radiohead ok computer album download Radiohead - OK Computer album flac. Released May 21, 1997. OK Computer Tracklist. The result was 1997’s OK Computer, which was designed as a deliberate reaction against the grunge movement of the 1990s. Then new-ish engineer and future Radiohead mainstay Nigel Godrich told Rolling Stone of the recording sessions: They were the band of my dreams. There were no constraints. OK Computer OKNOTOK is a reissue of the 1997 album OK Computer by the English alternative rock band Radiohead. It was released in June 2017, the album's 20th anniversary, following the acquisition of Radiohead's back catalogue by XL Recordings from EMI in 2016. The album is remastered and includes B-sides released on OK Computer singles, plus three previously unreleased songs: "I Promise", "Man of War", and "Lift". OK Computer is the third album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in 1997. It reached on the UK Albums Chart and marked Radiohead's highest entry into the American market at the time, where it debuted at OK Computer expanded the band's worldwide popularity, becoming the last Radiohead album to have a delayed release outside of the United Kingdom. As of 2007, it has been certified triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. OK Computer included the singles "Paranoid Android", "Karma Police" and "No Surprises". OK Computer obviously wasn’t it. But there has always been a tantalizing alternate-history version of Radiohead’s third LP lurking behind the finished product. Their sessions weren’t exactly a deep-dive into hell, despite the record’s now-concrete reputation as a piece of digital-age prophecy. The most fun to be had with OKNOTOK is in these line-blurring moments, hearing how the lost material informs the original album. After The Bends, Radiohead were briefly lumped in with the other bands in the Britpop scene, an association they never relished. If Palo Alto had seen official release, it would have stamped them with the brand for life; with the lava-lamp psychedelia of its winding central guitar riff, it is very nearly a Kula Shaker song, and it also happens to be the song that gave OK Computer its name. OK Computer, though, is a complicated and difficult record: an album about the way machines dehumanize people that's almost entirely un- electronic; an album by a British "new wave of new wave" band that rejects speed and hooks in favor of languorous texture and morose details; a sad and humanist record whose central moment is Thom Yorke crooning "We hope that you. choke. Radiohead's third album got compared to Pink Floyd a lot when it came out, and its slow drama and conceptual sweep certainly put it in that category. OK Computer, though, is a complicated and difficult record: an album about the way machines dehumanize people that's almost entirely un-electronic; an album by a British "new wave of new wave" band that rejects speed and hooks in favor of languorous texture and morose details; a sad and humanist record whose central moment is Thom Yorke crooning "We hope that you. The members of Radiohead self-produced the album with Nigel Godrich, an arrangement they have used for their subsequent albums. Other than the song "Lucky", which was recorded in 1995, Radiohead recorded the album in Oxfordshire and Bath between 1996 and early 1997, mostly in the historic mansion St Catherine's Court. OK Computer. OK Computer is the third album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in 1997. It reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart and marked Radiohead's highest entry into the American market at the time, where it debuted at #21. OK Computer expanded the band's worldwide popularity, becoming the last Radiohead album to have a delayed release outside of the United Kingdom. As of 2007, it has been certified triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. OK Computer included the singles "Paranoid Android", "Karma Police" and "No Surprises". The album was recorded in rural Oxfordshire and Bath, England with Nigel Godrich, who would work with the band on all their future recordings. Although OK Computer was dominated by guitar, its expansive sound and wide range of influences set it apart from many of the Britpop and alternative rock bands popular at the time, laying the groundwork for Radiohead's later, more experimental work. The lyrics, by Thom Yorke, and the album's artwork by Yorke and frequent collaborator Stanley Donwood, emphasised themes such as consumerism, social disconnection, political stagnation and modern malaise, though the band denied they set out to make a concept album. Upon its release, OK Computer received almost unanimously positive reviews. Consensus among critics was that the album was a landmark of its time and would have far-reaching impact and importance. NME gave the album a ten out of ten score, and reviewer James Oldham wrote "Here are 12 tracks crammed with towering lyrical ambition and musical exploration; that refuse to retread the successful formulas of before and instead opt for innovation and surprise; and that vividly articulate both the dreams and anxieties of one man without ever considering sacrifice or surrender. In short, here is a