ADP #2 Kid A by Radiohead

[slurpdurp]

I know it's not quite February 11 yet everywhere in the world but I have a busy weekend so I'm posting this a bit early.

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Introduction
Do you remember the first time you listened to Kid A? Maybe you appreciated it immediately and saw it as a classic. Maybe you thought it was mediocre or even hated it. Maybe you were like me, and you didn’t understand it at all, but felt intrigued by it. I’m extremely new to albums and only discovered Radiohead with the release of A Moon Shaped Pool, but it wasn’t until January 31, 2016 that I first listened to the masterpiece that is Kid A. I’m so new to this album, and that’s why I want to get to know it better. Many of you reading this probably already know all there is to know about Kid A, but I want to study it more and understand it further. I hope you’ll join me through this write-up. Feel free to read as much or as little as you want.

It was 3 PM on New Year’s Eve a little over a month ago when I first sat in my room and listened to Kid A. I hadn’t heard a single track off the record but I had heard all the hype surrounding it, especially from this site. I was excited to listen to it, and I wanted to make sure I got the fullest experience possible. I laid in my bed, plugged my phone into my speakers, shut off the lights, and laid back to enjoy the ride. I expected something bizarre and challenging, but I was not prepared for what Kid A would bring to the table. From the first notes of “Everything in its Right Place”, I knew that Radiohead had taken a completely new direction from The Bends and OK Computer. Once Thom’s voice came in, choppy yet swaying through time and space elegantly, I was confused. What was he singing about? Well my questions only grew when I heard him say, ‘Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon’. What?!? I loved OK Computer for its lyrics and symbolism, but Kid A just seemed impossible to decipher. Throughout my listen, I was tempted many times just to get up and turn it off. Where were the guitars? What did anything mean? This was the type of music that I’d purposely avoided my entire life. I made fun of anything electronic that dared to call itself music. I associated electronic music with dubstep or Skrillex, and the opposite of anything artful, or what I’d want to listen to. On the surface, Kid A was no different to me. I felt disappointed. Eventually, the album closed. I liked “Motion Picture Soundtrack” and thought it was a beautiful closing track, but I wasn’t interested in anything else I’d just heard. I picked up my phone, went upstairs, and my thoughts of Kid A quickly left as I prepared for my friends to come over and celebrate the end of 2016.

Luckily for me, Kid A remained a voice in the back of my mind. I couldn’t shake the thought of it, and as the days progressed, it only nagged at me further. I decided I’d give it a few more listens, but only as background music. I couldn’t focus on it for that long again. I listened to it mostly while driving, but also sometimes as I fell asleep or while I was doing homework. It slowly grew on me, and I decided to give it more attention as it deserved. The more I listened to it, the more I loved it and ‘understood’ it. People always said that Kid A is something you ‘get’. That sounds very pretentious and I’m still not sure if it’s true, but I know for certain that Kid A is an album that had to grow on me in order for me to realize what it was. It was never made to be a sequel to OK Computer, it was made to challenge that album and destroy the rules that OK Computer followed. Kid A is all about the new and the now. It is about taking what life throws at you and twisting it in a way that only you can craft and understand fully.

Background Information
In 1997, Radiohead released their critically acclaimed album OK Computer. If you haven’t heard of it, I don’t know how you made it to this forum and still managed to have never heard of it. Radiohead were used to dealing with pressure, but with every release, the pressure for their next release mounted more and more. First, they had to follow up their hit single “Creep”. Then, they released The Bends to high praise, and against all odds they released another LP that would be considered even better in OK Computer. The pressure to continue caused lead singer and key songwriter Thom Yorke to suffer a mental breakdown. In this time, the band considered breaking up. Thom said, "I always used to use music as a way of moving on and dealing with things, and I sort of felt like that the thing that helped me deal with things had been sold to the highest bidder and I was simply doing its bidding. And I couldn't handle that." After seeing multiple musical acts attempting to mimic Radiohead, the band decided to take a new route on their new album. Thus, Kid A was conceived.

