"Blue Lines" Vs. "OK Computer"

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Maybe the 2 best british LPs of the 90s. I choose Blue Lines because OK Computer has only one great song ("Lucky") and "Paranoid Android is, let's face it, awful.

― Regular John (Regular John), Sunday, 19 February 2006 00:24 (twenty years ago)

what is blue lines?

― rizzx (Rizz), Sunday, 19 February 2006 00:27 (twenty years ago)

First Massive Attack LP.

― Regular John (Regular John), Sunday, 19 February 2006 00:29 (twenty years ago)

both sucks.
the computer is pretentious and taking it self too seriously
and the massive attack is just boring,so it wins i guess.

― maybe the times, Sunday, 19 February 2006 00:39 (twenty years ago)

but what are blue lines, where can one find such lines?

― rizzx (Rizz), Sunday, 19 February 2006 00:46 (twenty years ago)

(History Lesson)
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, actually. The album was written/released around the time of the conflict in Iraq and the title is kind of a commentary -- the borders of Iraq were pretty much drawn by the British during occupation after the first World War. There's always been contention that the lines were drawn to the advantage of oil companies and business as opposed to actual social and ethnic group geography.

I like both Blue Lines and OK Computer, I think this is usually where I say something about them not being comparable then go on to make an extended comparison...

― mike h. (mike h.), Sunday, 19 February 2006 00:53 (twenty years ago)

thanks, can i swing by tonight then?

― rizzx (Rizz), Sunday, 19 February 2006 00:57 (twenty years ago)

Despite my undying alleigance to that which rocks, I'd go with Blue Lines EVERY. DAMN. TIME.. Why? Because it's music for adults.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 19 February 2006 01:43 (twenty years ago)

By far OK Computer, for God's sake there's no comparison to me. Blue Lines is great (I prefer Mezzanine to it), but definitely OK Computer. It's phenomenal, every song on it is just incredible and Paranoid Android is wonderful. And Karma Police, can you fucking say, Best. Video. Ever? God, I love that album..Totally deserves all the praise.

― Harrison Barr (Petar), Sunday, 19 February 2006 02:41 (twenty years ago)

OK Computer easily.

― Freud Junior (Freud Junior), Sunday, 19 February 2006 03:30 (twenty years ago)

Good thread topic.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Sunday, 19 February 2006 04:08 (twenty years ago)

For me to poop on.

― blunt (blunt), Sunday, 19 February 2006 04:26 (twenty years ago)

ok computer

― Christopher Costello (CGC), Sunday, 19 February 2006 04:28 (twenty years ago)

"The Tourist" alone has aged better that anything off of either record, so OKC wins.

― Simon H. (Simon H.), Sunday, 19 February 2006 05:07 (twenty years ago)

There's always been contention that the lines were drawn to the advantage of oil companies and business as opposed to actual social and ethnic group geography.

That explains the flammable gas logo on the album cover, then.

I think OK Computer is one of the greatest albums ever made, so I choose that.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Sunday, 19 February 2006 05:31 (twenty years ago)

Maybe the 2 best british LPs of the 90s... OK Computer has only one great song

Doesn't say much for British LPs of the 90s, then!

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Sunday, 19 February 2006 05:32 (twenty years ago)

Seriously, Regular John clearly doesn't think much of OK Computer. And Alex in NYC, OK Computer is what? Kids music? BAH.

― Jouster (Jouster), Sunday, 19 February 2006 05:43 (twenty years ago)

gotta love all the Radiohead haters...
comeon OK Computer changed music, Blue Lines is good, but doesn't nearly have the impact of OK Computer

― J. Lamphere (WatchMeJumpStart), Sunday, 19 February 2006 05:46 (twenty years ago)

I choose Blue Lines because OK Computer has only one great song ("Lucky") and "Paranoid Android is, let's face it, awful.

How is this a reason to choose Blue Lines?

