Thom Yorke said "The big thing for me is that we could really fall back on just doing another miserable, morbid and negative record lyrically, but I don't really want to, at all."Richardson, Andy (1995-12-09), "Boom! Shake the Gloom!", NME
Recording
In early 1996, Radiohead started rehearsing and recording OK Computer in the Canned Applause studio, a converted shed near Didcot, Oxfordshire. It was the band's first attempt to work outside a conventional studio environment. Colin Greenwood said, "We had this mobile-studio type of thing going where we could take it all into studios to capture those environments. We recorded about 35% of the album in our rehearsal space. You had to piss around the corner because there were no toilets or no running water. It was in the middle of the countryside. You had to drive to town to find something to eat."
In order to avoid the tension that accompanied the recording sessions for The Bends, EMI did not impose a production deadline on the band.Randall, p. 194 The band still ran into problems which Selway blamed on their choice to produce the album themselves. All five members had differing opinions and equal production roles, with Yorke having "the loudest voice", according to guitarist Ed O'Brien. The band eventually decided that Canned Applause was an unsatisfactory recording location, which Yorke attributed to its proximity to the band members' homes, and which guitarist Jonny Greenwood attributed to its lack of dining and bathroom facilities.Randall, p. 195 In spite of these difficulties, the band had nearly completed recording four songs—"Electioneering", "No Surprises", "Subterranean Homesick Alien", and "The Tourist"—when they left Canned Applause.Footman, p. 25 The band had already recorded "Lucky" for The Help Album, a 1995 charity album. At their label's request, the band took a break from recording to embark on a 13-date American tour, opening for Alanis Morissette, where they performed early versions of several of their new songs. During the summer 1996 tour, one of the new songs, "Paranoid Android", evolved from a fourteen-minute song featuring long organ solos, to one closer to the six-and-a-half minute OK Computer version.
Radiohead resumed their recording sessions in September 1996 at St Catherine's Court, a historic mansion near Bath owned by actress Jane Seymour.Randall, p. 196 They made much use of the different rooms and atmospheres throughout the house; the vocals on "Exit Music (For a Film)" featured an echo effect achieved by recording on a stone staircase, and "Let Down" was recorded at 3 AM in a ballroom.Footman, p. 35 The isolation from the outside world allowed the band to work at a different pace, with more flexible and spontaneous working hours. O'Brien said that "the biggest pressure was actually completing . We weren't given any deadlines and we had complete freedom to do what we wanted. We were delaying it because we were a bit frightened of actually finishing stuff."
Yorke was ultimately satisfied with the quality of the recordings made at the house, and later stated "In a big country house, you don't have that dreadful '80s 'separation'. ... There wasn't a desire for everything to be completely steady and each instrument recorded separately." O'Brien was similarly pleased with the recordings, estimating that 80% of the album was recorded live and noted "I hate doing overdubs, because it just doesn't feel natural. ... Something special happens when you're playing live; a lot of it is just looking at one another and knowing there are four other people making it happen."
Radiohead returned to Canned Applause in October for rehearsals,Randall, p. 198 and completed most of the album during further sessions at St. Catherine's Court. By Christmas, they had narrowed down the tracklisting to 14 songs.Randall, p. 199 The album's string parts were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London in January 1997. The album was mastered at the same location, with mixing taking place over the next two months at various studios around the city.Randall, p. 200
Musical style and themes
Yorke explained that the "incredibly dense and terrifying sound" of Bitches Brew by jazz composer Miles Davis was his starting point for the record. He described the sound of Bitches Brew to Q: "It was building something up and watching it fall apart, that’s the beauty of it. It was at the core of what we were trying to do with OK Computer."Sutcliffe, Phil. "Radiohead: an interview with Thom Yorke". Q. 1999. The band also drew influence from the film soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone and modern classical composer Krzysztof Penderecki,
whose music Yorke described as "atmospheric, atonal, weird stuff". Yorke described the sound the band hoped to achieve from the album as "an atmosphere that's perhaps a bit shocking when you first hear it, but only as shocking as the atmosphere on The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds". The band made use of diverse instrumentation, including electric piano, Mellotron, cello and other strings, glockenspiel, and electronic effects and rhythms. Many of Yorke's vocals on OK Computer were first takes; the singer explained that if he made further attempts after his initial takes "I'd start to think about it and it would sound really lame".
Yorke described a change in his lyrics since the more personal The Bends: "On this album, the outside world became all there was... I'm just taking Polaroids of things around me moving too fast". He also said that "It was like there's a secret camera in a room and it's watching the character who walks in - a different character for each song. The camera's not quite me. It's neutral, emotionless. But not emotionless at all. In fact, the very opposite,"
and that "Loads of the music on OK Computer is extremely uplifting. It's only when you read the words that you'd think otherwise." Themes that pervade the album include transport, technology, insanity, death, modern life in the UK, globalisation, and political objection to capitalism.Footman, p. 142–150 Radiohead have stated that although the songs have common themes, any clear story is unintentional and they do not deem OK Computer to be a concept album. However, the band stated that the album was meant to be heard as a whole. O'Brien said, "We spent two weeks track-listing the album. The context of each song is really important... It's not a concept album but there is a continuity there."
