Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/OK Computer

OK Computer

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add   to the top of the discussion and   at the bottom, then complete a new nomination underneath. To do this, see the instructions at TFAR nom/doc.

The result was: not scheduled by Jimfbleak - talk to me?  13:57, 29 April 2017 (UTC)



OK Computer is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released in 1997 on EMI subsidiaries Parlophone and Capitol Records. The band made a deliberate attempt to distance themselves from the guitar-oriented, lyrically introspective style of prior works like The Bends. OK Computer's abstract lyrics, densely layered sound and eclectic range of influences laid the groundwork for the more experimental style Radiohead adopted beginning with their next album, Kid A. Initially, record label executives feared the album would be difficult to market due to its progressive sound and apparent lack of hit singles. However, the album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and became the band's highest album entry on the American charts at the time, debuting at number 21 on the Billboard 200. Critics and fans have noted that the album's lyrics and music depict a world fraught with rampant consumerism, social alienation, emotional isolation and political malaise; in this capacity, it is often interpreted as having prescient insight into the mood of 21st-century life.
 * Most recent similar article(s): Agharta (November 4, 2016)
 * Main editors:
 * Promoted: October 10, 2012
 * Reasons for nomination: 20th anniversary of release
 * Support as nominator. Sunshineisles2 (talk) 21:29, 3 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Support as the primary contributor to the article, I'd quite like to see this on the main page for its "official" 20th anniversary (earliest global release date). I've made some minor rewording to the caption. For the image, I'd recommend the 2001 portrait of frontman Thom Yorke (the closest in time to this album's release of any available free images and, I think, evocative of this album's tone with its moody blue lighting). There's also a cropped version of the same image, but I think I prefer the full portrait which also gets the guitar in frame. Other proposals welcome! —BLZ · talk 20:23, 4 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Second thoughts on the image: One of the most famous unconventional elements of OK Computer is the use of old Macintosh text-to-speech software on "Fitter Happier" (and the background of "Paranoid Android"). Additionally, the word "computer" is right there in the title, and technological dread is the one of the central themes of the whole album. I can't be 100% sure which model of Macintosh computer Radiohead would have used, but I've included two images below. I like the look of the LC II or Mac II images, both of which have a keyboard and mouse and look more like "a generic old computer" than "a Mac" in particular. The Fred voice has been on any given Macintosh since 1984, so there is no need to get a precise model for it to be broadly accurate. Given that it's the 20th anniversary and likely to be a bit of a nostalgia trip for many readers, I like the idea of reminding folks, both old and young alike, what household computers actually looked like at that time two decades ago when these dour English blokes were darkly ruminating on the subject. Also offsets a minor concern of mine that while the 2001 Yorke portrait is pretty good, it's not quite accurate as a representation of "OK Computer-era Radiohead" (they'd released two subsequent albums by then) and would be fudging it a little bit. —BLZ · talk 20:57, 4 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Support. This is an excellent article, and May 21st is the perfect time to showcase it as TFA on its 20th anniversary. Moisejp (talk) 04:09, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Support but I'd like to see the date in the blurb so there are, erm, No Suprises. ;) HJ Mitchell  &#124; Penny for your thoughts?  07:08, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Comment As Jimfbleak let me know on my talk page, OK Computer will not be able to run on May 21. Here We Go Again (Ray Charles song) is set to run on May 20 for the 50th anniversary of its chart debut, a much more significant anniversary than OK Computers 20th, and we can't run music articles on back-to-back days. However, there is another window to catch OK Computers 20th: although May 21 is the date of the album's debut in Japan, the first global market that the album was released in, the album was not released in the band's home country the UK until June 16. I will renominate this TFAR in a few days, once June 16 is in the window of days that can get nominations.
 * Thank you all for your support so far! Especially Sunshineisles2 for catching the anniversary that I had marked down somewhere else and nominating this article. To Sunshineisles2, Moisejp, and HJ Mitchell, I will ping you all again when I reopen the nomination and I would certainly welcome your support a second time. —BLZ · talk 17:41, 24 April 2017 (UTC)


 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/June 16, 2017 by Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:34, 27 May 2017 (UTC)



OK Computer is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released in 1997 on EMI subsidiaries Parlophone and Capitol Records. The band made a deliberate attempt to distance themselves from the guitar-oriented, lyrically introspective style of prior works like The Bends. OK Computer's abstract lyrics, densely layered sound and eclectic range of influences laid the groundwork for the more experimental style Radiohead adopted beginning with their next album, Kid A. Initially, record label executives feared the album would be difficult to market due to its progressive sound and apparent lack of hit singles. However, the album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and became the band's highest album entry on the American charts at the time, debuting at number 21 on the Billboard 200. Critics and fans have noted that the album's lyrics and music depict a world fraught with rampant consumerism, social alienation, emotional isolation and political malaise; in this capacity, it is often interpreted as having prescient insight into the mood of 21st-century life.
 * Most recent similar article(s): All popular music recents from the last year (other than albums): Here We Go Again (Ray Charles song) (May 20), The Greencards (April 27), Courtney Love (April 2), Powderfinger (March 16), Mothers of the Disappeared (March 9), Viking metal (March 1), New wave of British heavy metal (January 27), No Me Queda Más (December 30), Under the Bridge (December 14), Angel of Death (Slayer song) (October 7), Diamonds (Rihanna song) (September 27)


 * All album recents from the last year: The Pale Emperor (January 15), Agharta (album) (November 14), The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman (August 14), Christ Illusion (August 8), Aaliyah (album) (July 8), Sons of Soul (June 22)
 * Main editors: Brandt Luke Zorn
 * Promoted: October 10, 2012
 * Reasons for nomination: June 16 will be the 20th anniversary of the release of OK Computer in Radiohead's home country, the United Kingdom.
 * Support as nominator. —BLZ · talk 21:19, 2 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Y'know, this really sucks, because I was hoping to present Fightstar to a communications class on the front page of Wikipedia before I graduate high school. Provided the FAC passes, it would be about a week before this is scheduled. It just makes me sad cause I think this would be too similar (as it's a music topic and all). I will not oppose for selfish reasons, however; so if this gets more supports talk to me again. This was an excellent album and is one I happen to own (I have Amnesiac too).  danny music editor  Speak up! 00:01, 6 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Support as prior nominator. --Sunshineisles2 (talk) 00:46, 14 May 2017 (UTC)