Yorke mentioned wanted to use his voice as an instrument, rather than a prominent focus. He moved Radiohead into a new territory that focused highly on experimentation. Melodies turned into textures. Guitars turned into sound effects and bizarre instruments. Lyrics were drawn from a hat. Radiohead’s 4th LP was going to be something that nobody had heard before, and one that nobody saw coming. With Kid A, Radiohead wanted to create something with as little concrete meaning as possible but was simultaneously up for interpretation.

Upon release, Kid A shocked listeners and caused polarized opinions. Some loved it, some hated it. It was viewed as pretentious by some, but others saw it as revolutionary. Although opinions were largely divided, the majority of critics and listeners loved it. It sold 55,000 copies on release day and went on to win the Grammy award for best alternative album.

Track-by-Track Review
Beside each track I’ve given my personal rating out of 10. Feel free to leave your ratings, especially if you disagree.

1. Everything In Its Right Place (9.5/10)
Within the first 5 notes, it immediately is a different sound from what I was expecting. The vocals seemed choppy to me at first. And what are the lyrics about? “Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon”, “There are two colours in my head”, and more. To me, this is a song about Thom dealing with the way his music is responded to. People see his music as “perfect”, or with high attentions to detail. If you listen to OK Computer, This is obvious. Every sound effect and note is played with intention and purpose. Every word of the lyrics is meant to symbolize something and because of this, Thom is able to tell powerful and emotional narratives in only a handful of verses and a repetitive chorus. This symbolizes everything being “In Its Right Place”. The pressure of trying to follow up something like that is almost insurmountable. How does a person deal with the expectations that everything they create will be perfect? This song answers that with bizarre lyrics that are difficult to decipher and present themselves as explicitly imperfect.

2. Kid A (9/10)
If you don’t research the lyrics, you probably won’t understand them. I never can, even after reading the lyrics many times. “Kid A” is song by a robotic voice. The intro is a mesmerizing melody, and when the drums enter, the energy rises up, yet the song still maintains a mellow vibe. The robotic voice is almost calming, but with a closer listen and the lyrics in hand, you’ll quickly realize that this song is not as peaceful as it sounds. The lyrics are haunting but masked by a gorgeous surface of music. This juxtaposition enforces the motif of things not being perfect, but also the motif of things being beautiful despite their imperfection.

3. The National Anthem (8.5/10)
When I first listened to Kid A, this was my favorite track. The brass at the end was my favorite part of the album. The bass line is commanding. Something I learned about this track is that Thom Yorke plays bass on it. I never knew that. “The National Anthem” has an aura of confusion and reacting impulsively to this confusion. Thom sings, “Everyone is so near / What's going on?”. Underneath his lyrics are brass and woodwind instruments playing seemingly at random. It is almost as if every instrumentalist is confused as well to what they are to play. Then, they all cut out and the drums continue holding down the beat. After this, the instruments progressively return. At first it seems to be a normal composition, but then the instrumentalists are back to playing all over the place. This is a brilliant way to demonstrate the theme of confusion and reacting instinctively to this confusion.

4. How To Disappear Completely. (10/10)
AKA, my favorite song from Kid A. This song is beautiful and reminds me of “Exit Music (For A Film)” off of OK Computer. It begins with an acoustic guitar and then another one of Colin Greenwood’s brilliant bass lines. Every instrument is in 6/8 timing except the bass, which plays 4/4. (Correct me if I’m wrong, theory nerds) Thom sings one of my favorite Radiohead lyrics right off the bat with “That there, that’s not me”. This song almost feels like a response to “The National Anthem”. After reacting impulsively to confusion, Thom examines himself and realizes he doesn’t recognize the person he’s become. He repeats the lyric, “I’m not here” throughout the song, almost sounding as if he’s trying to calm himself. “The moments passed, yeah, it’s gone”, Thom says. Is he talking to himself or to someone else? To me, he is saying that the moment of confusion is gone and he needs to step back and focus on reality. This song is about refocusing yourself in the face of an overwhelming situation, (“Strobe lights and blown speakers / Fireworks and hurricanes). It speaks to anxiety, fear, confusion, loneliness, and above all the importance of self-awareness. Be aware of who you are in a situation, especially if you are confused. That’s when you need to step back and decipher yourself in order to comprehend any question beginning with “why”.

