Radiohead: Welcome to the Machine: OK Computer and the Death of the Classic Album [Paperback]

Tim Footman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

BOOK. Full title: Welcome To The Machine: OK Computer And The Death Of The Classic Album. This book not only represents the most detailed and largest study yet published of what is often considered the last of the classic albums, but also stands up in its own right as the most in-depth analysis of Radiohead as a band yet available. Written by Tim Footman. Chrome Dreams 2008

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tim Footman is the author of several biographies on bands, including Blink 182: The Unauthorised Biography in Words and Pictures, Global Assassins: The Limp Bizkit Story in Words and Pictures, and Radiohead: A Visual Documentary. He is the former managing editor of the Guinness Book of World Records and has contributed pieces on music and pop culture to The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, The Guardian, and Time Out.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Chrome Dreams (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842403885
• ISBN-13: 978-1842403884
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,390,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just Superb, February 10, 2008

By 

Tommy Tandori (Reading England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Radiohead: Welcome to the Machine: OK Computer and the Death of the Classic Album (Paperback)

Although i've been a fan of RH for a number of years, I've never read any books about them - until this one. I found it to be a really excellent read and a very original concept. Working on two parallel themes - firstly, how the band emerged and by the time of their third album produced one of the finest records of all time [OKC regularly comes top in 'best album of all time' lists, although probably more often in Europe than in the USA}, taking in the band's influences [music, literature, films, politics etc]their uniqe brand of ambition, and the various input from the individual members. The seond theme regards the state of the music industry and the world at the time of release - 1997 - and the author makes a superb argument about OKC being the last, complete, classic 'album' - after this most decent records were simply a collection of tracks - often produced with the downloader, playlist or cherry picker in mind. Radiohead of course took a while to fully embrace this technology, but by 2007's 'In Rainbows' had emerged as the most savvy players on the planet in this regard.
Quite simply a fascinating read, that goes way beyond the often pedestrian and limited appeal of the average rock biog. My only reservation is that certain indiviadual arguments are skipped over a bit too quickly, without fully expanding on the theory - although this does open the debate for the comments of others - i wonder if a site exists where readers can add theior own arguments - this one could run and run......
Recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome read, September 28, 2008

By 

B. Kutzler "bk" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Radiohead: Welcome to the Machine: OK Computer and the Death of the Classic Album (Paperback)

From what I've heard, many biographies of Radiohead are a bit pointless, regardless of quality, because Radiohead's career is still far from over, so these books are by no means getting the full story. This book is different in that it focuses on a period of Radiohead's career, specifically the background of, creation of, content of, and aftermath of their 1997 classic "OK Computer". Although this book covers info as recent as "Hail to the Thief" in a chapter at the end about Radiohead's post-"OK Computer" career, "OK Computer" is the story here. And what an excellent job it does. There's a chapter detailing each song, the recording of the whole album, the sequencing of the album as a whole, the album artwork, the album's reception... The whole thing is extremely comprehensive and well-sourced. Highly recommended for fans.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, but no revelations present., February 25, 2010

By 

ROSEMARIE GORZE - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Radiohead: Welcome to the Machine: OK Computer and the Death of the Classic Album (Paperback)

In brief, the book is well written, but falls victim to the same problems that almost all media of this type fall to. The author speculates the majority of what he writes (and he is, to his credit, up front regarding this at the start of the book) because without direct artist reference via artist commentary, that is all he can do. The book attempts to tie in political, sociological and historical data from the time into the creation of the album, often making connections that, while fairly well thought out, are purely speculation and nothing more. Most artists, Radiohead included, obfuscate thier influences as much as possible. They want you to look in one direction, but the truth lies in another. This is common, as no one wants to look like a clone (btw -- I'm not in any way knocking Radiohead -- I truly think they create some of the most interesting music Ive heard in the last 30 years). This book also to some extent, over intellectualizes the music, but again, this is common dealing with Radiohead. In that way they are comparable to John Lennon, who while certainly a very intelligent man, often had things he wrote and said over-analyzed to such an extent that much more was made of them than he originally intended. Radiohead don't play this up as much as Lennon did, but it's there, no doubt. At the end of the day, it's an interesting read, but not to be taken too seriously.