"Airbag", the album's opening track, was inspired by DJ Shadow and features an electronic drum beat programmed from a seconds-long recording of Selway drumming. The band sampled the drum track with an Akai S3000XL, edited it using a Macintosh computer, and admitted to making approximations in emulating Shadow's style due to their own inexperience making electronic music.Footman, p. 42 The bassline in "Airbag" stops and starts unexpectedly, and according to Colin Greenwood "I thought I'd probably think of something to put in the gaps later, but I never got around to it."Randall, pp. 213–214 The song's references to automobile accidents and reincarnation, were inspired by a magazine article titled "An Airbag Saved My Life" and The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Yorke wrote "Airbag" about "the idea that whenever you go out on the road you could be killed."Footman, p. 44–45 "Paranoid Android", the band's longest recorded studio track at 6:23, has an unconventional multi-section song structure inspired by The Beatles' multipart "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", as well as the Pixies, who Yorke considers "the greatest band ever".Randall, p. 214–215 Colin Greenwood said that the song is "just a joke, a laugh, getting wasted together over a couple of evenings and putting some different pieces together."Jabba (February 1998). "Interview with Colin Greenwood". Channel V. The song was written by Yorke after an unpleasant night at a Los Angeles bar, particularly a woman who reacted violently after someone spilled a drink on her. Its title and lyrics reference Marvin the Paranoid Android from Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The use of electric keyboards in "Subterranean Homesick Alien" is an example of the band's attempts to emulate the atmosphere of Bitches Brew.Footman, p. 62 The song is also a reference to the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues", however it has a science fiction-theme in which the isolated narrator longs to be abducted by extraterrestrials to see "the world as I'd love to see it".Footman, p. 60–61
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, particularly the 1968 film adaptation,Footman, p. 65 inspired the lyrics for "Exit Music (For a Film)". The song was made for Baz Luhrmann's adaptation, Romeo + Juliet, and played over the end credits. It was also influenced by Morricone, although Yorke has also compared it to the songs on Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison.Randall, p. 154 "Let Down" prominently features arpeggiated guitars and electric piano and includes a guitar solo by Jonny Greenwood in a different time signature than the one the song is written;Footman, p. 73 O’Brien described the song as "a nod to Phil Spector". The song's lyrics evoke crushed insects and are "about that feeling that you get when you're in transit but you're not in control of it — you just go past thousands of places and thousands of people and you're completely removed from it." "Karma Police"'s title and lyrics originate from an in-joke that the band members had, in which they would call "the karma police" on each other if someone did something wrong. The song is split into two sections and is primarily built around acoustic guitar and piano, with a chord progression indebted to The Beatles' "Sexy Sadie".Footman, p. 79
"Fitter Happier", which begins the second half of the album, consists of sampled musical and background sound and lyrics recited by a synthesized voice from the Macintosh SimpleText application.Randall, p. 158–159 Written after a period of writer's block, "Fitter Happier" was described by Yorke as a checklist of slogans for the 1990s, which he considered "the most upsetting thing I've ever written".
Randall, p. 224–225 "Electioneering", featuring cowbell and a distorted guitar solo, has been compared to the band's more rock-oriented style on Pablo Honey.Footman, p. 93–94 It was inspired by Noam Chomsky's writings—
Yorke likened its lyrics, which focus on issues of political and artistic compromise, to "a preacher ranting in front of a bank of microphones".Randall, p. 226 The next track, "Climbing Up the Walls", is marked by ambient insect-like noises and "metallic" drums. The song's string section, composed by Jonny Greenwood and written for 16 instruments, was inspired by the Penderecki composition Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima; Greenwood said of the song that "I got very excited at the prospect of doing string parts that didn't sound like 'Eleanor Rigby', which is what all string parts have sounded like for the past 30 years."Footman, p. 99–102 The song is about "the monster in the closet", with Yorke drawing on a brief job as an orderly in a mental hospital, and an article in The New York Times about serial killers, in writing it.
"No Surprises", one of the album's most stark and least aggressive tracks, was layered with electric guitar inspired by the Beach Boys song "Wouldn't It Be Nice",Footman, p. 110 acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, and vocal harmonies.Janovitz, Bill, "", Allmusic, retrieved 18 October 2008 With "No Surprises", the band strove to replicate the atmosphere of Marvin Gaye's music and the 1968 Louis Armstrong recording of "What a Wonderful World". However, it has been interpreted as portraying a suicide or an unfulfilled life, and dissatisfaction with contemporary social and political order.Footman, p. 108–109 "Lucky" was originally a contribution to the 1995 War Child charity album The Help Album, and though the band considered remixing it for OK Computer, it was ultimately left unedited. The track is comparable to the early-1970s music of Pink Floyd, a major influence on Jonny Greenwood.Randall, p. 161 "Lucky" depicts a man who survives an airplane crash in a lake and becomes a "superhero"; the song is thematically linked to "Airbag", and Yorke has described the song in interviews as having "positive", upbeat lyrics.Randall, p. 230
The album's closing song, "The Tourist", was created by Jonny Greenwood, who said "'The Tourist' doesn't sound like Radiohead at all. It's a song where there doesn't have to happen anything every 3 seconds. It has become a song with space.""Radiohead: The Album, Song by Song, of the Year", HUMO, 1997-07-22 The slowly paced song is written in 3/4 time, but with an additional beat at the end of every other line in the verse.Randall, p. 162 "The Tourist" was chosen as the album's final song, according to Yorke, "because a lot of the album was about background noise and everything moving too fast and not being able to keep up. It was really obvious to have 'Tourist' as the last song. That song was written to me from me, saying, 'Idiot, slow down.' Because at that point, I needed to. So that was the only resolution there could be: to slow down."
Title and packaging
Yorke explained the title's meaning: "We did this promo trip recently to Japan, and on the last day, we were in a record shop and this one kid shouted at the top of his voice, 'OK COMPUTER!', really, really loud. Then he had 500 people chant it all at once. ... I got it on tape. It sounds amazing. It reminds me of when Coca-Cola did 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing', that amazing advert in '70. ... The idea of every race and every nation drinking this soft drink. ... it's actually a really resigned, terrified phrase." "OK Computer" was also the original title for the B-side "Palo Alto", a track which had been considered for inclusion on OK Computer. Other titles the band considered for the album were Ones and Zeroes, a reference to the binary numeral system, and Your Home May Be at Risk If You Do Not Keep Up Payments.Footman, p. 36–37
The album's cover design is a collage of images and text by Stanley Donwood, who is credited with design on several Radiohead covers, along with Yorke. Some of the art is computer-made collages, created by Yorke, using the pseudonym 'tchocky'; other art is hand-drawn work by Donwood. Yorke explained the artwork's theme, saying, "Someone's being sold something they don't really want, and someone's being friendly because they're trying to sell something. That's what it means to me. It's quite sad, and quite funny as well. All the artwork and so on...we chose to pursue it after we . ... It was all the things that I hadn't said in the songs."