5. Treefingers (8.5/10)
After the haunting and emotional “How To Disappear Completely”, Treefingers is the musical response to it. It is an ambient and instrumental track. It is a gorgeous interlude that invites the listener to feel an emotion of hope. After listening to four tracks about fear and confusion, Treefingers slowly invites the listener to feel a sense of security. Security in what? In yourself? In other people? In comfort? The answer is different to everybody, but it is the perfect emotional interlude from the anxious “How To Disappear Completely” into the appropriately titled “Optimistic”.

6. Optimistic (7.5/10)
Thom described his post OK Computer breakdown like having “fridge buzz”. I’m not sure if the opening lyrics to this track, “Flies are buzzing around my head” has anything to do with that, but it would make sense. The chorus is words from Thom Yorke’s late ex-girlfriend, who said upon seeing her boyfriend under so much stress, “The best you have is good enough”. Thom sings these lyrics giving off a sense of hope for the future, saying that as long as you do your best, it’ll be enough for you. Maybe it won’t push you any further than where you aim to land, but it’ll be enough. “Optimistic” is the most guitar-driven track on the album and sounds more reminiscent of Radiohead’s 90s work. I personally don’t think it fits well in the album. It’s my least favorite on the album, but is still a great track.

7. In Limbo (8/10)
This track is the one that has grown on me the most. Originally I didn’t care for it, but now I really enjoy it. Thom Yorke sings about living in a fantasy and being lost at sea. To me, this symbolizes his inability to understand his own situation. With all the success Radiohead were gaining around this time, it is easy to understand why it could seem surreal or overwhelming to Thom. “In Limbo” seems to be his way of coping and questioning his situation. In a Japanese MTV documentary (https://youtu.be/ogSOqz34N-4) filmed after the release of OK Computer, Thom Yorke says, “As a band, you stick together, but there is a point where you actually do have to grow up. In doing The Bends and OK Computer, we actually did quite a lot of growing up. That’s not to say we don’t live in limbo, which we do.” This probably isn’t a reference to the track at all, but it does say to me that Thom views himself as living a life in between his childlike dreams of being a famous rock star, and one where he doesn’t view himself as anyone worth looking up to. This track could be his way of dealing with this ‘in between’ phase that he is living in.

8. Idioteque (10/10)
Before I was familiar with all the track names on Kid A and was just listening to it as background noise, I would always anticipate “Idioteque” without even knowing the name of it. I just knew it as that song that went, ‘dooo… doooooo… DOOOOOO... doooooooooo…” (you know, those four chords that keep repeating?) The drum machine beat is also one of my favorites ever provided by a drum machine. I find myself subconsciously tapping along with it throughout the song. “Idioteque” is also the only track on Kid A that I can’t resist singing along to. Once Thom sings, “Here I’m allowed anything all of the time”, I feel an overwhelming urge to belt it out. This song just makes me happy.

A fun fact about “Idioteque”: the demo was originally a 50 minute digital audio tape recorded by Johnny Greenwood. Thom listened to it and was confused at first, but found a short 40 second section that he loved and it became the centerpiece for what is now known as “Idioteque”. Some lyrics from “Idioteque” were drawn from a hat, and they often change during live performances with Thom occasionally singing, “The fathers and the children”, “This one is for the children”, and even “If I asked you to kill me”.

