Radiohead – OK Computer – Documentary [Review]
| Category | Reviews |
| Written by | Brigitte Auer |
| Published on | July 26, 2011 |
Summary:
The summer of 1997 remains famous for three things (when looking at Great Britain at least): the inauguration of the Labour Party and Tony Blair as their protagonist of hope, [...]
The summer of 1997 remains famous for three things (when looking at Great Britain at least): the inauguration of the Labour Party and Tony Blair as their protagonist of hope, the death of Lady Diana Spencer resulting in numerous contributions to the world of conspiracy theories and the release of Radiohead’s 3rd studio album “OK Computer”.
To this day critics fight over this epic piece of musical history being either the final classic record of the Millennium or the first album of the 21st century. An opus magnum that is described to be a counter culture in itself.
The nearly one hour-long documentary “OK Computer – A Classic Album under Review” of 2006 does as promised – it reviews the entire album song by song, analyzes the music and interprets the lyrics. And that’s it. Although insight is given by a number of journalists and experts by the likes of Mark Paytress (“Radiohead: A Guide To Their Music”), Mojo editor Barney Hoskyns, Radiohead biographer Alex Ogg, Dai Griffiths (“Radiohead 33 1/3”) and David Stubbs (Melody Maker, Wire), the real protagonists are nowhere to be seen or heard. It definitely is a let down that there are no interviews with the band or anyone else involved in the production of “OK Computer”, not even tapes of the recording sessions or that whole shebang. Included are bits and pieces of live footage, but the main focus lies on the spoken word.
This documentary goes out to an interested crowd who always craved to know, what the term „ok computer“ really stood for, who wants to learn more about Thom Yorke’s paranoia concerning modern mechanical transport and who is interested in the influences the musical genius that is Jonny Greenwood might have had.
Documentary.net says: conventional featurette about one of the most innovative musical works of its time. Suited for the more hardcore type of fan who despite of his or her fandom still doesn’t know it all.
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