Release
According to Selway, "When we first delivered the album to Capitol, their first reaction was, more or less, 'commercial suicide'. They weren't really into it. At that point, we got The Fear. How is this going to be received?"
O'Brien said that only the band's British label, Parlophone, expected great things from OK Computer, while other labels around the world downsized their initial sales estimates after listening to the record.Randall, p. 242 Capitol Records, Radiohead's American label, lowered its sales estimates from two million to 500,000 copies.Randall, p. 202 O'Brien said the label could not see any potential singles on the album, let alone anything that would be as popular as "Creep".
Parlophone undertook an unorthodox advertising campaign for the album, taking out full-page advertisements in high-profile British newspapers and tube stations. The advertisements featured the lyrics for "Fitter Happier" written in large black letters on a white background. In America, Capitol sent 1,000 cassette players to select members of the press and music industry with a copy of the album permanently bonded inside.Randall, p. 243 Capitol president Gary Gersh, when asked about the campaign after the album's release, said "We won't let up until they are the biggest band in the world". OK Computer was released in Japan on 21 May, then in the UK on 16 June, and finally in the US on 1 July.Footman, p. 38
Radiohead chose "Paranoid Android" as the lead single from OK Computer. Despite a lack of radio play, the song charted at number three in the United Kingdom, giving Radiohead their highest singles chart position.Randall, p. 242–243 The album debuted at number one on the British album charts, where it stayed for two weeks. OK Computer stayed in the top 10 for weeks, and became the country's eighth-best selling record of the year.Randall, p. 247 Two additional singles, "Karma Police" and "No Surprises", were released. Both charted in the UK singles top 10, and "Karma Police" charted on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks peaking at number fourteen. "Let Down", which was considered for release as the lead single,Footman, p. 74 charted in the US on Modern Rock Tracks at number 29. OK Computer has been certified triple platinum in the UK, double platinum in the US, and platinum in Australia.
In March 2009, Ed O'Brien mentioned during an interview that some slight damage to the OK Computer master tape was noticed when producer Graeme Stewart was backing up the band's archive of recorded material to hard drives.
Reception
Upon its release, OK Computer received almost unanimously positive reviews. Consensus among critics was that the album was a landmark of its time and would have far-reaching impact and importance.Footman, p. 181–182 NME gave the album a ten out of ten score, and reviewer James Oldham wrote "Here are 12 tracks crammed with towering lyrical ambition and musical exploration; that refuse to retread the successful formulas of before and instead opt for innovation and surprise; and that vividly articulate both the dreams and anxieties of one man without ever considering sacrifice or surrender. In short, here is a landmark record of the 1990s, and one that deserves your attention more than any other released this year."
Taylor Parkes of Melody Maker connected the album's release to the era's feeling of paranoia and alienation about millenarianism, and said "It's as pained and as slow-moving as the emotions that inspired it. ... In one way or another, Radiohead have excelled themselves."
Q awarded the album five out of five stars, with writer David Cavanagh stating that "the majority of OK Computers 12 songs ... takes place in a queer old landscape: unfamiliar and ominous, but also beautiful and unspoiled. ... It's a huge, mysterious album for the head and soul."
Nick Kent wrote in Mojo that "Others may end up selling more, but in 20 years time I'm betting OK Computer will be seen as the key record of 1997, the one to take rock forward instead of artfully revamping images and song-structures from an earlier era."
In a four out of five stars review, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian wrote that the album "is surprising and sometimes inspiring but its intensity makes for a demanding listen."
The album was also favourably received by critics in North America. Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars. Reviewer Mark Kemp wrote that the album is "a stunning art-rock tour de force ... On OK Computer, Radiohead take the ideas they had begun toying with on The Bends into the stratosphere. ... OK Computer is evidence that are one rock band still willing to look the devil square in the eyes", but warned "OK Computer is not an easy listen."
An Entertainment Weekly review by David Browne gave the album a B+, and wrote that "When the arrangements and lyrics meander or sprout pretensions, the album grows ponderous and soggy. For all of Radiohead's growing pains, though, their aim — to take British pop to a heavenly new level — is true."
In an article for The New Yorker, writer Alex Ross praised OK Computer for its progressiveness, and contrasted Radiohead's risk-taking with the more musically conservative "dadrock" of their contemporaries Oasis. Ross wrote that "Throughout the album, contrasts of mood and style are extreme This band has pulled off one of the great art-pop balancing acts in the history of rock."
Ryan Schreiber wrote, in a highly enthusiastic ten out of ten review in his online music magazine Pitchfork, that "Radiohead's third piece of incredible work, OK Computer, is not only their best yet, but one of the year's greatest releases. The record is brimming with genuine emotion, beautiful and complex imagery and music, and lyrics that are at once passive and fire-breathing."
What really blew my head off was the fact that people got all the things, all the textures and the sounds and the atmospheres we were trying to create.—Thom YorkeOn his surprise at the critical response to OK Computer
In England, I think a lot of the reviews have been slightly over-the-top, because the last album was somewhat under-reviewed possibly and under-received.—Jonny GreenwoodOn OK Computers positive critical reception
Despite OK Computers widespread praise, it also received some criticism. Robert Christgau of the Village Voice granted OK Computer a B− but ranked it as the "Dud of the Month" in his consumer guide; Christgau commented that the album lacked "soul", calling it "arid" and "ridiculous" and comparing it unfavourably to Pink Floyd.
