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Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ Just Turned 20

2017-05-30

Story by Charles Ken

Classic album ‘OK Computer’ from Radiohead just turned two decades old

Ready for this fun fact? Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” as of this month, is 20 years old. Yeah, let that sink in.

Radiohead’s landmark 1997 album was initially released in Japan on May 21, 1997. It arrived in the U.K. in June and, finally, in the United States in July.

“OK Computer” was a different kind of release for Radiohead, because it was more electronic– and more commercial. The album followed Radiohead’s rock album “The Bends.”

Coming off the band’s more rock-driven album “The Bends,” which in turn was the sophomore follow-up to their debut “Pablo Honey,” “OK Computer” found Radiohead experimenting with more layered electronic sounds. It was a different sound for Radiohead, and it paid off– big time.

“OK Computer” has sold a whopping 4.5 million copies sold worldwide. It went double platinum in the U.S. With songs such as “Karma Police” and “Paranoid Android,” it’s considered, by many, one of the best albums out of the ’90s.

“OK Computer” had the honor of being added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2015 for being a “statement and a cautionary tale for the digital age.”

Radiohead will reissue “OK Computer” on June 23 with three previously unreleased tracks in a release called, “OKNOTOK.”