910. Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

Track Listing

1. Everything In Its Right Place
2. Kid A
3. National Anthem
4. How To Disappear Completely
5. Treefingers
6. Optimistic
7. In Limbo
8. Idioteque
9. Morning Bell
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack


Review

Let's not be under any illusions... Radiohead are kind of pretentious. This does not mean that they are not as well brilliant, genius and pretentiousism are not mutually exclusive. Here they give us a piece of rock music unlike anything tried since Brian Eno's Another Green World, a mix of experimental ambient and pop-rock sensibilities.

At times the album might be slightly too introspective for its own good, but as you listen to it repeatedly the strange sounds get more and more familiar and after a while you are actually looking forward to listening to it again.

At least Radiohead are exercising their creative muscles here, in a time where the vast majority of music is recycled and safe in order to appeal to the maximum number of consumers Kid A is the example of what lack of compromise can do. Radiohead were not afraid to alienate their fan-base by going in such a radically different direction, good for them! And you simply have to admire and support a band which is not afraid to test musical boundaries. That and the album is pretty amazing.

Track Highlights

1. The Morning Bell
2. National Anthem
3. How To Disappear Completely
4. Idioteque

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Kid A was recorded in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and Oxford with producer Nigel Godrich. The album's songwriting and recording were experimental for Radiohead, as the band replaced their earlier "anthemic" rock style with a more electronic sound. Influenced by Krautrock, jazz, and 20th century classical music, Radiohead abandoned their three-guitar lineup for a wider range of instruments on Kid A, using keyboards, the Ondes martenot, and, on certain compositions, strings and brass. Kid A also contains more minimal and abstract lyrics than the band's previous work. Singer Thom Yorke has said the album was not intended as "art", but reflects the music they listened to at the time. Original artwork by Stanley Donwood and Yorke, and a series of short animated films called "blips", accompanied the album.


Morning Bell: