Had there not been a three year vacuum of releases between Kid A and Radiohead's earlier release, OK Computer, then there wouldn't have been nearly as much buzz as there was surrounding the new album. Also, factor in that OK Computer was an astonishing hit, critically and commercially, and that Radiohead launched a successful ad campaign to spark interest in Kid A. Although Radiohead's campaign was non-traditional in the fact that they HAD NO ADS AT ALL, this unusual practice made other media sources (news, magazines, journals) that much more interested in the album. The fans responded well too, as Kid A went to #1 in the U.S. and all across the world. I am glad to say that I was one of the eager buyers that made this feat possible.

It was a priority for me to purchase Kid A the second it came out because I had been waiting for three long years to hear a new Radiohead album. I was salivating as I put my hands on it for the first time, and I rushed home immediately to listen to it. I had read some negative and positive reviews about it, but all of them said that it was unexpected and weird beyond belief. I wasn't concerned with the weirdness, that unfortunately some people held that point against the album. Some critics were insulting the album on the fact that it's not accessible and therefore bad. I say that if it's good music, then who cares if it's ambient or techno or electronic, in Radiohead's case? In general, I didn't care whether it was country, classical, or death metal, as long as Radiohead produced quality. This was my mentality coming into Kid A: ready for anything.

Kid A is a living, breathing, humanistic album. I say this because the album seems to be its own entity, away from Radiohead and away from most other music. This may because this was a necessary and natural album for the band, and if they made another OK Computer or the Bends it would probably have led to their demise. The album got a lot of things off of the collective chest of Radiohead, and shared deeper and the more personal thoughts and philosophies of Thom Yorke, who is the main songwriter, lead singer, and posterboy for the group. Although it's safe to say that Kid A still has some flaws, they never betray the character of the album. The songs are like the different moods and frames of mind of the greater concept of the entity which is Kid A. Each song has something different to offer, and they all complements one another excellently. It's another case where the album as a whole has a greater impression than the songs alone. The album concept seems to be better than the tracks, and Kid A features some excellent songs. It only compliments the album that much more.

The album begins with the marvelous "Everything In It's Right Place". It's kind of like the pulse for the entire album, and is an excellent opening track. It's Thom Yorke singing and playing powerful organ chords, with much electronic meddling. Thom's distorted voice is often repeated throughout the song not by him, but by lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood who messes around with a digitally recorded copy of his voice to make it sound bizarre and crazy. It's a very emotional and dreamy song, and it's easy to get lost in. After is the title track "Kid A", which begins with an odd computer loop that sounds kind of like a xylophone but two or three octaves higher. Soon, Phil Selway's brilliant bass drums come in, which is soon followed by syncopated snare to match. The drumming basically saves this song, because with out it “Kid A” would be uninteresting and directionless. The drumming, however, holds everything together while Yorke's heavily - and I mean HEAVILY - distorted vocals sing sparse and unusual lyrics ("We've got heads on sticks, you've got ventriloquists"). Although many people don't like this song, I've grown to love it, and especially the awesome drumming.

"The National Anthem" is my favourite song off the album, and is the first thing on it that sounds something like an old Radiohead song... that is, at least at the beginning. It begins with a hypnotic bass line (although recorded by Yorke playing bass, is played live by regular bassist Colin Greenwood) that draws you into the song which is easy to engulf yourself in. It also has very strong drumming, which is a little more conventional in relation to “Kid A”. After a minute of percussion and distorted brass instruments building up the mood and the energy (with that bass line fueling the whole thing), Yorke begins to sing "Everyone, everyone around here, everyone is so near...", and so forth in a similar pattern... that is until a baritone sax solo comes out of nowhere. Although it’s not quite a solo (it only plays two notes repeated frequently and in different orders), it opens the door for a whole demented brass section to play whatever they damn well please. Although the brass may sound like they're just producing random notes at first, on second or third listen you realize that they're playing their own melodies and doing so quite wonderfully. The song ends fittingly with a big enough blast of brass to break a window, for that matter.

After the intense, almost violent "National Anthem" comes "How To Disappear Completely": a fragile acoustic guitar ballad that features strings and Yorke's soaring vocals. He sings lyrics like "I'm not here, this isn't happening", and it kind of gives the song a somber mood. The strings are beautiful, and the little electric guitar slide featured in it is perfect. My favourite part is when five minutes in, all the music starts to go in and out of focus, but then it centralizes again with fantastic string sections. Let's not forget the melodic bass line, which Colin Greenwood plays wonderfully.

