On July 1, 1997, Radiohead’s third album, OK Computer, was released in the United States, after it dropped in the United Kingdom that May. Their U.K. record label, Parlophone, had been optimistic about the album, which differed from the band’s previous two albums. But their U.S. label, Capitol, was less enthusiastic.
According to drummer Philip Selway, the label saw OK Computer as “commercial suicide.” Speaking to the Ottawa Sun in a 1997 print interview, Selway added, “They weren’t really into it. At that point, we got the fear. How is this going to be received?”
Thom Yorke recalled that the label was “taken aback” when the record execs first listened to the album. They allegedly didn’t approve of the lack of marketable singles like “Creep”, which Radiohead had grown to hate anyway. But even bassist Colin Greenwood felt that OK Computer wasn’t going to be the band’s heavy hitter album.
“OK Computer isn’t the album we’re going to rule the world with,” Greenwood said in a 1997 print interview with Select magazine. This album was more experimental, less marketable. Which, as much as that cheapens the overall worth of making music in the first place, is important to record labels who are banking on a smash hit. Due to this uncertainty, Capitol lowered its revenue expectations from $2 million to half a million.
Radiohead Surprised Everyone With Overwhelming Success of ‘OK Computer’
During its marketing phase, Parlophone remained supportive of OK Computer. The album campaign involved ambitious full-page ads in popular British newspapers and tube stations, alongside unconventional merch and downloadable extras promoting the album.
Upon its release, OK Computer must have shocked the U.S. record label to its core. Not only did the fans immediately gravitate to it, but it earned high praise from global critics. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1998, winning Best Alternative Album of the Year. Additionally, it made many year-end best-of lists in music publications and still appears on best-of lists to this day.
But the success and praise also shocked Radiohead themselves. Greenwood said that, because he felt The Bends had been “under-reviewed possibly and under-received”, the praise for OK Computer was overblown. But really, people just liked what they were doing. Many called it art-rock, comparing it to work from prog-rock heavyweights like Pink Floyd. Yorke rejected this comparison, however, noting that the album was just the culmination of everything the band was listening to and inspired by at the time.
What impressed Yorke, though, was how closely the fans listened to those influences. “What really blew my head off was the fact that people got all the things,” he recalled in 2007. “All the textures and the sounds and the atmospheres we were trying to create.”
The post 29 Years Ago, This Band’s Third Album Was a Huge Success Despite Their US Label Calling It ‘Commercial Suicide’ appeared first on VICE.