― erklie (erklie), Sunday, 19 February 2006 05:59 (twenty years ago)

Answer: An awful reason!

― erklie (erklie), Sunday, 19 February 2006 06:01 (twenty years ago)

I'm going to go with Blue Lines here. But then I think that's because OK Computer has become a bit of a period piece in my eyes...something of its time. Whereas Blue Lines is a bit more timeless I think.

― And you best believe Daft Punk is playing in my house (Bimble...), Sunday, 19 February 2006 06:58 (twenty years ago)

But no, Paranoid Android is NOT awful.

― And you best believe Daft Punk is playing in my house (Bimble...), Sunday, 19 February 2006 06:58 (twenty years ago)

Especially when you're hearing it live as they're playing it in a gigantic outside amphitheater in the middle of the summertime and the mountains are all you can see for miles

― And you best believe Daft Punk is playing in my house (Bimble...), Sunday, 19 February 2006 07:03 (twenty years ago)

Although I guess "outside amphitheater" is redundant.

― And you best believe Daft Punk is playing in my house (Bimble...), Sunday, 19 February 2006 07:03 (twenty years ago)

Paranoid Android is an incredible song I think. I mean, it weirded me out completley when I first heard it (OK Computer has the dubious distinction of being the first album I ever downloaded via BitTorrent). It was an amazing song though, and that video, holy shit..

― Harrison Barr (Petar), Sunday, 19 February 2006 07:40 (twenty years ago)

'ten' vs. 'daily operation'

― gear (gear), Sunday, 19 February 2006 08:42 (twenty years ago)

'temple of the dog' vs. 'same as it ever was'

― gear (gear), Sunday, 19 February 2006 08:44 (twenty years ago)

'kerosene hat' vs. '12 inches of snow'

― gear (gear), Sunday, 19 February 2006 08:48 (twenty years ago)

"OK Computer". I Like "Blue Lines" too, but there is no way that any trip hop album will ever come close to the greatness of one of the best albums ever made.

And, no, "OK Computer" doesn't have only one track. It has a couple of average ones ("Electioneering" and "Climbing Up The Walls", while the rest are all absolutely classic.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 19 February 2006 09:28 (twenty years ago)

Blue Lines is coffee table music.

― JimD (JimD), Sunday, 19 February 2006 10:46 (twenty years ago)

Radiohead

― BeeOK (boo radley), Sunday, 19 February 2006 10:59 (twenty years ago)

yuck versus yuck. i pick massive attack though, b/c radiohead makes me want to shoot myself while massive attack makes me want to shoot other people.

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Sunday, 19 February 2006 11:16 (twenty years ago)

Blue Lines is one of the most overrated albums of all time in my opinion, the production on it is bland as hell.

I've never been able to understand why it's held in such high regard.

― jacderida (jacderida), Sunday, 19 February 2006 12:37 (twenty years ago)

The actual album doesn't quite compare to the hype, by which I mean the last two-thirds always seems to put me to sleep. But I probably listen to it a little more than Blue Lines, and for the sake of not knee-jerkingly choosingly the non-indie option here OK Computer wins, but there's not a lot in it, and they're both actually slightly lesser than the sum of their parts, albeit whilst still preserving a definite moment/mood in time that makes it not difficult to see why they were acclaimed.

Both acts could do with some new tricks at this stage in their career frankly. Radiohead haven't quite jumped the shark yet, but they're going to hit the ramp very soon unless they're careful.

― worst iPod case scenario (fandango), Sunday, 19 February 2006 12:45 (twenty years ago)

Because it's music for adults

OMG most crappy argumentation ever

― rizzx (Rizz), Sunday, 19 February 2006 13:03 (twenty years ago)

Blue Lines was one of the first albums I ever ordered online, if only because I couldn't
find it in the one record store within 45 minutes of our home.

It still stands as one of the worst music disappointments of my life, when comparing the hype vs. my feelings about the actual music. I turned off the lights, put on the headphones, and was prepared to be blown away, and ended up with the definition of "dated".

― Zach S, Sunday, 19 February 2006 13:04 (twenty years ago)

When I last did a list of my top 10,000 favourite albums* nothing by Radiohead was even a contender for the 'short'list. Blue Lines ended up at #2. For me this is approximately like being asked 'Best rap act ever: Wu-Tang Clan or Morris Minor & The Majors?'

*yes okay I am making this up but it would be true if it happened, i.e. were I totally insane and with endless time on my hands

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 19 February 2006 13:26 (twenty years ago)

"Protection" is way better than "Blue Lines".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 19 February 2006 14:42 (twenty years ago)

Because it's music for adults
OMG most crappy argumentation ever

-- rizzx (joris...), February 19th, 2006. (later)

...in your putzy opinion.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 19 February 2006 15:49 (twenty years ago)

I remember having introduced two female friends in college to Blue Lines after having turned them on to Maxinquaye a week or two earlier -- at the time, the latter record sounded like the future of music. Both were decidedly not into Blue Lines much.

I can't say that I listen to it much myself anymore -- despite some great grooves, it always felt kind of house-y in a bad way.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Sunday, 19 February 2006 15:54 (twenty years ago)

Pure Phase pisses all over these two albums.

― Lovelace (Lovelace), Sunday, 19 February 2006 16:01 (twenty years ago)

Blue Lines is definitely music for adults. haha.

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 19 February 2006 16:21 (twenty years ago)

music for adults makes me think 'nic harcourt'. "we just played the kruder and dorfmeister remix of zero 7's cover of thievery corporation's 'lebanese blonde'. and now here's the latest track from kinky."

― gear (gear), Sunday, 19 February 2006 17:00 (twenty years ago)

"OMG! the kids are in bed, break out the Massive Attack!!!!

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 19 February 2006 17:04 (twenty years ago)

that's it, "music for adults" makes me think of those ads for Ferrero Rocher or gourmet ice cream or something.

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 19 February 2006 17:05 (twenty years ago)

Maxinquaye

now this, would have been competition. but it's not

― Rizz (Rizz), Sunday, 19 February 2006 17:20 (twenty years ago)

"Music for adults" makes me think of "Fabio after dark". Oh, and OK Computer.

― jimnaseum (jimnaseum), Sunday, 19 February 2006 17:22 (twenty years ago)

Despite my undying alleigance to that which rocks, I'd go with Blue Lines EVERY. DAMN. TIME.. Why? Because it's music for adults.

Guess I should clarify this (especially given the fact that much of the music I adore is very decidedly not for "adults"). I like OK Computer, and there are some great tracks therein (though I'd still pick The Bends over it), but it's simply a whole different animal than Blue Lines. I just don't find myself going back to OK Computer that often, whereas I think Blue Lines is perfectly timeless. Maybe I just don't give enough of a damn about what Thom Yorke has to say to still be paying attention to it. I mean, better Radiohead than a lot of other artists, but still. I'm just bored by it, I guess. To each their own, though....

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 19 February 2006 19:44 (twenty years ago)

I find both of these records to be very boring, and both are major point of contention between me and my various Anglophilic friends. But I will take Blue Lines over OK Computer, as I really don't understand the appeal of Radiohead at all.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Sunday, 19 February 2006 19:46 (twenty years ago)

Well I just went out walking in the gorgeous sunshine with Blue Lines on my discman. Sometimes, just for short moments, life is a beautiful thing.

― All the robots descend from the bus there's a freakout brewing in my house (Bimb, Sunday, 19 February 2006 21:26 (twenty years ago)

Alex in NYC, just wondering... Since when does listening to/enjoying music have much to do with fully engaging with what an artist has to "say"?

