Radiohead's OK Computer

Got this book for school. Arrived in excellent condition as expected.

This is an awesome book about an awesome album by an awesome band. 33 1/3 is a terrific series of pocket sized publications. If they have a book on any of your favorite albums, oh my goodness get it.

Phew! He really lost me here. This might be the biggest disappointment I've ever had reading any book in the history of my entire life. I sincerely wish I'd read the Amazon reviews prior to purchasing, but I've read other 33+1/3 titles that I enjoyed & had hoped for a good insightful read about my favorite rock record of all time. No such luck. Seriously, just read the Wikipedia page on OK Computer... it's far more interesting & informative, guaranteed! From what I can tell, the author's approach to writing about this album is to dissect it from a music theory standpoint - no surprises there (forgive all the cheesy song references... or don't... what do I care?) - he's the Head of a Music Dept. @ a University... so a very dry, very academic, less than interesting, term-papery read is what you can expect from this one (why am I trying to be pleasant, the book effing sucks!). Listen, I'm not knocking music theory or writing about it, but if you're not a musician or trained in what chords are significant to a composition & why, it's going to make for a dull read. He also spends a significant portion (as other reviews have stated) rambling on about the genesis of CD production & differences between LPs, etc. - is he trying to prove that OK Computer is in fact an album? Dude, we know it's an album, duh! Here's a list of reasons why this book sucks and you should just save your money & read the Wikipedia page: it NEVER talks about the recording process for OK Computer-one which is very fascinating in my opinion. It NEVER addressed any of the significant influences in the lyric writing (futurism, anti-capatalism, distrust of the government, influences from the writings of Noam Chomsky, etc). I can't recall any quotes or interviews with the band members being cited, or really any tidbits of knowledge that I would be interested to go back & read again. Discussion about the album's artwork-nope. Mention of the album's influence on rock & pop music of years to come-nada. Frank Zappa's quote, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" is precisely what comes to mind with this book - though I think some writers have effectively tackled other albums - Griffiths falls WAY, WAY, WAY short. Hey 33+1/3 - you really need to maybe try reading the work you're publishing before sending it to press... here's the test, if you fall asleep reading it, or at any point think the book might be better served to balance a wobbly table... probably needs to be re-written! I'm not going to even ask you guys to try to re-do this book because you've failed miserably by letting this one get published... so it's someone else's turn to do a book on OK Computer for real.

the 33 1/3 books, for the most part are very well written - this is one of the best

complete rubbish devoid of any insight into the band or the making of OK Computer. Chapters begin with pages of quotes that have no meaning or context to anyone other than the author. I bought this book hoping it would expand on what is arguably considered one of the best albums of the 90’s, this book reads like a glossary. Kudos to the author for taking something captivating and deconstructing it into lifeless monotone techno babble.

an interesting concept

Whoa! I don't know why there is such animosity against this book. I thought it was a fascinating examination into how Radiohead utilized the CD format to create an album for the 21st-century. It was a lot of fun to listen to each track on headphones as Griffiths articulates what's special about each song. Reading this book gave me a deeper appreciation of one aspect of this band: the way they used technology and the constraints of the medium to create a masterpiece. I wasn't expecting an extensive history of the recording process (although I would love that!) or much of biographical information. The author found an interesting angle about the way the CD format affected the band's creative decisions and he makes an intriguing argument about it, especially given how the formats for listening to music today have changed. All I'm saying is that this book is worth a read if you're interested in how a media format can influence the decision-making process in art.

One of the best examples why you should read reviews before purchasing a book, which in this case I clearly didn't due to constraints on my time. I cannot believe dry-as-death Dai Griffiths was the person chosen to write about such a universally acclaimed work such as OK Computer. This triple-platinum masterpiece was voted by 125,000 reviewers as the second best album of all-time. Yet the treatment Griffiths gives it here makes it almost seem like some culturally ambiguous outlier to be dissected like a worm. A worm that never connected emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually with untold millions of passionate listeners. Shame on the editors of 33 1/3 for not rejecting the author's manuscript immediately and for allowing such disconnected and disinterested commentary like this to exist in the first place. There are hundreds of online articles (including Wikipedia) which give OK Computer the proper critical treatment and cultural context while simultaneously being entertaining, enlightening, and everything that Griffiths' writing isn't.

present for sis-in-law. sure it's great. arrived in good condition.

The author spends most of the book droning on about “what is an album?” before quickly running through all the songs in a very half-arsed manner. Contains nothing interesting or insightful about OK Computer, this is by far the worst 33 1/3 book I’ve read.

I absolutely love this album- it is without a doubt my favourite piece of music from the 90s. When I saw this title in the highly respected 33 1/3 series, I though my purchase was as safe as houses! The only problem is, this title reads like a really bad MA thesis. It's not that the information or analysis is flawed or wrong necessarily, it's just that it's just so much mental masturbation. The author's argument is sound enough, but unless you have a PhD in musicology, then you're likely to be treading in pretty deep water. In grad school we used to refer to this as 'stroking the cerebellum'- essentially talking at a level that is aiming to impress. Great authors I've known write to be clear and understood not to impress their peers. One of the first things we're all taught in school by any good teacher is to identify who our potential audience is and write for that audience. I simply can't imagine who Griffiths was aiming at.

I was looking for a companion piece to OK Computer, so that I could learn more about the making and recording of the album. When I fall in love with an album, I like to learn the minutiae and trivia to bring it to life a little more. This book did not provide that. It did present an interesting socio/musicological framework, but I studied Sociology at A level and had no desire to step back into that particular world. The book is dry, lifeless, as lacking in feeling as the voice on "Fitter, Happier". Disappointing.