Review Summary: Airbag/How Am I Driving?, Radiohead's collection of B-Sides from the OK Computer sessions, contains some very strong tracks and, surprisingly, holds its own weight as an album. How about that for "no surprises," huh?
When you’re a music artist, and when you’re with your band in the studio, you’re there to make music. And if you’re a good music artist, you should be trying to make good music, striving for nothing but perfection. And, if you’re a lucky enough music artist and reach perfection or net a devoted fan base, you’ll get rewarded for your efforts by winning some kind of award. Perhaps one of the most honorable music awards is, indeed, the Grammy. Radiohead had the privilege of receiving, in 1999, a nomination for Best Alternative Album for their
Airbag/How Am I Driving?. The thing is, it wasn’t an album. It was an EP of B-Sides: leftovers from their OK Computer sessions. You’ve got to be a damn good music artist to have a 25-minute collection of cut tracks nominated for a Grammy. Seriously.
What surprises me the most about this release is the fact that most of these tracks really
could have been fit into
OK Computer quite nicely.
Airbag/How Am I Driving? begins, fittingly, with “Airbag,” the only track from the EP that made the cut onto Radiohead’s landmark album. For those who haven’t heard “Airbag,” let me put it to you this way: from the distorted guitar into, to the rhythmic pounding of Phil’s drums, to the signature wailing of Thom’s voice, to the frantic ambient finale, the track is Radiohead at their most classic. The only change between this version and the one on
OK Computer is that the three computer beeps that lead into “Paranoid Android” are not present on the EP version.
A few seconds of distorted guitar feedback and a noise - which closely resembles a brush rubbing against a rough surface -composes the intro to the EP’s second track: “Pearly.” Now, I’ve always thought that this track should’ve been on
OK Computer for sure. The guitar parts stand out, as do Thom’s singing and lyrics. The end of the song sees Thom reaching the peak of his vocal ability with an excellent falsetto section over excellent drumming which leads into an excellent guitar contribution from Jonny Greenwood. “Pearly” sounds exactly like something you would expect Radiohead to put on a full-length release, which is why it surprises me that it ended up here.
The next two tracks aren’t nearly up to the standards of “Airbag” and “Pearly.” “Meeting in the Aisle” is an experimental instrumental track which hints at the direction Radiohead would take in their “intelligent techno” album,
Kid A. Eerie ambient noises drone over dissonant chimes and drum machines click away in a ominous fashion. Regardless, “Meeting in the Aisle” is a strong track for a B-Side instrumental, and, in my opinion, might be a stronger cut than “Treefingers,” which would later be released on
Kid A. “A Reminder” is a decent B-Side. Starting with a sample of a female voice speaking over an intercom, the song gives way to a gentle electric piano which sets the mood for a slow and moody song. Thom’s lyrics are a bit of a downer, in Radiohead fashion, but the words hold a lot of substance, especially when Thom croons: “If I get old, remind me of this / That night we kissed and I really meant it.” Interesting lyrics over a worthy B-Side.
“Polyethylene” is another track which might have been a decent contender for a spot on
OK Computer. While many regard this track to be the highlight of the EP, I disagree, but still find it to be a good Radiohead song. It’s a pretty straightforward rock track, beginning with Thom singing in the high reaches of his voice over a soft acoustic guitar, and turning into a full-fledged rocker, complete with some of the best post-The Bends riffs. Similarly to many of Radiohead’s tracks, the lyrics are cryptic and difficult to make clear sense of, but perhaps that is exactly what Radiohead intended, was the magic of lyrical ambiguity.
“Melatonin” is a sub-par track, leaning heavily upon usage of a continuous background synthesizer and sparse lyrics. Without a doubt, this is the worst track on the album, and I can’t see this really going anywhere. I certainly don’t approve of it.
The last track, “Palo Alto,” was supposedly originally entitled “OK Computer,” which would have made it
OK Computer’s title track. It’s another strong rocker, and ends the EP very well alongside a catchy chorus that usually gets stuck in my head.
It’s a shame that tracks like “Pearly,” “Polyethylene,” and “Palo Alto,” didn’t make it onto
OK Computer, but, in the long run, they made this EP a hell of a lot stronger, even to the point of being nominated for a Grammy.
Great job, Radiohead.
Recommended Tracks:
“Airbag”
“Pearly”
“Polyethylene”
“Palo Alto”
