OK Computer is a bold experiment that blends art rock and indie and alternative and electronica and ambient and other genre-specific sonic elements, coupled with a kaleidoscope of themes about society’s rapid acceleration of globalism, urbanism, technological growth, and increasing self-awareness going into the 21st century.

They want to take your mind to another place, somewhere you’ve never been. They don’t want you to listen and think “Wow, this is lovely.” They want to challenge you. I like to think of these guys as the Picassos of music, with art that is as ugly as it is pretty and as rugged as it is seamless. Why? Radiohead never made music to satisfy audiences. You can’t expect bangers to play at parties. However, you can’t expect instant gratification. And now, nearly 25 years after its release, this confounding monolith continues to boggle minds across the planet. OK Computer is beautiful, bleak, spiteful, expansive, soothing, overwhelming-a cry of panic and despair and anxiety in the face of burgeoning modernity. This is one of the greatest works of music ever made.

Ok computer radiohead album cover