History Music / OKComputer

* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: "Fitter Happier":
--> [[AC:Careful to all animals (never washing spiders down the plughole)]]\\
[[AC:[...](No killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants)]]
** Which is subverted at the end with a reference to factory farming:
---> [[AC:A pig, in a cage, on antibiotics.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

''OK Computer'' is the third album released by AlternativeRock band Music/{{Radiohead}}, released in Japan on 21 May 1997 and in the UK 26 days later. Upon its release, the album reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US, becoming Radiohead's international BreakthroughHit.

* BittersweetEnding: Ends with the one-two TearJerker punch of "Lucky" and "The Tourist", which provide a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and resolve the tension and fear that pervade the rest of the album.

** The line "Kicking screaming Gucci little piggy" in "Paranoid Android" has been interpreted by some people as a shot at the Music/SpiceGirls. The actual story behind the line is that Thom had a very unpleasant encounter he had in a Los Angeles bar, where a woman reacted violently after somebody spilled a drink on her.

** "Happiness is a Warm Gun" by Music/TheBeatles from ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'', Music/{{Queen}}'s "Bohemian Rhapsody" from ''Music/ANightAtTheOpera'' and Music/MilesDavis' ''Music/BitchesBrew'' were cited as influences for the multi-part structure of "Paranoid Android."

** "Fitter Happier" appears to be a homage to Music/RyuichiSakamoto's "Milan, 1909", featuring a text-to-speech voice reading out a lecture while underscored by an unsettling minimalist instrumental. In this case, the lecture about the rise of Futurism and its coopting by the Italian Fascist Party is traded out for an abstract rumination on neoliberal capitalist society.

The band recorded ''OK Computer'' with the intent of presenting a less introspective sound than ''Music/TheBends'', exchanging the personal lyricism and downbeat melodies for a more aggressive, sociopolitical approach. ''OK Computer'' initiated a shift away from the popular {{Britpop}} genre of the time to the more melancholic, atmospheric style of alternative rock. This new sound would be prevalent in the next decade (corroborated by the fact that it released just a few months before Music/{{Oasis}}' ''Music/BeHereNow'', widely considered the GenreKiller for Britpop), and also initiate the band's shift away from their original guitar-heavy approach and into the more experimental territory of their later work.

* PrecisionFStrike: The sole swear on the album comes from "Fitter Happier", of all tracks.
-->[[AC:Like a cat]]\\
[[AC:Tied to a stick]]\\
[[AC:That's driven into]]\\
[[AC:Frozen winter shit]]

The album's lyrics and artwork emphasize Radiohead's views on rampant consumerism, social alienation, emotional isolation, and political malaise; in this capacity, ''OK Computer'' is often interpreted as having prescient insight into the mood of 21st century life. In that sense, the album is often considered a SpiritualSuccessor to Music/PinkFloyd's own 1973 BreakthroughHit ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon''. While Radiohead detested such comparisons, they similarly felt a strong sense of ArtistDisillusionment that would result from the album's success, resulting in the even more experimental electronica and jazz directions of their [[Music/KidA next]] [[Music/{{Amnesiac}} two]] albums.

* YouBastard: Just after the PrecisionFStrike on "Fitter Happier":
-->[[AC:The ability to laugh at weakness]]

* FakeLoud: "Climbing Up the Walls" consists of two of Thom's vocal tracks layered over each other. The one that's mixed lower is clipped and distorted in this manner, but it's actually much quieter than the Thom's other vocal track, which is more clean and melodic.

** There are more straightforward shots fired at the capitalist corporate lifestyle of the West in "Paranoid Android", "Fitter Happier", "No Surprises", and "Let Down" ("disappointed people clinging onto bottles" references another event where Thom was in a bar and suddenly wondered what would happen if the floor would collapse.)

-->''[[TheStinger "Hey man, slow down, slow down."]]''

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** Critics have compared this album to Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'' due to its thematic similarities.
** Music/DavidByrne openly called "Paranoid Android" one to [[Music/ANightAtTheOpera "Bohemian Rhapsody"]] by Music/{{Queen}}, on account of it being another complex, multi-movement song with a similar runtime.
* SpokenWordInMusic: "Fitter Happier", which features a computer voice saying all the lines.

Recorded with the intent of presenting a less introspective sound than ''Music/TheBends'', exchanging the personally-oriented lyricism and downbeat melodies for a more aggressive, sociopolitical approach, ''OK Computer'' initiated a shift away from the popular {{Britpop}} genre of the time to the more melancholic, atmospheric style of alternative rock. This new sound would be prevalent in the next decade (corroborated by the fact that it released just a few months before Music/{{Oasis}}' ''Music/BeHereNow'', widely considered the GenreKiller for Britpop), and also initiate the band's shift away from their original guitar-heavy approach and into the more experimental territory that defined their subsequent work.

->''"Transport, motorways and tramlines''
->''Starting and then stopping''
->''Taking off and landing''
->''The emptiest of feelings''
->''Disappointed people clinging onto bottles''
->''And when it comes, it's so, so disappointing"''

[[AC: Eeny/Ip]]

[[AC: Meeny/Skip]]

[[AC: Miney/Sky]]

[[AC: Mo/Blue]]

[[AC: Who's]]

[[AC: It]]

--> ''The crackle of pigskin''
--> ''The dust and the screaming''
--> ''The yuppies networking''

--> ''Her Hitler hairdo is making me feel ill.''

--->[[AC:Baby smiling in back seat]]
--->[[AC:...]]
--->[[AC:Shot of baby strapped in back seat.]]

--> ''When I'm king, you will be first against the wall''
--> ''(...) Off with his head, man''

--> ''Either way you turn''
--> ''I'll be there''
--> ''Open up your skull''
--> ''I'll be there''
--> ''Climbing up the walls''

-->''One day I'm going to grow wings''
-->''A chemical reaction''

** The "businessman and average Joe shaking hands" emblem that appears on the disc label and in the liner notes is a visible nod to the cover art of ''Music/WishYouWereHere''; the back cover for the [=CD2=] version of the "Paranoid Android" single also features a pig in the vein of ''Music/{{Animals|1977}}''. Incidentally, Radiohead would later grow irate from the number of critics comparing ''OK Computer'' to Music/PinkFloyd.

* NewSoundAlbum: The album took the spacey but driving style of alt-rock the band had introduced on ''Music/TheBends'', and proceeded to take it UpToEleven with additional ProgressiveRock elements, more intricate production, and more elements drawn from other genres.

** At least two to ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': the album title comes from Zaphod's line "okay, computer, I want full manual control now" from [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the 1978 radio series]], while the song "Paranoid Android" derives its own title from the character Marvin the Paranoid Android.

* RantInducingSlight: "Paranoid Android" was inspired by a woman Thom Yorke saw in a bar who became violent when someone spilled a drink on her. Fittingly, the music video features a recreation of this scene with characters from the Swedish/Canadian TV series ''Robin''.

** The "businessman and average Joe shaking hands" emblem that appears on the disc label and in the liner notes is a visible nod to the cover art of ''Music/WishYouWereHere''; the back cover for the [=CD2=] version of the "Paranoid Android" single also features a pig in the vein of ''Music/{{Animals}}''. Incidentally, Radiohead would later grow irate from the number of critics comparing ''OK Computer'' to Music/PinkFloyd.

''OK Computer'' is the third album released by AlternativeRock band Music/{{Radiohead}}, released on 21 May 1997. Upon its release, the album reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US, becoming Radiohead's international BreakthroughHit.

--->[[AC:baby smiling in back seat]]

* AdultFear:
** A couple lines in "Fitter Happier":
--->[[AC:baby smiling in back seat]]
--->[[AC:...]]
--->[[AC:Shot of baby strapped in back seat.]]
** The phrase "Lost child" is visible on the album cover above the blue-orange figure.