OK Computer
Rating: 6
Squirm factor: 1
    I found this lying in the middle of the street, so I assume that its last owner, "Zach K.", didn't think much of it. (Unless he dropped it by accident. If you are Zach K., please contact me and we'll see about returning it to you.) However, I thought I'd give it a spin to what all the hoopla was about. (To be honest, I'm not really buying much new music, since I already have a large enough collection of records that I can't listen to them all with any regularity. So I've read all the raves about Radiohead but only heard a little bit of their music on MTV.)
   According to what George Starostin calls the GCO ("General Critical Opinion") this was their masterpiece, until Kid A was released and became their masterpiece, until Amnesiac was released and became their masterpiece. Judging from the descriptions, I expected to be either knocked out or severely disappointed. It's apparently, to the critics' ears, some sort of blend of art rock, electronic music, and "anthemic" pop.
   Imagine my surprise when I… kind of liked it. The singer has a nice Bono-meets-Beck quality and he sure can hit the high notes. Unfortunately, he only sings about half the consonants in each word, so I can't make out many of the lyrics. The guitarist(s?) come up with lots of generic but groovy enough riffs, and I really enjoy the drummer's use of syncopation in the kick drum, even if he's recorded pretty weakly. There are lots of great production touches all through the album, like the "Sexy Sadie"-style piano on "Karma Police", the brooding strings on "Climbing Up the Walls", and careful use of reverb on the vocals. The mix has a terrific sound - ear-friendly but not too smoothed over.
   Unfortunately, the band has a tendency to focus on atmosphere over hooks. Even "Let Down", with its very catchy chorus, spends a lot of time on that guitar lick, which is not nearly as interesting as the band thinks it is. "Exit Music" and "The Tourist" are nothing but atmosphere.
   Generally, the songs sound less composed than compiled. What I mean is that it sounds as though instead of writing the words and melody, then creating an arrangement around them (the traditional composition method), the band either works from a guitar riff or rhythmic groove and builds up from there. This is a fine way of working - you'll hear it happening in many garage bands near you - but it results in rather choppy melodies, relying on long notes and awkward intervals to fit around the other instruments' lines. The singer's voice is powerful enough to distract from these melodic weaknesses, but they're obvious. The only reason I can think that people are raving about these melodies is that much of modern rock, from Rage Against the Machine to Godsmack, is essentially amelodic - just screaming in tune with the guitar. So even the uninspired tunes of Radiohead sound like Brahms to a set of ears weaned on rap-metal.
   There's a lot to like about Radiohead, just as there's a lot to like about the guys down the street who play in their basement. My guess is that the guys down the street probably have better enunciation, but not as many cool beeping noises.

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