OK Computer 1997

"Another one I don't have anything to say about that hasn't been said before. How on earth is it possible to fit so many flawlessly good songs on one album? Pink Floyd did it two decades previously with "Dark Side of the Moon", and this is often called the 90's equivalent. For example it seems like they hit on two classic anthemic endings with "Lucky" and "The Tourist", and couldn't decide which one to include, so settled on both. It's pure prog rock - an ornate production with crystally guitar arpeggios, floaty keyboard pings, snatches of sound effects. And there's Thom Yorke's fluidly smooth tenor and the urban-alienation lyrics, which verge towards too knowingly cool (especially the fridge-poetry style bit-track "Fitter Happier"). To excuse them, although lyrics about the corporate soulnessness of these times might now seem hackneyed, it's a good thing that the definitive statement of this era is an album with such outstanding music. I'll give the blow-by-blow account a miss, because if you've never heard it before, why haven't you? They hit on a timelessly good sound, and I lapped it up, along with millions of other people."

"I like Radiohead best when they find a good balance between catchy tunes, odd/quirky bits and brilliant political/social lyrics. So on this album I prefer the songs that they also published as singles, plus the more melodic ones. The dissonant, noisy songs on this album are good, but not brilliant - other bands do a better job at that kind if music. Still those songs are very worth listening to, and after all they provide a good contrast to the melodic ones."