9. Morning Bell (9/10)
“Morning Bell” is an odd song lyrically. The lyric that stood out to probably everyone is “Cut the kids in half”. Throughout the song, there are references to a dispute and most likely a domestic one. “Cut the kids in half” is most likely a reference to the Biblical passage of 1 Kings 3:16-28, where two women argue with King Solomon about who is the mother of a living song and who killed their son by sleeping on him. Since the two sons are infants, only a mother could tell which was hers. Solomon orders for the baby to be “cut in half”, knowing that the true mother will never permit this to happen and would even give up her son if necessary to spare his life. In the context of the song, this could mean a few things. Maybe the kids are the only factor keeping a couple together, or maybe the couple acknowledges that drastic measures are the only way to solve their dispute. When Thom repeats the word “walking” throughout the final minute of this track, it could mean “walking away”. What we don’t know is if the character is walking towards or away from their situation. An alternate version of this track is found on Radiohead’s 2001 LP Amnesiac. Personally, I prefer this version, but both are fantastic and it just shows that Radiohead are able to write the same song in two different ways.

10. Motion Picture Soundtrack (10/10)
Another incredible track, this one closes the album in an emotional way. Thom’s voice is slow and moody. His emotion shows through his melancholy voice. The organ and harp add so much to this track. They are rare instruments even to Radiohead, but they are used to maximum effectiveness here. The harp sweeps beautifully over the entire song, almost with an upbeat vibe, while the organ plays despairful chords throughout. A female voice comes in and for a moment takes the forefront. Overall, there are so many beautiful instruments being played, including Thom’s voice. The album closes its haunting journey with Thom’s words, “I will see you in the next life”, possibly continuing the story of “Morning Bell”, implying a break-up between the couple and “Motion Picture Soundtrack” is their new life apart from each other. It is heartbreaking.

11. Untitled
This song is a hidden track that is under a minute long and is only one chord with instruments briefly sweeping over it. It’s a great way to close the album in a different way, slightly more emphatically than “Motion Picture Soundtrack” does. I wish that this wasn’t a hidden track and was instead added at the end of “Motion Picture Soundtrack”, because the gap between the tracks kills a lot of momentum and prevents what could’ve been an excellent crescendoed ending. Usually, I ignore this track and instead let “Motion Picture Soundtrack” fade to blackness and wake me up from the haunting journey of Kid A.

Overall Thoughts
All in all, I would give Kid A a perfect 10/10. Its daringness to experiment and push boundaries gives it a legacy that’ll live on for years. A recent example of this is an album that came out this month called Tropical Suite by Poni Hoax. It’s my favorite album of 2017 so far, but the influence of Kid A is obvious in many moments. I’m not saying that without Kid A the musical landscape of today would be entirely different, but it certainly played a huge role in music. Kid A played a huge role in encouraging musicians to branch out beyond what they would typically write and play. It gave rock bands the option to try new instruments in their music, even electronic ones. When electronic music was struggling to rise above guitar-driven music, Kid A gave it a push up and said, “anyone can do this, and it can be amazing if you do it right.” For proof, just look at popular music today. How much of it is guitar-driven opposed to electronic? Even popular guitar songs have electronic elements in them. An example is the band Twenty One Pilots, who are probably the most popular band out there today. I recently saw the film La La Land and in the film, (spoilers ahead), a jazz musician joins a band who heavily rely on electronic elements to set them apart. Only by joining this band is he given a shot at reaching the heights of music because audiences want to hear something new in music.

Kid A dared the world to experiment and push boundaries outside of the box when making music. It said, “when life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Invent a new recipe. Design something that can only come from your head. Use other resources that have been given to in ways that nobody expected you to. Create something new.” Radiohead were under pressure to make another masterpiece, and they did, but only by breaking the rules of music and avoiding the sounds that brought them success in the 90s. They rung in the 21st century by practically inventing a new genre, and one that forwarded the evolution of music significantly.

