Other than that, OK Computers artwork seems to try and convey a bleak and terrifying future, of boring commutes and simple lives. Its scary, really, the album is probably one of their darkest. But it really kinda is all you're thinking about everyday, at work and life and all. The cover seems a bit thrown out, like a bunch of unneeded detail. But the highways, people, and the sign of a 'lost child' pretty much seem like everyday experiences. The album feels like a discussion of some sort, all to be stopped with a slow down, slow down.Īs for how this impacts the cover, you might want to look into the marketing posters they made for the album. Its about things like being saved by a simple Airbag, being scared of little fights and disputes, everyday driving, what to do to be a good worker, as well as fears, as described in Paranoid Android, Climbing Up The Walls, and No Surprises. Its context sounds boring, yet the album makes it interesting. The claustrophobia - just having no sense of reality at all,” Yorke admitted to Rolling Stone in 2017.OK Computer is an album about the flaws and experiences of everyday life, and everyday topics. For instance, the exhaustive concert runs and consumeristic promotional cycles for The Bends made them feel somewhat disengaged and inauthentic. Intending to look outwardly for their next project, the band sought inspiration from what they’d been experiencing and what they saw happening around them. Likewise, vocalist/wordsmith Thom Yorke told NME in December 1995: “You know, the big thing for me is that we could really fall back on just doing another moribund, miserable, morbid and negative record, like lyrically, but I really don’t want to, at all.” To do that again on another album would be excruciatingly boring.” As reprinted in Radiohead: The Complete Guide, drummer Phil Selway felt that “The Bends was an introspective album… there was an awful lot of soul searching. Naturally, OK Computer was written in response to numerous things, including its precursor’s focus on inner gloominess. Today, it endures as a sonic and thematic marvel. Released on May 21st, 1997, it was a riskier yet even more remarkable artistic leap that - while still feeling at home next to its predecessor - proved to be a game-changer in several respects.īy leaning on a broader array of compositional techniques, highlighting external concerns over internal confessions, and experimenting with song structures, the LP simultaneously altered the boundaries of rock music and anticipated forthcoming political, technological, and social malaise. Instead, they crafted their prophetic art-rock opus: OK Computer. So, why not just repeat the formula? Because Radiohead were never ones to rest on their laurels or sacrifice veracity, meaningfulness, or innovation for easily acquired fame and fortune. It only took 20 years but Radiohead’s always-down-to-sleuth fans finally found the location of the photo used for the cover art of their landmark album OK Computer. After all, that sophomore collection surpassed predecessor Pablo Honey in nearly every way, with enough creative dynamism, commercial success, and critical praise to become one of the most significant alternative/indie rock records of all time. Radiohead could’ve proudly followed 1995’s The Bends with something markedly similar.