To end the magnificent first half of the album is the spacey "Treefingers", which is ambient keyboard chords for three and a half minutes. It's uninteresting and not worth listening to, but it fits in well with the album and it divides the first and second half of the album well too. It could have been better though. To kick off the second half is "Optimistic", the Kid A song that received the most airplay on the radio. It is the rock track that guitar fans enjoy on the album, because it features Jonny Greenwood and rhythm guitarist Ed O'Brien playing some mean guitar, while Colin Greenwood adds in with that great ascending bass line for the main verse whenever possible. Although not the best song on the album, this is probably the most accessible and guitar based. Also, great drums by Selway appear again, but this time it's a syncopated beat that features predominantly tom toms. Next is "In Limbo", which is another unusual track. It is intense and dark, and has Yorke "lost at sea" and spiraling down trap doors. It's again not the strongest material, but it fits in so well that you don't even notice its errors.

"Idioteque" is after, and it's a step in a completely new direction. This is techno and ambient, but it's danceable. A fan favourite at concerts, it's full of energy and is based on a techno drum beat that features two samples of old electronic music by Paul Lansky and Arthur Krieger. Yorke sings: "Laugh until my head comes off, women and children first... ice age comin, let me hear both sides, throw it in the fire... this is really happening... take the money and run". The sparse and heavily repeated lyrics make for an emotionally intense song that is a great song to dance along to. After is the lovely "Morning Bell", which features the same type of organ that is featured in "Everything In Its Right Place", but is based on a delicious 5/4 drum beat that flows in right from the end of "Idioteque". This song was also redone on Radiohead's subsequent release, Amnesiac, but this one is much better. It has a solid bass line and a crazy guitar (I think it's guitar) solo that sounds something like a seagull at the end of the song.

The final song on the album is "Motion Picture Soundtrack", which is said to be first conceived of during the Creep days of Radiohead's career. The song is a powerful church organ going at its own pace while Yorke sings gentle lyrics like "White wash, and sleeping pills, help me get back to your arms, cheap sex, and sad films, help me get back up in arms". The second verse is the same, but has a symphony of harps and a quiet choir of angels chipping in to make one of the most beautiful and touching songs that Radiohead has ever produced. It ends with Yorke singing "I will see you in the next life", while the music ends with ascending and descending harps, and is followed by silence. After a couple of minutes, the song relapses for about thirty seconds with more choirs and harps and such. Thus ends the fifty minute album.

Kid A is in no means accessible, even in the slightest, but does that mean that mainstream music listeners can't enjoy it? This is beautifully written and composed music that is a worthy follow-up to OK Computer. The album at times can be too complex for listeners, but if you just let your ears listen without any bias I'm sure you'll appreciate the album for what it's worth (which should be a lot compared to most other music that’s made these days). Also, some listeners may find it very negative and depressing. Although it's not as bad as OK Computer, Kid A does feature some sometimes depressing music, but for every minor chord a major chord is played after. "Motion Picture Soundtrack" is a good example of this, because it sounds as though it was composed in Heaven by angels, and it ends off the album in a beautiful and invigorating way.

So what's the final judgment on Kid A? Not perfect, not the best of all time, but it's damn near close. Because not all of the material ("In Limbo", "Treefingers", to a lesser extent “Idioteque”) lives up to the best quantity of material ("National Anthem", "How To Disappear", "Optimistic"), the weaker tracks let the album down a little bit. Still, this is a very minor flaw, and it is hard to avoid when dealing with ambient and/or electronic music, because musicians tend to get a little relaxed with what material makes the grade and what doesn't. Sometimes awesome songs are cut and crappy ones are included, but fortunately for Radiohead, all the songs on the album can stand on their own (except "Treefingers", which is solely a mood piece). Although some are shadowed by others, all the songs are quality and the album is produced well.

I'm so happy with this album because it's such a change from everything you hear all the time. This is TRUE mixing of styles, not just drawing points from one and associating with another type of music. Kid A is an excellent example of just making music without being having to be defined by a style, like too many bands and musicians are these days. Most musicians try to make sure the song is PUNK, or HARD CORE, or POP, or COUNTRY, instead of trying to make sure the song is GOOD. Radiohead and Kid A could teach many musicians these days about what's most important. It's not the style, it’s not the denomination, and it’s not the classification: it’s the MUSIC.


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying