Radiohead is a band unlike any other. With the 20th anniversary of its 1997 triumphant “OK Computer” rapidly approaching, the album’s significance in pop culture is worth reflecting upon.

The Beatles revolutionized – haha – the concept album in 1967 with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” capitalizing on the period’s limited technology only allowing for records to be heard in full. This created a defining moment in music’s history, where albums were valued more so than individual tracks or even the artists behind them. As time progressed, however, albums could be heard on tapes, MP3s and CDs, making it easier to skip around and only listen to certain parts, leading to the end of the era of concept albums, and essentially the end of the era that valued whole albums at all. Music was still — and remains — great, but the way it is heard is ever-changing.

The appreciation and respect surrounding albums in full did not fade, though, proven by acclaimed albums like Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Siamese Dream.” But these were just showcases of bands that could create multiple great tracks for a single album. There was no fluidity within the album, necessarily. When Radiohead came out with “OK Computer” in 1997, it brought back the idea of the concept album.

While “OK Computer” made use of the lost art of the concept album, the subject matter was far ahead of its time. The internet was relatively new, and the air surrounding it was more exciting than anything. The more recent discourse surrounding the internet, with things like Netflix’s series “Black Mirror,” has become mostly negative and foreboding. This narrative is the entire foundation of “OK Computer,” which takes a rather pessimistic approach to the new and exciting technology of the time.

As it criticizes the culture of the evolving technology, it also makes use of it, creating strange sounds and using samples that weren’t really found in music too often, heightening the general uneasiness the album brings out in its listeners. This is balanced out with the more classic sounds of rock music: guitar hooks, heavy drums, complex bass lines, etc. By doing this, they simultaneously pay homage to the classic rock bands that pioneered the concept album, while also adding a futuristic spin.

The album is one-of-a-kind and strange, creating a sound never heard before — not even in Radiohead’s previous two albums —  but also easy and enjoyable to listen to. The key here, though, is that it is best heard in full, uninterrupted from start to finish and free from any individual smash hits while still finding incredible success.

Despite the pessimism and creepiness of the album that has almost become synonymous with Radiohead as a whole, “OK Computer” is by far the best of its era and the last of its kind. The main reason for this is there is nothing left to engineer — Radiohead did it all. Critically acclaimed rock albums of the 21st century so far, by artists like The Strokes and The Black Keys, have found success by drawing upon old sounds and styles of legendary artists before them.

This isn’t a negative thing by any means — it’s just that adding any sort of modern or futuristic spin on the general sound of rock music would inherently feel like a rip-off of “OK Computer.” That’s just how monumental and definitive it is.

And 20 years later, Radiohead remains.

Jenny Bourque is a freshman English and textual studies major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email her at jabourqu@syr.edu.

Published on March 28, 2017 at 8:11 pm