landmark record of the 1990s, and one that deserves your attention more than any other released this year." Taylor Parkes of Melody Maker connected the album's release to the era's feeling of paranoia and alienation about millenarianism, and said "It's as pained and as slow-moving as the emotions that inspired it. … In one way or another, Radiohead have excelled themselves." Q awarded the album five out of five stars, with writer David Cavanagh stating that "the majority of OK Computer's 12 songs … takes place in a queer old landscape: unfamiliar and ominous, but also beautiful and unspoiled. … It's a huge, mysterious album for the head and soul." Nick Kent wrote in Mojo that "Others may end up selling more, but in 20 years time I'm betting OK Computer will be seen as the key record of 1997, the one to take rock forward instead of artfully revamping images and song-structures from an earlier era." In a four out of five stars review, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian wrote that the album "is surprising and sometimes inspiring but its intensity makes for a demanding listen." The album was also favourably received by critics in North America. Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars. Reviewer Mark Kemp wrote that the album is "a stunning art-rock tour de force … On OK Computer, Radiohead take the ideas they had begun toying with on The Bends into the stratosphere. … OK Computer is evidence that Radiohead are one rock band still willing to look the devil square in the eyes", but warned "OK Computer is not an easy listen." An Entertainment Weekly review by David Browne gave the album a B+, and wrote that "When the arrangements and lyrics meander or sprout pretensions, the album grows ponderous and soggy. For all of Radiohead's growing pains, though, their aim — to take British pop to a heavenly new level — is true." In an article for The New Yorker, writer Alex Ross praised OK Computer for its progressiveness, and contrasted Radiohead's risk-taking with the more musically conservative "dadrock" of their contemporaries Oasis. Ross wrote that "Throughout the album, contrasts of mood and style are extreme This band has pulled off one of the great art-pop balancing acts in the history of rock." Ryan Schreiber wrote, in a highly enthusiastic ten out of ten review in his online music magazine Pitchfork, that "Radiohead's third piece of incredible work, OK Computer, is not only their best yet, but one of the year's greatest releases. The record is brimming with genuine emotion, beautiful and complex imagery and music, and lyrics that are at once passive and fire-breathing." Despite OK Computer's widespread praise, it also received some criticism. Robert Christgau of the Village Voice granted OK Computer a B− but ranked it as the "Dud of the Month" in his consumer guide; Christgau commented that the album lacked "soul", calling it "arid" and "ridiculous" and comparing it unfavourably to Pink Floyd. Andy Gill wrote for The Independent in an otherwise positive review, "For all its ambition, OK Computer is not, finally, as impressive as The Bends, which covered much the same sort of emotional knots, but with better tunes. It is easy to be impressed by, but ultimately hard to love, an album that so luxuriates in its despondency". While a review in Time was largely positive, particularly praising the songs "Airbag", "Paranoid Android", and "Let Down", reviewer Christopher John Farley criticised the second half of the album. Farley stated, "While the first half-dozen tracks reward repeated listenings with melodies that grow and bloom with familiarity, there is often no structure to be found in the remaining half-dozen numbers." At the end of 1997, OK Computer appeared in many critics' lists and listener polls for best album of the year. OK Computer topped the year-end polls of the magazines Mojo, Vox, Entertainment Weekly, Hot Press, Muziekkrant OOR, HUMO, Eye Weekly, and Inpress, and tied for first place with Daft Punk's Homework in The Face. The album placed second in NME, Melody Maker, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, Spin and Uncut. Q and Les Inrockuptibles both listed OK Computer in their unranked year-end polls. OK Computer was a nominee for the 1997 Mercury Prize, a prestigious award recognizing the best British or Irish album of the year. The album was nominated in the Album of the Year and Best Alternative Music Performance categories at the 1998 Grammy Awards, ultimately winning the latter award. OK Computer first appeared in a "best of all time" list three months after its release, placing 16 in a chart based on submissions by customers of Virgin Megastores. This chart heavily favoured recent releases, which suggested that OK Computer's popularity was a passing fad. However, OK Computer has since appeared frequently in professional lists of greatest albums. In early 1998, OK Computer topped a Q reader's poll of the greatest albums of all time, and in 2001 Q placed it at number one in a list of the top 50 pop albums of the last 15 years. A number of publications, including NME, Melody Maker, Spin, Alternative Press, Pitchfork Media, and Time placed OK Computer prominently in lists of best albums of the 1990s or of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 162 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Additionally, retrospective reviews from The A.V. Club and Slant Magazine have received the album favourably; likewise, Rolling Stone gave the album five stars in the 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide, with critic Rob Sheffield saying "Radiohead was claiming the high ground abandoned by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, U2, R.E.M., everybody; and fans around the world loved them for trying too hard at a time when nobody else was even bothering." OK Computer was recorded in the lead up to the 1997 general election. It was thus seen by critics as encompassing public opinion through its "despairing-yet-hopeful tone" and themes of alienation. Yorke said his lyrics had been affected by reading a book about the two decades of Conservative government which were just coming to an end in 1997, as well as about factory farming and globalisation. However, in interviews Yorke expressed little hope things would change under the "New Labour" government of Tony Blair. With the approach of the year 2000, many people felt the tone of the album was millennial. Some critics have credited OK Computer with "killing" 1990s Britpop, as within a few years of its release, the dominant style of UK guitar pop had become slower and more melancholy. Many of the newer acts used similarly complex, atmospheric arrangements. The band Travis worked with Godrich to create the languid pop texture of The Man Who, which became the biggest selling album of 1999 in the UK. Others have credited Radiohead with beginning a mainstream revival of progressive rock and ambitious concept albums, though the band denied their affiliation with the genre. Radiohead described the prevalence of bands that "sound like us" as one reason to break with the style of OK Computer for their next album, Kid A. When asked by MTV interviewer Gideon Yago what the band thought of "bands like Travis, Coldplay, and Muse … making a career sounding exactly like Radiohead did in 1997", Yorke replied "Good luck with 'Kid A'!". Several rock bands which later became popular, ranging from Coldplay and Bloc Party to TV on the Radio, have said they were formatively influenced by OK Computer—TV on the Radio's debut album, for instance, was titled OK Calculator. Additionally, the album's popularity paved the way for British alternative rock bands such as Muse, Snow Patrol, and Keane. Classical and jazz musicians such as Christopher O'Riley and Brad Mehldau have performed material from OK Computer, and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen said "When I heard 'OK Computer,' after five minutes I said, 'I actually get this. I understand what these people are trying to do.' And what they were trying was not so drastically different from what I was trying to do." Radiodread is a song for song cover of the album in a Reggae style. OK Computer has received great acclaim from the public and critics. It is often cited as Radiohead's best work and as a landmark album of its time. In 1998, it was nominated for a Grammy Award as Album of the Year, and won for Best Alternative Music Album. Radiohead Ok Computer Wallpaper 140457 - Radiohead Ok Computer Album Cover. Radiohead Ok Computer Wallpaper 140457 - Radiohead Ok Computer Album Cover is a 1920x1080 HD wallpaper picture for your desktop, tablet or smartphone. All of wallpapers are hand-picked by our team and registered member and are free to download. It is very popular to decorate the background of Mac, Windows, Desktop or Android device beautifully. null. In principle, we do not recommend it for commercial projects. If you have copyright issues, please contact us. OK Computer. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs. Buy the album Starting at $11.99. Copy the following link to share it. You are currently listening to samples. Listen to over 70 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan. Listen to this album and more than 70 million songs with your unlimited streaming plans. 1 month free, then $14.99/ month. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Colin Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed O'Brien, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Selway, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Thom Yorke, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - RADIOHEAD, MainArtist - Jonny Greenwood, Composer, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - NIGEL GODRICH, Producer, AssociatedPerformer. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. About the album. 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s) Total length: 00:53:42. 1997 XL Recordings Ltd 1997 XL Recordings Ltd. Why buy on Qobuz. Stream or download your music. Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions. Zero DRM. The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like. Choose the format best suited for you. Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF. ) depending on your needs. Listen to your purchases on our apps. Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go. Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. Chopin : Piano Concertos. OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017. A Moon Shaped Pool. Playlists. Back the Way We Came: Vol. 1 (2011 - 2021) Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Idiot Prayer - Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace. “If punk was about getting rid of hippies, then I'm getting rid of grunge.” It was with this sentence from Damon Albarn in 1993 that England invaded the stage previously dominated by Nirvana and Seattle grunge. Britpop is deeply linked to politics and local identity and emerged just as Tony Blair and New Labour were entering the scene. English romanticism was once again becoming attractive compared to the American identity, which was considered too hollow in the UK. Make way for “Cool Britannia”. In the twilight of the ’70s, as the shrapnel of the punk explosion was still settling, the movement was already inspiring new groups. As New Wave unfurled, the post-punk movement represented a tortured, even radical turn. From pioneers Joy Division and The Fall to current bands Shame and Fontaines D.C., here’s a close-up on the landmark albums that electrified the entire music world and continue to fascinate the rock’n’roll underground. From the White Stripes to his time in the solo wilderness, Jack White has been foretelling the doom of a clapped-out rock'n'roll. The genius with a thousand projects has a new prophecy: rock is coming back. While we await its return, here's a look back at the White phenomenon. Ok computer: Why the record industry is terrified of Radiohead's new album. Radiohead are the latest – and greatest – band to shun the conventional CD release. Their new album is available online – and you don't have to pay for it. Article bookmarked. Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Ever since a cadre of politicised hippies tore down the fence at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, the more anarchically inclined of rock fans have demanded that "music be free", contending that pop's position under the entertainment industry umbrella fatally compromises its aesthetic and political freedom. Now, as Radiohead offer their album In Rainbows to the world potentially for as little as a penny apiece, that revolutionary ambition is upon us. Ironically, it has been triggered not by penniless hippies in some inner-city squat, nor by indie-label firebrands, but by one of the biggest bands in the world, whose rise occurred under the stewardship of EMI, the UK's bastion of corporate entertainment for over three-quarters of a century. And piling irony upon irony, far from having their aesthetic and political freedom compromised by the relationship, Radiohead have actually grown more artistically adventurous with each successive album, and remain one of the industry's most politically engaged acts. Under the new set-up, fans will be offered the chance to buy the band's album for whatever they deem appropriate. Most will pay between £1 and £5, which seems reasonable. Those desperate for a more physical artefact are offered a high-quality vinyl double-album package with lavish artwork and an extra CD of otherwise unavailable tracks, for £40 – and even at that price, the band will sell shedloads. The CD version of the downloads, it's reported, will creep out sometime next year. The move has been widely viewed as the inevitable corollary of the rise of digital downloading, which in less than a decade has all but demolished the old retail sector. It's shocking to consider that Napster, the website that established the notion of free access to music via file-sharing, was only started in 1999; but by 2001, it had a worldwide user base of more than 26 million fans, all looting whatever music they could find. The mainstream industry, unable or unwilling to see beyond the hardware forms – vinyl, CD, cassette – that were the backbone of their business, was blind-sided by the file-sharing boom, and instead of seeking some form of accommodation with downloaders, initially reacted by trying to criminalise them: acts such as Metallica and Dr Dre instigated legal action against Napster in 2000, and the following year A&M Records sought an injunction preventing its copyrighted recordings from being offered via the website. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) began sueing individual alleged file-sharers, an aggressive policy that backfired somewhat when the organisation appeared to be bullying victims including a 12-year-old girl, a 66-year-old woman allegedly downloading gangsta-rap, and, in 2005, a woman who had died the previous year, aged 83. To date, they have instigated over 20,000 cases. But not everyone believed Napster was entirely damaging to a record's sales potential. Some felt the opposite was true in many cases – that the exposure afforded by file-sharing could stimulate sales. This was proven in 2000 when tracks from Radiohead's Kid A appeared on Napster three months before the album's official release. An unflinchingly experimental album, significantly different in style from OK Computer and featuring no obvious singles, it was a challenging work, yet despite the millions of free downloads, it still became the band's first American chart-topper. Previously, their