Radiohead

By Alex Rainert

Music Editor

s we approach the 21st Century, technology is drastically changing the world we live in. Cell phones, laptops, the internet, are all making it easier and easier to make it through the day with minimal personal interaction. We are transforming into a largely impersonal society. This transition is evident, even in music. In the past 15 months , electronica has been touted as a revolution in music- led primarily by the British techno/rock act, the Prodigy. Although the Prodigy offer a nice contrast to candy-rock bands like Third Eye Blind and Reef, they do no more than that "Place Your Hands" band does in terms of confronting the philosophical issues that lie ahead. It's definitely a large burden to shoulder but Thom Yorke and company realize its presence and do their best to help us navigate it.

On O.K. Computer (Capitol),Radiohead's third album, the band has created somewhat of a concept album that addresses many of the moral issues facing us as we near the turn of the century, while incorporating the technology that has inadvertently become part of everyone's life.

Lead singer Thom Yorke and his bandmates have created a sprawling, twelve song musical epic. The album's first single, "Paranoid Android" created a buzz for its unorthodox musical structure and for its animated video. The song begins with a shuffling beat, follows with a cacophony of instruments, levels out again with Yorke chanting "God loves his children", and finally wraps up with a chorus of hammering guitars. In this song, as with the majority of the ones on the album, it takes many listens to hear all the nuances which punctuate the album's elaborate background.

On the album's first track, "Airbag", Yorke croons "in an intastella burst I am back to save the universe!!" which is a somewhat self-aggrandizing statement but at the same time it is a plea to his listeners to trust him and follow his lead through the album. He is on one hand very critical of society but at the same time, he is very empathetic- almost like he has been, or even still is, in the same situation. The music industry is renound for being notoriously shallow and one can separate oneself from that environment only to a point. The release of this album seems to represent a certain catharsis for the band- a way of proving to themselves that they have always had, and still have, a soul.

The lullaby-like song "No Surprises" identifies his discomfort with society today. In it, he sets the tone for his impending crusade to help the people that have been consumed entirely by the society in which they find themselves. He sings softly-"a heart thats full up like a landfill. A job that slowly kills you. Bruises that won't heal./ You look so tired-happy. Bring down the government. They don't. They don't speak for us." He wants people to abandon the slow death that is incurred by forsaking emotions for money; peace and quiet for constant restlessness.

The album concludes with the ballad "the Tourist" where he admits his own weakness in this world- "they ask/ where the hell am I going?? At 1000 feet per second./ hey man slowdown. Idiot slowdown." Although Radiohead are often overshadowed by other high profile British bands like U2 and Oasis, Radiohead should be recognized as the band that dealt with real issues and didn't spend all their time trying to make the cover of every music publication. They are rock stars who question who they are and they write music that makes you use your mind and sometimes question where you fit in.