Radiohead: Kid A
After MPL Laboratories created the equation that describes the relationship between the quality of Radiohead’s cover art and their music, we wondered if it wasn’t, in fact, an inverse relationship. After developing further experiments to try to answer that question, we can now saw conclusively that it is not a relationship that behaves strictly inversely. This was proven by the fact that Kid A’s art is their worst yet, while the music is not their best. Furthermore, their best album from the 20th century (and I’m including this release from 2000 in that list) is OK Computer whose art is actually pretty good.
Kid A is actually pretty similar to OK Computer in style. In fact, if I were to randomly hear one of their combined 22 songs, I’m not sure I could place it on the correct album with much more than 50% accuracy. The U2 influence is completely gone by now, and Radiohead has come into their own as a unique, formidable creative force. Like OK Computer, the straight-ahead, guitar-driven rock is put aside for a synth-y, cold, and detached, while still beautiful feel. Unlike their prior album, though, Kid A is more of a mood machine than a collection of songs in the traditional sense. It is a work of music, in and of itself, an opus, if you will. It does not lend itself to shuffle play, and will only submit to being played from start to finish.
Kid A was the album where the band decided to really challenge their fans, as virtually every song takes on some kind of experiment to mix a new sound into the Radiohead oeuvre. “Everything In Its Right Place” implements an effect where it sounds like Yorke’s vocals are on a cassette tape that is being eaten, “The National Anthem” features a chaotic free-jazz ensemble highlighted by a Morphine-like sax solo, and “Treefingers” is a new age-y piece composed of sustained chords with harmonic movement but no progression. And that’s just in the first half of the album. The second half contains “Idioteque,” that, with its tight drum hits, sounds like it could have come right out of a club, and “Motion Picture Soundtrack,” with bagpipe-like synths and a brilliant harp part. And of course it all works excellently.
Kid A doesn’t cripple me with its detached, powerful emotion the way OK Computer does, but it’s still a masterpiece. There’s hardly a flaw (*cough* “In Limbo”) from start to finish, and what’s there is brilliant, but just shy of transcendental.
Rating:
Mixers: “Everything In Its Right Place,” “The National Anthem,” “Optimistic,” “Idioteque”
Keepers: everything else…”In Limbo” mostly only because it fits with the rest of the album
Filed Between: OK Computer and Ramones (Ramones)
Tags: 2000, 4.5 lunchboxes, CD reviews, music
July 20th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
[...] was recorded at the same time as Kid A, but wasn’t released until the following year. There isn’t a song on here that wouldn’t sound [...]
August 25th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
[...] should be receiving the high ratings that they do. I’ve gone back and looked over my reviews for Radiohead albums to try to find out where this impression originates. One option is that I assumed [...]