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. 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. The band had already recorded "Lucky" for The Help Album, a 1995 charity album. 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. 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. All five members had differing opinions and equal production roles, with Yorke having "the loudest voice", according to guitarist Ed O'Brien. The band still ran into problems which Selway blamed on their choice to produce the album themselves. In order to avoid the tension that accompanied the recording sessions for The Bends, EMI did not impose a production deadline on the band. You had to drive to town to find something to eat." You had to piss around the corner because there were no toilets or no running water. We recorded about 35% of the album in our rehearsal space. Colin Greenwood said, "We had this mobile-studio type of thing going where we could take it all into studios to capture those environments. It was the band's first attempt to work outside a conventional studio environment. In early 1996, Radiohead started rehearsing and recording OK Computer in the Canned Applause studio, a converted shed near Didcot, Oxfordshire. 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." There was an awful lot of soul searching. Drummer Phil Selway said that "The Bends was an introspective album. Godrich eventually outgrew this role and became co-producer on the album.Īfter 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. 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. 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.
OK Computer received considerable acclaim at the time of its release, and is frequently cited by critics as one of the greatest albums ever recorded.Īfter 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.
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 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. 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. Although most of the music is dominated by guitar, OK Computer's 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. Radiohead recorded the album in rural Oxfordshire and Bath, during 1996 and early 1997, with producer Nigel Godrich. OK Computer is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997.
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