Andy Gill wrote for The Independent in an otherwise positive review, "For all its ambition, OK Computer is not, finally, as impressive as The Bends, which covered much the same sort of emotional knots, but with better tunes. It is easy to be impressed by, but ultimately hard to love, an album that so luxuriates in its despondency".
While a review in Time was largely positive, particularly praising the songs "Airbag", "Paranoid Android", and "Let Down", reviewer Christopher John Farley criticised the second half of the album. Farley stated, "While the first half-dozen tracks reward repeated listenings with melodies that grow and bloom with familiarity, there is often no structure to be found in the remaining half-dozen numbers."
At the end of 1997, OK Computer appeared in many critics' lists and listener polls for best album of the year. OK Computer topped the year-end polls of the magazines Mojo, Vox, Entertainment Weekly, Hot Press, Muziekkrant OOR, HUMO, Eye Weekly, and Inpress, and tied for first place with Daft Punk's Homework in The Face. The album placed second in NME, Melody Maker, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, Spin and Uncut. Q and Les Inrockuptibles both listed OK Computer in their unranked year-end polls.Footman, 183-184 OK Computer was a nominee for the 1997 Mercury Prize, a prestigious award recognizing the best British or Irish album of the year.
The album was nominated in the Album of the Year and Best Alternative Music Performance categories at the 1998 Grammy Awards, ultimately winning the latter award.Randall, p. 251, 255
OK Computer first appeared in a "best of all time" list three months after its release, placing 16 in a chart based on submissions by customers of Virgin Megastores. This chart heavily favoured recent releases, which suggested that OK Computers popularity was a passing fad.Footman, p. 185 However, OK Computer has since appeared frequently in professional lists of greatest albums. In early 1998, OK Computer topped a Q reader's poll of the greatest albums of all time, and in 2001 Q placed it at number one in a list of the top 50 pop albums of the last 15 years.
A number of publications, including NME, Melody Maker, Spin, Alternative Press, Pitchfork Media,
and Time
placed OK Computer prominently in lists of best albums of the 1990s or of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 162 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Additionally, retrospective reviews from The A.V. Club and Slant Magazine have received the album favourably; likewise, Rolling Stone gave the album five stars in the 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide, with critic Rob Sheffield saying "Radiohead was claiming the high ground abandoned by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, U2, R.E.M., everybody; and fans around the world loved them for trying too hard at a time when nobody else was even bothering." In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and OK Computer was placed at number 4 on the list.
Legacy
OK Computer was recorded in the lead up to the 1997 general election. It was thus seen by critics as encompassing public opinion through its "despairing-yet-hopeful tone" and themes of alienation.
Yorke said his lyrics had been affected by reading a book about the two decades of Conservative government which were just coming to an end in 1997, as well as about factory farming and globalisation. However, in interviews Yorke expressed little hope things would change under the corporate-controlled "New Labour" government of Tony Blair. With the approach of the year 2000, many people felt the tone of the album was millennial.
Some critics have credited OK Computer with "killing" 1990s Britpop,
as within a few years of its release, the dominant style of UK guitar pop had become slower and more melancholy. Many of the newer acts used similarly complex, atmospheric arrangements. The band Travis worked with Godrich to create the languid pop texture of The Man Who, which became the biggest-selling album of 1999 in the UK. Others have credited Radiohead with beginning a mainstream revival of progressive rock and ambitious concept albums,
though the band denied their affiliation with the genre. Radiohead described the prevalence of bands that "sound like us" as one reason to break with the style of OK Computer for their next album, Kid A.
When asked by MTV interviewer Gideon Yago what the band thought of "bands like Travis, Coldplay, and Muse ... making a career sounding exactly like did in 1997", Yorke replied "Good luck with 'Kid A'!".
Several rock bands which later became popular, ranging from Coldplay
and Bloc Party
to TV on the Radio,
have said they were formatively influenced by OK Computer—TV on the Radio's debut album, for instance, was titled OK Calculator. Additionally, the album's popularity paved the way for British alternative rock bands such as Muse, Snow Patrol, and Keane. Classical and jazz musicians such as Christopher O'Riley and Brad Mehldau have performed material from OK Computer, and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen said "When I heard 'OK Computer,' after five minutes I said, 'I actually get this. I understand what these people are trying to do.' And what they were trying was not so drastically different from what I was trying to do."
In 2006, Easy Star All-Stars released Radiodread, a complete, song by song makeover of OK Computer into reggae, ska, and dub. The two other albums to receive this treatment so far are The Dark Side of the Moon as Dub Side of the Moon, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band.
Charts
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Category:1997 albums
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This text has been derived from OK Computer on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0Artist/Band Information
Radiohead are an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, beats), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboard, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesisers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion).
Radiohead released their first single, "Creep", in 1992. The song was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead's popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international fame. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK Computer has often been acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s.
Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in Radiohead's musical style, as the group incorporated experimental electronic music, Krautrock, post-punk and jazz influences. Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of guitar-driven rock, electronics and lyrics inspired by war, was the band's final album for their major record label, EMI. The band's first six albums, released via EMI, had sold more than twenty-five million copies by 2007.
Radiohead independently released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), originally as a digital download for which customers could set their own price, and later in physical form to critical and chart success.
Radiohead's work has appeared in a large number of listener polls and critics' lists. For example, in 2005 Radiohead were ranked number 73 in Rolling Stones list of "the greatest artists of all time". While the band's earlier albums were influential on British rock and pop music,
musicians in a wide variety of genres have been influenced by their later work.
History
Formation and first years (1985–1991)
abingdonschool.jpgthumbrightAbingdon School, where the band formed
The musicians who form Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, a boys-only public school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood were in the same year, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway were one year older and Jonny Greenwood two years younger than his brother, Colin. In 1985 they formed the band "On a Friday", the name referring to the band's usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. The group played their first gig in late 1986 at Oxford's Jericho Tavern;
Jonny Greenwood originally joined as a harmonica and then keyboard player, but he soon became the lead guitarist.
