'Dead Inside and Lacking Compassion'

By every metric, OK Computer was a humongous success for Radiohead. So everything was in its right place for them to become the biggest band on the planet. Huge critical acclaim, emotionally resonant songs, arena-sized dynamics, unique frontman, mystique, ambition. They could have refined the OK Computer sound into something even more polished and universal and become absolutely enormous in a very conventional sense. Essentially, they could have become the next U2. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. U2 are a brilliant band with many fantastic songs and a handful of genuinely great albums. At the end of the day, somebody has to be the biggest band in the world. U2 wanted it, pursued it, and achieved it. And hats off to them. What quickly became clear with Radiohead was that they didn’t want that at all. And when it became a real possibility, they immediately set out to sabotage it. That’s what made Kid A such a remarkable record. It wasn’t just a “weird follow-up.” Instead, here is a band refusing the natural laws of rock stardom. Just as total acceptance was within touching distance, they disappeared further into themselves. There are no obvious singles here, no big accessible anthems. Yorke’s lyrics become even more fragmented, the vocals often buried in the mix. Aphex Twin, jazz, ambient music, krautrock, all of it gets pulled into the sound. Jittery, awkward textures that unsettle rather than invite. Another hit album? You wouldn’t have thought so. Yet somehow, Radiohead carried the audience with them. Normally, a move like this either destroys a band commercially or shrinks them into cult status. Instead, Kid A went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic. In hindsight, the alienation, technological anxiety, and abstraction of OK Computer almost feel like a prelude to this record’s deeper plunge into emotional and musical dislocation. The audience wanted to go further and further all along. On Radiohead’s terms. And that only strengthened the myth of Radiohead, because they are one of those mythical bands. The refusal of the obvious move became part of their identity. They genuinely seemed guided by artistic instinct rather than career logic. In doing so, Radiohead joined that small group of artists capable of pushing boundaries and challenging the listener without losing a mass audience. That’s extraordinarily rare.

Boycott