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June 1997 – Radiohead Releases Dead Air Space
Instead of OK Computer, Radiohead releases "Dead Air Space", a competent but safe follow-up to "The Bends". It gets critical praise but does not change alternative rock. The album is not bold enough. Neither does it have the thematic weight so as to push the music forward. Britpop’s decline does not have a successor movement. -
Period: to
OK Computer-less World
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1998-1999 – Post-Grunge and Nu-Metal Dominate Rock Radio
Alternative rock is at a standstill and post-grunge and nu-metal rush in to take its place – thanks to no intervention from OK Computer. As Creed, Limp Bizkit, and Staind become the new faces of rock, they push back the emergence of a more adventurous sound. Some music bloggers coined the term the "NU-age". -
2000 – Radiohead’s "Kid A" Never Happens
Without "OK Computer" as a bridge to experimentation, Radiohead sticks to conventional rock and releases the album, "No Surprises", another alternative rock album that doesn’t disrupt industry norms. As a result, electronic and avant-garde elements do not blend into mainstream rock for several more years. The title of the album is supposedly derived from a track off of their scrapped project. -
2001-2003 – Muse and Coldplay Remain Traditional Alt-Rock Acts
Without the expansion of their musical ambition found in "OK Computer", Muse never becomes the grand, symphonic rock band they are in our timeline. In the same manner, Coldplay continues with soft Britpop-inspired ballads, never adopting the atmospheric elements they explored in "XY" (2005). -
2004 – Indie Rock Gains Momentum, But Lacks an Experimental Push
Arcade Fire’s "Funeral" and The Killers’ "Hot Fuss" succeed, but in a world without "OK Computer", indie rock remains a scene of catchy, well-crafted songs rather than a movement of reinvention. The absence of a bold precedent means that rock remains structurally safe, rather than pushing genre boundaries. -
2007 – No "In Rainbows", No Digital Revolution in Rock
Radiohead, never the pay-what-you-want originators, still mostly makes good-enough rock. It postpones the debate about digital music distribution, leaving streaming services and artists without an industry-altering moment to readjust their release strategies. -
2010 – Alternative Rock’s Cultural Influence Fades
Alternative rock isn’t evolving like hip-hop and electronic music. Without the influence of OK Computer on electronic-rock crossovers, the genre remains two worlds and rock is slowly erased from the cultural conversation. -
2013 – Rock Artists Struggle to Adapt to Streaming
Unlike the hip-hop and pop music artists, the rock music artists are suffering now. If In Rainbows doesn’t lay the groundwork for alternative distribution models, most rock bands don’t connect with streaming-first audiences, speeding up rock fading away from mainstream. -
2018 – The Experimental Rock Renaissance Never Arrives
Tame Impala, Bon Iver and other artists whose sound is defined by blending genres still exist, but they don’t have a big rock precursor. The result? Their experiments are just that: one-off experiments, not part of anything bigger that’s redefining alternative music. -
2025 – Rock Music Is a Nostalgia Genre
Rock music today is basically just reunion tours and nostalgia festivals — it’s not really in the cultural mix anymore. If it were not for OK Computer, alternative rock wouldn’t have had its revolution, and thus, it fell out of favor while hip-hop, electronic, and pop became the new wave.