h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: OK Computer - best album ever? - A4148804
Author: JuarezGriffin - U1593379

Hello! This is my first entry, edited slightly after some very helpful advice in Writing Workshop. Any more constructive criticism would be grand. Thanks!

As a review of the album, this is an excellent piece of writing which will rush straight into the Edited Guide, no problems. Well done.

My only little quibble is with the title. I think 'OK Computer - an album by Radiohead' would suffice. This is mostly personal prejudice because I can't stand the album, mind you, but I do think the title is a bit subjective.

B

I, on the other hand, really like the album, although I haven't listened to it for a while. Really enjoyed the Entry, well done.

I heard a theory (half-corroborated in a mysterious way by Thom Yorke) that the events in 'Tourist' precede theose in 'Airbag.' Hence, 'Hey man, slow down' segues into 'I am born again, an airbag saved my life.' Do you know if that's true?

I also read something saying that the band later regretted putting 'Electioneering' on the album as, while a good song, it didn't quite fit with the other tracks (which you allude to in the Entry).

Linked to the above bits is the idea that OK Computer is a cyclical concept album about paranoia, civilisation and its discontents (no apostrophe in 'its' by the way, unless it's short for it is). Lots of reviews mention it, so it's probably worth putting in there somewhere.

Have you seen "Meeting people is Easy?" It's a film about the subsequent tour that Radiohead made after releasing OK Computer. Haven't seen it myself, but it might be worth a look for more stuff on the album.

I dunno, I'm just a music geek who reads lots of interviews. I'm sure other Radiohead geeks will come to the party and add their own stuff just to make this a little more bulky than a simple track-by-track commentary.

But as it stands, it's a great Entry. The title won't survive though, I'm afraid - even I rate Pulp's 'This is Hardcore' as a better album released in that mid to late-90's era.

Matt

Now that IS a good album

Sorry - topic drift

B

Nice work I do like Radiohead very much. Something you might like to incorporate into the section about the 'song' Fitter Happier is that the electronic voice used is the same as the one physicist Stephen Hawking uses to communicate. (rumour was when the album was released it was actually Stephen 'voicing' the words.)

Some tips though?

Link to some more h2g2 Entries. This always goes down well. You can link in text like this:

An h2g2 Article

so the Radiohead h2g2 Articles will look like this in GuideML:

Radiohead - the Band

You can also link out of text, but so the link appears in the sidebar like this;

An h2g2 Article

You can add as many links as you like in between the REFERENCES tags.

You can also link to outside sites by using a similar linking tag like this one;

A Website

The you can link to the radiohead website, which is fab

All in all, great Entry!
Frood

Ah thanks, I wasn't too sure how to put links on, so I'll add some to it at some point.
And to answer Dr Matt, I haven't heard the theory of "The Tourist" preceding "Airbag", but it does sound quite plausible. It's one of those records that everyone (including myself) seems to have a theory about.
Thanks for your suggestions everyone!

The title is misleading, I would have expected an Entry explaining to me 'why' OK Computer is the best album ever. This, BTW, would not be EG material - as it can only be opinion. (BTW, the best album ever - contrary to popular belief - is 'The Grand Wazoo')

Back to Radiohead. I also think that the album is great. And the Entry too. It's a nice review of the album and the tracks. I sure learnt a lot.

I think a re-title to: "OK Computer - Radiohead's best album?" or "OK Computer - The Album by Radiohead" would be good...

Good luck with this Entry!

HELL

That's not entirely true, Hell. An Entry on the brouhaha around Q Magazine's readers naming the album the best of all time in 1998, the subsequent to-ing and fro-ing of critics supporting and attacking the decision, and how the real newsworthy thing was the demoting of Sgt Pepper to about #5 (not low enough, in my opinion, it's the most overrated album of all time - give me Pet Sounds, any day)... An Entry like that would be a good one, I think, just to highlight conventions in rock journalism and just how lazy people can be sometimes in their (entirely subjective) list-making.

Completely off the topic, of course, and as the Entry stands the title should be changed from the original. Just thought that'd be a cool idea for an Entry, that's all. Do we have any meta-journalism type pieces like that, by the way?

Matt

Agrees that the title is misleading, and opinion.

My personal opinion is that any album by radiohead is fit only for drinks coasters

Anyway, welcome to Peer Review

Few things -

1) We'ed prefer that entrys do not start with a header or sub-header

2) in the last section, a space is needed in TheHitch ....

3) is subterreraian homesick ..... a referance to the bob dylan track Subterrerian Homsick Blues from the Bringing it all back home album ?

What exactly is not entirely true, DrMatt? That the best album ever is 'The Grand Wazoo'? You're invited to prove me wrong . Who's Q Magazine? And who cares about what rock critics and audiences say? The majority of people out there would probably say Eminem is the greatest musician alive...

And then that "best album of *all time* in 1998". What's the "best album of *all time* of 1999" then? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?... Like that 'all american champion of the world' I saw somewhere (can't rmember if it was wrestling or dragster racing...)

That *would* be enough stuff for a separate Entry (or at least a post article), I agree.

BTW: I (also) agree with your opinion that Pepper is overrated. It was a great and influential album in its time, but looking at it from an 'all-time' perspective there were greater albums (even by the beatles, like the white album, revolver and abbey road).

The rest of the Entry was nice, right?

HELL

Guys, I hate to play a Nanny part, but can we try not to divert a PR thread by a newbie.

And, yes, Sgt Pepper wasn't very good at all.

B

I quite like Sgt. Pepper, prefer Revolver though. Anyway, I agree that the title needs changing, it was a temporary title that I forgot to change, strangely enough. A rewrite is needed methinks....
Also, I guess Subterranean Homesick Alien is a reference to the Dylan song, but I have no idea what the connection is. Subterranean Homesick Blues is indeed a grand song.

cool, let us know when you made some changes, cheers


as a quick note - Q magazine's readers a few years voted Bez as one of the greatest musicans of the 20th century. In that poll neither Micheal Jackson or Chuck Berry featured. This leads me to deride all Q magazine readers polls, and its readership in general as rather unenlighterned. Diverson over

Sorry, HELL, shoud have clarified that slightly. I was just saying that an Entry entitiled "OK Computer - greatest album ever?" would be ok and objective if it dealt with the furore over it appearing on the top of best album lists so soon after its release. Q magazine is a list-obsessed UK music magazine, by the way, and it does a "best albums of all time" every five years or so, or if its circulation figures are dropping, whichever comes first.

Matt

Given that a lot of people will write about their favorite albums, you having 'the best album ever ?' in your title is an invitation for everybody else

If we get a string of

Born to Run - the best album ever ?
Village Green Preservation Society - the best album ever ?
Automatic for the Peopel - the best album ever ?
Bringing it all back home - the best album ever ?
Pet Sounds - the best album ever ?
One Fierce Beercoaster - the best album ever ?

it kind of looses the point.

The entry is an encyclopedia entry, not a discussion,

Ok Computer - The Album is fair enough, but given that it is an objective view - "best album ever?" isn't a reasonable title