Although Yorke, O'Brien, Selway, and Colin Greenwood had left Abingdon by 1987 to attend university, the band continued to rehearse often on weekends and holidays.
In 1991, when all the members except Jonny had completed their university degrees, On a Friday regrouped, began to record demos such as Manic Hedgehog, and performed live gigs around Oxford. Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley had an active indie scene in the late 1980s, but it centred around shoegazing bands such as Ride and Slowdive; On a Friday were never seen as fitting this trend, commenting that they had missed it by the time they returned from university.
Nevertheless, as On a Friday's number of live performances increased, record labels and producers became interested. Chris Hufford, Slowdive's producer and the co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard Studios, attended an early On a Friday concert at the Jericho Tavern. Impressed by the band, he and his partner Bryce Edge produced a demo tape and became On a Friday's managers; they remain the band's managers to this day. Following a chance meeting between Colin Greenwood and EMI representative Keith Wozencroft at the record shop where Greenwood worked, the band signed a six-album recording contract with the label in late 1991. At the request of EMI, the band changed their name to Radiohead, inspired by the title of a song on Talking Heads' True Stories album.
Pablo Honey, The Bends and early success (1992–1995)
Radiohead recorded their debut release, the Drill EP, with Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge at Courtyard Studios. Released in March 1992, its chart performance was very poor. Subsequently, the band enlisted Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade—who had worked with US indie bands Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.—to produce their debut album, recorded quickly in an Oxford studio in 1992. With the release of the "Creep" single late in the year, Radiohead began to receive attention in the British music press, not all of it favourable. NME described them as "a lily-livered excuse for a rock band",
and "Creep" was blacklisted by BBC Radio 1 because it was deemed "too depressing".
The band released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in February 1993. It stalled at number 22 in the UK charts, as "Creep" and its anthemic follow-up singles "Anyone Can Play Guitar" and "Stop Whispering" failed to become radio or video hits. "Pop Is Dead", a non-album single later disavowed by the band, sold equally poorly. Some critics compared the band's early style to the wave of grunge music popular in the early 1990s—to the extent of Radiohead being dubbed "Nirvana-lite"—yet Pablo Honey failed to make either a critical or a commercial splash upon its initial release. Despite shared influences with popular guitar-heavy acts, and some notice for Yorke's falsetto voice, the band toured only British universities and clubs.
In the first few months of 1993, Radiohead began to attract listeners elsewhere. "Creep" had been played very frequently on Israeli radio by an influential DJ, and in March after the song became a hit on that country's charts, Radiohead were invited to Tel Aviv for their first live gig overseas.
Around the same time, the San Francisco alternative radio station KITS added the song to its playlist. Soon other radio stations along the west coast of the United States followed suit. By the time Radiohead began their first North American tour in June 1993, the music video for "Creep" was in heavy rotation on MTV. The song rose to number two on the US modern rock chart, entered the lower reaches of the top 40 pop chart, and finally hit number seven in the UK singles chart when EMI re-released it in Britain late in the year.
Unexpected attention to the single in America caused the label to improvise new promotional plans, and the band shuttled back and forth between continents, playing over 150 concerts in 1993. Radiohead nearly broke up due to the pressure of sudden success as the Pablo Honey supporting tour extended into its second year.
Band members described the tour as difficult to adjust to, saying that towards its end they were "still playing the same songs that recorded two years previously... like being held in a time warp", when they were eager to work on new songs.
The band began work on their second album in 1994, hiring veteran Abbey Road studios producer John Leckie. Tensions were high, with mounting expectations on the band to deliver a superior follow-up to match or exceed the success of "Creep".
Recording felt unnatural in the studio, band members having over-rehearsed their material. They sought a change of scenery, touring the Far East, Australasia and Mexico in an attempt to reduce the pressure. The band found greater confidence performing their new music live. However, confronted again by the fame he had achieved, Yorke became disillusioned at being "right at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell to the world.
My Iron Lung, an EP and single released late in 1994, was Radiohead's reaction, marking a transition towards the greater depth they aimed for on their second album.
Promoted through alternative radio stations, the hard-edged single's sales were better than expected, and suggested for the first time that the band had found a loyal fan base beyond one hit.
Having introduced more new songs on tour, Radiohead finished recording their second album by year's end, and they released The Bends in March 1995. The album was driven by dense riffs and ethereal atmospheres from the band's three guitarists, with greater use of keyboards than their debut. It also received stronger reviews for both songwriting and performances.
While Radiohead were seen as outsiders to the Britpop scene that dominated the media's attention at the time, they were finally successful in their home country with The Bends, as singles "Fake Plastic Trees", "High and Dry", "Just", and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" made their way to UK chart success; the latter song placed Radiohead in the top five for the first time. In 1995, Radiohead again toured North America and Europe, this time in support of R.E.M., one of their formative influences and at the time one of the biggest rock bands in the world. The buzz generated by such famous fans as Michael Stipe, along with distinctive music videos for "Just" and "Street Spirit", helped to sustain Radiohead's popularity outside the UK.
However, Radiohead's growing fan base was insufficient for them to repeat the commercial popularity of "Creep" worldwide. "High and Dry" became a modest hit, but The Bends peaked at 88 on the US album charts, which remains Radiohead's lowest showing there.
Radiohead were satisfied with the album's reception. Jonny Greenwood said, "I think the turning point for us came about nine or twelve months after The Bends was released and it started appearing in people's polls for the end of the year. That's when it started to feel like we made the right choice about being a band".
