OK Computer

OK Computer is an album by the band Radiohead. It was released in 1997. It reached No.1 in the UK Albums Chart. Four singles were released from it. "Paranoid Android" reached No.3 in the UK. "No Surprises" reached No.4. It got good reviews. Pitchfork gave it 10 out of 10.

 Reception 

Many music writers and fans loved OK Computer. Both English and American writers said the album would be important for a long time, and that the album was new and interesting. It was compared to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, another famous and important album. In the English press, the album got good reviews in NME, Melody Maker, The Guardian, and Q. In North America, Rolling Stone, Spin, and Pitchfork Media published good reviews. In The New Yorker, Alex Ross compared Radiohead's new and artistic music to the more classic rock sounds of Oasis. Ross wrote that "this band has pulled off one of the great art-pop balancing acts in the history of rock."

However, not all critics enjoyed the record. Robert Christgau from The Village Voice called it "arid" art rock.

The album appeared in many 1997 critics' lists and listener polls for best album of the year. Many magazines listed it as the best or second best of the year. It was a nominee for the 1997 Mercury Prize, a prestigious award recognising the best British or Irish album of the year.

Radiohead found it hard to deal with how much people liked OK Computer. Some members of the band thought the press loved it too much. The band did not like that their songs were called "art" when they thought their songs were pop music. However, singer Thom Yorke was happy that some people understood his musical goals: "People got all the things, all the textures and the sounds and the atmospheres we were trying to create."

Track listing

Personnel

Radiohead
 Colin Greenwood – bass guitar, bass synthesiser, percussion
 Jonny Greenwood – guitar, keyboards, piano, mellotron, organ, glockenspiel, string arrangements
 Ed O'Brien – guitar, FX, percussion, backing vocals
 Phil Selway – drums, percussion
 Thom Yorke – vocals, guitar, piano, laptop, programming, illustrations

Additional personnel
 Chris Blair – mastering
 Stanley Donwood – illustrations
 Nigel Godrich – production, engineering
 Nick Ingman – conducting
 Jim Warren – production, engineering

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

 Chart (1997-2017) Peakposition Australian Albums Chart 7 Austrian Albums Chart 13 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) 1 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) 3 Canadian RPM Albums Chart 2 Dutch Albums Chart 2 French Albums Chart 3 German Albums Chart 27 Irish Albums Chart 2 New Zealand Albums Chart 1 Spanish Albums Chart 42 Swedish Albums Chart 3 Swiss Albums Chart 40 US Billboard 200 21

Singles
 Year Song Peak positions UK US Mod NZ AUS SWE NL 1997 "Paranoid Android" 3 – – 29 53 61 "Let Down" – 29 – – – – "Karma Police" 8 14 32 – – 501998 "No Surprises" 4 – 23 47 – 58 "–" denotes releases that did not chart.

Certifications

 Notes 

Footnotes

Citations

Category:1997 albums
Category:Radiohead albums