Airbag / How Am I Driving?

Airbag / How Am I Driving?
EP by
Radiohead
Released21 April 1998 (1998-04-21)
Recorded1996–1997
Studio
GenreAlternative rock
Length25:34
LabelCapitol 58701
ProducerNigel Godrich, Radiohead
Radiohead chronology
No Surprises / Running from Demons
(1997) 		Airbag / How Am I Driving?
(1998) 		Kid A
(2000)

Airbag / How Am I Driving? is the fifth EP by the English rock band Radiohead, released in April 1998 in North America. It collects most of the B-sides from singles released from Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), plus the OK Computer song "Airbag". It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance.

Songs

Airbag / How Am I Driving? collects most of the OK Computer B-sides, excluding "Lull" (from the "Karma Police" single) and "How I Made My Millions" (from the "No Surprises" single).[1] Only one had been previously released in North America.[2]

"Meeting in the Aisle" is a "spaced out" instrumental with "orchestral" drones, drum machine and bass guitar.[2] Radiohead did not perform it until 2012 on the King of Limbs tour.[3] The two-part "Polyethylene" begins with softly strummed guitar before a climactic ending.[2] "Palo Alto" features "hummable pop" verses and a "thunderous" chorus.[2] Its initial title was "OK Computer" before this became the album title.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[5]
Pitchfork9.2/10[2]

Airbag / How Am I Driving? debuted at number 56 on the Billboard 200,[6] selling 20,000 copies in its first week.[7] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance.[8]

In Pitchfork, Ryan Schreiber wrote: "If OK Computer was at the top of your 'best of' list last year, and you had wished for just a few more tracks in that same anti-technology, self-loathing vein that Radiohead so perfectly executes, Airbag goes off on impact." Schreiber expressed surprise that the "impossibly brilliant" final track, "Palo Alto", was not included on OK Computer and felt it would have made a strong single.[2]

In 2016, Rolling Stone included "Palo Alto" on its list of "20 insanely great Radiohead songs only hardcore fans know". The Rolling Stone writer James Montgomery noted that the city Palo Alto later housed Facebook and Google, and wrote that the song was "very much about the oppressive emptiness of the wide-open tomorrow ... [Yorke] knew we were doomed."[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Philip Selway, Ed O'Brien and Colin Greenwood.

No.TitleLength
1."Airbag"4:46
2."Pearly*"3:33
3."Meeting in the Aisle"3:09
4."A Reminder"3:51
5."Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)"4:22
6."Melatonin"2:09
7."Palo Alto"3:43
Total length:25:34

Personnel

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[10] Silver 60,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Airbag/How Am I Driving? - Radiohead". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Schreiber, Ryan. "Radiohead: Airbag / How Am I Driving?". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2 October 2000.
  3. ^ "See Radiohead Play Two New Songs Live in World Tour Debut". Spin. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  4. ^ Footman, Tim (2007). Welcome to the Machine: OK Computer and the Death of the Classic Album. New Malden: Chrome Dreams. pp. 36–37. ISBN 978-1-84240-388-4.
  5. ^ Allmusic review
  6. ^ Randall, Mac (2004). Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. Omnibus Press. pp. 181. ISBN 1-84449-183-8.
  7. ^ Basham, David (6 December 2001), Got Charts? Busta's New Beginning; Radiohead Might Have Been Wrong, MTV, archived from the original on 8 December 2001, retrieved 11 July 2008
  8. ^ Sherman, Heidi (5 January 1999), "The miseducation of the recording industry", Rolling Stone, archived from the original on 14 January 2009, retrieved 11 July 2008
  9. ^ Kreps, Daniel; Ehrlich, David; Montgomery, James (7 March 2016). "20 insanely great Radiohead songs only hardcore fans know". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  10. ^ "British album certifications – Radiohead – Airbag / How Am I Driving?". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Airbag / How Am I Driving? Radiohead in the "Search:" field.
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