KID A

Before I go further, I want to say that I do consider RADIOHEAD prog in the overall view. While I despise the "next Pink Floyd" comparisons I used to hear, I do think that's the element the two bands have in common. But there is less tradition here--this is the album, above all others, that to me proves what RADIOHEAD is capable and confirms their prog status. Whether they are always prog or always of high quality or not is debatable...but let me say it; they do belong here whether one cares for them or not.

Even after two subsequent RADIOHEAD releases, I have to say it--this is the most intriguing album they have ever created. This isn't to say some of their other albums aren't good (The Bends couldn't be any more different and yet I love it), just that if I had to be stranded on a desert island with one of their albums, this would be the one.

Never mind the depressing lyrics. To be honest, I ignore them most of the time, and I find myself wondering if that's what the band wants, on this album. Some reviewers have commented on the processed nature of many of the vocals, and I wonder if this is intended to highlight THOM YORKE's voice more as an instrument than a conveyance of information (something another excellent band, Sigur Ros, takes even further by using a made-up language). Fittingly, some of the album's most striking moments occur where YORKE uses his high, clear voice entirely without words--a direct expression of emotion.

One of the absolute most touching--even uplifting--moments on the album is the end of "How to Disappear Completely". The entire song is a marvel, how it starts out so soft and then gathers power all the way through until the end, but the end is absolutely superb. I find myself reminded of PINK FLOYD's "Comfortably Numb" for both theme and the absolute power of the music. This is probably the one song I actually pay attention to lyrically, because the combination of the music and lyrics is absolutely exquisite. But in the end, words simply aren't enough. YORKE's wordless singing feels like release, regained freedom. This is a song that seems to bear the listener aloft, and despite the depressing start, the ending gives a feeling of peace and closure. (The whole album actually can have this effect if you hang on for the very last hidden "mini-track".)

Every single track is superbly listenable; not once do I ever feel compelled to use the skip button, unless I'm in a hurry to get to one of my favorites. At times its sister album Amnesiac goes much too far, but this one has it just right. I would say more--except this album is just about beyond words...not to mention Bryan Adair's review includes everything else I would have said. Read that one and you should be convinced.

Just one only word for this album: boring. Ok, they are not the pop band anymore. They've started calling themselves "experimental". Where are the experiments? I've been hearing this kind of music like more than five years before this album was released. In this record they try to copy an excellent album like "The Division Bell", but their product is just a bad boring copy mixed with bad used electronic sounds, full of "sad" songs, that doesn't say anything, because the lyrics are the worst the they've made. But not everything is so ugly, there are a few moments in the album that aren't so bad. I specially like the three last songs. So... Just buy it if you like boring music about nothing.

Probably, the quintessence of the geniality of York and Radiohead. An album where the word "experimental" reaches its maximum level. A voyage into a dimension where melancholy and soul tension evolve together in a fantastic melting pot. Personally, I consider "Kid A" braver than "Ok computer" because it needs a great dose of courage to release an album so particular after a best seller and Radiohead have had this courage creating a masterpiece. Last annotaion for "In limbo", one of the most beautiful songs ever composed.

What happens when you write one of the greatest albums of all time and reach the inevitable peak of your career, knowing that nothing can beat the previous album? It's happened to many bands. A classic case is Dream Theater struggling to beat their "Scenes from a Memory" album because it was too good (altohugh in my opinion, siz degrees and train of thought are masterpieces). Radiohead avoided their plummet and produced "Kid A". This album takes the height of experimental rock music, multilayered sounds, bittersweet vocals, haunting melodies and depressing lyrics, and fused it with some mild electronica to create their weirdest and most experimental album yet. This one could definetly be seen as prog. Part one of an incredible double album (the second being amnesiac which was recorded in the same sessions). This album had no singles or promotional videos, yet still came out on top as a bestseller and blagged best album in the brit awards, beating many pop acts and mainstream rock albums.

This album took me months and months to get into, as it was so different to anything i had ever heard at the time, this album is one of the strongest, weirdest and most beautiful moments of the bands career. "Everything in its Right Place" kicks off the album with gentle electronica. This album combines a mixture of drum machines and Phil Selways own personal touches. The production on this album isn't quite as layered and complex as Ok Computer but they have gone for a different kind of experimental outlook by putting in weird mixing and mastering into this album which builds up the weirdness of it all. This is evident from the very start.

the title track is a difficult one yet i think it is incredibly ghostly, sounding like something out of a horror movie or a Silent Hill game. It is scary in the fact that is so gentle and strange, making the album unique in a whole new way. The band have obviously lost some of their rock qualities of the first 3 albums and gone for a more underground approach. This album still possesses the classic Radiohead signature sound, it has evolved tremendously here. This track uses the first set of electronic beats, almost referencing a mellow techno related sound. Thom uses very weird effects on his voice yet that piano intro is undeniably beautiful.

The weirdness continues, with a stretchy yet rocking intro that sticks the bass guitar up on the front line to give a more dirty and familiar sound. "The National Anthem" is a live favourite, Phil uses manual drums on this track and gets a lush sound. there is the addition of brass instruments which is new to this album, giving not only an experiment in sound and production, but expanding their choice of instruments as well, a technique familiar amongst us prog rockers. The high pitched squels that Thom provides on this track pay off well, making "The National Anthem" a classic track.

"How to Disappear Completely" is one of my favourite Radiohead tracks. This brings back that familiar depressing, moody vocal sound with a dirty mellow musical soundscape. when Thom sings "i'm not here" it is very deep and emotional. "Treefingers" is a strange instrumental track that keeps the flow of the album going using progressively built up sounds. It is neither a standout track nor one to skip.

"Optimistic" is a wonder. Optimism isn't exactly a very Radiohead thing but this track is both dull and full of life. Thoms dull and depressing vocals are still apparent yet shine out greatly with the guitar work here. The lyrics are again, very clever, weird and just plain incredible. This adds balance and life to the album brilliantly and is well placed in the middle of the album.

"In Limbo" is a masterpiece in its own right, perfect with builds ups, a strange intro that tags on so well from the previous tracks closing techno jam. Thoms chilling "I'm on your side" cuts through the song, breathing new life. This track weaves in and out of quiet and emotional parts and builds furthur to end in a distorted uproar with tortured vocals.

"Idoteque" is the peak of the album, probably the greatest track on the album, blending electronic beats perfectly with some of Thoms craziest yet best vocal and lyrical work, this is really something original and different. I've never heard anything like this. The song thrives with unexpectancy and anticipation so much that it will have you listening again and again.

"Morning Bell" is a fine follow up to this track, i prefer this to "Morning Bell/Amnesiac" on the next album. This is definetly a progressive track as it changes and changes almost as if its following different movements within the song. The album closes with a heartwarming epic, "Motion Picture Soundtrack" which is full of emotion. Once the strange intro is out of the way, Thoms signature vocals build up a depressing lullaby yet something we can all relate to and cry over. There is a bit of silence and then a trumpety extra bit to close the album.

This is a stunning piece of music, incredibly original and accessable once you have got past the difficult change in style. This album is very prog in a subtle way but not full out prog. This is definetly an essential album along with all of their works, and will fit nicely with the most die hard prog fans collection. Radiohead prove that they can follow a masterpiece with another masterpiece and are definetly one of the greatest bands in existance.

This is a truly remarkable piece of work. Who would have thought Radiohead would follow "Ok Computer" with this? From the opening chords of "Everything in its right place" the listener already knows he's on to something special.

Actually, most people just consider this album to be a disjointed experiment the band did to explore how far they could go, but in reality nothing could be further from the truth. If you study the framework of the album carefully and listen closely to the music, you'll realise as I did that Kid A is a complex tour de force, a concept album for the 21st century about the life of the first human clones.

And some of you doubt Radiohead being progressive? Give me a break, will ya...

Below I give my interpretation of the album, track by track. I'm sure it will make the next listen an even more pleasurable experience. Here it goes, Kid A track by track:

1.Everything in its right place: Everything has to be in order at the genetic level to produce the 26 clones, Kids A-Z. There is a message from the scientists: "Sorry, kids, there will be some kinks to iron out in later clones". For example, there are only 2 colours in the clones' heads, and they have extra-sensitive taste centres ("yesterday, I woke up sucking a lemon" describing that the air even tastes sour and lemony.)

2.Kid A: Describes the birth of the clones.

3.The National Anthem: The entire country is watching the clones, as they have become celebrities. However, everyone is afraid of them. The "anthem" is preformed as the world fears what they will do with the clones.

4.How to disappear completely: After the clones' rejection by the masses, they feel isolated and depressed. As if they have disappeared completely.

5.Treefingers: Some of the clones die for various reasons.

6.Optimistic: There are a few clones on the rebound in life, coming back, being optimistic, emerging from the muck they enveloped themselves in ("this one came out of the swamp").

7.In limbo: A few cannot cope with this, and only one clone is left, the Kid A. He cannot read the letters saying that so-and-so clone hath died, because it is too painful. Because of this he is alone, but he marries and finds someone who understands him, but almost immediately the relationship tenses and begins to collapse.

8.Idioteque: The relationship deteriorates further. However, they keep it inside, so that they can agree to have a child ("the first of the children"). This turns out to be big news, since the clone is a father to a healthy child.

9.Morning bell: The marriage finally destroys his life, and he leaves ("Cut the kids in half" and "Where did you park the car?").

10.Motion picture soundtrack: Kid A is on his deathbed. He is looking over what he has become, and how he has been a disappointment for those who created his race. "I will see you in the next life". He goes on to join Kids B-Z. He finds comfort in his death, because his life turned out to be meaningless.

Conclusion: Kid A is an undisputed masterpiece by the best band to emerge from the 1990s.

Compare it to these: Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd), A Trick of the Tail (Genesis) and Fragile (Yes). If these are considered prog, then Kid A obviously is a prog album too, maybe even more so than some named above.

Just from looking at the cover the album appears to have harsh tones. The icy mountains underneath a black sky, and what appears to be a grid (or inside the booklet, fields.) And that is what the album is. Icy, dark, isolated.

Everything in it's right place leads us in, with the rich sound of the Rhodes piano and the looping vocals. Kid A is a suitably dark song, seems to deal with parents ("standing in the shadows at the end of my bed" - an image commonly related to someones mother. If Kid A is the first human clone, this could be some defect in 'it'.) The National Anthem may be an appropriate comment "everyone has got the fear / just holding on" - isolating people rather than unifying.

How to Disappear Completely - seems sorrowful. When you don't really want to be there. Instrumental treefingers features some beautiful, echoey synth. Very calm but also brings a sense of isolation again. Being in a wood with no one else there.

Optimistic is suitably more upbeat for it's title but the lyrics suggest otherwise. Seems to me this is just about trying to get on with life, or helping someone. In Limbo is someone who is lost, hence the "lundy, fastnet, Irish sea" - from the shipping forecast, which also relates to "lost at sea." According to the band it is to do with that sense of being lost in a relationship.

Idioteque with it's electronica continues the cold tone and also maybe some paranoia... "who's in bunker," "ice age coming." Morning bell is almost like the calm after the storm, but grows intense and the lyrics sounding like someone in a delusional state. Motion Picture Soundtrack closes it all off with the isolated organ/synth sound and lyrics, a perfect ending to the album.

I only hope people can be open minded and see it like this.

Here we see the band making a huge leap from OK Computer. A depressing, bleak, chilling concept album (thanks Pierre for elucidating the concept for us). They seemingly forsook their fanbase and went for it...and I admire them for it. Lots of electronic and Krautrock (Can, Faust, Neu!) inspired wierdness, interspersed with many strong melodic moments. They embraced their new sound and made a damn near perfect album. If all you like is symphonic prog, you may have a problem here. For those of you who also like the fringe prog sub-genres such as Krautrock, RIO, art-rock, zeuhl etc, this album may just appeal to you. It is original, introduces a new musical voice, and is very consistent in its vision, which remains to be perfected over the next two albums.

The start of the "electronic experiments". Good album...not a "masterpiece" but it has very interesting moments. For example, "Idioteque" seems like a parody on modern "electronic" DJ music but it sounds like a mix of that and Can...how come nobody is complaining about Can being considered progressive, eh? Anyway, that's a good song. The first song, "Everything..." is also pretty good, with all those effects, and a "dark" atmosphere that attracts me. "How To Dissapear..." is not bad either, with a good melody. The title track is mostly electronic and it sounds nice to me. I do understand why some people might hate it. "The National Anthem" sounds like a bunch of noise, it can be entertaining but I could live without it honestly, in spite of its good bassline. "Treefingers" is a bit boring. I like "In Limbo" and "Optimistic", but they are not my favourites. The last 2 are average. A cold, inaccesible album. If you think Radiohead is a pop band as some here seem to think, then you must listen to this one.

Despite that I like OK Computer better than this CD, Kid A is the most Prog-Rock out of any other Disc they produced. All the Prog rock aspects are on this album. It is an experimental album and Prog-rock was about experimenting and this is what you have, A prog album of the 90s!!" How To Disappear Completely" Is a great mezmerizing tune and the song TreeFingers has a very tranquil effect on the soul. There is a lot of Great vocalizing by Thomas Yorke and great synth work just like the prog rock of yesteryear. When I read a review for this album they were compared to Tangerine Dream!!! Now that must tell you something.

Here we go .... let the weirdness begin

On its release this baffled many - with some suggesting it was to Radiohead what 'Metal Machine Music' was to Lou Reed - but to my ears it is simply the logical extension and progression of what was begun on OK Computer. With Thom Yorke becoming fascinated with the idea of totally deconstructing their 'pop' music model and delving deeper and deeper into the use of sequencers and loops, Kid A takes Ok Computer removes 90% of the guitars, chops up all the vocal lines and attempts to remove anything resembling a chorus. You know you're for a long strange trip as soon as the stuttering, jumpy Everything in its Right Place starts. Mumbling vocals, drums on the edge of breaking up, the band tumbles pell mell into a netherworld of broken chords, spitting electronic bursts of noise and Krautrock-like fields of jam-band clamour. There are further nods to Can and Faust, a tip of the hat to Joy Division in the thunderous bass line from National Anthem, a hefty thank you to the likes of Autechre and Aphex Twin and all with the bands undimmable ear for a goof tune - despite their most nefariosuly unmelodic intentions. National Anthem is a rollercoaster ride of noise driven by the stomring fuzzed bass. How to Disappear Completely floats on a icy swathe of acoustic guitar. Idioteque is a clashing, brash and metallic piece of electronic wilfulness. This is a hard album to listen to. It will alienate many. But prolonged exposure will reveal bounteous depths. There is tons here to enjoy, to mull over, to feast on again and again. Excellent.

A much more experimental album than OK Computer,the band explore sound landscapes to create a textural and ambient record full of subtlety and original ideas.This is true PROGRESSIVE music.Original and satisfying,but it does take more than a few listens to appreciate.Also the singing of Thom Yorke is kept to a minimum which is a good thing!

