Radiohead - Kid A

Monumental

This may be the best album I've ever heard. The first five notes are simply the most arresting announcement of a sea change for a band that I know. When this was released, it was instantly the most important popular (admittedly, a dubious title) album on the planet. That it only lasts about 60 minutes (when it easily could have been crammed to the brink with the outtakes that later comprised the comparatively weaker and less mysterious [read: Kid A could not have been equaled or surpassed] Amnesiac) is instead a testament to its cohesiveness. It is the only album I own that I almost never interrupt to select individual songs.

As for the mystery, it is rampant and lovely: Who is Kid A? What is he or she (or, most likely, it) the product of? What is the year? Does the cover depict a landscape or a soundscape? Are those the same thing?

I could go on. I won't. May 29, 2008

Radiohead KID A

I just saw Radiohead live for the 1st time last night in Bristow, VA. They were absolutely incredible live!!! If you're looking for one of they're best, then you can't go wrong with the album KID A. From start to finish it just leaves you wanting & yearning for more! If I were stranded on a desert island(no not on LOST)I would take this one with me with plenty of batteries....er maybe Saywer could help me out with that? May 12, 2008

Radiohead Enter A New Realm

I'll make this short as so many people have nailed the amazing aspects of this album.

Radioheads sound changed on a large scale in only a few years. They became a
Post-Rock Electronic band with a majority of the songs zeroing in on the sound and flow of things.

The songs are well produced and very technical. The album is worth double the price in my opinion and will remain a constant in my playlists for ages to come.
May 4, 2008

...I see where you're all coming from...but this isn't shocking and inaccessible...

...well it happened in the end didn't it? Radiohead wanted to change their sound and I really don't blame them...they are a really talented bunch of musicians (yes not just Greenwood and Yorke) and I find this change in direction very refreshing...although there are some issues I have with the complainers of this album...

..."Ooh it's just electronic and static noise...how does anyone listen to this?" You really need to listen to some real static noise then...bands like Wolf Eyes and Merzbow make their living out of this kind of noise...now spot the diference...what is it? Yes this is melodic and listenable...so please stop complaining...

...the plus sides of this album I'd have to say is the new use of synths and new instruments...for the most part the electric guitar is left in the cupboard to gather dust as they try synthed voices in the song "Kid A" mixed with the Xylophone on the keyboard...combining a hypnotic bassline with a brass ensemble in "National Anthem"...and electronic drums with a synth in the (in)famous "Idioteque"...these ideas prosper within the album as long as you have an open mind (within reason)...

...and the downside...well...the problem is it's completely overshadowed...if they started with this as their debut instead of "Pablo Honey" they probably would have had more prestige success instead of being known as the band that played "Creep" and annoyed half of the population...but because "OK Computer" came first the die hard fans will always say it's not good enough and push it aside...

...my advice? Give this album a chance...it's not as abstract as everyone says it is...merely in contrast to their other albums...and if you don't enjoy it...fine...just don't call it abstract...because it isn't...oh yeah and the rumour that the whole record company lost their christmas bonus after the manager heard this...not true... March 29, 2008

A shock when it was released, and now more of an IDM relic, but still fairly entertaining

Almost everyone has heard the story of how Radiohead shocked the world with this album. After releasing the hugely successful rock album OK COMPUTER in 1997, the band went on a massive world tour and then a long creative hiatus. When KID A appeared in 2000, their sound had moved away from straight-up rock to a peculiar mix of their previous style and electronic music. The sounds of the traditional quartet are expanded with sequencers, vocoders, and a brass troupe, and even an ondes martenot.

Lyrically the album continues to some extent the theme of the alienation and existential crises that our modern technological society produce. "The National Anthem" treats the pressure of urban population, and "Idioteque" alludes to the cruelty of global capitalism. Indeed, both musically and in terms of the album art KID A could be said to be OK COMPUTER's dark side. However, the cohesiveness of this theme is weakened by several instrumentals, which are little more than electronic noodling, and the final "Motion Picture Soundtrack", an out of place ballad.

Of all their albums with OK COMPUTER and after, KID A may have dated badly. The electronic sounds of Aphex Twin, Autechre and Boards of Canada which inspired this change in style were being touted as the future of music a decade ago, but IDM has faded and rock music is still standing strong. I get much less out of the album today than I did back in the day. Nonetheless, there are worthy moments in KID A, and a maturity in the songwriting and performances that, if lesser than the most part of their late albums, is still preferable to PABLO HONEY or THE BENDS. March 27, 2008

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