OK Computer, fame and critical acclaim (1996–1998)
In late 1995, Radiohead had already recorded one song that would make their next record. "Lucky", released as a single to promote the War Child charity's The Help Album,
had come out of a brief session with Nigel Godrich, a young audio engineer who had assisted on The Bends and also produced a 1996 B-side, "Talk Show Host". The band decided to produce their next album with Godrich's assistance, and they began work in early 1996. By July they had recorded four songs at their rehearsal studio, Canned Applause, a converted apple shed in the countryside near Didcot, Oxfordshire.
In August 1996, Radiohead toured as the opening act for Alanis Morissette, seeking to perfect their new songs live before completing the record. They then resumed recording, again outside a traditional music studio, settling instead at a 15th-century mansion, St. Catherine's Court, near Bath.
The recording sessions were relaxed, with the band playing at all hours of the day, recording songs in different rooms, and listening to The Beatles, DJ Shadow, Ennio Morricone and Miles Davis for inspiration. Radiohead contributed "Talk Show Host", as well as a newly-recorded song called "Exit Music (For a Film)", to Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of Romeo + Juliet late in the year. Most of the rest of the album was complete by the end of 1996, and by March 1997, the record was mixed and mastered.
Radiohead released their third album, OK Computer, in June 1997. Largely composed of melodic rock songs, the new record also found the band experimenting with song structures and incorporating some ambient, avant garde and electronic influences. The album's lyrics took a more observational, less personal tone than The Bends, expressing what one magazine called "end-of-the-millennium blues".
OK Computer met with great critical acclaim, and Yorke admitted that he was "amazed it got the reaction it did. None of us fucking knew any more whether it was good or bad. What really blew my head off was the fact that people got all the things, all the textures and the sounds and the atmospheres we were trying to create."
OK Computer was the band's first number one UK chart debut, propelling Radiohead to commercial success around the world. Despite peaking at number 21 in the US charts, the album eventually met with mainstream recognition there, receiving the first Grammy Awards recognition of the band's career, a win for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year.
"Paranoid Android", "Karma Police" and "No Surprises" were released as singles from the album, of which "Karma Police" was most successful internationally.
The release of OK Computer was followed by the "Against Demons" world tour. Grant Gee, the director of the "No Surprises" video, accompanied and filmed the band, releasing the footage in the 1999 documentary Meeting People Is Easy.
The film portrays the band's disaffection with the music industry and press, showing their burnout as they progressed from their first tour dates in mid-1997 to mid-1998, nearly a year later. The film is also notable for documenting earlier versions of songs that were never released or were not released until years later, such as "How to Disappear Completely", "Life in a Glasshouse" and "Nude". During this time the band also released a music video compilation, 7 Television Commercials, as well as two EPs, Airbag/How Am I Driving? and No Surprises/Running from Demons, that compiled their B-sides from OK Computer singles.
Kid A, Amnesiac and a change in sound (1999–2001)
Jonny Greenwood Synth (Amsterdam).jpgthumbrightJonny Greenwood has used a variety of instruments, such as this glockenspiel, in live concerts and recordings.
Radiohead were largely inactive following their 1997–1998 tour; after its end, their only public performance in 1998 was at an Amnesty International concert in Paris.
Yorke later admitted that during that period the band came close to splitting up, and that he had developed severe depression.
In early 1999, Radiohead began work on a follow-up to OK Computer. Although there was no longer any pressure or even a deadline from their record label, tension during this period was high. Band members all had different visions for Radiohead's future, and Yorke was experiencing writer's block, influencing him toward a more abstract, fragmented form of songwriting. Radiohead secluded themselves with producer Nigel Godrich in studios in Paris, Copenhagen, and Gloucester, and in their newly completed studio in Oxford. Eventually, all the members agreed on a new musical direction, redefining their instrumental roles in the band.
After nearly 18 months, Radiohead's recording sessions were completed in April 2000.
In October 2000 Radiohead released their fourth album, Kid A, the first of two albums from these recording sessions. Rather than being a stylistic sequel to OK Computer, Kid A featured a minimalist and textured style with less overt guitar parts and more diverse instrumentation including the Ondes Martenot, programmed electronic beats, strings, and jazz horns. It debuted at number one in many countries, including the US, where its debut atop the Billboard chart marked a first for the band and a rare success in the US by UK musicians. This success was attributed variously to marketing, to the album's leak on the file-sharing network Napster a few months before its release, and to advance anticipation based, in part, on the success of OK Computer.
Although Radiohead did not release any singles from Kid A, promos of "Optimistic" and "Idioteque" received radio play, and a series of "blips", or short videos set to portions of tracks, were played on music channels and released freely on the Internet.
The band had read Naomi Klein's anti-globalisation book No Logo during the recording, and they decided to continue a summer 2000 tour of Europe later in the year in a custom-built tent free of advertising; they also promoted Kid A with three sold-out North American theatre concerts.
Kid A received a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year in early 2001. Yet it won both praise and criticism in independent music circles for appropriating underground styles of music, while some mainstream British critics saw Kid A as a "commercial suicide note", labelling it "intentionally difficult" and longing for a return to the band's earlier style. Radiohead's fans were similarly divided; along with those who were appalled or mystified, there were many who saw the album as the band's best work.
Yorke, however, denied that Radiohead had set out to eschew commercial expectations, saying, "I was really, really amazed at how badly was being viewed ... because the music's not that hard to grasp. We're not trying to be difficult ... We're actually trying to communicate but somewhere along the line, we just seemed to piss off a lot of people ... What we're doing isn't that radical."
Amnesiac, released in June 2001, comprised additional tracks from the Kid A recording sessions. Radiohead's musical style on these songs was similar to that of Kid A in their fusion of electronic music and jazz influences, though more reliant on the use of guitars. The record was a critical and commercial success worldwide, it topped the UK Albums Chart and reached number two in the US, being nominated for a Grammy Award and the Mercury Music Prize. After Amnesiacs release, the band embarked on a world tour, visiting North America, Europe and Japan. Meanwhile, "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out", Radiohead's first issued singles since 1998, were modestly successful, and "I Might Be Wrong", initially planned as a third single, expanded into Radiohead's thus far only live record. I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, released in November 2001, featured performances of seven songs from Kid A and Amnesiac along with the acoustic, previously unreleased "True Love Waits".
