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[Jordan117]

My all-time favorite album is Radiohead's 1997 tour-de-force OK Computer, not least because of the evocative album art, which features a ghostly highway junction:



I've always wondered where exactly the image came from, but figured the photo was too fuzzy to identify. Luckily though, the album's upcoming 20th anniversary has brought a wealth of vintage concept art, including early versions of the album cover which show more detail (click for full size):



Unfortunately the resolution isn't quite good enough to decipher the sign lettering, but hopefully there are enough clues for someone here to locate it. I'm hardly an expert, but it does look like an American freeway, with traffic driving on the right and familiar-looking signage. And that hilly/urban terrain... perhaps Los Angeles? Any other good guesses?

[formulanone]

I've also wondered this one for a long time...that third photo seems to show an North American-style BGS and gantry, with a shield. It's an elegant-appearing interchange, admittedly.

[Duke87]

The sign on the right appears to have a centered exit tab, although it's difficult to really tell.

I'm not totally convinced it's in the US. The wide right shoulders coupled with basically no left shoulder seems to be an atypical design feature for an American highway.

Also, for anyone assuming it must be in a country that drives on the right - bear in mind that the image could be mirrored.

[AMLNet49]

The layout of the signs is definitely American as far as I can tell

[Mapmikey]

I have figured it out...

I-84 EB at I-91 in Hartford...

https://goo.gl/maps/ML8XSqJ56RD2

[formulanone]

I have figured it out...

I-84 EB at I-91 in Hartford...

https://goo.gl/maps/ML8XSqJ56RD2

Seems to be an exact fit.

(Saved for next visit to Hartford.)

[Jordan117]

I have figured it out...

I-84 EB at I-91 in Hartford...

https://goo.gl/maps/ML8XSqJ56RD2

Wow, I am extremely impressed! Never expected it'd be a relatively small town like Hartford. Thanks!

How were you able to track it down?

[froggie]

I'm not totally convinced it's in the US. The wide right shoulders coupled with basically no left shoulder seems to be an atypical design feature for an American highway.

Are you kidding?  That's SOP for older freeways in several states, especially in the Northeast.

Mapmikey's right.  This is I-84/I-91 in Hartford...vantage point appears to be from the Hilton, looking eastward.

[Mapmikey]

Took about 10 minutes.  The middle BGS has a two word control city with just a single letter as the first word.  The BGS on the right has a two word city but two actual words.  I figured that it was east of the Mississippi because of the (IMO) tight footprint of the interchange.

So what interstate junctions in the east might fit the that BGS criteria?  E Hartford and New Haven.

I'm pretty decent at puzzles and also have a fair amount of experience taking older road photos and figuring out where they were...

I'd never seen the album cover before.  Full disclosure - I have driven I-84 east through here one time...it was dark and it was 2001 - but that wasn't any help here...

[kurumi]

Good work. I didn't even see the signs until I knew where to look... and yup, that's I-84, US 44 and I-91 on the BGS panels.

This thread is now featured in /r/radiohead.

[chays]

Good work. I didn't even see the signs until I knew where to look... and yup, that's I-84, US 44 and I-91 on the BGS panels.

This thread is now featured in /r/radiohead.

Mapmikey, you should head over to that link that kurumi posted.  They are singing your praises, it would be quite the ego boost!

[HazMatt]

Huh, that's one of my favorite albums and I never even thought about the cover photo.  Excellent job!

[jp the roadgeek]

Funny thing is I just found this in The Modern Lovers' Roadrunner video.  The very first shot was taken about a mile east of here, 20-25 years earlier, and in the opposite direction.

[inkyatari]

Here's the interchange at a similar angle...

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7696894,-72.6733952,66a,35y,99h,65.14t/data=!3m1!1e3

[SectorZ]

I've had this CD since 1997, and had family down in greater Hartford all my life, and never realized this. I can concur this is absolutely the junction in question.

