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Radiohead - Kid A
- Radiohead’s album “Kid A” marked a distinct change for the band. While the band’s previous first three albums were guitar driven pop-rock records, “Kid A” is Radiohead at their most experimental. “O.K. Computer” had earned them a place as British rock gods, and yet they rejected the fame, and the wishes of many of their fans, in pursuit of the advancement of their music. Many of the songs on the album feature only sparse guitar in favor electronic textures and ambience. While the album divided fans of Radiohead upon its release in 2000 because of its sheer weirdness, the album’s eccentricities must be embraced and not rejected.
Radiohead took a different approach to many of the songs on “Kid A” that defied simple songwriting and singing conventions. In fact, the lyrics themselves almost take a backseat to texture and rhythmic properties of the vocals themselves. “Everything In Its Right Place” features extensive use of oddly sequenced vocals loops to create a mind-boggling wall of vocals. Meanwhile, vocals in the track “Kid A” is processed in such a way that they feed back, almost fulfilling a guitar-like role in the track.
The influence of ambient music is particularly present on the instrumental “Treefingers,” a strange collage of melodic textures. “Optimistic” is probably the album’s most ‘normal’ track, with crunchy guitar typical operatic falsetto from Thom Yorke. However, the song melds the guitar sound of their earlier work with the melodically darker new direction they would take in future albums. “Idioteque” is the best example of the electronic aspects of the album. There isn’t a single live instrument on the track; everything from the drums to harmonies was created digitally.
While this album is not for everyone, it marks an important change in Radiohead’s music, as well as the music of the first decade of the 21st century with its fluid combination of live instruments and electronica. The album is dark, bleak, and mysterious in tone, and can barely considered “pop” by any standards other than its instrumentations. This album is an important development for one of the biggest and most influential bands in existence today, and is a rare example of a famous band not cashing in on a potentially lucrative sound that they had already established. “Kid A” requires many listens to unearth its subtle genius.
Reviewer: Kris Lorenz
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Reviewer's Rating: 9
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
Added: 2-Jul-2009
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