Hail to the Thief and a hiatus (2002–2004)
During July and August 2002, Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain, playing a number of newly written songs. They then recorded the new material in two weeks in a Los Angeles studio with Nigel Godrich, adding several tracks later in Oxford, where the band continued their work into the next year. Radiohead members described the recording process as relaxed, in contrast to the tense sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac. The band's sixth album, Hail to the Thief, was released in June 2003. Mixing sounds from throughout their career, Hail to the Thief combined guitar-based rock with electronic influences and topical lyrics by Yorke.
Although the album was critically praised, many critics felt that Radiohead were treading water creatively rather than continuing the "genre-redefining" trend that OK Computer had begun.
Nevertheless, Hail to the Thief enjoyed commercial success, debuting at number one in the UK and number three on the Billboard chart and eventually being certified platinum in the UK and gold in the US. The album's singles, "There There", "Go to Sleep" and "2 + 2 = 5", achieved a level of play on modern rock radio. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, Radiohead were again nominated for Best Alternative Album, while producer Godrich and engineer Darrell Thorp received the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album.
Yorke denied that Hail to the Thiefs title was a comment on the controversial 2000 US presidential election, explaining that he first heard the words in a BBC Radio 4 discussion of 19th century American politics. Yorke said his lyrics had been affected by news reports of war in 2001 to 2002 and "the feeling that we are entering an age of intolerance and fear where the power to express ourselves in a democracy and have our voices heard is being denied us" but said, " didn't write a protest record, we didn't write a political record." After the release of Hail to the Thief, Radiohead embarked in May 2003 on a world tour, including a headlining performance at the Glastonbury Festival. The tour finished in May 2004 with a performance at the Coachella Festival. During their tour, the band released COM LAG, an EP compiling most of their b-sides from the time. Following their tour, the band began writing and rehearsing in their Oxford studio but soon went on hiatus. Free of their label contract, Radiohead spent the remainder of 2004 resting with their families and working on solo projects.
In Rainbows and independent work (2005–2009)
Thom Yorke.jpgthumbuprightrightYorke in concert with Radiohead in 2006
Radiohead began work on their seventh album in February 2005. In September 2005, the band recorded a piano-based song, "I Want None of This", for the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life. The album was sold online, with "I Want None of This" being the most downloaded track, although it was not released as a single.
Radiohead had already begun recording their next album on their own and then with producer Mark Stent. However, in late 2006, after touring Europe and North America and debuting 13 new songs there, the band resumed work with Nigel Godrich in London, Oxford and several rural locations in Somerset, England.
Work was finished in June 2007 and the recordings were mastered the following month.
Radiohead's seventh album, In Rainbows, was released through the band's own website on 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which customers could make whatever payment that they wanted, including nothing; the site only advised, "it's up to you". Following the band's sudden announcement 10 days beforehand, Radiohead's unusual strategy received much notice within the music industry and beyond.
1.2 million downloads were reportedly sold by the day of release,
but the band's management did not release official sales figures, claiming that the Internet-only distribution was intended to boost later retail sales.
A "discbox", including a second disc from the recording sessions, vinyl and CD editions of the album, and a hardcover book of artwork, was sold and shipped in late 2007.
In Rainbows was physically released in the UK in late December 2007 on XL Recordings and in North America in January 2008 on TBD Records, charting at number one both in the UK and in the US.
The album's success in the US marked Radiohead's highest chart success in that country since Kid A, while it was their fifth UK number one album. "Jigsaw Falling into Place", the first single from the album, was released in the UK in January 2008.
The second single, "Nude", debuted at number 37 in the Billboard Hot 100, Radiohead's first song to make that chart since 1995's "High and Dry" and their first top 40 hit in the US since "Creep". A greatest hits album, titled Radiohead: The Best Of, was released by EMI in June 2008. The compilation was made without the input of the band and also did not contain any songs from In Rainbows, as the band had already left their label. Radiohead continued to put out tracks from In Rainbows as singles and videos; in July a digitally-shot video for "House of Cards" was made available. "House of Cards", along with "Bodysnatchers", also received a single release on radio. In September the band announced a fourth single, "Reckoner", and a remix competition similar to one organised for "Nude".
In Rainbows received overwhelmingly positive reviews, among the best of Radiohead's career. Critics praised the album for having a more accessible sound and personal style of lyrics than their past work; it sold more than three million copies within one year of release.
In July 2008, In Rainbows was nominated for the short list of the Mercury Music Prize. At the 2009 Grammy Awards, the band won Best Alternative Music Album. Their production team also won the Grammy for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. The band received their third nomination for Album of the Year, along with three other nominations for the band, plus nominations for Godrich's production work and for the "House of Cards" video. From mid-2008 to early 2009, Radiohead toured North America, Europe, Japan, Mexico and South America to promote In Rainbows. The band headlined the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2009.. NME. 30 Mar 2009
2009 and 2010 sessions (2009–present)
In May 2009, the band began new recording sessions with producer Nigel Godrich. A few months later, in August Radiohead released two singles from these sessions on their website. First, "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)", was recorded in tribute to the recently deceased Harry Patch, the last surviving British soldier to have fought in World War I. The song was sold for £1, with proceeds donated to the British Legion. The song featured Thom Yorke singing lyrics based on Patch's own statements about his war experience, over a string orchestra backdrop arranged by Jonny Greenwood. Later that month, a new song "These Are My Twisted Words," was made available as a free download or a torrent; a digital set of pictures was included. Jonny Greenwood explained that the song had been one of the first products of the band's recent studio sessions, and it was likely to be played during their August festival appearances, the final dates of the In Rainbows tour.http
In a mid-2009 NME interview, Yorke suggested that Radiohead would turn their focus from full length albums to releasing EPs, including the possibility of an EP of orchestral music. But in mid-December 2009, O'Brien posted on the band's website that the band would begin work on its next album in January. He stated, "The vibe in the camp is fantastic at present, and we head off into the studio in January to continue on from the work we started last summer...10 years ago we were all collectively (that’s the band) in the land of Kid A .. and although hugely proud of that record, it wasn’t a fun place to be...What’s reassuring now, is that we are most definitely a different band, which should therefore mean that the music is different too and that is the aim of the game."
In an interview with BBC 6 Music in June 2010, guitarist Ed O'Brien made similar comments, stating: "We're in the heart of now... I think this is the best record we've ever made, it's very different to the type of music we were making last time, and it just feels so good to be making music again with the band that are as good as they ever were." O'Brien also said the band hoped to be able to release the record by the end of 2010. http
Style and songwriting
Among Radiohead members' earliest influences were Scott Walker, and Elvis Costello; post-punk acts such as Joy Division and Magazine, R.E.M., Pixies, The Smiths and Sonic Youth.http By the mid-1990s, Radiohead began to mention an interest in electronic music, especially that of DJ Shadow, which Radiohead claimed as an influence on parts of OK Computer.
Other influences on the album were Miles Davis and Ennio Morricone, along with 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Jonny Greenwood also cited composer Krzysztof Penderecki as an inspiration on the sound of OK Computer.
The electronic style of Kid A and Amnesiac was the result of Thom Yorke's admiration for glitch, ambient techno and IDM as exemplified by Warp Records artists such as Autechre and Aphex Twin. The jazz of Charles Mingus, Alice Coltrane, and Miles Davis, and 1970s Krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!, were other major influences during this period.
Jonny Greenwood's interest in 20th century classical music also had a role, as the influence of both Penderecki and composer Olivier Messiaen was apparent; for several songs on OK Computer and later albums, Greenwood has played the Ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument popularised by Messiaen.
While working on Hail to the Thief, Radiohead put renewed emphasis on guitar rock. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and particularly Neil Young were reported sources of inspiration to the band during this period.
Liner notes of Hail to the Thief, 2003.
Since beginning to record In Rainbows, Radiohead members have mentioned a variety of rock, electronic, hip hop and experimental musicians as influences, including Björk, Liars, Modeselektor and Spank Rock.
Since their formation Radiohead have lyrically been spearheaded by Yorke, but musically, songwriting is a collaborative effort, and it has been noted in interviews that all the band members have roles in the process. As a result, all the band's songs are officially credited to "Radiohead". The Kid A/Amnesiac sessions brought about a change in Radiohead's musical style, and an even more radical change in the band's working method. Since the band's shift from standard rock music instrumentation toward an emphasis on electronic sound, band members have had greater flexibility and now regularly switch instruments depending on the particular song requirements. On Kid A and Amnesiac, Yorke played keyboard and bass, while Jonny Greenwood often played Ondes Martenot rather than guitar, bassist Colin Greenwood worked on sampling, and O'Brien and Selway branched out to drum machines and digital manipulations, also finding ways to incorporate their primary instruments, guitar and percussion, respectively, into the new sound. The relaxed 2003 recording sessions for Hail to the Thief led to a different dynamic in Radiohead, with Yorke admitting in interviews that " power within the band was absolutely unbalanced and would subvert everybody else's power at all costs. But ... it's actually a lot more healthy now, democracy wise, than it used to be."
Collaborators
RHbear.svgrightthumb"Modified bear" logo for Kid A by Stanley Donwood and Tchock (Thom Yorke)
The band maintains a close relationship with their producer Nigel Godrich, as well as with graphic artist Stanley Donwood. Godrich made his name with Radiohead, working with the band since The Bends, and as producer since OK Computer.
He has, at times, been dubbed the "sixth member" of the band in an allusion to George Martin being called the "Fifth Beatle". Donwood, another longtime associate of the band, has produced all of Radiohead's album covers and visual artwork since 1994.
Together with Yorke, Donwood won a Grammy in 2002 for a special edition of Amnesiac packaged as a library book. Other collaborators include Dilly Gent, and Peter Clements. Gent has been responsible for commissioning all Radiohead music videos since OK Computer, working with the band to find a director suitable for each project.
The band's live technician, Peter Clements, or "Plank", has worked with the band since before The Bends, setting up their instruments for both studio recordings and live performances.
Discography
* 1993: Pablo Honey
* 1995: The Bends
* 1997: OK Computer
* 2000: Kid A
* 2001: Amnesiac
* 2003: Hail to the Thief
* 2007: In Rainbows
* 2010/11: TBA
Awards and nominations
References
Sources
*Randall, Mac. Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. 2000. ISBN 0-385-33393-5
*Clarke, Martin. Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless. 2000. ISBN 0-85965-332-3
Further reading
*Doheny, James. Radiohead: Back to Save the Universe. 2002. ISBN 0-82641-663-2
*Footman, Tim. Welcome to the Machine: OK Computer and the Death of the Classic Album. 2007. ISBN 1-8424-03885
*Forbes, Brandon W. and Reisch, George A. (eds). "Radiohead and Philosophy". 2009. ISBN 0-8126-9664-6
*Griffiths, Dai. Radiohead's OK Computer (33⅓ series). 2004. ISBN 1-56025-398-3
*Johnstone, Nick. Radiohead: An Illustrated Biography. 1997. ISBN 0-7119-6581-1
*Paytress, Mark. Radiohead: The Complete Guide to their Music. 2005. ISBN 1-84449-507-8
*Tate, Joseph (ed). The Music and Art of Radiohead. 2005. ISBN 0-7546-3979-7.
This text has been derived from Radiohead on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0
