Airbag / How Am I Driving?
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Albums:
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Airbag/How Am I Driving?
- Artist: Radiohead
- Rating:
- Release Date: April 21, 1998
- Total Time: 25:33
- Type: Extended Play (EP)
- Genre: Rock
Review
Once the incredible OK Computer went platinum, proving (at last) to be as impressive to the populace as to the press, Capitol salivated for quick new product, with a new LP two years away. Fortunately for the company that made Sinatra and the Beatles famous, their powerhouse Oxford five had been releasing B-sides in the U.K., on the back of the singles "Paranoid Android," "Karma Police," and "No Surprises." Presto!! Out pops this seven-song mini-LP, basically the LP's "Airbag" and six B-sides. Mind you, Radiohead are effective judges of their own material. Unlike many U.K. bands, they never serve up a non-LP track so fantastic it should have made the first team. But Airbag is a fine purchase, as their lesser material is still provocative, ambitiously stretching (Thom Yorke and pals take a few chances, such as the spacy instrumental here, "Meeting in the Aisle"), and, as usual, clash several moods together at once. So, if you didn't buy the expensive English singles, get this. You can't go wrong with the pile-driving "Palo Alto." Like the other true standout, "Polyethylene, Pts. 1 & 2," it deliciously comes off its hinges on a dirty-sounding guitar slash in the chorus (a nerve-racking churn comparable to the Kinks' smashed-up riff in "You Really Got Me"), triggering a descending, scary guitar trill that oddly echoes the keyboard solo in Frankie "Boom Boom" Cannon's 1963 number 3 hit "Palisades Park." Typically traumatic! One loud boo, though, to all concerned, for omitting the fine, gently moving "Lull" (from the "Karma Police" U.K. single). Likewise, where's the curious, glassy voice-and-piano fragmentary vignette "How I Made My Millions" off the "No Surprises" single? Or the live versions of "Airbag" and "Lucky"? What, there wasn't room on the CD (snicker)? ~ Jack Rabid, Rovi| Airbag/Bury the Hatchet (1996 Album by Local Zero) | |
| Airbagging EP (1997 Album by Dennis Siemion) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Airbag / How Am I Driving?
| Airbag/How Am I Driving? | ||||
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| EP by Radiohead | ||||
| Released | 21 April 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1996-1997 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 25:33 | |||
| Label | Capitol 58701 | |||
| Producer | Nigel Godrich, Radiohead | |||
| Radiohead chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Airbag/How Am I Driving? is the fifth extended play (EP) by English rock group Radiohead, released in April 1998 specifically to the North American market. It includes most of the songs that had been issued as B-sides on Radiohead's CD singles from OK Computer in the previous year.
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Contents
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Background and recording
The contents of Airbag/How Am I Driving? differ slightly from the EP No Surprises/Running from Demons, released a few months earlier in Japan. The song "Airbag", which opens OK Computer, was never officially released as a single. The version on this EP fades out rather than transitioning to the song "Paranoid Android" as it does on the album.
"Meeting in the Aisle" was Radiohead's first instrumental,[2] featuring programming by Zero 7's Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker.
The sample that opens "A Reminder" is a recording from Prague Metro's automated announcement system: "Finish getting on and getting off; the doors are closing. The next station will be Jiřího z Poděbrad." An early version of "Palo Alto" was entitled "OK Computer."
The EP stylistically bridges the gap between the progressive-alternative OK Computer and Radiohead's experimental future sound, much as the My Iron Lung EP of 1994 had foreshadowed The Bends and OK Computer.
Release and reception
On the EP cover, the number 1426148550 is given. It was a working UK telephone number, and the voice on the other end, which simply said, "Hello?" was that of Radiohead singer Thom Yorke. Fans could even leave a message, and some of the content was used in later productions[citation needed]. This number has been disconnected for years. Calling it, as of 2009, yields BT's standard "The number you have dialed has not been recognised" message. Yorke, in concerts at the time, joked that it is the number to call to report bad drivers.
Airbag/How Am I Driving? debuted at number 56 on the Billboard 200,[3] selling 20,000 copies in its first week.[4] Although only 25 minutes long, the EP gained the distinction of being nominated for a 1999 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance,[5] up against full-length albums by other artists.[6]
The EP was re-issued in the Netherlands and the UK in early 2007. Before its re-release, the EP had been a highly sought-after item by Radiohead fans outside of North America.[2] In 2009, the album was released by EMI on iTunes.[7]
Track listing
All songs written by Radiohead.
- "Airbag" – 4:46
- "Pearly*" – 3:33
- "Meeting in the Aisle" – 3:09
- "A Reminder" – 3:51
- "Polyethylene [Parts 1 & 2]" – 4:22
- "Melatonin" – 2:09
- "Palo Alto" – 3:43
Personnel
- Thom Yorke – Vocals, Guitar, Piano
- Jonny Greenwood – Lead Guitar, Piano, Organ
- Ed O'Brien – Guitar, Backing Vocals
- Colin Greenwood – Bass
- Phil Selway – Drums
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ a b Goh, Daryl (19 April 2007), Just like honey, Malaysia Star, http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/19/music/17458885&sec=music, retrieved 11 July 2008
- ^ Randall, Mac (2004). Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. Omnibus Press. pp. 181. ISBN 1-84449-183-8.
- ^ Basham, David (6 December 2001), Got Charts? Busta's New Beginning; Radiohead Might Have Been Wrong, MTV, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1451349/20011206/rhymes_busta.jhtml, retrieved 11 July 2008
- ^ "THE US GONG SHOW". NME. 6 January 1999. http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/801. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
- ^ Sherman, Heidi (5 January 1999), The Miseducation of the Recording Industry, Rolling Stone, http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/laurynhill/articles/story/5924650/the_miseducation_of_the_recording_industry, retrieved 11 July 2008
- ^ "Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP added to iTunes". ateaseweb.com. 12 March 2009. http://www.ateaseweb.com/2009/03/12/airbaghow-am-i-driving-ep-added-to-itunes/. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
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