This is probably not for a prog fan whos more into the Yes,Genesis symphonic side of the progresive rock spectrum but i think those guys should listen to it because i love this album and i also love Yes And Genesis and isnt progresive rock about pushing the boundaries of rock and if anybody would argue that Kid A isnt pushing the envelope well i think u r an ass. Although Kid doesnt have many guitar solos and barely any guitar or lengthy songs its still very progresive. Its more about experimentation then crazy tempos and time signatures anybody who likes Can,Faust,Neu,Kraftwerk should like Kid A because the influence of Kraut Rock is very strong and i think its an excellent addition to any progresive rockers collection. Sorry if theres any mistakes because im not editing anything

I honestly do not understand the Radiohead hype. I'll probably get crucified for voicing my (not altogether invalid) opinion. To me, the music is just uninspired, alternative radio rock. Radiohead fans are desperate to prove that Radiohead 'push the boundaries' of music with each album. Anyway, I'm not giving it a BAD rating, seeing as it isn't too bad for what it is, and that's alternative rock. It has its good moments; "How to Disappear Completely" and "Everything in its Right Place" are the highlights for me, and all the band members' playing is certainly competent. Too dull and unexciting though, as a whole. Fans only.

I've been a prog fan for some time - a lapsed one for the last few years - but I've re- discovered much from this very rich site. I felt it was time to pay some respect to what this incredible band are bringing to the world though.

For your average proggy (and I don't wish to patronise!) then OK Computer is the best place to start with Radiohead. Paranoid Android certainly pays some repect to bands like Yes and King Crimson - no doubt about it. But from there, there's no better place to go than the album Kid A. With its rich fusion of classic rock angst and sublime dreamy electronica, this is a wonder of late-night listening that will take you to strange little corners of the universe that you have never been - whilst also remainingly singularly human in terms of suffering, pain , loss and love.

And this is often what I've missed from prog bands. From the cod-classicism of Genesis to the up-your-own arse lyrics of Fish and Jon Anderson, there has always been a lonely man in an anorak feel to prog. Not with Radiohead. Whilst not being strictly prog, they ARE experimental, they ARE pushing new boundaries - and no more so than on this album.

By the way - from Kid A, move on to their latest - Hail to the Thief - another real grower that has the anger of punk to the beauty of Simon and Garfunkel.

What a fabulous band! Give them time and you'll realise why they're here!

This is a tough album at times. However, it is cleverly put together. It is an ALBUM, not merely a collection of singles, and for Radiohead to have gone from Ok Computer to THIS in 3 years, is fantastic.

Ones appreciation for the album grows after each listen, and there are many high points on the cd. The songs fit together perfectly, and it is incredible as an album as a whole.

If you enjoy Pink Floyd (and i'm sure many of you do) check out this album. You wont be dissapointed.

I refused to listen to this album for three years because i thought it was probably another one of Radiohead's over hyped garbage, okay i heard a few tracks from the album here and there on MTV and other such tv stations but never really gave it a chance, til now!...and it appears i was right. I have never understood the Radiohead craze and this album just enforces that fact. Experimental? okay maybe a little (Dr Frankenstein experimented and look at the result!), Prog? who cares! but not as i know it. Great music? Hardly!... Not a single track really grabbed me, I guess i will just go back to my relatively unknown prog bands and enjoy their music while tossing Kid A into the nearest skip.

a great album!!

all that needs to be sed has been sed!!

the pro - its got an atmosphere that's perfect for those depressing 3am headphone listens, plus it is quite experimental and was an unpredictable direction change for radiohead after the 'brilliant' OK computer!!

the con - motion picture soundtrack is a good song on its own, but as an album closer, its an anti-climax, perhaps done as a joke, which is OK if that is the reason it was done, but i feel a little short changed by it, the hidden track after (genkachildren) is perfect tho, the silence that follows is a little annoying however, it was put there to give u time to recouperate before the album repeats, but that doesn't help me, as i cud never listen to this album twice in one go, that wud just be too much!!

4 stars - 8.8 out of 10 - let down by motion picture soundtrack's anti-climactic presense & the annoying silence that follows the hidden track (tho i lyk the silence between MPS and the hidden track)!!

Given time, this is without doubt the most fulfilling, emotional , imagination-inspiring album ever made. For a one off listen , it is too much to comprehend , you feel confused and bewildered. I have now listened perhaps 1000 times , and only now can I appreciate how wonderful this piece of art is .

Every change of sound within this album and within each track bends the listeners emotions and imagination with ease, and you are unable not to be drawn in and be played with like a doll.

Words cannot describe the emotional journey this album takes you on , it will touch a part of you deeper than you thought anything or anyone could. Try playing this album in a house by your self , with the lights off and curtains drawn , and feel the intensity and watch your life flash before your eyes. You will begin to coincide parts of this album with events or people in your own life - its that touching .

I do not want to try and diagnose each track for you, as I feel you will create your own atmosphere and own thoughts for what each track represents to you. But look for the feeling of calm and peace during 'How to disappear completely' and the change in your thoughts during the hectic 'Idioteque' , and during the finale 'Motion Picture Soundtrack' - close your eyes and find yourself imagining the end of your life, knowing there is nothing you can do to change your past and knowing you cannot tell people how your truley feel, find yourself accepting the end with all senses switched off except your mind on overdrive, again like your life flashes before your eyes.

Then the album ends, your eyes open realising it was just your imagination endulging in the moment . Take a deep breath and watch as for the near future your will take a more thoughout approach to life and do what truley makes you happy.

Unitl the next time you drink a beer and you go back to your same old self , oh well .

A grower album. It took me a long time to get into this RADIOHEAD's piece of art, but it was worthy the challenge. This album just proves that RADIOHEAD can't be compared to bands like COLDPLAY, hence the strong direction change showed here. This isn't the same band that created "Ok Computer" or "The Bends", one would say, if it wasn't for the vocals. What we have here is the final proof that they aren't just a commercial alt-rock group who want to be loved by each single person from the mainstream audience. To have the courage of making an album like this after making the "new Dark Side of the Moon" as some people classified their last work makes me wonder how "commercial" this band is.

Kid A (a concept album about the clones' life in the future?) opens with keyboards. That's right: there's no more constant guitar based songs here. The atmospheric sound produced by the keyboards is this album's charm, and what makes it so different than their last ones. "Everything in its right place" is very trippy, Thom's vocals are softer than ever, and as some prog reviewers here mentioned, they serve more as an "instrument" than a communication resource. The title track is my least favorite here, but it doesn't make it bad. In fact, this is probably the hardest one from this album, and may sound a bit repetitive. The voice here has been electronically changed to give that extra feel, a "fly" like voice if you ask me. Next track we have a jazz section that makes the so loved PROG word more at the side of RADIOHEAD's name. This is my favorite one from here, and it somewhat reminds of KING CRIMSON (?) at the jazzy part. After the crazy jazz part and some drum beats we encounter one of the most beautiful and melancholic works by this amazing group: "How to disappear completely" is one of those songs useful to prove if you're a cold hearted carbon made being or if you have something inside and is not a robot. If you don't feel anything move you by inside when you listen to this track then i sadly declare you being the former, now if you do get touched by it and mainly in that dramatic ending with those violin sounds and Thom's heart filled vocals and aaaAaas leading to the album's emotional climax, then congrats, you are the latter. After this, the atmospheric "Treefingers" appears and segues into the almost rocker "Optimistic", where we have nice messages like "I'd really like to help man", showing a not so characteristic optimistic mood from RADIOHEAD. "In Limbo", "Morning Bell" and "Motion Picture Soundtrack" deserve to be into a group of their own. These 3 are very beautiful and emotional songs that go around the energetic "Idioteque". While those 3 get you moved inside, "Idioteque" makes you want to dance around in a techno rhythm that i once couldn't stand, although it surprisingly grew on me as the rest of this album. But this is probably the only techno i'll really care in my life. The hidden mini- track on "MPS" is very short but still beautiful, and it is worthy waiting during one minute of silence to listen to this excellent album closer.

Overall, this is a great album that won't please anyone who is not interested on reaching new musical horizons. If you don't like it at the first listens (which will be understandable) try a bit more and in some time your mind will change and then you'll appreciate one of the best musical works of the past 5 years.

This is an excellent Album from Radiohead and probably their best, it follows nicely like a concept album does.

BEWARE : Don't listen to this while depressed, it has a very depressing and dark mood and depresses me more than The Wall.

The guitar player is decent, the drummer is superb, the vocalist is one of the best in modern music, and the keyboardist and sound engineer steal the show.

Everything in its right place begins the album with strange electronic effects that needs some time to get used to, good keyboards, and dark vocals. Excellent opener. 9/10

Kid A follows with an even darker sound, with electronic voices. The keyboard is used majestically here. Overall, the title track is superb. 8/10

National Anthem follows with a bass riff with good melodies, and then it uses horns; I found them a little irritating in the song at first, but I got the hang of it. It ends with horns playing chaotically all over the place. 7.5/10

How To Disappear Completely : finally I hear some guitar, but its just faint and acoustic. The song sounds like a movie soundtrack of the highest level. It is a great song, but very depressing. 9/10

Treefingers : it has no melody and it can be called filler, but it sounds pretty. 6.5/10

Optimistic : I think it is the best song from the album. Great melodies, good rhythm, nice instrumentation. The highlight are the vocals. 9.5/10

In Limbo : It has a similar style as the previous songs, but this one is dominated by a soft guitar riff. 7.5/10

Idioteque : I can't describe enough how much I love the drumming + electronic chord progression + these desperate sounding vocals, which combined form this creepy piece of art. 9/10

Morning Bell : IT starts as an atmospheric track dominated by keyboards and solid vocals like any other song of the album until there comes a guitar solo and strange sounds. 7.5/10

Motion Picture Soundtrack : sounds like a "motion picture sountrack" with mellow vocals. Usual Radiohead depressing stuff. 7/10

My Grade : B+

This was my first Radiohead album. The first time i heard it it made me feel strange. I didnt know what i just listened. After 3 times I realized how depressing and great is this album. Although it is experimental music and some parts are not serious ones i think overall is an interesting Concept album. Everything is in its right place: Well nothing is in its right place here. Good beginning (9/10) Kid A: Toys and child -like sound with... electronic futurist things? Who knows... (9/10) The National Anthem: Well it´s a good progresion but the ending part is just..noise (7/10) How to dissapear...: Beautiful and sad ballad (8/10) Tree Fingers : What the hell is this? (2/10) Optimistic: Great, it´s like... well we are sad, but some day we will be happy (8/10) In Limbo: Another Difficult one, this one´s more listenable (7/10) Idioteque: Great Vocals! (9/10) Morning Bell: Interesting but not something great (7,5/10) Motion picture...: The end of the concept, hope, artificial hope but hope at the end (8/10)

Rate 8/10

This album appropriately started the new milenium with many fresh and original ideas, giving birth to many early elements that would later influence many post-rock arists. It was a very important statement made by a band at the height of their commercial success, and it proved that there is still room for innovation in music.

A lot of fans of progressive music tend to be over-anaylitical, and dismiss the music on this album as simple, repetitive eletronica, but there is so much more to it, that takes many listens and a lot of thought to be able to understand and appreciate.

This is a concept album, but it is quite different from most concept albums, in that it doesn't emphasize on lyrics to tell a story. Only a very basic understanding of the concept (the life of the first cloned human baby), is required to be able to follow it. The lyrics, vocals, and music all work together, and rely on the listener's imagination to discover the concept on their own.

The best example of this is on the title track. Imagine you're a newborn infant, listening to eletronic chime lullabies, while muffled voices outside of your room discuss things that your infant ears are unable to comprehend.

The music on this album is design to create atmospheres and convey emotions. While listening to this album, it's best to just lay down and close your eyes, and let the music take you wherever your mind wants it to. This is music that needs to be felt and reflected upon.

There is a lot of hidden depth and wondorous beauty to this album, and though it may take some people time and patience to be able to appreciate it, it can be well worth it.

This album represents one of the most progressive ideas in recent music history, and easily deserves the five star rating.

I love every song on this album and that is very rare for me. Everything is brilliant and crafted so well together. The beautiful "Motion Picture Soundtrack", the peaceful lullaby "Kid A", the danceable "Idioteque" and the jazzy "The National Anthem". It's much different from their previous work, and if you're a fan of The Bends or Pablo Honey it may take you some time to warm up to Kid A.

Is this a conceptalbum or not? Most of the lyrics seem to make no sense, yet musically it's does have have a certain vibe that no other Radiohead album has, or any other album I know. Each song is solid on it's own, but combined it creates a weird trip that doesn't seize to amaze me.

"EIIRP" is an eerie opener compared to their earlier albums, but gives a good impression about what is to come, with it's spacey keyboard and . The titletrack is probably the weirdest song here, sounding like an cross between an Aphex Twin song and a , only with a Radioheadvibe. Next up is "the National Anthem", one of the most unique songs I know, combining a groovy bassline with inconsistent drumming, paranoid distorted vocals and a crazed out brass-section. We've had the weirdest songs now. "How to..." is the closest thing to a ballad on Kid A, very eerie and absolutely beautiful. "Treefingers" is a filler, but specifically written to be one, to give the album a better flow. "Optimistic" is the first and only real rocksong on this album. It has a great climax and ends with a little jazz variation of itself. I find "In Limbo" one of the most underrated songs on the album, it's very original and really creates a sense of being lost at sea, as the lyrics suggest. The next two song, "Idioteque" and "Morning Bell" flow nicely into eachother, the first being the closest thing to post-house and the latter a dark keyboardsong with a 9/8 timing. Both are absolutely genius. I heard some reviewers finding "MPS" to be an anti-climatic ending, but I couldn't disagree more. A heartfelt song, with an organ and an harp as it's sole instrumentation. Furthermore, the secret track at the end really gives the impression that it's the end of this beautiful album.

I really can't give this album any less than 5 stars, considering it's originality, emotions and flow. Let me say I do consider this a concept album, albeit a very unconventional one. It's starts with birth (Kid A, EIIRP being an introduction) and ends with death (MPS) and everything in between flows perfectly. I'll probably never know what the album's about (some suggest it's about the first human clone, but we can't be sure), but perhaps that's the charm of this disc, enhacing it's weirdness and originality.

This came as a surprise!

Before I heard Kid A, based on Ok Computer I didn't really consider Radiohead as a prog band, but with this one they really took their justified place at the top of modern progressive rock. Kid A is highly experimental, at times almost unlistenable if you look at it from the viewpoint of the standard pop / rock music consumer.

First of all, the amount of electronic sounds and keyboards has been increased, and the electronic sounds are very intelligent and forward thinking. The music is more adventurous than before; it sure wasn't standard rock before, but now it is really out there. The songwriting has improved and finally Radiohead have the guts to break out from their alt rock image. Kid A is so fresh and the band is just bursting with ideas.