[jp the roadgeek]

Don't see it on their website, but WFSB (the CBS affiliate) just mentioned this on the 6:00 news and might have something on it at 11:00

[Mapmikey]

Good work. I didn't even see the signs until I knew where to look... and yup, that's I-84, US 44 and I-91 on the BGS panels.

This thread is now featured in /r/radiohead.

Mapmikey, you should head over to that link that kurumi posted.  They are singing your praises, it would be quite the ego boost!

I took a peek and it's nice people are happy about a mystery being solved.  Pretty sure others in this forum would've gotten it too...


modified to fix quote

[jakeroot]

Location of Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ artwork revealed? -- from NME (New Musical Express):

The actual motorway depicted in the cover of Radiohead‘s ‘OK Computer’ artwork may have been revealed by fans.

Radiohead recently announced a 20th anniversary reissue of ‘OK Computer’ for 23 June. The album’s cover was designed by the band’s long-time visual collaborator Stanley Donwood along with frontman Thom Yorke.

Ahead of the 20 year milestone, a fan recently posed a theory to Reddit (as seen in the Imgur GIF below) that the classic album’s artwork is based on a highway interchange in Hartford, Connecticut, between Interstates 84 and 91.

The user suggests that the original photo may have been taken from the window of a Hilton hotel that the band stayed in after a show in Hartford during August 1996 – one of the last live shows the band played before returning to the UK to record ‘OK Computer’.

Mapmikey is officially the most famous user on this forum.

[formulanone]

And thus, "roadgeek" infiltrated the public lexicon.

Mapmikey's discovery and the OP's thread seem to be spreading in some positive ways.

[Duke87]

Took about 10 minutes.  The middle BGS has a two word control city with just a single letter as the first word.  The BGS on the right has a two word city but two actual words.  I figured that it was east of the Mississippi because of the (IMO) tight footprint of the interchange.

I'm impressed you were able to garner that much detail. Here I was looking at it swearing there were only two signs on that gantry, the gap between the right and center signs is pretty well obscured by a shadow figure's leg in both images.

[MikeTheActuary]

And thus, "roadgeek" infiltrated the public lexicon.

Roadgeek was in Radiohead fans' lexicon since the release of "In Rainbows".

(Look at the cover art.)

[formulanone]

And thus, "roadgeek" infiltrated the public lexicon.

Roadgeek was in Radiohead fans' lexicon since the release of "In Rainbows".

(Look at the cover art.)

You'll have to help me out on this one. 

My download didn't come with cover art, and I'm crap at remembering lyrics.

[RobbieL2415]

My all-time favorite album is Radiohead's 1997 tour-de-force OK Computer, not least because of the evocative album art, which features a ghostly highway junction:



I've always wondered where exactly the image came from, but figured the photo was too fuzzy to identify. Luckily though, the album's upcoming 20th anniversary has brought a wealth of vintage concept art, including early versions of the album cover which show more detail (click for full size):



Unfortunately the resolution isn't quite good enough to decipher the sign lettering, but hopefully there are enough clues for someone here to locate it. I'm hardly an expert, but it does look like an American freeway, with traffic driving on the right and familiar-looking signage. And that hilly/urban terrain... perhaps Los Angeles? Any other good guesses?

Definitely I-84 at I-91 in Hartford, CT.  You can even see the sign gantry for Exits 52, 53 and the pull-though shield.
GSV for reference: https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9jRZT1syn

[jakeroot]

Definitely I-84 at I-91 in Hartford, CT.  You can even see the sign gantry for Exits 52, 53 and the pull-though shield.
GSV for reference: https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9jRZT1syn

I think this has been well-established by now.

[MikeTheActuary]

And thus, "roadgeek" infiltrated the public lexicon.

Roadgeek was in Radiohead fans' lexicon since the release of "In Rainbows".

(Look at the cover art.)

You'll have to help me out on this one. 

My download didn't come with cover art, and I'm crap at lyrics.

There was an official cover/booklet in pdf.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2e/In_Rainbows_Official_Cover.jpg