This paper will explore the theme of denouement in relation to the album’s sonic, thematic, and aesthetic qualities. It is clear that the thematic leitmotif running throughout the album, influencing everything from Yorke’s lyrics, the sonic dynamism and experimentation on show, to the album’s artwork, is, in a word, denouement. On its twentieth anniversary in 2017, the band released a deluxe set including B-sides and never-before-released studio versions of songs, titled OK COMPUTER OKNOTOK 1997 2017.OK Computer marks an important volta or fin-de-siècle in Radiohead’s oeuvre. OK Computer was released to universal acclaim upon its release, and is often considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time. That’s what I had to write about because that’s what was going on, which in itself instilled a kind of loneliness and disconnection. Everything I was writing was actually a way of trying to reconnect with other human beings when you’re always in transit. But I was using the terminology of technology to express it.
The paranoia I felt at the time was much more related to how people related to each other. Yorke, however, explained that it stemmed mostly from his personal experiences travelling non-stop in a touring band. The album’s lyrical themes and composition has it hailed as way ahead of its time, predictive of society’s obsession with technology, and the isolation and paranoia that comes with it. Lots of people, lots of ideas, and we all could pull in the same direction. It was very high-level thinking, conceptual, moving forwards in terms of sonics, and beautiful songs. Then new-ish engineer and future Radiohead mainstay Nigel Godrich told Rolling Stone of the recording sessions:
The result was 1997’s OK Computer, which was designed as a deliberate reaction against the grunge movement of the 1990s. Despite not having a hit anywhere near the size of “Creep”, Radiohead’s previous album The Bends (1995) was successful enough for their record company EMI to give them complete creative control.
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