For example, look at track number 3, "The National Anthem", which starts with a bass line, then continues as a pretty simple rock song, before halfway into the song turning into a really freaky jazz experimentation. Wild, groovy! Still most of the time the music is pretty calm and melancholy. Thom Yorke's vocals really fit in; creating a huge part of the dark atmosphere.

So, as a conclusion, what an album! Controversial, uncompromising and innovative. A huge step forward for the band, musically and artistically.

Kid A is one of the most original albums I've heard in years. I'd heard the same statement from countless other people over the years, but before actually listening to the album, I didn't believe them. Everything else I'd heard from RADIOHEAD was great music, but hardly what I'd consider experimental or progressive. Well, I now own the album, and I can quite honestly say that I was wrong. This music is not only amazing, but it's also unbelievably creative.

The electronic elements that Radiohead has pushed to the forefront of their sound may seem offputting at first, but they're what make Kid A so great. Listening to the album, it's hard not to get pulled into another world by the dreamy effects and Thom Yorke's characteristic vocals. The songwriting is simply incredible, and is at a level of complexity I never expected the band to reach. I really can't believe this album is as popular as it is; the number of non-prog fans who love it is very surprising, and proves that the general music-listening public isn't completely stupid.

I'd do a song-by-song run-through of Kid A, but several reviewers already have, so to save myself from becoming redundant, I'll just say this: Kid A is a masterpiece that should be heard by everyone, regardless of any preconceptions you may have before listening to it. This music is inspiring, uplifting, creepy, weird, depressing, and dreamy all at the same time, and this is one of the best releases of the past decade. You'd be doing yourself a disservice by not listening to it.

The evolution of Radiohead is progressive, in every album is diferent kind of music, like indie, brit pop with experimental tracks of the tradition of the german bands like kraftwerk, But this album is the best example that radiohead wants, it´s cool and freak and quiet, with this album I Knowed the progressive rock. Thom Yorke whit the melancolic voice, Jhonny Greenwood making experiments with the keyboards and the guitars, Phil seway with the drums and theelectronic interrvention of the computer, Ed O'brian with the guitars and Colin Greenwood with an espectaular bass.

I´m like this album because use "vintage" elements like the keyboards, its an original sound, contains many progresions like the end of the national anthem or in the beging of idiotheque I think that is the best album of this time, im like the art of the record, the lyrics and the music it´s cooooool.

Coming off of the excellent OK Computer, Radiohead devolve into the derivative, muddled, and pretentious mess that is Kid A. This album isn't doing anything that hasn't been done before, it simply has the benefit of being presented to a mass audience. These boys are in over their heads and their mimicry of Autechre & Aphex Twin is sloppy and uninspired, sounding like...well...musicians who don't know what they're doing. The album's saving grace is the brilliant production of Nigel Godrich, whose feel for texture and ambience prevents this album from COMPLETELY sucking.

Another great album from a great band. I know Radiohead has been a frequent controversy theme, if it is or isn't progressive rock, I don't know, if it is Art Rock etc. Anyway, I love this band progressive or no, i really love them, because they always have a innovative sound, since their second album "The Bends", they showed us what a great band are, and every album has something different which makes this band more special, after another masterpiece called "OK Computer", in 2000 they release "Kid A", a great compromise with all their fans because OK caused a change in the lives of lots of people, and of course we expected with anxiety their new album .

Kid A is portrait of a mix of feelings and emotions, shaped in one album, with electronic and atmospheric sounds, lots of melancholic passages, great guitar work, nice bass lines, alternative sound, and a very complex arrangements in some songs, Im not sure if Radiohead as a band belongs to progressive rock, but this album is progressive in every way.

"Everything in it's right place" is the opening song, it is not my favourite song, for me is a bit exasperating, it's a freaky song, with synths and repetitive bass sound, the same with vocals are repetitive here, is a good song, sometimes I thought that it is kind of Thom Yorke`s insanity, but I don't know. "Kid A" is an electronic track, with maybe a sad atmosphere, it has something like a robotic voice, with a good drumming marking time, and spatial effects, guitar here is not a hard guitar, it only makes some soft sounds . "The National Anthem" is maybe the most loved of this album, because it has a particular beginning, it is an electronic effect, and then a very known and nice bass line, it is repetitive but it has the control of the song, I think all these facts make it progressive, because it has progression in the most of the songs, mix of emotion and atmospherical sounds, with a great musicianship and of course I have to say with an incredible and beautiful voice, I love Yorke`s voice, another fact are the lyrics, as ever weird lyrics with a melancholic and sad sense, but with a hidden meaning I think, and talking about future life or something, it is something very experimental. "How to Disappear Completely", this song is absolutely beautiful, it has a particular sound of acoustic guitar, it is incredible, I love this song, maybe because it fills me, sometimes I have cried with this song, but that's not the case, musically is great, again with some effects. "Treefingers" is a complete electronic song, without vocals, and with a very depressing mood, after How to Disappear when you maybe are in tears , listening to Treefingers is a complement for that felling, musically it is one of the weakest tracks. "Optimistic" is next to that depressing moments and it has a more hard edged sound, the rhythm of this song is lead by guitars, Jonny Greenwood is an excellent guitarist, and maybe this song is one of the few with a known Radiohead sound, I mean with more power and vocals and guitars, not so electronic. "In Limbo" is a song that I don't enjoy so much, its immediately next to Optimistic, is softer with nice guitar sound, but pretty boring I think. "Idioteque", that beginning of the song makes me shout, what a great song, here we can listen to a drums sound controlled by electronic devices, in concert Phil Selway (the drummer, great drummer) plays it with his drums and it sounds notably different but great, this song is great , with a faster sound , again, a weird lyric, and great vocals and electronic sounds, it is excellent. "Morning Bell" is that song that you will remind, because it is not the best, but it has something that is attracting you, until you love it, you will always remind that it in Amnesiac we can listen to this song but in Amnesiac Version, I prefer by far this version. "Motion Picture Soundtrack", the best weird track to finish a weird album, this song is beautiful, with a great organ and strange but great soundscape, and the voice singing while we are suffering, what a great album. It has also a hidden track, a little electronic track. Well, after this, and because I love this album, every time I listen to it I get impressed again, it is simply a masterpiece of rock, and in this case, a masterpiece of progressive rock, I know some of you wont enjoy it because simply don't like Radiohead, but believe me, this album is amazing.

So, 5 star of course!

This was announced as a revolution.

Well, it was not. Not at all. People got so hyped up on Ok Computer in the dayz, it was crazy. Even my grandma had this album for crying out loud. With expectations has high, Kid A fell flat on his back, leaving Radiohead fans with a choice: love it or hate it.

Many of us, including me, were speechless (by hate) hearing this the first time. It was Radiohead first genuine 'progressive' attempt. And many bands like Sigur Ros or even OSI inspired them from this album. I wasn't ready for a drastic change of pace like this one: electro style, tormented singing, programming bonanza, insane atmosphere. But now, I do understand that they flew too high and they decided to sabotage their reputation themselves before the media, like Pearl Jam did for instance.

A somewhat difficult album to get around, getting more and more asylum bordeline. Yorke is showing signs of schizo problems (in my opinion), and the results are relevant: this is different. Radiohead got so much weirder with that album, leaving me with a stagnant aftertaste of clautrophobia mixed with mental illness. Hard to describe, so just listen to it.

Listen before buying.

"Kid A", who came out 3 years after "OK Computer", continues the evolution that began on Radiohead's music - from "Pablo Honey", which was on the shadow of the huge success of "Creep", and some people thought Radiohead might be a "one hit wonder". the musical evolution proved them wrong.

The album gives a point of view on a lonely, sad world. It was written on Radiohead's "OK Computer" tour, which is ironic - when those were Radiohead's glory years, but you can say big stardom comes with big depression...

The songs that are on the album, monotonic but well produced, expressed a new revolutinary sound, with the touch of electronic music (which is symbolic, when their first album of the new millenium is the first who is fully under the influence of electronic music).

My favorite tracks are two - first, there's "Everything In It's Right Place" - in my opinion, the best song written in the 21st century, because it's expressing a feeling of loneliness in the best way. The second is "Idioteque", which gives the full picture of the album, monotonic but well produced.

As i follow Radiohead's career, this is by far the best album i ever witnessed to hear from them, so 5 stars are just in place. It is depressing but touching at the same time, and that's why i was so connected to the wave that comes out from this album.

One of the top ten records of the last 10 years, it showed that Radiohead was capable of anything after their magnificient opus O.K Computer (1997). According to the band, the record wasn't intended to include songs as we know them, instead, they tried to expand into new sounds and atmospheres influenced among others by electronica musicians such as Brian Eno, Aphex Twin and Paul Lansky and German Krautrock in the form of Can, Faust, Neu! and Kraftwek.

Most of the lyrics are short and straight, but good enough to get along with the marvelous eerie-sad mood of the album. Nine months after Kid A (october, 2000) got to the stores a new record came out: Amnesiac (June, 2001), wich was recorded during the same sessions. Kid A represents the high status this english combo had reached as art rockers and it was a challenge for the fans and the critics as well. The Pablo Honey days were gone, this was a completeley brand new band that luckily tends to forget the past and makes music for the present from their particular point of view. 5/5

Favorite Trax: "How to Dissapear Completely", "Idioteque", "Kid A", "Morning Bell" and "Treefingers".

Absolutely a masterpeice. This album is Radiohead's most experimental album, with heavy emphasis on electronic instrumentation. Their least acccesible album for sure, but in my opinion, their absolute finest. The first track opens the album perfectly, letting you know that this is far beyond the mostly straighforward alt-rock of The Bends and Ok Computer. Dense keyboard textures and odd vocal glitching add to the very surreal atmosphere of this peice. While songs like "Optimistic" remind of Radiohead's alt-rock past, brilliant tracks like "The National Anthem" show how much the band has progressed - featuring an intense buildup of chaos, eventually boiling over into an explosion of squealing horns and bizarre ambient sounds - all overtop of the fantastic bassline. One of my favourite Radiohead songs. Some other highlights include "Idioteque" - a glitchy electronic track, featuring an oddly compelling vocal performance by Thom- and some trruly bizarre lyrics. "How To Diassapear Completely" stands as on of Radiohead's most beautiful songs, a divine crescendo of beauty overtop calming acoustic guitars and backed by a superb string section.

Although i would not consider this album "prog" in the traditional sense, it is most definitely a progressive album- and certainly a masterpeice. Highly recommended. 5/5

Song by song breakdown:

Everything In Its Right Place: This song will blow out your speakers like it did to mine. It's not really loud, but it's hard for speakers to handle what is probably the most intensely pure synthesizer I've ever heard. So listen to this in really good headphones. It's better that way anyway. It's quite repetitive, but sets an excellent mood for the rest of the album. Dark, mysterious, and strangely beautiful, this track had my attention all the way through. 10/10

Kid A: Jonny Greenwood has an incredible sound selection. The music box-like synth throughout the track is pretty unreal. The drum grooves in the song are actually surprisingly catching. I have no idea what Thom Yorke is saying, but I like it that way, for some weird reason. Good track. 9/10

The National Anthem: This one tricked me on the first listen. I thought I was going to hear something that sounded like Ok Computer or The Bends. The opening guitar riff (this is the first time you actually hear guitar) makes the song seem like it's going to be easy to listen to. But, alas, this is probably the weirdest track on the album. It gets progressively more strange as we hear more strange keyboarding, and horns blowing crazily. I can sort of understand Thom Yorke now. But it's still weird. And yet intriguing. 7/10

How To Disappear Completely: A ballad (or as close as this album comes) that is equally depressing and beautiful. Powerful and moving, the simplistic lyrics fit the track perfectly. Energy gradually builds throughout the tune, causing a great sense of wonder at musicality. And this one actually has closure. Absolutely incredible. 10/10

Treefingers: Really nice, entrancing stuff. It's not really musical though. Only chords. Pretty cool though. I wouldn't call it filler, because it fits in the album. It's really thick voicing, just like the rest of the album. 7/10

Optimistic: This song makes me feel really cold. Thom Yorke is perfect. Actually, the musicianship is really phenomenal. Everyone is pretty minimalistic on this track, but it's effective. This is one of my favorites. 10/10

In Limbo: The guitar in this one is really cool. But it doesn't quite mix with the synth. It's all quite psychedelic. I feel it gets too busy. And it has no closure, like most of the tracks on here. But it's powerful. And it has a strangesense of purpose. 8/10

Idioteque: Quite possibly the best techno drum groove ever written. Thom Yorke is flawless, as are the lyrics, as are the keyboards. Depressing, moody, gorgeous, but really raw. There is absolutely nothing like this. 10/10

Morning Bell: My favorite track on the album, maybe because for once, all the voices fit. The simplicity of the vocals, light synth, and actual drums makes the sun come out in my mind. The chords are also not as thick. The tension the album builds up the whole time, I believe, is released in the first minute of this tune. It gets a tad weird near the end, but nevertheless, it's more musical than the rest of the album. I guess less is more. 10/10

Motion Picture Soundtrack: I'm not quite sure about this. The track doesn't make much sense. But after about a minute-and-a-half of silence, album closure comes with a brief little synth pattern. It's strange, but it works. 6/10

Overall, it's weird, but I challenge anyone who doesn't think this album won't at least turn their head. It's a dark, entrancing, and yet beautiful masterpiece. I didn't get the musicianship on the entire album until a few listens in, but it's really brilliant. No one else writes stuff like this. Try it out.

3.5 stars really!!!

How DOES one follow-up such a stunning album as OK Computer? This is probably the same question Floyd asked themselves after Dark Side or Supertramp after Crime Of The Century. No matter what they would do, the specialized press would be waiting for them around the bend even if the fans usually have no major apriority. It turns out the best thing to do is to not worry about it, as this unnecessary pressure is harmful to creativity.

So Radiohead forged on ahead with what is a full-blown concept album delving into a soret of post rock interlaced with some trip-hop influences. The album is actually fairly interesting even though there are some obvious flaws that could've been avoided had they shown a bit more rigorous with themselves. Examples like the idiotic Ideotheque and its awful beats: I hear you yes, it is the point they want to make! But it still breaks the album's ensemble feeling and actually ruins the enjoyment of the whole and therefore a blunder. Most of the tracks flow after each other successfully, creating a rather haunting atmosphere until that one comes along. Thankfully it comes towards the 2/3-mark, but the rest of the album does not manage to find its original feeling. Not being the only imperfection, most of the album glides rather effortlessly into your daydreaming-like haze, meandering around aimlessly onto the edge of your readiness of making something out of this music, where not many hints are given you.

