The Albums That Made Me (5 of 25): OK Computer - Radiohead (1997)
“I wish that they'd swoop down in a country lane late at night when I'm driving. Take me on board their beautiful ship, show me the world as I'd love to see it.” - Subterranean Homesick Alien
Some time in 1995 I went on a church mission trip to the Philippines. I was accompanying an evangelist and a group of volunteers that wanted to visit various burgeoning churches and help people in need. My job was to play guitar and sing for awhile before the evangelist went up to speak. It was an interesting trip to say the least. On one occasion, I played and sang in front of the biggest crowd I've ever performed for. After I performed (believe it or not), I was swarmed and asked to signed autographs for about 15 minutes before I was ushered off to move on to the next speaking engagement. I didn’t even really have an autograph, so I just signed my name in the most autographesque way I could imagine. One girl told me that I had a "golden voice". None of this went to my head (I'm lying; it totally did). I caught the bug. After that trip, I was obsessed with writing and performing songs. I wanted it before, but after that trip I NEEDED it.
Whoops, sorry. This post is supposed to be about Radiohead.
While in the Philippines we were holed up in a hotel for about two days due to some kind of insurgent activity that was going on outside. We were told that we might be kidnapped if we left the hotel, so naturally we stayed inside. There was a common area downstairs where we had our meals and conversed with one another. The hotel staff played music to liven the mood, but all they seemed to have on hand was one Steve Perry solo album, so after awhile the music became less soothing and more of a deterrent to going downstairs. Luckily the hotel had cable, so I spent a lot of time watching Asian television, including MTV Asia.
Keep in mind, this was 1995, so MTV still played music videos.
I was familiar with Radiohead to a certain extent. I had heard "Creep" and parts of their first album, "Pablo Honey" but I didn't own it and hadn't listened to them extensively. Their second album, "The Bends" had released that year, so "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" were in heavy rotation at the time on MTV Asia. I really dug the vibe so, when we were finally able to leave the hotel room, I ventured out to a mall in Manila and purchased a CD copy of "The Bends".
You guys...that album blew my 16-year-old mind. I loved it so much that I listened to it any chance I could get for the rest of that trip, on the plane ride home and, you know...for the rest of my life.
Whoops, sorry. This post is supposed to be about Radiohead's third album, "OK Computer".
OK Computer was released in 1997. Y2K was just around the bend, and paranoia surrounding technology and big brother were becoming a rising concern. Mental health issues were something that you DID NOT discuss. Alienation and fear were just something that you pretended that you didn't feel. You smiled, you moved on and you didn't complain. That is, unless you were Radiohead. OK Computer fearlessly dove headfirst into those topics (and more!), wrapped them in a creamy layer of musical genius and shot them directly into my 18-year-old brain stem.
Listening to OK Computer was CATHARSIS. It was as if these guys had some kind of inside line to what was making me anxious and decided to write 12 expertly crafted songs about each one of them.
This album is essential. This band is even more essential. I chose OK Computer for this list because I feel like it's their magnum opus, but every one (well, except maybe one *cough king of limbs cough*) of their other albums is beautiful and I don't know what/where/who I would be if I hadn't fallen in love with them in 1995 Manila. How else would I know that there were other people out there - smart and talented people - that felt like they didn’t QUITE belong on this planet anymore than I do?
https://open.spotify.com/album/7dxKtc08dYeRVHt3p9CZJn?si=fnE6DYqARF6LRampxVlZPw