Discussion Questions
1. Do you believe that Kid A was too pretentious and came from Radiohead’s own ego, or was it purely a stamp of their creative and daringness to experiment beyond borders?

2. What is your opinion on the hidden track “Untitled”? Are you a fan of hidden tracks in general, or are you glad that they’ve died off recently?

3. How do you think popular music would’ve been affected without the release of Kid A, if it would be affected at all.

4. If you interpretations to the lyrics differ from mine, please share them!

5. How does Kid A compare to the other albums of Radiohead’s discography? How would you rank it and the tracks?

[RoundTheBend]

Holy G*dd*amned Sh^t F&ck.

Well done. Makes me happy to read stuff like this... idk, the experience is fun.

It also is interesting to read this from the perspective of someone who was either a child or not even born when it came out.

I was 15. I liked Radiohead, but wasn't that in to them and didn't even know they released a new album, but had a friend let me borrow it. I didn't really think much about the electronic elements of it, but was indeed blown away by it. It discovered landscapes that I hadn't really ever experienced before. It had that uplifting mentally and soulfully mind explosion which makes me really respect something.

It wasn't until later until I really made the connection that at that same time there were bumper stickers that said, "Drum machines have no soul". It was a real thing that people made fun of electronic music, and I think you are right in saying that this album made electronic music something even people like that could respect and learn to love. One thing that is maybe a little too black in white is to say they brought it mainstream or anything - from that perspective there were bands like Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, and Kraftwerk who discovered and made great electronic music before radiohead. But totally true that those many of the people who said drum machines have no soul, also then fell in love with this album.

I used to have this album as my number 3 greatest album of all time. (http://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=31041)

Sometimes I have a problem with how dark Radiohead can get... I love it, but I already suffer from depression enough, I don't need something I listen to all the time be so dark. It is nothing against the album at all, that's something actually kind of beautiful about it - it's me, not you ... haha. So In Rainbows has since replaced this album as my absolute favorite Radiohead album, partially because it is more upbeat, but also because it is less pretentious. Pretentious is probably the wrong word - I just feel like In Rainbows does unique interesting things, yet isn't groundbreaking. Maybe this is a better way of saying what I mean?



1. Do you believe that Kid A was too pretentious and came from Radiohead’s own ego, or was it purely a stamp of their creative and daringness to experiment beyond borders?

90% of the time I think the ego/pretentious argument is bullshit... unless it is free jazz mostly kidding. Idk, I just am not a fan of the mindset. Hair metal bands who lack any substance but are strictly ego maybe can be lumped in this? I think any band who can change their sound and still make a solid effort gets my mark of approval of a true artist. If they can convey something well through meaningful/insightful/uplifting/shows a mirror to humanity type parties, regardless of the medium, they are great artists.

2. What is your opinion on the hidden track “Untitled”? Are you a fan of hidden tracks in general, or are you glad that they’ve died off recently? Honestly I think it is one of the most beautiful things - it really sounds heavenly (whatever that is) to me. If there is a heaven, I want that playing as I get rejected from it... ahaha.

As for hidden tracks, I think they are kind of annoying. Just have it as the last track and be done with it... don't make me wait 16 minutes or whatever to get to it.

3. How do you think popular music would’ve been affected without the release of Kid A, if it would be affected at all.

Really impossible to say. I can't say the Killers wouldn't be popular because they didn't really get their electronic influence from Radiohead. I will agree as I said before that maybe it helped it reach a new audience. I will say that possibly not in a good way. When I turn on my local alternative station, I really can barely tell the difference between that and the local pop station anymore. That makes me cry big man tears.

4. If you interpretations to the lyrics differ from mine, please share them!
I mostly feel like Thom does a great job conveying the dissociation/disconnection we continue to grow towards from the modern society we live in. I think some of the adjectives you said match it well.

I realize this is a lyric from RHCP, but it's like Thom does this way more artistically and more granularly:

About Los Angeles, a city of 3 million to 20 million people pending on how you count it (city vs county).
It's hard to believe
That there's nobody out there
It's hard to believe
That I'm all alone
At least I have her love
The city she loves me
Lonely as I am
Together we cry


5. How does Kid A compare to the other albums of Radiohead’s discography? How would you rank it and the tracks?

Tracks are all a 100 except for Treefingers (used to really like it, but it didn't age well with me, so giving it an 85) and then In Limbo at 90.

How I rank Radiohead (and as I said earlier this album was my favorite of theirs... so with time it changes):
Title Band Year Year Rank Rating
In Rainbows Radiohead 2007 1 100
Kid A Radiohead 2000 1 97.5
OK Computer Radiohead 1997 1 96.6
The Bends Radiohead 1995 1 94.5
The King Of Limbs Radiohead 2011 1 91.8
Amnesiac Radiohead 2001 3 90.9
Hail To The Thief Radiohead 2003 3 90.7
A Moon Shaped Pool Radiohead 2016 1 90
Pablo Honey Radiohead 1993 19 71.6

[Komorebi-D]

Ok I should precede by saying that KID A is my favourite Radiohead effort (OK Computer in such a close 2nd):

1. I think that this one definitely plays more toward the latter. KID A was a huge sonic evolution in comparison to The Bends & OK Computer, it should be talked about more. At the height of their popularity they went from probably the most relevant band of the time making a career off of essential Alt-Rock/Brit-Pop tracks to suddenly become a IDM & Krautrock one in a single album. That's daring and it all worked because the pay-off was perfect. It still takes my breath away (if I'm being cliched).

2. Bands used to use them somewhat (Oasis & NMH for instance), this one served its purpose. Otherwise I have no opinion.

3. I don't think it would've been affected at all. The band's copycats don't seem to borrow anything from this one. If I think about this is basically a passion project borne from things borrowed from the collective works of DJ Shadow, Bjork, Aphex Twin, Can & etc. (Probably why I prefer it)

5. I'd rank KID A among their best, probably 2nd to OK Computer. It deserves all the credit it can get. Optimistic, Everything In Its Right Place, KID A, Motion Picture Soundtrack, Idioteque, The National Anthem & How To Disappear Completely are masterpieces.
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[Tap]

I like hidden tracks. I usually like to sit in silence a bit after something is done and think about what I just listened to, so I'll just leave things running, a lot of times I don't listen to the hidden track at all and change to something else before they come on, but still I've been caught by surprise many times and it's a lot of fun. this one especially got me plenty of times, but I don't think of it as something essential to the experience of the album, just a little something extra. but this album had a lot of that for me.

So when I was a few months shy of turning 15, I was sort of branching out into music but still was centered on MTV, I sincerely watched TRL though I never called in a vote because I think there was a fee associated? Or at least I was afraid of one. But yeah so anyway I think it was on a Saturday, MTV had some sort of special block of programming where they had all of these amazing little bumpers, the Kid A Anti-Campaign (a very low quality playlist of them can be found here), and I also saw the Paranoid Android video and a couple of others I think? But yeah, I was like "holy shit this Radiohead band is pretty cool" so I picked up The Bends and OK Computer and spent a few months obsessing over them until October rolled around and Kid A came out.

I guess there was a leak that had gotten out before release, but I wasn't anywhere near the internet detective I am now, so I just had the live bootlegs, I was listening to the first two on this page a lot. So I sort of knew what to expect, but still on October 2nd after school I walked down to the Fred Meyer near me and bought myself a copy of the standard edition, because I'd heard about how it still had a secret booklet hidden behind the CD. I got home and immediately listened and even with what I knew, I was blown away. Like I had been stumbling around through electronics with like the tackiest dance music and the fight club soundtrack and your mobys and crystal methods and chemical brothers, but this gave me a feeling like there was an actual direction I wanted to go in.

I still didn't totally abandon watching mtv afterwards tho, because I remember when Kid Rock came out with his music video where he wiped his ass with toilet paper that said Radiohead on it because he was mad that they were smart or whatever, and that came out in 2002. It's for the song "You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me" if you're curious.

But yeah this album, I don't even know how to talk about it musically anymore. I still think it is a great album that deserves it's place in the world (even if the innovation gets overstated and the thing with it is more like what slurpdurp says where it's about getting this stuff out on a large platform in the moment of time they were at, rather than being the first to do it at all), but like I've been keeping track of my listening since 2016 and I hadn't listened to it at all last year. Like I still respect it a ton, but I'm in such a different place now then when it mattered most to me, I don't even know how to rate it or rank it anymore, I couldn't vote in the poll above. It's not really an album I listen to, it's history. But it's a good history I think.

[Skinny]

I prefer The Bends, In Rainbows, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, and quite possibly A Moon Shaped Pool. I find parts of this album kinda irritating. I also don't necessarily think it's as sonically adventurous as is often made out, and its songs aren't the band's most memorable. Whilst it has the distinction of coming first, I feel like Amnesiac is a more comfortable and interesting representation of their sound at the time.
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.

[Daydreamer]

I think everyone had a common reaction to hearing this for the first time. I know I felt confused, slightly angry and dissapointed. I had no idea what were they trying to do with it. I knew it was a change of direction towards a more electronic sound but it was nothing like I expected. So maybe first 3-4 listens I didn't like it at all except a few more normal songs. However as I usually need more listens to get into a Radiohead album I kept giving it a chance and in time it clicked. It wasn't sudden but a slow process during which with each listen I found something new I liked.
It now sits as my 4th fave Radiohead album, behind OK Computer, In Rainbows and The Bends but also a top tier album. It remains of the most daring and brave records of all time but I simply like songs on those other albums more.
How To Dissapear Completely is probably my fave song of the 00's.
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All time

2000's
1990's
1980's
1970's
1960's

[Anti]

I remember my first time listening to this album. I was packing for a trip to Italy in 2013; I was only 17 at the time and the only music I was exposed to was radio hits and trendy rappers. My hunger for albums kind of began at this time. Also around this time, my top 3 favorite albums were Kanye's Dark Fantasy, Drake's Take Care, and Kendrick's Good Kid, MAAD City. I noticed that these 3 albums were highly acclaimed by critics (maybe not so much Take Care) and, more importantly, ambitious af. My way of thinking at the time was to simply find album from all of the "Greatest Albums of All Time" or _____ decade lists from major publications. Being 17 and unexposed to music history, I obviously focused on stuff from the 90s to now (which I still kind of do), I looked at the big name lists (i.e. Rolling Stone's, Pitchfork) I know, but I was 17 and unexperienced gimme a break and noted that Kid A was usually #1 for the 00s decade. Went to the store, bought the CD, and on the flight to New Jersey as a connector, I hit play on my iPod. I thought it was eh at first. Then I gave it another listen on the flight to Rome and it hit me harder. I knew there was something here. For the rest of my time in Italy, I mostly focused on Dark Fantasy, GKMC, Take Care, Madvillainy (which got mostly the same reaction as Kid A), and What's Going On by Marvin. I gave it a third listen on the flight back to the States and it hit me like a truck. Kid A is a masterpiece. I still can't fully explain my love for Treefingers, but it was that track that taught me the importance of an album's structure, cohesiveness, and the importance of interludes. Fuck, I know that was kind of a choppy story, but that's the story.

It was also a couple days before my trip I discovered BEA.
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...and for dessert!

[Rhett]

I loved it from first listen. In the middle of track one, I thought, "Oh my god, I'm never going to stop listening to this." I was riveted.

I had not heard anything from Radiohead before this. Kid A crashed onto the charts at #1, and I had missed OK Computer and didn't get around to listening to it for a few months after keeping Kid A on repeat play.

I had no preconceived notions as to how Radiohead sounded. When I finally got to The Bends and OK Computer, I liked them but was rather disappointed that they didn't sound like Kid A, so I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next album, hoping for more Kid A.

So, for me, love at the very first listen.

[babyBlueSedan]

Holy cow, I gave this an 8 and that's the lowest vote so far. My rating system must be different than other people's.

Anyway, it took me a little bit to come around to Kid A, mostly because I wasn't terribly open-minded when I first listened to it. I had just gotten into music and was all "rock is the only good genre" and "music has to be loud to be good" and all that. But I liked the Bends for some reason and figured I had to listen to this. I think I liked the first few tracks but I usually stopped around Treefingers because it started to get boring for me. Of course a couple years later I came back to it and started to like it more. Probably my 5th favorite Radiohead album after The Bends, In Rainbows, Amnesiac, and OK Computer.

And yes, Amnesiac is better. I think it has better songs - Like Spinning Plates, Pyramid Song, Life In a Glass House - and has fewer clunkers, whereas Kid A has a few songs (In Limbo, Morning Bell, Optimistic to a certain extent) that just don't feel like they fit. A lot of Kid A fans will tell you the album isn't about the songs, it's about the soundscapes Radiohead created, or something like that. But I don't think it ever manages to creates a real consistent sound; I've been listening to a lot of Boards of Canada recently and their albums flow better than Kid A does honestly. Kid A has better individual songs though, so all this to say that in my opinion Kid A's reputation as a "soundscape" album is overblown.

To answer some of your specific questions:

1. I hesitate to call any album not made by Father John Misty pretentious, so I think Kid A was just Radiohead realizing they couldn't stay the same band forever. Honestly, how many bands manage to make more than 3 or 4 classic albums, and of those bands, how many do it without at least a small change in sound. As good as The Bends and OK Computer are I think they had to change their sound in order to continue creating good music. Interestingly, I'd say the same about them today - King of Limbs and A Moon Shaped Pool both sounded like the band going through the motions to me, and I'd love to see them try something new again. AMSP had it's moments but overall seemed too samey.

2. I think the concept of hidden tracks is kind of silly, especially in the digital age where they're clearly labeled. I actually don't think of this one as a hidden track - since the last song is called "Motion Picture Soundtrack" and soundtracks are made up of multiple songs, I like to think that the silence in the middle is just part of the song's concept.

3. I can't think of many albums off the top of my head that were clearly influenced by Kid A. I think it may have brought electronic acts more to the mainstream (since a famous rock band was making electronic-influenced music) but for as popular an album as it is neither the indie rock nor the popular music of the 2000s bears too much resemblance to it.

4. Kid A isn't an album where I really care about the lyrics. How to Disappear Completely has some good ones, and the "I think you're crazy" part of the closer is great, but other than that I don't think Radiohead intended for them to have more than an abstract meaning.
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[AfterHours]

Kid A is a very good album. Though it's hardly without precedent and not that experimental relative to what's been done before. It's soundscape is enticing (harking back, primarily, to Saucerful of Secrets-to-DSOTM era Pink Floyd), and its brooding emotional preoccupations (harking back to Brian Eno and the forerunners of post-rock) tapped right into the zeitgeist of the 2000's, so it's not hard to understand its popularity and accolades. For many, due to its exposure, Kid A was an introduction to such music. But anyone familiar with Brian Eno circa Another Green World, Talk Talk's Laughing Stock, Radiohead's own Ok Computer, and mid-70s Pink Floyd -- so basically most serious music lovers -- should have little to worry about in assimilating it.

If you want a more original and powerful (imo), but fairly like-minded, attempt at bleak existential quandaries and spiritual transcendence, I strongly recommend Hex by Bark Psychosis, and of course the aforementioned Talk Talk (also Spirit of Eden).
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