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Benoit Lelièvre's Reviews > OK Computer
OK Computer
by
by
When you ask Radiohead fans what is the best book ever published about Radiohead, they all tell you the same thing: nothing good was ever published about Radiohead. I thought it was a display of the typical snobbery we tend associate this particular fanbase, but you can be snob and extremely right at the same time.
The cornerstone of good essay writing is a strong thesis. In layman's term: IT IS WHAT THE HELLL YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY, BRO. It's one thing to break apart a song and look for patterns in the music, but WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO FIND? It seems like Dai Griffith had no idea himself. The best way I can explain the thesis of this book goes as follows: OK Computer couldn't have been conceptualized on anything else but CD, because the songs are too long and therefore, they are a product of their era. OK, fine. But it literally describes most Radiohead albums. A Moon Shaped Pool (released in 2016) is 52:31. There's eleven songs and eight of them are between four and six minutes long. Therefore WHAT IS YOUR POINT AGAIN, BRO? BECAUSE I DON'T GET IT.
Also, this book kind of barely talks about OK Computer. It's mostly on how technology influences music composition. There's a profound lack of insight on what makes OK Computer an album worth listening to from an academic or a layman's perspective (and I've been both in my life). Dai Griffith ends with the very frustrating remark: "Individual tracks speak for themselves. To State the obvious, OK Computer is a diverse collection given greater unity by its context as an album". I kid you not. This is literally how the book ends. With insight that applies to literally every album ever recorded.
The lesson here is that not even college professors are above writing a pointless fiasco. Being poorly edited will do that to you. Here's another good one: "So the music is basically a succession of chords, and the chords in turn sit in one particular area of the spectrum of pitch: that played by guitar chords." What the hell are you trying to say here? That OK Computer is comprised of ROCK SONGS? Thank you, but I knew that before buying the freakin' book. Shame on you 33 1/3. This is bottom shelf music criticism.
The cornerstone of good essay writing is a strong thesis. In layman's term: IT IS WHAT THE HELLL YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY, BRO. It's one thing to break apart a song and look for patterns in the music, but WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO FIND? It seems like Dai Griffith had no idea himself. The best way I can explain the thesis of this book goes as follows: OK Computer couldn't have been conceptualized on anything else but CD, because the songs are too long and therefore, they are a product of their era. OK, fine. But it literally describes most Radiohead albums. A Moon Shaped Pool (released in 2016) is 52:31. There's eleven songs and eight of them are between four and six minutes long. Therefore WHAT IS YOUR POINT AGAIN, BRO? BECAUSE I DON'T GET IT.
Also, this book kind of barely talks about OK Computer. It's mostly on how technology influences music composition. There's a profound lack of insight on what makes OK Computer an album worth listening to from an academic or a layman's perspective (and I've been both in my life). Dai Griffith ends with the very frustrating remark: "Individual tracks speak for themselves. To State the obvious, OK Computer is a diverse collection given greater unity by its context as an album". I kid you not. This is literally how the book ends. With insight that applies to literally every album ever recorded.
The lesson here is that not even college professors are above writing a pointless fiasco. Being poorly edited will do that to you. Here's another good one: "So the music is basically a succession of chords, and the chords in turn sit in one particular area of the spectrum of pitch: that played by guitar chords." What the hell are you trying to say here? That OK Computer is comprised of ROCK SONGS? Thank you, but I knew that before buying the freakin' book. Shame on you 33 1/3. This is bottom shelf music criticism.
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Reading Progress
May 31, 2021
–
Started Reading
May 31, 2021
– Shelved
June 5, 2021
–
Finished Reading
