By the time OK Computer came out in 1997, it seemed the world was ready for Radiohead after the slow bleed of The Bends into people's mindsets. Without lots of publicity, it seemed everyone I knew had a copy of The Bends playing whenever we got together. So there was a great deal of anticipation for the new album which was preceded by their own "Bohemian Rhapsody" in Paranoid Android. The album that came after was exactly what it promised to be.., one of the best albums of the 90s. It was just a listening pleasure that was constantly in the CD player for probably the next 2 years. Paranoid was played at Lizard Lounge. No Surprises and Karma Police were played through headphones. It reminded me a lot of the way people used to listen to Dark Side of The Moon 20 years earlier.
Radiohead came to Festival Hall in February 1998 in Melbourne on the back of OK Computer. It was incredibly hot. Devastatingly hot. 5 guys in front of us took off their shirts and the body odour was horrendous. But it couldn't detract from the power on stage. (though it came close) After OK Computer (and the Bends) it was hard to give their newer albums the attention they probably deserve. (Although Kid A and Amnesiac which at the time were derided now seem to receive a lot more attention. Back then we fed those CDs into our computers removing the rubbish tracks to burn a single album. This would be done for a few of those big sets including Sandinista by The Clash)
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