best placing had been the lowly 21 achieved by OK Computer. Clearly, Napster had not harmed its prospects, and it could be be argued to have provided invaluable promotional assistance. The industry came to realise that the larger war was lost and started developing relationships with "legal" download services such as Apple's iTunes, belatedly tapping into the revenue stream facilitated by the popularity of the iPod. The effect on retailers, however, has been catastrophic. The big chains, such as Virgin, struck deals allowing them to sell CDs at a more competitive price, but the smaller-volume operators – the independent shops that sustained the indie fringe – have been unable to compete and are disappearing. Record labels, meanwhile, are struggling to find a new role within the industry, with many forced into the current, seemingly endless, round of mergers. Radiohead are not the only act to embark on this strategy – their announcement was followed by a similar offer from Alan McGee on behalf of The Charlatans' next album – but they are the biggest. In recent years, however, their sales have declined; after Kid A, the Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief albums could only manage gold certification in America, which has led some to speculate that the new strategy may be a means for the band to compensate for declining popularity by keeping a larger proportion – indeed, 100 per cent – of sales revenue, rather than the small share previously offered by Parlophone. The band, originally called On A Friday, signed a six-album deal with Parlophone in 1991 after a chance meeting between the label's Keith Wozencroft and guitarist Jonny Greenwood in the Oxford record shop where the latter worked. They changed their name to Radiohead (after a track on Talking Heads' True Stories) and began recording their debut album Pablo Honey. Their first single, "Creep", a V C double-edged exercise in ironic self-deprecation, reflected the band's admiration of the Pixies, but was poorly received on its first release; Radio 1 considered it "too depressing" to play. But the song built a following in America, where its smouldering dynamic and cathartic chorus slotted neatly into the prevailing grunge aesthetic. It remains their biggest hit, and helped hoist Pablo Honey to a respectable chart position, just outside the Top 30. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. But as their American promotional tour stretched into its second year, the band grew bored with playing the songs they had written years before and almost broke up. Keen to distance themselves from "Creep", their follow-up album The Bends featured the kind of artistic volte-face that sends chills down label bosses' spines, with the band re-establishing themselves as an arena-rock outfit with the ability to inject powerful emotional content into complex musical structures. "When The Bends came out," drummer Phil Selway later said, "everyone went on about how uncommercial it was. Twelve months later, it was hailed as a pop classic. The record company were worried there wasn't a single on it, and we ended up with five Top 30 hits from it." The Bends might have scared their label, but its unprecedented blend of melodic prog-rock and soul would serve as the template for an generation of lesser talents, most notably Coldplay. Their stature was also rising among their peers, with REM's Michael Stipe – whose idealism and idiosyncratic appearance made him an obvious role model for singer Thom Yorke – admitting that he was scared by how good they were. "Thom Yorke, with 'My Iron Lung', that's just an amazing metaphor to put into a song," Stipe gushed to me in 2001. "Stuff like that just makes me want to work harder and write another song that's as good as that." The reception accorded OK Computer in 1997 suggested that Stipe's admiration was shared by millions, as this complex work became their most popular album. Yorke admitted he was surprised at the reception, saying: "What really blew my head off was the fact that people got all the things, all the textures and the sounds and the atmospheres we were trying to create." The subsequent world tour was filmed for a fly-on-the-wall documentary, Meeting People is Easy, a film that revealed the band's growing distaste for the music business as they laboured through a gruelling year of concerts. In the year after the tour's conclusion, their only public appearances would be at a couple of benefit concerts for Amnesty International and the Tibetan Freedom Movement, indications of the growing political engagement of Yorke. Since then, Yorke has used his rock-star profile to bring Good Causes to his fans' attention, advising them to read books such as Naomi Klein's anti-corporate tract No Logo and Alastair McIntosh's Soil and Soul: People Versus Corporate Power, an account of the author's campaigns to prevent industrial despoliation of Scotland's Western Isles. More recently, the singer has bitten the bullet avoided by most stadium-rockers, and criticised the "ridiculous" amount of energy needed to fuel large-scale concert events – even threatening to cease touring the more far-flung destinations unless steps were taken to reduce carbon emissions. After