Pros: Radiohead proves it doesn’t need lyrics – just amazing sounds – to evoke intense emotions.
Cons: Those intense emotions were disappointment and disgust for some fans, so proceed with caution.
The Bottom Line: You’ll either love this or wonder what the fuss is about. Depending on where music goes from here, it could end up a pioneering record or just a bold experiment.
After hailing Radiohead’s 1997 opus “OK Computer” as perhaps the best rock album ever, many fans were eager for more of the layered production, dramatic mood shifts, hummable melodies, sleighbells and compelling lyrics that lifted that album far above its peers. The band’s previous record, “The Bends,” was one of the great “guitar rock” albums of the ’90s, and one could reasonably assume that the follow-up to “OK Computer” would trump its predecessors or at least mimic their styles.
“Kid A,” released in 2000, was such a dramatic, stunning thrashing of convention that many fans went bald scratching their heads over it. Three-guitar assaults are replaced by keyboards and synthesizers – indeed, a discernable guitar sound begins only after four tracks – and bandleader Thom Yorke’s vocals often cut in and out like guitar feedback instead of carrying a song’s melody. Although some “Kid A” songs – most notably “Motion Picture Soundtrack” and the instrumental “Treefingers” – are comforting, they all combine to create a soundtrack for paranoia, despair and loneliness.
A disaster, then? Some shocked fans certainly thought so. Many others, however, were in awe of the band’s ability to record an outstanding, highly praised rock album and follow it up by fusing ambient music and modern rock. “Kid A” topped many fans’ “Best Albums of 2000” lists, but others had alternate four-letter titles for it that can’t be printed here. The best way to enjoy and appreciate the album is to expect a 180-degree turn away from “OK Computer,” feel emotions based on the songs’ moods, not lyrics, and, well, perhaps employ the use of one’s inebriant of choice.
The opening keyboards in “Everything in its Right Place” slice through the silence that preceded them, followed by cut-and-pasted vocal snippets beneath Yorke’s computer-enhanced wailing of the title. “Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon” and “There are two colors in my head” are the only bits of lyrical insight, a stark difference from previous Radiohead songs. The song’s cold, minimalist feel sets the mood for the nine tracks to come. If “OK Computer” is summer music, this is music for staring at barren, snow-covered landscapes through ice-covered car windows.
The opening for the title track seems spawned from a child’s music box – and then, as with most tracks on this album, the synthesizers kick in. A minute-long series of synthesized strings build to a climax starting about three minutes into the song, injecting it with much-needed warmth and emotion. Yorke’s sampled vocals barely are discernable.
Backing drums and various other synthesized sounds float above and below a strong bassline, breathing life into “The National Anthem.” Again, Yorke’s lyrics hardly are chin-stroking material: “Everyone around here, everyone is so clear … and so alone.” The “national anthem” closes the song, a brief snipped of orchestra music following horn and saxophone explosions. As the song melts into the next one, an echoing voice seems to ask, “What’s wrong?”
That sentiment is the perfect introduction to “How to Disappear Completely,” a song about loneliness and desperately wanting to escape a bad situation (life itself, for some of us). An eerie, high-pitched, synthesized note carries through the piece, similar to the opening keyboard note that carries through the intro to Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond.” Acoustic guitars kick in after five seconds, followed by bass 15 seconds later; both sound warm and inviting after three tracks of icy noise. With its real drums and strings, “Everything in its Right Place” features more conventional instrumentation than anything else on the album – and, perhaps not coincidentally, probably is the album’s best track. But a pitch-dropping, intermittently appearing hook helps ensure that it still sounds different from nearly everything else in modern music.
“I’m not here; this isn’t happening,” Yorke sings further into the song, his voice at last stripped of any computer enhancements. “In a little while, I’ll be gone.”
“Treefingers” is little more than a series of ambient drones – and is the perfect comedown after the heightening anxiety and desperation of the first four tracks. It sounds quite like a late-’80s Cocteau Twins instrumental in spots, minus the drum machine, and evokes images of swimming in a warm spring surrounded by snow.
“Optimistic” breaks the trance with electric guitar, drums and Yorke’s background howl. A modern-rock guitar riff makes this the album’s most likely single, though none was released. Again, Yorke’s lyrics toss out random images and ideas, rather than telling a story.
“I’m lost at sea. Don’t bother me,” he sings in “In Limbo,” a rambling piece that’s probably the weakest moment on “Kid A.” The instruments sound more at odds than in concert with one another.
“Idioteque” would sound more at home on “Kid A” follow-up “Amnesiac” with its urgent, drum-machine beat. It’s satisfying, but it combines with “In Limbo” to weigh down the album a bit at its middle. Fortunately, “Morning Bell,” the album’s most melodic synthesizer-driven piece, comes to the rescue. Odd sentiments such as “Cut the kids in half” (a reference to divorce?) and “Where’d you park the car?” drift over ever-present percussion and backing synthesizers. A better version of this song appears on “Amnesiac” (called, simply, “Morning Bell/Amnesiac”), its percussion altered and its pace slowed. Live performances of the “Amnesiac” version are considerably more satisfying.
If “Everything in its Right Place” is the best song on “Kid A,” “Motion Picture Soundtrack” is the most beautiful – not to mention the perfect album closer. An organ opening evokes images not of lonely, snow-covered plains in North Dakota, but of majestic, snow-covered mountains in Switzerland.
“I think you’re crazy, maybe,” Yorke sings in what qualifies as a chorus. Despite no percussion, a sad-sounding organ backing and Yorke’s none-to-happy utterances, this track is as uplifting as anything Radiohead has ever done. Synthesized harps add to the surreal mood before the song fades out.
A brief hidden track appears about a minute after the fadeout, its floating-in-heaven feel sounding more like Sigur Ros than Radiohead. Two minutes of silence follows, perhaps to push the album to the 50-minute mark.
If you’re puzzled after finishing this album, you’re not alone. You may have an initial reaction, but most people need to listen three or four times before even arriving at a well-informed conclusion.
Although many people credited Radiohead with risking their fan base and popularity to release “Kid A,” the band’s self-made reputation as enigmatic, distant and artistically credible has only added to its appeal. That became evident with the release of “Amnesiac,” a substandard, “Kid A” B-sides album not advertised as such. Its popularity was at least as strong as that of its far-superior predecessor. For my full opinion on “Amnesiac,” see my review on that album.
For evidence of Radiohead’s embrace of its enigma reputation, browse the album’s liner notes. The jacket is a series of fold-out surrealist pictures -- and no words. Notes hidden behind the plastic CD holder are a mix of song titles and nonsense. Liner notes for “Amnesiac” more or less followed suit.
If you like this and want more, then “Amnesiac” is, unfortunately, the band's only other similar output. To avoid a disappointment, look instead to the work of Brian Eno (his "Passengers" work with U2 is a good start) and, lately, Sigur Ros.
Kid A is Radiohead s fourth studio effort. Radiohead s third album, OK Computer, was released in June 1997 and immediately hit No. 1 on the British al...More at Buy.com
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