I love Ok Computer and would have it as one of my all time favourite albums, easily!
I think there are a few reasons why it's so highly regarded. Firstly, it's because in the 90s there wasn't anything else that really sounded like it. While Blur, Oasis and a lot of Britpop bands looked backwards, Ok Computer sounded futuristic. It's 25 years old now, but I don't think it sounds it. The songs also sound beautiful and you have this strange position of the 'computer sounding' parts of the album with this soaring voice over the top - Airbag is the best example. Every sound on the album, the structure of the songs and the way it tells the story is superb in my opinion. I'd say that every song on the album is superb, there's no weak tracks on it. I personally think it's the best album from the 90s.
It's also a concept album that tells us what life is going to become in the 90s and onwards. It is warning us about what the future holds if we're not careful. It's going to be battling with technology - who hasn't had that problem of a poor call centre employee battling a computer system? We look for solutions to problems with technology - airbags, computers etc. However, are computers really all "good"? Maybe not if they harvest your personal data, monitor where you are and what your lifestyle is. Are we not now starting to have issues about what computers and AI will mean for us? Facebook is probably a perfect example of something that at first was a 'good thing', but is now spreading disinformation and the impacts of that.
It also warns that that lifestyle of being "fitter, healthier and more productive" isn't going to make you happy. It gives you the illusion of being happy, risk averse with consumer goods and technology making you comfortable. However, ultimately, it's boring and too safe - joyless. It is going to control you and kind of warns of the consumer and corporate culture that we live in today isn't what it appears. When you read the lyrics to "Fitter Happier", you realise that they are describing many peoples lives today.
The lyric from the opening track - "an airbag saved my life" - points towards that idea that maybe we can drive - and live - how we want with no consideration for others. In the lyrics, he doesn't mention anyone else in the crash, it's all "I". Maybe we can drive too fast and act selfishly knowing that the safety of the airbag means WE are safe, but what about the others who were in the crash? Did they have an airbag? It wasn't long after that the trend for larger cars, with more airbags in them, started. If you had the big car and the airbags, you were safe and if you crash YOU are ok. The 'computer' keeps you safe and maybe detaches yourself from other road users.
I could go on, but that's my take on it! The album is about the drudgery of modern living and - in my opinion - was ahead of it's time. It will be interesting to see how it ages though, but I definitely see this as a concept album that stands up alongside the likes of "What's Goin on", "Dark side of the moon" etc.