OK Computer, Radiohead came close to splitting up. Yorke suffered severe depression, which led to writer's block, and the members' different ideas as to their future direction seemed to presage solo careers. But again they reinvented themselves, turning from guitar-based rock and creating music heavily influenced by jazz, electronics and the avant-garde. The sessions furnished two of the most unusual albums ever to top the album charts, 2000's Kid A and, a year later, Amnesiac. Sales were understandably lower than those of OK Computer, but the return of their familiar, crowd-pleasing guitar-rock style alongside the more recent electronic passages and experimental developments on 2003's Hail to the Thief restored a certain equilibrium to their progress. Hail to the Thief was the final album delivered under Radiohead's original Parlophone contract, and more cynical observers saw its restoration of relative sonic normalcy as an attempt to bolster the band's commercial appeal to suitors, which for a gold-chip act like Radiohead would include virtually every major label. But as the years passed, no deal was done. The band was clearly in no hurry to get into bed with the corporate world again, as Yorke and Greenwood took time out to make solo albums. Then, suddenly, the announcement that In Rainbows would be sold directly by the band, cutting out the various middlemen and the cosy industry practices weighted so heavily in the labels' favour. And one can only imagine the trauma wrought in record-label boardrooms by their decision to charge whatever purchasers deemed appropriate. Radiohead's decision is only the latest, if the most damaging, nail in the coffin of the mainstream music business. Not that the labels' clients will be wasting their tears; for decades, artists have complained about the inequity of contracts, with their inbuilt skimming of 10 per cent to cover "returns" of damaged copies (even on supposedly indestructible CDs), and the way that instead of receiving the same percentage of revenue from the higher-priced CD as from vinyl, artists were routinely offered the same sum. And for decades, all but the most powerful artists were unable to do anything about it. At the other end of the scale, naive young bands who accepted huge advances would discover, when they were less successful than expected, that they were heavily in debt to their label and prevented from releasing material elsewhere until it was paid off. A spendthrift, short-term culture prevailed at many labels, in which vast sums were expended promoting singles acts who would never recoup it in album sales, while longer-term prospects were deprived of the support that might help their careers blossom. Back in the Sixties, even a lower- division journeyman rock band like Budgie got to make a handful of albums before they were dumped; by the Nineties, successful indie acts with hit singles were being cut adrift prematurely, often because label bosses were "slimming down" the artist roster to just a few stars and steady sellers to make their company more attractive to potential purchasers. It was a climate that bred waves of artist disaffection. When the likes of Prince and George Michael declared themselves little more than "slaves", the general reaction was one of incredulity; but if stars of that magnitude felt hard done by, just imagine how demoralised and crushed the ranks of lesser earners must have felt. And when artists such as Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and most recently Joni Mitchell would rather do business with a company like Starbucks than with the established labels, something is drastically rotten in the state of Denmark Street. Digital downloading has turned the entire industry on its head. Facing sharp falls in album sales, established acts have re-thought their approach. Until recently, a band would tour primarily to encourage sales of their album. Now, the Stones, for instance, make vastly more money out of concert tickets and merchandising than from record sales. For Prince, it's well worth giving away his new album to promote his profitable run of shows at the O2 Centre. But Radiohead's decision to, in effect, give away their album hoists the whole issue on to a much higher level, prompting a slew of thus-far- unanswerable questions. Such as: won't fans expect to get all music for free, even that made by penniless acts? How does a small act establish and develop itself, without sales income or label assistance? Indeed, why bother making records at all, when the promotional effect on club gigs results in such low returns? What happens to the staff laid off when record shops close? And doesn't this simply establish a new class division, between those who are able to own and operate computers and those who are denied access – how do they get to enjoy In Rainbows? I've no idea but, for the moment at least, the pay-what-you-like strategy affords punters the opportunity to make sharp critical assessments where they really hurt: right there in the musicians' pockets. So: shrewd or stupid? You be the judge. 'In Rainbows' is available on 10 October on www.radiohead.com. Join our new commenting forum. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies.