In it, the narrator fantasizes being abducted by aliens because they believe they would be more accepted and/or comfortable in their world than on Earth.

It’s a diamond in an album of gems.Īfterwards is “Subterranean Homesick Alien”, which is a pristine song about Yorke’s feelings of isolation and alienation from others. The song manages to bind fuzzy electric guitar solos and choral arrangements together. It’s a six-minute epic, inspired by previous through-composed songs like “Happiness is a Warm Gun” by the Beatles and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen.

The next song in the track listing is “Paranoid Android”, which is also a consistent contender for the greatest song of all time. The song was meant to illustrate how dependent modern society is on technology, by giving an example of how we invent new technologies (such as the airbag) to combat other technology humans have made (cars). The lyrics detail how he felt he was “born again” after being saved by an airbag. The album begins with the track “Airbag”, in which frontman Thom Yorke recalls a car crash that he survived unscathed. In light of its 25th anniversary, I believe it’s time to look at OK Computer again, and find out what makes it incredible. It was a project that forever altered the course of popular music, shifting away from the fuzz-ingrained rock that had defined the genre for years and towards clean production with gloomy themes (inspiring bands such as Coldplay and Muse). There are many contenders for the greatest album of all time, but few are on as many lists as Radiohead’s OK Computer, which was considered one of the greatest albums of all time barely three days into its original release in 1997.

Ok computer radiohead album art