Tag Archives: ok computer oknotok 1997 2017

#1051: Radiohead – Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)

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A long, long time ago, wanna say 2009, I listened to parts 1 and 2 of Radiohead’s ‘Polyethylene’. The track itself is a B-side that was originally released on the ‘Paranoid Android’ single in 1997. But in 2009, it was made available again on the new “Collector’s Edition” of OK Computer. These editions, also made for Pablo Honey up to Hail to the Thief, were considered to be something of a cash-grab devised by the band’s former EMI label and have since been rubbished by the band and many fans too. I listened to the track that one time, so it was like virtually hearing the song for the first time when it was then released again on 20th OK Computer anniversary, OKNOTOK release that came around in 2017.

Like its A-side counterpart, ‘Polyethylene (Parts 1 and 2)’ is also formed by apparently taking two seemingly separate pieces of music and putting them together to make one whole thing. But in this case, ‘Polyethylene’ starts off as a quiet acoustic number before faking the listener out and turning into a energized and emphatic full-on band performance. For the first 40 seconds, Thom Yorke calms us with some sweet dulcet tones and a sole acoustic take. What he’s singing about here is debatable, the lyrics in this section aren’t too decipherable either. Nothing new when it comes to Yorke’s enunciation in certain songs. Yorke abruptly stops, and a descending electric guitar run opens up the second part of the track with the rest of the band falling in not too long after. That guitar line acts as the main riff for the remainder of the song, and after each repetition of it comes the huge impact of the electric guitars and crash cymbals coming in together. A huge release of energy every time.

Here, Yorke’s vocals are a lot more clearer, though the lyrics read off like a list of items and slogans that he may have observed and taken a note of, rather than displaying a narrative or having a coherent theme throughout. That doesn’t matter all that much though, ’cause there’s a ton of feeling in the delivery. Also, during the first few measures of the verses, Yorke is singing and playing the guitar in 3/4 while the drums continue in 4/4 to have this polyrhythmic effect going on. I want to believe that’s a nod to the Beatles’ ‘Happiness Is a Warm Gun’ which also utilises the same feature for a moment or two. It’s known that that song was an influence on ‘Paranoid Android’, so why not this one too? I’ve come to really like ‘Polyethylene’ over the years, probably more than songs that made it onto their respective albums. Why it didn’t make it onto OK Computer, only the band will know, but with its B-side status the track lies low in the shadows, which makes it all the more special for those who go on to discover it.

#1008: Radiohead – Palo Alto

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Well, would you look at that. It’s Radiohead, again. But for anyone out there who still couldn’t get their heads around why the band decided to make that drastic change in sound 23 years ago, today’s track should take you back to what I suppose you would label as the better times. ‘Palo Alto’ was initially released as a B-side on the ‘No Surprises’ single in the first few weeks of 1998. Sandwiched between the title track and fellow B-side ‘How I Made My Millions’, ‘Palo Alto’ works as the energetic pick-me-up to lighten the mood somewhat between the two sobering numbers. Though if you weren’t around at that time or simply too young to understand what was even going on, you’ll recognise it as being one of the numbers on the second disc of the OK Computer OKNOTOK reissue from 2017.

I came across it many years back through watching the Meeting People Is Easy documentary on YouTube. If you want to see a group of people feeling tired, irritable and jaded while promoting an album, that video is the one for you. There’s a section in there that showing Thom Yorke working on and generally vibing to ‘Palo Alto’ on a tour bus, but the full track plays over a montage of sped-up/reversed/slowed down footage of people on escalators and the band walking through Japan. It looks much better than how I’ve described, so I’d recommend you watch it. I’ll go ahead and embed that below, it’s the closest to an official music video you can get for it.

So as I alluded to earlier, this is the fat rocking number on the ‘No Surprises’ single to make the alleviate the sombre mood of the two other tracks. All’s quiet during the verses where Thom Yorke disconnectedly sings about living in the ‘city of the future’ where ‘everybody’s happy/made for life’, but then you get smacked in the face by a slamming wall of blasting guitars for the choruses. It’s a big freak out/cathartic moment for any of those people who have to get those twitchy moments out of their system. The track continues the ‘technology isn’t all it’s cracked up to be’ and personal detachment themes that OK Computer is known for and was actually lined up to be the album’s title track for a while until it underwent the name change. Unlike the tracks that made it on the final record, ‘Palo…’ is a little more on-the-nose with the subject, which is probably the only reason I could think of why it didn’t make it on there. But anyhow, it carries on the large legacy of great B-sides that Radiohead possess in their discography.

#741: Radiohead – Lift

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For a long time, ‘Lift’ by Radiohead was considered to be one of the best songs the band never released. In 1996 the band would perform it live, and it grew to be a very popular track among fans. Their take of it at Dutch festival Pinkpop that year seems to be the one where fans go ‘Yeah, that’s how the track should always be played.’ The group revisited it during a live route in 2002 when they were getting to ready to work on what became Hail to the Thief. It still never saw the light of day on any album of theirs.

That was, however, until 2017 when the band revealed that it would finally be officially released on the OK Computer 20th anniversary reissue alongside two other unreleased songs, ‘I Promise’ and ‘Man of War’ (also known as ‘Big Boots’ to many). Fans were shocked and stunned and, as you can see, very welcome to this announcement. If you care to know I felt at the time, I did feel that it was pretty cool that this was happening. It was always clear that the track was a very good song, and it was worked during the sessions for OK Computer. There probably would have been some kind of outrage if it hadn’t been included.

The big difference though is that the ‘Lift’ we got didn’t have the same energy and power that those live performances did. It was much more calmer, seemed a lot more resigned and sadder as a result. Still, I believe Thom Yorke – or at least another member of the band – said that this was the way the song should always have been played. Despite its restrained performance and almost raw mixing, it definitely still retains the anthemic quality that endeared it to so many Radiohead fans in the first place.

I lurk on the band’s subreddit, and I recall seeing a few fans who were still just a bit let down by the version that was released. So when 18 hours of the band’s sessions for OK Computer which included this other version of ‘Lift’ leaked onto the Internet last year….. well it was like a birthday and Christmas rolled into one.