― Turangalila (Salvador), Sunday, 19 February 2006 21:44 (twenty years ago)

It varies from case to case and from person to person, I'd imagine. I can listen to lots of music and not particularly care about the message being put forth. But it just strikes me in the case of Ok Computer (which, once again for the record, I like -- just not as much The Bends and in nowhere near the same capacity that I like Blue Lines by Massive Attack), that it's so wrapped up in Thom Yorke's vision of dystopia that I find the message inseverable from the music (as Yorke would probably prefer it).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 19 February 2006 21:53 (twenty years ago)

Weird, I don't find that that interpretation of OK Computer is particularly obvious. I wouldn't have much of an inkling if it weren't for the lyrics booklet. Especially considering that Thom doesn't even clearly enunciate his already opaque lyrics.

― Turangalila (Salvador), Sunday, 19 February 2006 22:35 (twenty years ago)

comeon OK Computer changed music, Blue Lines is good, but doesn't nearly have the impact of OK Computer

This is one of the dumbest statements I've read on here for a long time and the average IQ of this board has dropped by about 300 points since 2003.

― Dan (Idiots) Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 19 February 2006 23:20 (twenty years ago)

it's so wrapped up in Thom Yorke's vision of dystopia that I find the message inseverable from the music

I think Alex is right about this, but for me that's what makes it great. Usually I completely ignore lyrics or meanings or themes, and just hear music as music. But with OK Computer I couldn't, it was all THERE, and that's a big part of what I loved it.

― JimD (JimD), Monday, 20 February 2006 00:12 (twenty years ago)

(what I loved about it)
(or why I loved it)
(take your pick)

― JimD (JimD), Monday, 20 February 2006 00:12 (twenty years ago)

what's great about these albums is that they're still vastly underrated

― gear (gear), Monday, 20 February 2006 00:14 (twenty years ago)

This is one of the dumbest statements I've read on here for a long time and the average IQ of this board has dropped by about 300 points since 2003.

And yet is still considerably higher than most boards.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Monday, 20 February 2006 00:23 (twenty years ago)

mike h., do you think borders should be drawn according to "social and ethnic group geography"?

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Monday, 20 February 2006 10:36 (twenty years ago)

anyway i think they're both great and very similar albums.

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Monday, 20 February 2006 10:38 (twenty years ago)

They're both very good but I could never love either of them.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 20 February 2006 10:40 (twenty years ago)

Wouldn't an OK/ Mezzanine comparison better as those two album came out cloeser together and were the third album of each group?

― cracktivity1 (cracktivity1), Monday, 20 February 2006 10:47 (twenty years ago)

I think this was a better thread:

Radiohead versus Snap.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 20 February 2006 10:50 (twenty years ago)

it would be a bit of a no-brainer in favour of ver 'head, tho.

xpost

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Monday, 20 February 2006 10:51 (twenty years ago)

This is one of the dumbest statements I've read on here for a long time and the average IQ of this board has dropped by about 300 points since 2003.

While I do agree that considering Massive Attack uninfluential is a bit misguided to say the least, it must be said that, in retrospect, they seemed considerably more influential in 1995 than they are today.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:15 (twenty years ago)

I don't really have any solid opinions on nation building, but after listening last night I'm going to have to say I like Blue Lines better.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:26 (twenty years ago)

I don't like either of these albums enough to understand why they are so loved, but I'm the opposite of Alex in NYC - I would have expected to prefer Blue Lines of these two but I don't. Unfinished Sympathy is the only track I really like on that record (although to be fair I think it is very wonderful indeed). OK Computer has more filler than you'd expect from its reputation but I do like around half of it, so it wins pretty easily.

― frankiemachine, Monday, 20 February 2006 17:48 (twenty years ago)

This is one of the dumbest statements I've read on here for a long time and the average IQ of this board has dropped by about 300 points since 2003.
And yet is still considerably higher than most boards.

-- polyphonic

OTM! It's getting harder and harder for me to post on any other music board these days...

― BeeOK (boo radley), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 02:45 (twenty years ago)

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