Although not quite the stunner its predecessor was, Radiohead comes-up with an album that is certainly not a "son of OKC", and even if hardly perfect (and not exactly essential either) the album is fairly successful, but did it really stand a chance against its forerunner? The answer is yours ;-)

Well after the huge mainstream success of Ok computer radiohead decided to record a really difficult and challenging album.Kid a came out when people expected something compeletely different.A more electronic attempt with minimal structures and gloomy vocals.However it was an interesting effort combining Pink floyd moments with the experimental electronica and a new sound focused in the Sheffield techno label called WARP.Definately not typical rock but let's check out the term 'progressive rock'.Music in progress!Yes , that's it.What radiohead accomplished in this record was a step ahead.Emotional vocals along with wierd guitar sounds and a decent drumming.Definately suggested !

This album is a Phenomenon to say the least.The nearly unanimous acclaim of Radiohead hardcore followers and newcomers to this album still surprises, and Radiohead deserves that and more for being the most inspired band in the world. All thanks to a marketing campaign that I liked to see it working for OKC. OK Computer was definitely the Sargeant's Pepper of the end of the XX century and Kid A is the Yellow Submarine (the original soundtrack version, with George Martin's score).Some says the electronic experimentation in this work was grounbreaking, but it really fells short compared with the electronic approach U2 did in Acthung Baby and Pop. Minimalistic is the word that defines Kid A and was like a two bladed knife and a risk the boys took with great success. Probably what happened with this album is that it was released in the perfect time and the perferct place in a moment when rock listeners were enough mind opened and embraced it so that became an important part of the soundtrack of their lives and marked an entire generation. As I said I'm glad for it's success but truth be told Kid A lacks the emotion of The Bends or the songwriting, production and perfection of OKC. And it's hard to take sides for Kid A or Amnesiac while they were intended to be a double album, both parts of a whole, and in the end it really worked like that. All double albums reached its climax in the second part and Amnesiac does it fantastically. Amnesiac shares the same experimentations of Kid A but is far more "progresive", melodic and atmospheric than KA, as I said due to the natural progression of a 2 part concept album and I advice everyone to listen both albums that way and realize that Amnesiac is a masterpiece in it's own right and maybe I get to like Kid A a little bit more than I and a huge minority actually does.

I ve always been told "Radiohead is amazing, they are innovating". I only saw them on TV just after the release of the "incredible" Kid A, they played one song (can't remember the title), then I thought "It's a joke isnt'it?" and my opinion was made about the band.

5 years later, after the 9999th "Radiohead is incredible" heard, I've decided to make one of the biggest challenge in my life: listening to Radiohead seriously and give them a real chance.

So let's try Kid A.

Now after having listened to the first four songs, the thing is clear. I have never heard something like this before (except once...): 15 minutes of atrocious suffering, musical void and senseless use of a CDR. How can someone burn a CDR with such a thing??? How can someone buy???? Questions are meant to remain unanswered....

Boredom that is the word that defines the best this stuff. But not just boredom like you feel when listening to Brian Eno "Thursday Afternoon" or Talk Talk "Spirit Of Eden" which are already really boring. When you listen to Kid A, it's the real essence of boredom, a terrible pain, the desire to finish with everything. It's a chance you only have to put the cd out of the player!

So, to be serious, loving this album is a symptom of huge masochist tendencies. If you got 15? to spend, buy anything else (a pizza, the new Madonna album...) or send it to the WWF it will be a good deed but don't damage your brain with such a crap.

0 star

AS THE RATING IMPLIES, ESSENTIAL!

When I started listening to Radiohead, I'll admit I got The Bends first and enjoyed the excellent alternative rock, but this is a far cry from those days. With Kid A, Radiohead reached the epitome of what it means to be progressive in the 21st century. Deeply moving and artistic, Kid A pushes the boundaries that have held back not just the band, but music in general.

Personally, I have an interesting story that goes along with this album. The first time that I heard it, I was alone in my house and by the time it was finished, I honestly felt scared. I became extremely paranoid. I guess that the dark tone that shrouds this album is what makes it so memorable and relateable. Emotional presence is essential for a masterpiece to contain, and there is no lack of it here! Now to look at it track by track.

1. Everything In Its Right Place: This song is deeply electronic and it was the only song I had heard prior to buying the album. Extremely dark and brooding, yet melodic at the same time. An excellent song, but just a warm up for what's to come. 8/10 2. Kid A: The first time I heard the album, I didn't really like this song. But now, I see the beauty in this song. A bit too electronic for my taste, but incredible. One complaint: vocal distortion, something Thom Yorke never needs, but it still adds to the mood. 7/10 3.The National Anthem: A Radiohead classic! The repeating bassline unifies this varying piece. The freakout at the end is amazing and Yorke's vocals can't be beat. Reminds me of post rock in that there is a great buidup and it leads to the amazing end section. The first masterpiece on the album! 11/10 4. How To Disappear Completely: Definately an example of beauty in a song. It's just amazing orchestration and immpecable songwriting. Possibly the great contributor to the mood of the album, and essential part of the whole. 9.5/10 5. Treefingers: An interlude. It's very pleasant but hard to listen to (or review) seperately. Again, the album is greater than the sum of it's parts and this song is probably the best example of that 7.5/10 6. Optimistic: Most prevalent guitar on the album and closest to OK Computer, but amazing and progressive nevertheless. Excellent lyrics that it on an important part of the album's message as a whole (which I'll get in to later). Just an overall excellent song where the various styles that Radiohead had used merge to great something great. 10/10 7. In Limbo: A good example of how the voice is used better as an instrument. The blending of all the instruments and the voice make this song excellent. A bit trippy with the blending of rock and electronia that Radiohead perfected on the album. It's hard for it to stand out against the other songs on the album, but it's amazing nevertheless. 9/10 8. Idioteque: What I wish electronica sounded like! This is my favorite song on the album. The vocals are some of the greatest I've ever seen, the rhythm is relentlessly moving foreward. It's a neverending attack, melodic and aggressive at the same time. This song is flawless! 12/10! 9. Morning Bell: When I think of this song, the Amnesiac version is the first to come to mind. Again, the voice just is superb and all instruments are as well. Average for the album but far above average as far as music goes. 9/10 10. Motion Picture Soundtrack: Again, amazing. In the same vein as How To Disappear..., it's very dark, beautiful and moving. Amazingly melodic and the perfect close to such a brooding album. Again, sheer beauty. And yes apparently the silence has a purpose, for repeat listens. 9.5/10

As far as the lyrics go, they're all related to human flaws and what not. It goes from ignorance to contempt to paranoia. It's all so relevant to society and so beautifully played in this album. If you're worried about this album not being "progressive" enough, you have nothing to worry about. This album borrows a bit from post-rock, but is mainly rooted in art rock. It's hard to come up with influences for this, it's really rather unique. An essential listen for fans of progressive music!

I have to admit that this is my favourite album ever. I just sit in a cafe with kid A in my CD player, doing maths, and its another, strange, world.

There is an unfotunate amount of people who seem to think prog rock should just sound like bands like Yes that they've grown up with. Whats progressive about that? The use of electronica, the recording, the songs, even the techniques to write this alum are amazingly progressive and innovative. Just to give you an idea of my taste, my favourite band is Pink Floyd, and no it sounds nothing like them but there is this sense they share with the floyd that the progression is somehow natural, it doesn't sound like its forced to be progressive it sounds like this is actually the disturbing world inside their heads.

what does it sound like? well the common thread between all radiohead albums is dark and depressing. Kid A is like that but, more so, add in some morbid staring insanity as well. The dominant musical theme of this album is progtronica, with obviously rock instruments used but also some really OTT jazz thrown in as well. Its often dissonant and disturbing but also has gentle/ rythmic sections. The lyrics, if written down wouldn't come to much but often act more as a chant which works perfectly, think of the weird old man who wanders around town repeating things under his breath.

Many of the best bands have changed their style massively across their careers, often gradually from one style to another, radiohead change from anthem loser-rock to progtronica, pink floyd from pop-psychadelia to dark concept prog rock. It is perfectly natural for bands to become more progressive as they gain experience and ambition, and I think it is a pity that many prog fans shun such albums for the small group of bands that set out from the start to be progressive.

Listen to this album a lot, a song like 'national anthem' is like 'intestallar overdrive' or ' saucerful of secrets' , its not that accesible and if your not used to its style it needs a lot of listens to appreciate its out of control, intense , style.

A fragile and wonderful album which shocked fans and reviewers when it was released, alienating fans with radiohead taking yet another step into the unkown. I would mark this as one of the best prog albums of its time.

An odd duck this is.

The common complaint for this album is that it's "too weird". The other is that it is "not prog". How, exactly, can it be both? And if it is, then what genre of music would you describe it as? That's my premise, anyway, that this is most definitely prog, which envelops all sorts of musical "weirdness". It is perhaps the weirdest release of a commercially successful band, but by no means the King of Weird. Enough with the weird, onto the music.

Idioteque and Everything in its Right Place are the best tracks here. The album starts out very strongly, under the premise that less is more, and here, indeed it is; we touch on a piano/electro mix with an intriguing vocal arrangement. Idioteque really doesn't get kicking till a few minutes in, with an electronic melody which is unlike anything else on the album, for better or for worse. Most of the other songs can be categorized by having a general depressing nature to them.

I would also like to point out some of the similarities this has with Ulver's later work, that being the heavy electronic influences, along with experiments in trip hop and minimalism. Although both bands have a very different sound, the commonalities are enough to warrant a semi-comparison.

This is not a "stunning" album particularly, but for me it more than solidifies the premise that yes, Radiohead is prog, regardless of what their fan base is. Anytime we have creativity and artisitc expression at the forefront, it can almost always be certain that the effort can be classified under the prog umbrella. Kid A gave us a successful prog release, even if no one knows it's prog.

I must admit that I listen to Radiohead's music more and more often in last few months, and this album is not quite the strongest to me. First it is shorter than it should be, there are some tracks which are really poor, like track called Treefinger, or Motion Picture Soundtrack.

This is highly weird album, it combines few different genres in searching of unique atmosphere and melody. First two tracks are pleasant electronic tracks, really relaxing and with fantastic textures. Than we get bass explosion in The National Anthem, psychedelic song with cool effects and even saxophones, and electronic voice. Than we have How to Disappear Completely, fantastic song , in dark mood and with beautiful orchestration, and base of song is acoustic guitar with cool percussion. Treefinger is ambient track that I skip in listening and I skip it now. I do not see its function. Optimistic is first song to have guitar on album. This is more accessible and also infectious track. In Limbo is probably the most special song here, it has psychedelic effect on listener, and weird guitar lines, also it ends in weird way, blown away by electronic effect. Idioteque is a disco song. It has few different kind of beats mixed together, and some processed keyboard sound, with great, melodic singing style. Morning Bell is extraordinary space song with percussive loop and ambient climax. Motion Picture Soundtrack is bad ending song, nothing interesting there to my ears.

This is some new music presented, it is highly unique, artistically progressive, but it is short and not all textures are interesting. There are many simpler elements too, but I must admit this is really brave album, after guitar oriented albums before this one. Kid A is short one, so as Amnesiac; it should have been only one album, it would have been much better. This is only transition, I think; very good album anyway.

After picking up 'OK Computer' and really enjoying it, I came on here to see which album I should buy next, and 'Kid A' was the only album in the 'Key Albums' list. That should not be the case. This album made me want to shoot myself or something, the whole thing is paranoid, depressing, and downright scary. Listening to this will make you feel like a mental patient. I got the special edition 2x10" vinyl edition for my turntable... I doubt I'll be playing it very much anymore. I really tried to like this album, I really did, but I just can't listen to this anymore or I'll go insane. It's nothing at all like OK Computer, and it's very electronic and experimental, which I don't mind since I'm a fan of a few experimental techno bands, but this whole album had an aura of fear and paranoia surrounding it that I don't want to touch it again. It starts out with 'Everything In It's Right Place' which sounds so scary and closed in or something, and right then you know this is nothing like the previous album. The title track 'Kid A' contains some seriously distorted vocals, and is not a track I'd like to listen to by myself, it's just scary. 'The National Anthem' is more upbeat, but it's just plain annoying and has some very loud and out of tune horn sections on it that really bother me. The only songs that I sort of like on here are 'How To Disappear Completely' and 'Optimistic', both of which are very depressing songs despite the name of the second one, the former of which has a chilling section at the end with Thom humming along with the music. The latter is just a decent pop song. The last side of the album, which contains 'Idioteque' and 'Motion Picture Soundtrack' just finish off the whole paranoid suicidal feeling of the whole album. Finishing this album was like finishing a suicide note. "I will see you in the next world" are the last lyrics to the album. I pretended to like this. I really tried to like it. But I just can't stomach it anymore. I don't know what kind of masochist would want to listen to such an album, and I can't believe it's listed as the key album here. That one should be 'OK Computer', not this awful thing. 'OK Computer' was a 'down' album, but this one, I don't even know what the hell to call it. Not recommended at all. :( bryantm3

Kid A is very different to everything that Radiohead have done before. This is a Radiohead creating vast emotions soundscapes, using soft and bright keyboard sounds, and more electronic sounds and taking a new direction in their sound. For me, Kid A is my favourite Radiohead album and all the track´s have moments of soaring and powerful emotion, this is a really piece of art that touch me profoundly in every possible level. Masterpiece. 5 *

Much ado about nothing.

I'm not sure if Thom Yorke read Shakespeare. I'm not even sure if he reads at all. It seems he lives in a cage filled with different sound machines and makes album after album. I remember I started a thread wanting the people to explain me the greatness of "Kid A". Again, it evoked old argue - "Is RADIOHEAD Prog?" I have my own point here - it depends on what you mean with that word. If you mean something new and unique, then feel free to submit here KORN or BJORK - they're unique and established their own styles. But if you mean "progressive" in that kind we all got use to, then NOT.

There's only one worthy song - even genius song - here. It's called "How to Disappear completely" and it's a Touch of God. Another songs are electronic noises, late KCish jams wrapped into experimental shape, and simple brit-pop songs of early RADIOHEAD kind. "Kid A" seems to be a Revelation for those who haven't heard yet CRIMSON, TANGERINE DREAM or at least TALK TALK, but I wonder why is it appreciated so much by people who have experienced it all already. A Mystery to solve.

I was listening to this and Amnesiac the other day, after a long period, and I was quite impressed. On progarchives there have been many heated debates about the merits of Radiohead, but I have to come down firmly on the "they are prog" side. The reason being that these two records are such obvious homages to Krautrock that the fact can't be avoided. It's plain that these chaps were subsisting on a diet of Faust and Neu! when they conceived Kid A, and it shows. I'm reminded very much of Faust IV in the chaotic nature of the album, with noise experiments, beat-based tunes and odd little songs interspersed throughout. I won't do it track by track, since most of you will have heard this album, I imagine, and you know what I mean. The highlight for me is the moody ballad "How to Disappear Completely", since the tune's elegance sticks out among all the tortured beats and Thom Yorke's usual strangulated wailing on the other tunes. There is also a nice ambient piece, "Treefingers", that impressed me (I am a big ambient fan).

The big differences between this album and its Kraut antecedents are, of course, the greater variety of technological advances available to Radiohead (I imagine most of these sounds were computer-generated), and the fact that humour plays almost no role in Radiohead's music. Kraut bands were known for the jokes and wit of their recordings- they rarely took themselves seriously, whereas Radiohead (and Yorke particulary) are mainly interesed in expressing a very bleak worldview. If you can take the doom and gloom, this is a very satisfying recording of modern rock with a definite influence from the sonic experimenters of the early 70s.

Masterpiece.

How do one start to review one of the greatest album ever released? The first time I listen to this album I was a little suprised because I expected to hear something like OK Computer/The Bends, but this was something totally different. It took some spins before I got it, and when it did the music just crawled under my skin and stayed there, its still there 7 years after its release. I keep playing this album on a regular basis and I never seem to get tired of it.

After the sucess they had with OK Computer a lot of people expected a follow up to that, and im sure they could have released an OK Computer v.2 if they wanted, but instead they created an album where they have no desire to please any critics or have any radio respect, and is more concentrated on just making good music that the fans will like, and trying something new in the process.

Trying to describe this brilliant music is hard, but I will give it a try.

Kid A is different: Free flowing, ambient, mostly electronic and recorded using computer based software. Their sounds is the sound of nighttime. Very often when I listen to this album I feel im in a big city at night, looking out my apartment window. Its raining. Its spooky. Its dark.

There are many moments of greatness on this album, small parts like a driving bassline, a fragmented vocal rhythm, a movie sample that just works, a synth cord or anything else that change the music completely. Just when you think "The National Anthem" is about to finish, a huge explosion of freestyle jazz suddenly appear and blow you away.

There are no singles on this album, atleast not in the true meaning of the word. Its an album that you listen to from start to end. The track order is excellent and it just make sense. One can really feel that they have put all their love and passion into this album.

To say Kid A is ahead of it's time is a understatement. This album is proof of the huge payoff of unrestrained artistic expression, breaking the rules of how an album or genre should sound like. Its allso proof that boxing in any great artist into any one genre is only a backwards way of looking at music that denies the potential to do something greatest.

Its perhaps not an album for everyone, but it is extremely rewarding if you do love it.

This release is the beggining of an electronic/non-commercial era.... then, a progger era, for better or for worse, musically speaking. In other words, this album breaks the "prog-or-not" controversy, most notably on their first two discs, because they incorpore here elements from progressive electronic (clearly some Brian Eno influence) and from Krautrock.

Well... let's try to analize the music contained on this.

- First of all, the classic three-guitar attack that caracterized their previous releases is absent here; in the other hand, the musicians pick up many synthetizers, drum programmings and rare arrangements in Thom's voice, creating a sound almost like industrial music or something like that. - The music style is hard to describe: a kind of electronic, ambient, krautrock...even still poppish, but progressive anyway, trust me! - The lyrics are definitely more complex and weird than before. Here some excerpts: "Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon" (from the opening track), "Ice age coming/ Let me hear both sides" (from Idioteque), "Where'd you park the car/ Clothes are all alone with the furniture" (from Morning Bell). As a conclusion: This kind of lyrics + the electronic direction + the instrumental arrangements used = extremely depressing tunes, as How to Dissapear Completely, In Limbo and the closing track. The structure of the songs is widely more complex than any previous track from OKputer of The Bends... Here, complex signatures are used to elabore the tracks... Despite it, the songs are mostly atmospheric - Treefingers as the perfect example (it reminds me any Brian Eno work), slow and finely elaborated. The several manipulated voices of Thom are very interesting, overall on the title track, which has a very special intro with a kind of electric xilophone (sound like "Gamelan").

Still a great album, it's not as good as its twin Amnesiac... maybe because this is such an experiment to start a new direction of the band, and this change is extremely strong and perhaps, hard to face to the fans. This is the main reason why the fifth star is absent.

Kind regards.

When everybody was waiting for a OK Computer II, in a certain belief that Radiohead had found their own charisma (and mainstream success), the band surprisingly not only rejected it but also made a radical transformation on their sound. Kid A shows the sparse experimentations of the predecessor in a complete abstract, opaque expressionism. Guitars were almost entirely abandoned, which upset the crowds, while tracks merely served as brood and tangible archetypes for electronic soundscapes, which worsened even more the scenario. Adding to Thom York's depressive paranoia, atmospheres were also imbued from Kraftwerk's experimental sounds to Klaus Schulze's languid and balanced nuances. The result may not be as revolutionary as many might think, but its aesthetics, this paradoxically comfortable ultra-depressive endless state, was perhaps never embraced so concisely in rock music.

Everything was processed, even voice, giving this effort a very artificial, though sensible, approach. Globally the album flows very naturally, peak points are the enigmatic introspective strangeness of the title track, the blow instruments chaotic explosions of "The National Anthem", the melancholy moan of "Limbo" and the post-dance "Idioteque". "How to Disappear Completely" touches depression in its most dark abyss, while "Morning Bell" and "Optimistic" were the most concise and radio-friendly movements of this expression.

As they refused to give the crowds more of the pills they created with OK Computer (dream rock), and decided to be more and more abstract (when the history proves rock bands move usually the opposite path), a horde of groups leaded by Coldplay had been thankful and made the favor of playing for them. But Kid A was no mistake, its unprecedented strangeness decomposes feelings in a beautiful avant-gard way, which may even be deeper than everything they've done in the past. Of course we can argue others may have done these electronic experiments many years before, and even some (Mark Kozelek) dealt with this antagonistic introspective feeling. But, somehow, after many and many listens, this combo reveals something of its own, something impenetrable and disturbing not experienced before, at least in one form.

I give these guys credit for going in a totally new direction with this release after the massive success of "OK Computer". It would have been easy to follow in the same pattern wouldn't have it ? This is such an experimental album, and where did the guitars go ? Well, they were replaced by electronics sounds for the most part. You could even ask what happened to Thom's vocals, as they are processed in many instances.

"Everything In It's Right Place" has some pretty cool vocal sounds and arrangments, with synths and electronic noises as well. "Kid A" has more processed vocals and electronics with synths after 3 minutes. "The National Anthem" is one of my favourites. It has a really good beat of drums and bass with more processed vocals. The horn section 3 minutes in is a real highlight for me,they are amazing and at times dissonant.

"How To Disappear Completely" has actual normal vocals ! And guitars ! Waves of synths and light drums add to the sound. "Treefingers" is an instrumental that has a spacey climate with a Post-Rock flavour. "Optimistic" features Yorke's mournful tinged vocals that actually shine on this catchy tune that blends into "In Limbo" a slow, drifting song. "Idioteque" has a spacey background as Thom sings the lyrics rather quickly. "Morning Bell" has more space and atmosphere with a beat. "Motion Picture Soundtrack" is a melancholic tune with a harp like melody.

This is bleak and experimental with the focus on the soundscapes. Favourite songs for me are "The National Anthem" and "Optimistic".

After the success of "OK Computer", which however was not a commercial album, Radiohead decided to direct to (once again) another direction... In Kid A, guitars are replaced by electro synth sounds. Basically the trend that could be detected in OK Computer, has been confirmed and amplified here.

The result of this experimental music is weird. I started to appreciate this album after numerous listenings, because it is very difficult for me to appreciate electro music. This album as a whole is pretty good and homogeous, but not the masterpiece that some reviewers describe

In my opinion, Kid A is not Radiohead best album ("The Bends" & "OKC" are better IMO), even if it is certainly their most progressive one. If Radiohead had made only one album selecting the best tracks of "Kid A" and "Amnesiac", this album would have been a great one.

3,5 stars

Kid A is a very interesting album, and a very unique one as well. Add another halvstar, really.

But most of all, it is uneven. Both stylisitally and quality-wise. The variation is incredible, we have electronic and up-tempo songs such as "Kid A" and "Everything in its right place", the ambient and experimental "Treefingers", and the more usual OK Computer-sounding "How to disappear completely." And it works, in places. "Everything in its right place", my favourite track on the album, with rather disturbing vocals from Thom Yorke. Pretty experimental, with tape loops and electronic sounds, sort of like what you might get if you mix kratrock with indie-pop. But darker.

Kid A is, almost more than any other album i know, a "collection of songs" rather than a smoothly running album, like OK Computer. That is because there are so many stylistical changes throughout that the only real common denominator is the lust for experimentation and Thom Yorke's uniquely desperate singing (at it's most desperate sounding in "idiotheque"). The spirit is really admirable, but sometimes the songwriting can appear as rather lazy and the mood is not as dark and hollow as it was on OK Computer.

Not entirely unsuccesful, and i definitely wouldn't have wanted the band to go on making OK Computer over and over again, but the later efforts (which i haven't yet heard) might be a bit more mature and refined, with a better balance if experimentation and songwriting. In my ears, OK Computer just feels a lot more honest. Still, a good album. Recommended for all who have already heard OK Computer.

Radiohead is one of the few bands still making music today who are, progressing, music, in my opinion. With OK Computer, they completely took everyone by surprise with their talent and beauty. Then they tried to make another album afterwards. This was difficult.Thom Yorke especially had difficulty. he would take out his guitar, starting writing a song, put the paper away, take it out again and tear it to shreds. the other band members had similar difficulties. it was clear they needed to start fresh, away from everything they had done up to that point. They started to experiment with unconventional instruments. Jonny Greenwood started playing the Ondes Martenot, Phil Selway began experimenting with electronic drums and conventional ones, Thom Yorke began using his laptop to create sounds. The resulting 30 songs were commited to 2 discs: Kid A and Amnesiac. Kid A is the superior, but Amnesiac is also amazingly groundbreaking.

Everything in it's Right place: the starting song immediately recognizes the new Radiohead sound: the electric piano played by Thom. The drums are a simple bass beat, and something is used to recreate samples of thom's voice whenever it is played. The vocal line here is simple, yet perfect. the lyrics are a light year away from Ok Computer, but the simplicity of them dazzles me.

Kid A: A simple yet gorgeous piano melody brings us into the most experimental song on the album. The bass beat is stellar, and the snare that jumps in to accompany is so athletic it drives me wild. Phil Selway is one of the best drummers I know, and he almost never leaves the standard beat. The voice is so distant and effected you cannot understand the words, but its ok.

National Anthem: A powerful bass riff leads into another great drum beat from Phil, and lots of interesting sounds overlaying it all. Thom's singing part is short and sweet, and its followed by an epic sax riff that just kills me. the horns slowly add in as the song becomes increasingly dissonant, with the bass guitar ever present beneath the genius of it all. the outro is just dissonant as hell, with the horns all blasting and squealing away.

How to Disappear Completely: First of all, my favorite song on the album. Second, the title suits the song so well its genius. Ok, well the very far off dissonant chord that stays there throughout the song is awesome. the strummed acoustic guitar is the first guitar heard on the album, and its played by Thom. Jonny uses the Ondes Martenot to create the falling notes. The lyrics are again, simplistic, but again, thats a good thing here. The chorus is very memorable, and when the strings start to build and release, my nerves are on end. Masterful ballad.

Treefingers: unlike anything Radiohead has done or would do, this song is done solely by Jonny Greenwood I believe, just on his guitar. it has a simple Beauty.

Optimistic: This song harks back to OK Computer in its lyrics and Guitar work, but it wouldn't have fit on that album. The lyrics are very though provoking, and the chorus is great. The weird bridge and the awesome outro are perfect fits in this song, and it flows seamlessly into...

In Limbo: a song basically built on guitar arpeggios of different sizes and shapes, I consider this song to be part 2 of Optimistic because of how well they flow. the lyrics continue to be interesting, and the way Thom sings them is just perfect. the overlaying guitars create a mystical aura to the music.

Idioteque: Radiohead's take on Disco. the electronic beat leads us right into it, with Thom's chanting creeps you out while intriguing you. lots of mellow sounds accompany thom on this song, and near the end Phil starts drumming and it is soooooo good!

Morning Bell: With an interesting beat in 7/4, the drums kick in. alternating between dissonance and beauty, this song is a classic radiohead track.

Motion Picture Soundtrack: Done entirely on an organ, harp, and some more Ondes Martenot, this song is the best closing song for any album ever. Gorgeous. I cannot describe it with words, you must listen yourself.

Overall, amazing album, changed the face of music.

Now this is the business, unlike its predecessor. 'Kid A' takes electronica, a genre very familiar to me, and dusts it with progressive sensibilities to create something wholly other.

The opener, 'Everything in its Right Place', is masterful. It rumbles along, offering a disjointed pastiche of sounds and samples, sounding for all the world like an anthem of the turn of the century - ominous, heady, cacophanous. This easily tops anything I've heard of theirs. How the rock critics must have struggled to draw breath, their pens poised to praise RADIOHEAD's guitar-driven angst, when they discovered what they had was not what they thought.

There is a grab-bag of influences here: those familiar with the 90s electronic scene will hear both conscious and unconscious tributes to artists who made startling stuff and achieved a small fraction of RADIOHEAD's record sales. But that quibble doesn't stop this being an enjoyable, if challenging, listen. Those familiar, for example, with THOM YORKE's tones will wonder what he's up to in the title track. Everything's muted, understated, the world-weary sound adding a veneer of sophistication to the music.

It gets weirder. A drunken brass section dissolves into minimalist electronica; wistful songs pass by in heartbreaking beauty; techno tracks tangle and twist; without a single riff or lead break RADIOHEAD create a miasma of sound that drenches the listener in compelling music. This really is an absolute treat.

By no means the best progressive electronic record of the decade - that title goes without question to ORBITAL's 'In Sides' - this record does, however, demonstrate to the masses that electronica is much more than trance, and for that we must be grateful.

Radiohead - Kid A

I will have to say, and quite defensively, that this is definitely a progressive masterpiece, or at least something quite close to a masterpiece. You heard me: progressive. Everything about this album is pristine, and it qualifies--without a doubt--as Radiohead's best to date. The overall performances, including the production value the album boasts (and with merit), and even the unique, melancholic tone, is extremely well-done, and the album deserves every bit of attention it has garnered--it is simply magnificent.

Some may find that this is a hard album to love, and this is something I'd maybe agree with; not because it is "difficult" or "slow-paced" per se, but because it is so.fresh. It is likely something you've heard bits of before in other bands, but it's also very likely that those bands were directly influenced by this one, so it's a tough call on originality (though there will always be those who claim that Radiohead do little but throw rock into their "knock-off" Aphex Twin "cover songs" and call it an album..). But forget about the naysayers, and allow yourself this treat--this experience--and please do approach with your mind open. It's not that the album is challenging really, it is that those who approach the album seem to be challenging at times, as if they do not want to enjoy it

As a side note: I will always recommend that one should build into Kid A, starting with The Bends, then maybe OK Computer (although this is my least favorite of theirs barring the mediocre debut): then tackle Kid A--one should know by that point whether or not they enjoy the band methinks, and this also gives more of an in-depth look at the developmental proceedings that built up to this album. Either way, I sincerely doubt very many will be really disappointed with this album--this just seems nearly impossible to me!

Now the music:

The album is graced with tons of subtle (and almost trademark at times) electronic noises, all of which are used tastefully in order to help create the sublime tone of the album (one of its most unique factors). The album opener, Everything In Its Right Place holds this electronic torch with pride with its glossy synth and cataclysmic vocal amenities--notice, if you want development, how the band go from nearly completely guitar-driven songs at the conclusion of OK Computer to this. No drums. No guitars.But keyboards in 5/4, loads of layered effects, and (of course) good 'ol crooning Thom Yorke. One hears this blissful cacophony and he knows this is undoubtedly one of the best album openers he's ever heard. The album continues in this vein with the follow-up "Kid A", which is even more electronically based (with a very inventive beat and some interesting interplay).by now one can't help but to wonder what he's gotten himself into, but he knows he likes it. And then.shape shift one:

The rebellious The National Anthem which is driven completely by a great, thumping bass line and heavily distorted undertones and effects (especially on Yorke's vocals). The track eventually climaxes into a crazy horn-dominated freak-out session that'll really move the aurals around in the brain. Then, another shape shift: How to Disappear Completely. This track shows the clearest hint thus far that this is still Radiohead--there is a guitar present at least.and soaring, ballad-like vocals (Think: "Fake Plastic Trees" from The Bends). It is gorgeous and is a common favorite among those who do not even like the band that much--a definite highlight of the album. Treefingers is hardly worth mentioning, as it's an ambient track that neither stands out, nor spoils the album. It's just there, letting off of the previous track, sitting, and waiting for the next.

Optimistic is probably the first song on here that really shouts Hey it's Radiohead! with any great amount of clarity. It's a great song with the quirky lyrics You can try the best you can / If you try the best you can / The best you can is good enough. It rocks, and has a very neat organ layer that really shows the band's talent for sounds (as showcased throughout this entire album--nothing sounds silly, although much of it is very odd and experimental in nature). Following "Optimistic" is In Limbo. This track is, really, the definition of "sublime". I'm not kidding. Go get a dictionary, it will be there...it re-forms and shakes and withers into many different forms as it tries to find a definite time and place to be in--much like the singular character the album follows, but I won't spoil that one for you. Following it is what may be the best track on the album, and what is certainly the climax of it in all respects. Idioteque is an amazing, albeit quite electronic, track that is up tempo, full of energy, and filled to the brim with emotion--just listen to the guy bellow! It is very convincing, and very effective.

The second to last track, Morning Bell is a strange, yet delightful song that follows an odd 5/4 pattern and an eerie, broken-chord pattern on synth. It showcases Thom's voice (but what Radiohead song doesn't?) and proves just as wonderful as anything prior to it. But then.

The final track, Motion Picture Soundtrack, though it is the longest song on the album, is in actuality short and sweet. It is very pretty and serene--almost tense even--and ends the melancholic album on a bittersweet, yet hopeful note, with the extremely well-delivered and ominous line: "I will see you / In the next life.". But wait! There's more! Keep listening through the silence to hear a nice pseudo-choir chorale-esque outro that will likely bring on chills, and because it is a major chord--it works as its own little remedy, lifting all of the melancholy away, and really giving way to death in a very hopeful and serene manner.

Radiohead is an amazing and overlooked (well, perhaps not...) modern prog act. Give this album a shot no matter who you are. It is a wonderful album and deserves to be in every prog fans' collection, regardless or age or preference.

9.0 on my scale (Treefingers is rather useless, truthfully) but easily 4 Stars on this scale. It isn't quite masterly enough to justify a full-on masterpiece rating, though. Certainly one of the definitive albums of this generation, and of progressive music, in my opinion. So, give it a try!

It must be pretty difficult for a band to decide a change in their musical direction after such a pivotal album as "OK Computer".

If they record a clone of this, they will be judged as little creative and only looking for security. If they release a totally different album some might say that their new style doesn't cope with the idea one can have about a "Radiohead" album.

And I belong to the latter category. Most of these ambient songs just don't kick me. At the very end of the album, the feeling of boredom prevails. I truly can't bear "The National Anthem" and its whole cacophony.

All these electronic experimentations are rather difficult to swallow. Fortunately, this album is on the short end (less than fifty minutes). It shows no passion, too much uniformity.

I wouldn't say that this record is bad, it might work at times, depending on your mood (at least it is how I feel). Good for meditation ("Treefingers") and relaxing ("How To Disappear Completely"). But I don't expect "Radiohead" to produce some "Tangerine Dream" type of music. Therefore, there is TD.

"Optimistic", is more of a traditional "Radiohead" song. One within an ocean of ambient moods. Another "Echo & The Bunnymen" oriented song. But that fine with me (I already have mentioned this). It is my fave from this album (but I don't like plenty of them).

Another nadir here, is the fully electro-oriented "Idioteque". A repetitive and languishing track, some sort of lamentation which would have been best avoided. The type of "press next" song IMO.

This album is a deception as far as I'm concerned but progheads might well consider this album as the first "progressive" one of the whole. Which makes sense.

Two stars.

I must tell you something about my music taste before start the review. I like more experimental songs than symphonic or electronic ones.

What really is 'Kid A'? This album carries Radiohead to another level of experimentations closed to those praticed by some R.I.O bands in the past. 'Kid A' is aAlmost as good as 'Ok Computer' despite of being much more progressive and I sure it will fit all progressive concepts you have. It taste more electronic than 'Ok Computer' and for some progressive fans this can be a problem, but it deserves the three stars almost no other Crossover band shall receive on my reviews.

What I like most about Radiohead are their depressed songs and the courage to be unique these days when most bands care only about money and fame. Where they get their inspiration? Who cares!! In the past dozen progressive bands just copied classical songs and themes, at least they make inspired and creative songs.

Radiohead almost got a great album, a little less electronic moments in 'Kid A' would make it a four or even a five stars record. I would like to have this kind of experimentation applied to 'Ok Computer'.

It actually took me quite a while to get into Radiohead. I thought it was just weird stoner music, but after borrowing In Rainbows from a friend, I decided to check out their entire catalog. Kid A is possibly the strangest disc in their discography, but it is definitely my favorite with In Rainbows (I can't really compare the two to say which one is better). Everything in its Right Place has to be the coolest electronic song ever written. Then Kid A comes along, and I wonder at how they made a nursery song synth tone drive such an awesome song. I still have never heard another song like Kid A from any band. The one track that I have tried to like over and over again is The National Anthem. I just hate the bassline; it is downright annoying. It sounds like a tone-deaf stoner trying to play bass. The song is too long, as well. How To Disappear Completely is just a gorgeously sad song. I like the next three tracks a a lot, but once the record hits Idioteque, the album becomes sublime. Morning Bell follows, a great track that was sadly redone in a poor way on the inconsistent Amnesiac, an album I think people knock more than they should. Motion Picture Soundtrack is the perfect, blissfully beautiful ending to this blissfully beautiful album.

'Kid A' - Radiohead (8/10)

When I was reffered to 'Kid A' by a friend, he deemed it as being his favourite album of all time, and that 'once you got into it, it would change your perspective of music forever.' I was warned however that the music was extremely hard to get into, and that at first listen, I would think it was the worst thing ever. He was pretty much right about everything.

I must admit, I've never quite listened to anything that's like 'Kid A.' It's one of the weirdest pieces of music I've ever listened to, and a nice kick in the face to anyone that doesn't think of Radiohead as being a progressive band.

This is truly what it means to be progressive; there are electronic and jazz influences mixed into a incredibly dense and rich soundscape. At first listen though, I honestly couldn't even get through it. It was too much for me. It was actually after about a week or so that I actually gave it the full listen it deserved, and then things started to fall into place.

This isn't music you put on 'just to listen to' while working. 'Kid A' requires your complete attention to be appreciated. There are so many musical niches in here that just need to become familiarized with, to enjoy. That's why I would have given this one star on first listen, and that's why I would give it five stars now.

Turning a new leaf.

Three years following their massive release, OK Computer, Radiohead got back into gear and made this effort. It seems that they were making sure to do nothing like they had ever done before, and in the process got rid of just about every single rock riff or heavy section that ever existed in their music and made one of the most seminal albums that would have the largest possible influence on the post and ambient scenes.

Depending on who you are this could be seen as Radiohead's greatest or worst release. Not to mention that it goes without saying that the band would never be the same following this release, their following albums being much more in this vein than in the one that originally gained the stardom on efforts like The Bends. For those who enjoy the post rock scene, this album can be seen as a blessing from above. It's constructed out of intricate sounds and devices that build an intense atmosphere and chokes you with emotion until you simply can't take it no more. This does mean, however, that they've put most of their style on the backburner. While the songs may be memorable on the whole there's never once a standout solo, riff, or moment that really makes that hair on the back of your neck stand up. Obviously that's not the point, but if you're not someone who can constantly tolerate the subtleties of the more ambient scene then this may not be an album that appeals to you.

While the album certainly works better on the whole, some of the songs do stand out. Even though the album is a mesh of sounds and a complete song cycle from beginning to end there are tunes that slightly resemble traditional songs, and these are the ones that you'll probably remember between listens. Everything In It's Right Place is a gorgeous tune that opens that album's experimentalism with brutal honesty. It's slow, spacey and ambient. Yorke's voice is given some very chilling effects to really get across the emotion that he wants to provoke. Kid A itself is even stranger than the opening track, and computerized voice over the strange ambient soundscape is somehow scarily emotional and leaves you feeling rather uneasy at the end. Idioteque is the only song that vaguely resembles the band's previous work, although with an almost danceable bass and drum rhythm and a large dose of ambience it still manages to say within the experimental feeling of the rest of the album.

While the rest of the songs may not be as memorable in between listens they still remain as solid pieces of the puzzle that make up the album. Overall, this is an album that should only be listened to if you're 'in the right mood', given that it can either be amazing or terrible depending on what day of the week that you listen to it (if you're not one for ambience and wild experimentalism on a day to day basis).

In the end this is still, for some, Radiohead's best album, for others, an album to listen to now and then. As for a recommendation for the general populous, this one is going to get 3.5 out of 5, and add that extra half star if you're one for the post rock scene. Very much not for everyone, but those who like it will like it a lot.

Children and rats...

This album shocked me a bit. Almost nothing like OK Computer, and unexpectedly ambient. But it is terrific dark ambient.

Everything is in it's right place is dark and creepy, with the clipped vocal pieces, and almost avantgarde sound. With synths spread throughout. And it is a magnificent start to the album. Yorke's high register vocals smoothly going along with the dark trippy electronic rhythms. The title track floats in with its hypnotic atmospherics and processed vocals to craft a warm, yet cold feel. with the almost danceable drum beats, this makes for a very awkward first listen. The entire album will probably give off such a vibe. So, for those uninitiated to the world of ambient, you will probably be taken aback with the first listen.

The National album keeps up with the dark, yet poppy electronic dance sound. Throbbing bass line mixed with funky drumming and the post-rock ambient build up of synths and sounds that overwhelm at times. Seeming to burn the book of standard rock music, the songs at times build up with crunchy overwhelming Wagnerian walls. How To Disappear Completely, is next, and features a sound that reminds me of Pink Floyd's Echoes at times. It is very soft and melancholic. It is an emotional peak for the album. Quite possibly my favorite song on it. This could easily go for post rock, instead of crossover. Treefingers is smooth and light ambiance, While optimistic takes a warm break from the bleak overall sound.

In Limbo returns to the dark Wagnerian dance beat that the album is steeped in. Followed by Idioteque. Idioteque opens with a head jarring thud dance beat. But when the eerie synth swells come in, this song reveals itself to be electronic bleak music at its peak. Yorke's vocals are creepy, and add so much cold texture. The lyrics are bleak, but vocals are used almost as an instrument in the vein of synths. Morning bell comes after, and features a hooking drum beat with heartless synths that rip your heart out, along with the smooth and high vocals that fit so well with the music.

The last song is Motion Picture Soundtrack. Starting off with an organ sound, that along with the rest of the album, is dark and melancholic. Then building into a full bodied and warmth that shoots itself close to you, and fills your mind with a deep sense of closure. it is a wonderful finish, and possibly my favorite song on here, along with How To Disappear.

I can give this album 4 full stars, not only for the darkness it brings forth, but for them to do so in such a strange and ambient fashion. This is experimental, it is dark, it is brooding, and it is pretty. Highly recommended, even for those who aren't fans of Radiohead.

**** somethings

What's all the fuss about?

Radiohead are admittedly a band I have been avoiding for years for various reasons, mainly because they never really seemed like the kind of band I'd enjoy. On a whim recently I got a copy of Kid A and listened the whole way through and found it to be an entirely unremarkable experience. Whilst there is nothing inherently bad about Kid A I certainly didn't see any of the things to justify some of the wild praise I have seen it receive. The first 2 or 3 songs are rather pleasant relaxing ambient rock but by about track 4 I felt distinctly bored and this feeling continued more or less to the end of the album.

After some thinking I managed to discern what I think is 'wrong' with this album - It's dilute. It just seems like Radiohead have dabbled with a bunch of genres and concepts but haven't committed to one or the other and have brought them together in a nice cohesive digestible package adhering largely to the popular rock paradigm. And while this is a commendable feat it really didn't come off for me. In the different elements I was hearing I was thinking of bands that had done it before and had done it much better. Bands like Tortoise and Tangerine Dream sprang to mind as influences that would surely not be surpassed by this release.

I'd say approach this release with caution, there certainly is something to it given it is held in high regard by a lot of people. However it is in a sense going on an adventure without leaving your house, a paradox of ambition and execution.

"Kid A" is the 4th full-length studio album by UK alternative rock act Radiohead. The album was released through Parlophone/Capitol Records in October 2000. It was recorded at multible locations and countries with producer Nigel Godrich. Following up a gigantic commercial and artistic success like "OK Computer (1997)" was always going to be a difficult task for Radiohead, but with "Kid A" they did exactly the right thing given the circumstances and went for a completely different sound and style. There had been development in the band´s sound from the debut album to "OK Computer (1997)", but the innovative musical leap they take here is huge and quite bold too.

Going from a mostly guitar/vocal dominated rock sound (although a relativey progressive and innovative one), to a predominantly electronic oriented experimental rock sound would probably kill the career of most artists, but Radiohead succeeded in convincing their listeners of their new direction, and "Kid A" proved to be yet another great commercial and artistic success for them.

The 10 track, 49:53 minutes long album works like a concept album with a dynamic flow and it´s obviously meant to be listened to as a whole journey as opposed to be listened to as out of context individual tracks (although they could easily work like that too). The music features a lot of keyboards, effects, programming, and electronic beats (and a surprising lack of guitars), but Thom Yorke´s distinct sounding voice and melancholic delivery always remind us that it is Radiohead we are listening to.

While "Kid A" is a coherent release with a great flow there are great variation between the tracks. Features like the driving bass and the brass section on "The National Anthem", the string arrangements on "How To Disappear Completely", the electronic beats on "Idioteque", and the ambient nature of "Treefingers", are some of the standout elements on the album. Tracks like "Optimistic" and "In Limbo" represents the more rock oriented part of the album, although they can by no means be called "regular" rock songs. They are far too intricate and sophisticated for that.

The album is packed in an intriguing and detailed sound production, which helps bring the best out in the adventurous tracks. Upon conclusion "Kid A" just reeks class on all parameters and you´ll struggle hard to find as adventurous and innovative an album that is also commercially successful. In that respect "Kid A" is quite a groundbreaking release and it also proves that under the right circumstances mainstream music listeners aren´t as close minded when it comes to experimental music as people might think. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Quite simply an intelligent album.

Radiohead has proven several times to be one of the best bands to emerge on the pop scene in the last 20 years or so.Inside their incredible discography,Kid A stands as a precious highlight,light years away from what was heard in The Bends or Ok Computer,and subsequently Amnesiac.

Really,what we hear here is likely to be any Krautrock band's dream:a decent(much more than that actually)mixture of eletronic music and rock n' roll.The uncanny result showcases some of the most interesting and rewarding pieces of music to date probably since punk rock went mainstream(although resemblances to prog are very few).It all gets jazzy at times,but what truly draws one's attention is the eletronic spectrum of the album as a whole,with Thom Yorke's voice working as yet another effect.Most tracks follow that mood and make up to it,from the captivating opener Everything In It's Right Place,to the almost trance-like Idioteque.But what makes Kid A almost a breathing thing is what is found in between those songs:clean,sorrowfull and silent passages such as How To Disappear Completely,and the moment of reflection namedTreefingers,all make up to the album's sad and lonely spirit.

It's a wonder how Radiohead managed to do such an inspired and expressive album,that many times seems to take a life of it's own,when everything else in current pop music sounds generic and uninspired.It's reflective,almost depressing mood is as far away from Ok Computer as the band could possibly head,and will not please everyone(and it's hard to tell just who's going to like it,really).However if you do get what this album is about,it all becomes a rewarding(possibly disturbing)experience likely to be remembered and revisited for years.For significance and musicianship alone,this one would be an undisputed 5 star record.It's remote and sparse prog references force me down to a 4,though.Being as it is,the 21st century has witnessed dangerously few masterpieces in the league of Kid A.

Yes, this is a progressive album. Ok, this is not like 70s, but is a kind of a new era of progressive rock, like Muse maybe. A very dark album, my god, they did the great computer and then this album appeared. This change is what make Radiohead a proggy band, and I really don't care what the people say of what is progessive or not, c'mon, this is an excellent record of 21centrury. A mix of a lot of styles, the electronics Kid A and Idioteque, the psychdelic side on Everything in its right place, How to dissapear completely, Treefingers. The jazzy on the fantastic bassline of The National Anthem (LOL :D), and of course, the very Radiohead touch in tunes like Optimistic, In Limbo, Morning Bell. But yeah, I listen to Motion picture soundtrack, and oh, that is a surrealistic piece, everytime I listen that song, I rembember Bergman's film "Wild Strawberrys", a fantastic film, very very dreamy.

Well, I'm not the one with the best reviews, but I do what I can do, and this is an excellent album, don't care progressive or not, just listen and let your dreams come out.

OK Computer proved that Radiohead was closer to the edge than anyone thought possible. The next logical step for them was to dive off head first.

And then there was Kid A. Never were such dark emotions and ideas explored in such a compelling (and strangely accessible) way in this the band's inarguable masterpiece. Thom Yorke can break your heart and save your soul with his eerie, sometimes painful lyrics, swelling over the moody and subtly dynamic instrumentation.

And what instrumentation it is! Theremin and violent horn stabs crash together with the indomitable bass-line in "The National Anthem" until the massive conclusion settles down into a film-noir-esque fade-out. Yorke's voice soars along with swelling orchestrations during the climax of "How to Disappear Completely", taking the listener along for an epic ride. By contrast, "Idioteque" drifts along on a slightly frantic electronic beat while Yorke drones schizophrenically about apocalypse and ruin. The overall tone of the album is set by forays into delightfully haunting sonic experimentation.

Kid A is highly recommended. Never has a nightmare sounded sweeter.

Be warned: people who discover KID A-AMNESIAC find it very hard to listen to relatively contemporary guitar-based rock again. KID A is, in other words, the future of music. Bands who ignore it and refuse to come to terms with it are simply making irrelevant and nostalgic music that can never hope to equal its influences. Bands that *have* reckoned with it, such as the Flaming Lips (see YOSHIMI) and Animal Collective, for example, are showing ways forward.

"Everything In Its Right Place" opens the album and sets the tone. Musically, everything is in the wrong place: a plaintive synth opens the album, vocals deconstruct, electronic blips dip in and out, and guitars are no where to be found. "Kid A," with its computerized robot-like vocals, continues to set the mood. "The National Anthem" picks up the pace, using actual guitars and drums, but with its electronically-treated vocals, postmodern mishmash of (seeming) free jazz horns and theremin-sounding Ondes Martenot, this is not something that could have appeared on past Radiohead albums. "How to Disappear Completely" is perhaps the most OK COMPUTER-like track on the album (and provides a nice link and bridge to the two albums), but its lyrical theme is pure KID A. The next track is an instrumental Eno-like composition called "Treefingers." A perfect beginning to an important and culturally significant album that places it beyond mere criticism.

Of course, this music didn't come out of nowhere; others such as Richard James' Aphex Twin, Bjork, the Warp label, Boards of Canada and Autechre pointed towards KID A (as did Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, and The Orb). And as I wrote in my review of OK COMPUTER, people who were shocked at KID A really shouldn't have been - OK COMPUTER represents the off- balance tottering at the fin-de-siecle edge before the fall into KID A-AMNESIAC's 21st century virtual reality. People who clamor for "OK COMPUTER PART 2" should realize that KID A-AMNESIAC *IS* the sequel, and as such, is a necessary addition to their collection after OK COMPUTER.

This is the musical equivalent of (post)cyberpunk films and books. This is music for a postmodern world which knows virtual reality is just around the corner; a post-Cold War world where capitalism and police-state apparatuses and surveillance are penetrating every corner of the global marketplace; a world where living standards are decreasing for workers and in the so-called 'third' world; a world where the trajectory of "democracy" has degenerated into a bloating corpse of hypocricy beholden to big money. This is music that anticipated George Bush's theft of the presidency, the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq War, and what's to come.

It is music for today, and as relevant as Dylan's music or Floyd's DARK SIDE were for their time.

Radiohead is, in my opinion, one of the best bands ever- if I had to come up with a list, they'd probably be second, right after Pink Floyd. This is because they often manage to create a feeling in their work that cannot be described by words- it manages to be very unique and different, yet catchy at the same time. Kid A is probably Radiohead's second best, after OK Computer, because it retains its predecessor's immaculate ability to portray society in a light not seen before, while also adding more to the mix- electronica plays a large part in the making of Kid A, and there's also a lot of krautrock in here too.

Everything's In It's Right Place begins the album with electronic menace and malice- the title seems to be an ironic description that everything is NOT in its right place, and it channels a kid of anger- at our screwed-up world, at its greedy, calculating builders, and at the blindly following sheeple that let it happen. After that comes the title track as a counterpoint- there is a feeling to this track that cannot be described, only felt- it's a certain little thing in your soul, it's there but you don't know it, and Kid A shines a little beam of light on it, exposing it. It can be a peaceful dream, or a fearful nightmare- depending on how you listen to it. The bell-like percussion and distorted vocals are the best part of the song. Then is The National Anthem, truly a monster of a song- It begins with an evil bassline, with the rest of the song anchored around it. After a bit, the rest of the song collapses around it, until it dies in a cacophony of horns. How to Disappear Completely is, in my opinion, one of the weaker tracks, because it simply doesn't do as much for me as the others before and after it- however, it's still a really good song, and depending on your mood, it may hit you just right. Treefingers is a somewhat short ambient track, that you can just drift off with. Optimistic sounds liek something from OK Computer, being more alternative rock than electronica- however, it fits in perfectly with its brethren on Kid A, being a cold, cynical song, again in contrast to its title. In Limbo has a wandering, lost feeling, and I must say it's very likely to get stuck in your head. After that, is the absolute king of this record- Idioteque, an odd experiment that works absolutely perfect in this context. The contrast is at its best here, as four sampled notes turn an otherwise dancy disco beat into a cold wasteland of feelings once again undefined; when you let it in, it latches on to these feelings you hold, and exposes them- one of the best songs ever made, and one of the best experiments ever conducted. Morning Bell is a sad, depressed song that seems to be about a divorce, and Motion Picture Soundtrack is in my opinion overrated, but it's still pretty good as a sad closing song. Though there are a few somewhat weak song, they are not bad, and much more than made up for by the amazing pieces found elsewhere on Kid A. Thus, the album receives five stars, recommended to fans of experimental and electronic music.

Well to be honest i cant listen to this album as often as it deserves to be listened to for the simple reason that it is so beautiful that if i were to listen to more than once every other month i would ruin it for myself. How to disappear completely is a masterpiece in it self but everything surrounding it is completely brilliant as well. if you havnt herd radiohead i advice you to work your way to this album.

Taking electronic to a whole new level, this album really shows that radiohead can pretty much do whatever they want to and make it sound good. i would listen to a bluegrass radiohead record. Im really not doing this album any justin.You should just go listen to it

Kid A is a huge change from Radiohead's previous release, Ok Computer. Where OK Computer combined alt pop/rock with innovative and experimental music, Kid A experiments with combining alt pop/rock with trip-hop and techno. This might sound a bit unusual, and it is actually. Thom Yorke used to be a Techno DJ before Radiohead though, and many of his influences are other Techno DJ's. The use of bleeps and beats on the album isn't a negative thing I think. The band really created a combination of music styles that works out pretty well.

The album opens with some of Radiohead's best songs ever. "Everything In Its Right Place" is a mellow masterpiece. The song features some great vocals from Yorke and the music is very trip-hop influenced. The title track even could be called Trip-Hop. It features mellow instrumentation and electronic sounding vocals over nice beats. Another excellent Trip-Hop track is "Morning Bell", which features some interesting drums and very nice sounding instrumentation and vocals. "Idioteque" is a song that features lots of Techno influence. A pounding beat is heard, while Yorke sings over it and lots of bleeps can be heard. The track is pretty good though, but might take a while to get used to. Another spacey song is "Treefingers", it's a nice instrumental that stagnates a little bit too much.

The album features some more conventional songs too (though those still are pretty experimental) "The National Anthem" features a striking bassline and interesting sound effects and horn section. The bass sounds a bit flat though, and there are live versions available that sound much more interesting. "Optimistic" is a pretty experimental track, and features some usual Radiohead hooks. It's a very solid song. "In Limbo" is pretty spacey, but not as good as a song like "optimistic". This is definitely one of the less memorable on the album. There are a few songs left to discuss, and there iss a reason for me keeping these to be discussed last. They are some of the most depressing Radiohead songs ever written. "Motion picture Soundtrack" is an unusual track, and doesn't fit with the rest of the album at all in my opinion. I don't like it much at all. "How To Disappear Completely",however, is brilliant. It features some haunting music and Thom Yorke at his best.

Kid A is experimental, and features several of the best Radiohead tracks ever, though also a few pieces that are less interesting. Also I have to say that I found the production a little flat, definitely compared to Ok Computer. Kid A is an excellent album though, and therefore I will rate it with four stars.

With the exception of a few remarkable songs, Kid A is one of the most tedious albums in my collection. And whenever the band sees fit to kick it up a notch, it's inharmonious and horrid. The lyrics do not have clear meaning- in fact, it is reported that Thom Yorke drew phrases out of a hat, but even if the words did have meaning, no one would know what the words were, since the man sings like he has just come out of oral surgery, having had four wisdom teeth extracted, and drool oozing down his mouth. Radiohead's fourth studio album is a far cry from their masterpiece, the 1997 album OK Computer. I wish I had researched more before purchasing this while still on the high of their previous record.

"Everything in Its Right Place" Rich electric piano pours over the first track, as sputtering semi-vocals sneak in. The soft organic lead singing is manipulated electronically. Memorably somber, this is one of Radiohead's greatest works, and pretty much the only one I really love on this indolent disaster.

"Kid A" The title track is more like a stripped-down version of the previous song sound-wise, but this time incorporates drums and a pitch-bent, distorted vocal melody, which is like a cancer victim singing through his mechanical larynx.

"The National Anthem" This piece has a solid bass and drum groove, with electronic noises hovering about. Obnoxious brass blasts through what has effectively become a noisy affair. Other times, it sounds like music for the Sim City video games- only not as good.

"How to Disappear Completely" A restless bass line and acoustic guitar give way to pleasant vocals. This is much closer to the Radiohead I want to hear- it is a decent mellow song with a languid vocal. Unfortunately, the music devolves into discordant strings that is painful to hear.

"Treefingers" Drowsy synthetic pads offer sleepier music from the already placid listening experience.

"Optimistic" Grungy guitar, pounding percussion and Yorke's feathery voice make for a pretty good alternative rock track with a nice interaction between the vocals and the instruments on the refrain, but nothing nearly approaching the level of most anything on Radiohead's previous album. A seemingly misplaced drum track is the conclusion.

"In Limbo" A creative guitar riff works as the anchor to this otherwise loose, floating song. Like other tracks on this album, this one turn into a noisy mush.

"Idioteque" The electronic beats and Yorke's practically unaccompanied high-pitched mumbling is like the Saturday afternoon doodling of a teenager who just got his first recording software but for whatever reason cannot open his mouth.

"Morning Bell" Flowing directly from the previous track, this has a more coherent rhythm and that delightful electric piano. But like most of the compositions (I use that term loosely) on this album, "Morning Bell" is dreary and slipshod.

"Motion Picture Soundtrack / [untitled]" Yet another dull, sluggish piece of music, this at least has dazzling keyboard. After about three minutes, there is silence. The hidden piece is just a terse, fuzzy bit of synthetic and orchestral sound, after which one may expect two minutes of silence, which is a good thing, since the listener has probably embraced slumber by then.

Kid A, despite being completely different from previous Radiohead efforts, offers a lot of variety. It is notable for being called "commerical suicide" ... ermmm.. "prog.". A lot of people say that the album is depressing. I can see how one would call How To Disappear Completely melancholy, but the rest of the album is absolute musical bliss for me. One of the reasons I listen to music for timbre, and Kid A offers a lot of it.

The first track, 'Everything In Its Right Place" has a vague electric piano and strange voices in 10/4 time. The indifferent title track (my favorite and most played song on my iPod) lacks a melody (not at all bad in my view) and sort of creates a structure of sound in my mind that can be continuously examined and enjoyed. "Kid A" has sound effects two electric piano tracks, each processed differently. Thom's voice is altered, making him sound like some sort of electronica wizard. The digitally altered drums on this piece are gorgeous. Another aspect of this track I love is the sudden changing of dynamics, which is common in electronica artists. It is very difficult to describe. "National Anthem" is pretty straight forward. Droning bass riff, ondes martenot chromatic celestial sounds, and an angry jazz band. Phil's drums are not processed in this song but still offer a lot to the music, especially when he stops playing, offering other timbre to take rise and make color. "How To Disappear Completely" features acoustic guitar, bass, ondes martenot, and a dissonant droning orchestra. "Treefingers" is something straight off of a Brian Eno album. "Optimistic" is close to OK Computer Radiohead. The song isn't spectacular, but I love how it transitions into "In Limbo". "In Limbo" is sort of a trance, guitar-driven piece. Light Fender Rhodes EP opens the song, soon to be surrounded by a beautiful transitioning guitar movement. "You're living in a fantasy world.." the guitar sort of reinforces this lyric. "Idioteque" is the most direct electronic song on Kid A. Drum machine, sampled ambient noises, and [%*!#]ing weird lyrics. I adore it. "Morning Bell" opens with a simplistic 5/4 drum beat and then Fender Rhodes alternating between minor and major chords. Thom sounds like he's holding his nose, that might just be me though. There are some crazy guitar sounds on this track- very sculptural and angular. Great dynamic changes! The final song "Motion Picture Soundtrack" is very easy imaged belonging to a make believe movie. Tearful organ chords play under Thom's sentimental voice. Eventually harps are added, the organ dies down, and there is dead silence for an uncomfortable amount of time for some. An ambient sound scape is poured out of the dark. I can only describe that sound as heavenly.

There are few albums I consider to be perfect- albums I wouldnt' change a single detail about. Of the few perfect albums I can imagine.. I prefer Kid A over them. Does that make sense? I don't know. I could go in depth in what I'm trying to say but I won't. Radiohead pulled a fast one on their fans, exposing them to the weird world of the avant-garde. And this decision created some of the most aesthetically pleasing, explorative pieces of music ever.

.1/.1

After The Bends, they were this generation's U2. After OK Computer, they were this generation's Pink Floyd. And after Kid A, they were this generation's.... um... gosh... well I guess we'll just have to call them Radiohead and speak of them in their own terms. And that my friends, is exactly the effect the band were after.

Radiohead cared about being a serious band. It's why they refused to play their first hit Creep for years, because they weren't interested in maintaining a hits-based relationship with their audience. It's why each of their first three albums reached further than the previous one. And it's why they became absolutely sick of comparisons and expectations and deliberately set out to break them by releasing an album that was a giant middle finger to what the industry and fans anticipated.

Uncomfortable with suddenly being annointed the saviour of rock and roll in the unseemly critical frenzy that greeted OK Computer, and acutely aware that whatever they followed it up with it would not be as well received, simply because that generally doesn't happen twice in a row, they decided to abandon the direction entirely and create something new and unconnected to their past. This had been done before (in fact REM had done it the previous year with Up, though that was far more accessible than Kid A) and has been done since but arguably never in such an abrupt and unsympathetic fashion. I say unsympathetic because Kid A does no hand-holding for people who came up on Just and No Surprises- it coldly dumps itself in your lap and if you can't handle it, "Well that's what Coldplay's for" is its attitude.

This was probably the most controversial record release I personally experienced. If you weren't there at the time, it's hard to capture just how upset and shocked the thousands of people who were just mad for OK Computer were the first time they heard Kid A's title track. Many, myself included, at first thought it was some bizarre April Fool's, that this wasn't the real album. When it sunk in that it was, many of us called it Metal Machine Music II- Radiohead had, deliberately or otherwise, made an unlistenable sack of garbage.

And yet you've seen that five star rating.

Because all the problems we were having with Kid A were due to our expectations. If you confront the music on its own, you find an incredibly rich and wealthy vein of things to get lost in here. The terrifying Idioteque, which cleverly and perversely inverts the musical language of raves to indicate how we all fiddle while Rome burns. The mystifying title track, where a children's music box, tribal drumming and a treated voice should spell complete disaster yet somehow end up as a sort of soothing chill-out number despite being vaguely ominous at the same time. Everything In Its Right Place where Yorke sings the stupid line "Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon" over the sort of cheap electronic pianos you had to play in school, yet produces and details the track in such a way that it becomes warm and hypnotic. The brutal The National Anthem which besides having one of the best bass lines of all time, deploys a Stax style horn section- and boy did old Radiohead fan's heads spin when those horns came in on the first listen back in 2000, what were they DOING?- and not only did it blend with the feeling of over-confidence which leads to suffering the music was creating, but the horns managed to sound like a group of people stuck in an elevator going insane and eventually eating each other- apparently the direction Yorke gave the musicians. Time and again, Radiohead do something that shouldn't work, couldn't work, and make it work by hitting just the right balance of set-up and atmosphere that with repeat listens you accept their disregard for "the way songs work" and things begin to flow into each other.

The incredibly beautiful How To Disappear Completely, where Radiohead absolutely nail the art of the slow number, after having fumbled this on OK Computer. Morning Bell's pretty and sparse melodies. A number which sounds like the band just playing together long after you've stopped expecting one in Optimistic, yet perversely sounds like it was recorded very roughly and raw on old-fashioned instruments in the midst of this electronic and very fussed over album. Another such song, though more haunted and eerie in In Limbo. The almost danceable song about divorce (I think) Morning Bell which has some very nice keyboard work. The beautiful and sad and very affecting closer Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Yes there is Treefingers but like Fitter Happier, I tried removing this from the album and found something missing. I don't mean the knowledge the track wasn't there, but the band having the balls to put in three minutes plus of uncomplicated synthesised chimes and just say "Hey whatever" to their fanbase. Treefingers is not brilliant (it's nice though) but it is part of what made the album so interesting and the sheer creativity of what else is around it just manages to keep the album in the five star area.

Not for everyone- those who like good old fashioned melody and harmony and real instruments (much of the album and the next one is Jonny and Thom fiddling with their knobs- the knobs on their equipment you dirty boys- while the other three got increasingly frustrated at not being required to actually play guitars or drums) will find this an alienating and difficult and perhaps unrewarding listen. But if you like to be challenged or are a little perverse or seek music that intends to be an artistic statement rather than something to enjoy, Kid A is a must try.

By late 2001, I had owned OK Computer for a few months, and after some initial resistance the album and the band were starting to warm on me. I didn't really want to make my next purchase The Bends, since I wasn't thrilled about buying an album I'd heard was heavily seeped in 90's rock stylistics, but I kept hearing a number of bad things about Kid A too. I knew some people who liked it, but I kept being told by people that the album was too difficult and wanky for its own sake, and that there weren't many real songs on it, and generally that it made no sense and was close to unlistenable. Eventually I decided to make Kid A my second Radiohead album, and as I started to listen I really had no idea what I'd think of the album by the end. Well, by album's end, my gut reaction was this: all the people who had told me all of these various bad things about the album were drooling idiots with no attention spans.

I have NEVER gotten the supposed excessive difficulty of this album. I mean, it's certainly a less immediately accessible album than The Bends, as it's far from the guitar rock style of that album, but I don't buy for a second the idea that Kid A is some unlistenable monster. One thing that is obvious is that this album draws from different influences than The Bends and the bulk of OK Computer; this one reeks of Brian Eno, "post-rock"/electronica, Can and even old-school free jazz (the saxophones in "National Anthem"). The thing is, though, with the possible exception of the free jazz influences, I can't buy the notion that any of these sources are really that difficult to absorb. You just have to have a taste for music that relies on more than just strong melodies and immediately understandable lyrical topics to enjoy them. True, many people essentially think that such music has no real emotional power and can only be enjoyed by pretentious people (are there really people like that around here, though?), but I find that mentality somewhere between pitiful and loathsome. I like well-done pop music too, but focusing only on melody as a worthwhile element of music (as did so many people I knew who disliked this album) while ignoring mood, texture, and half a dozen other features just seems ridiculous to me.

Why do I rate Kid A so highly? It's simple, really: every track on here works on some level that I can appreciate and enjoy. The melodies aren't usually immediately memorable, which puts off a lot of people, but that's because they aim to succeed in other ways. For instance, take what I consider the album's weakest track (which I still enjoy plenty), "In Limbo." This is actually one of the more guitar-centered tracks on the album, full of quiet arpeggiation, but what makes the track work is the disorienting, chaotic and hazy layering of the vocals. The only easily discernable lyrics in the piece come whenever Thom sings "You're living in a fantasy world," and that's fitting in a track that feels like a weird dream happening close to reality but not quite in it. In other words, it's a track that reminds me of what a limbo state would be like.

I like the album's most controversial track, the ambient instrumental "Treefingers," for a similar reason. A lot of people consider this the quintessential example of the album's problems; a boring, go-nowhere drone that should have been an outtake. The thing is, though, as with the best of Eno's ambient work, I have little difficulty associating this track with a specific mental image. Every time I listen to this track, I envision myself in a forest after dark, surrounded by endlessly tall trees with long branches. As the track develops, the branches of the trees around me bend down and grab me, slowly raising me high above the ground to a giant black mouth in the sky. It is a deeply unsettling set of images that fits a deeply unsettling track, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

The rest of the album, on the whole, is just fantastic. "Everything in its Right Place" is a perfect introduction, both in terms of establishing the album's sound (the music in the track is driven almost solely by soft, understated keyboards) and in terms of establishing the album's general mood (one of crushing paranoia, confusion and despair). I've noticed that a lot of people are bothered by the fact that the vocal melody isn't strong in any traditional sense, and that the lyrics aren't immediately coherent, and that there are a lot of backwards vocals stuffed into the background. Now, I'm not exactly somebody who automatically loves songs that include elements like this, but I am somebody who likes it when elements of this nature obviously have a point, and this track delivers. The title track, then, must have thrown fans of the band for a complete loop, as it's a total "post-rock" electronica piece that deviates far from any definition of "song" the band had previously used. What fascinates me most about the track is not the main portion, a mix of completely indiscernible processed vocals, synth textures and drum sounds that sound like they're from "Peking-O" (by Can), but rather the simple, somewhat off-kilter piano line that starts the piece and pops up again later. It reminds me a LOT of a computer game from the early 90's called The 7th Guest, which was basically a puzzle game set in a haunted house where a bunch of people died. Aside from the ridiculous upbeat ending (which still seems tacked on to me and which was one of the most shattering disappointments of my youth), that game has one of the creepiest atmospheres I have ever come across, and anything that can remind me of it is ok in my book.

"The National Anthem" is another track that a lot of fans seem to hate, though just as many seem to like it. One thing I think is a mistake is to put too much emphasis, for good or bad, on the chaotic horn soloing that largely takes over the track near the end. I think there are lots of people that basically say, "Oh, a track that has complicated free jazz discord, this automatically makes it a great track," and I also think there are a lot of people that basically say, "Oh, a track that has complicated free jazz discord, this automatically makes it horrible." Well, I know some people will disagree with me, but I really see the sax parts as a finishing touch on the song, and not the main feature (the live version on I Might be Wrong does just fine without it), so pegging one's attitude on the song to one's feeling on the horn parts seems overdone to me. I'm personally more enthralled with the simple, yet powerful bassline, the disorienting vocals, the creepy synths, and the overall paranoid effect of the piece.

"How to Disappear Completely" is the album's most accessible track (at heart it's just a sad acoustic ballad), but that's not the reason I consider it one of the highest points on the album. I mean, this is just a masterful depression anthem, with amazing synth string parts giving an epic sweep as Thom gives an amazing performance, culminating in each repetition of the line, "I'm not here, this isn't happening." And don't forget the way the sound just kinda dissolves in the end. It's probably my favorite Radiohead song, for what it's worth. Then, after "Treefingers," we come to "Optimistic," which probably would have been a more accessible track had it been made five years previous. It's a nice piece of discordant guitar rock, with guitars that (for whatever reason) remind me a lot of The Velvet Underground and a memorable melody that gets catchier with each listen.

Upon my first listen to "Idioteque," I really had no idea what I thought of it. Part of me had the reaction that I'm sure occurred in some form with a lot of listeners, namely that I didn't really like the idea of Radiohead making a song that so resembled dance pop, what with its emphasis on electronic beats. Well, in thinking that, I think I completely missed the point of the song, and I'm not just talking about the lyrics (which have a very apocalyptic feel). What the song captures perfectly for me, and I'm serious here, is a sense of utter despair at the disconnect I feel with those around me when I watch other people enjoying themselves dancing, particularly to beat-heavy music. You have to understand: I don't like dancing (in the "clubbing" sort of way) at all, but more than that I hate being around people who are enjoying themselves dancing, because it reinforces to me that I am fundamentally different from everybody else who is enjoying themselves, and watching people dance always triggers a deep (if temporary) fit of depression within me. Well, everything about this song properly captures that feeling, from the mournful chords playing over and over, to the fact that it's nearly impossible to actually dance to the song, to the weird clanging breakdown in the middle, to the paranoid, frightening vocals. This is the only song I can think of that properly captures and articulates my feelings on this, and even if this wasn't part of the intended point from the band, and even if I have other reasons to enjoy the song, this is enough to make it seem like a classic to me.

The closing two tracks always seem like a comedown to me after "Idioteque," but I still like them a lot. "Morning Bell," when you cut through the arrangements (heavily based in keyboards), is basically a pretty standard pop song, albeit one with Thom repeatedly singing "Cut the kids in half" or "Release me." And finally, "Motion Picture Soundtrack" might have started its life as an acoustic number (which Thom wanted on OK Computer), but I really like the way it's presented here. I like the idea of a song about death prominently featuring an organ (or something sounding like it), and I especially like the idea of a song with the lines, "Stop sending letters/Letters always get burned/It's not like the movies/They fed us on little white lies" including a bunch of cheesy Hollywood-style harps (in a sharp dose of irony). This is a sad, bitter, bleak song, and the fact that it ends on so much silence (I guess symbolizing death) is only appropriate.

I guess it really ends up coming down to what you want from Radiohead, and what you think they do best. I'm actually (still) a little surprised that I enjoy this album as much as I do, since I'm certainly more inclined towards guitar rock than this kind of music, but the fact remains that I feel that Radiohead do this kind of music better than they did guitar rock. Simply put, I consider this one of the most essential albums to come after 1990, and it's an absolute must for any collection.

"How can Thom Yorke understand teenage angst when he doesn't even understand how to sing" was my first reaction to listening to the copy of "Kid A" I had taken out from the library. "At least I don't have to pay for it", was my second. Just like the thousands before me who got frustrated by the satanic evil compressed in a compact disc, "Kid A", I just threw the damn thing aside.

But by the second listen, I was confounded at my previous reaction. "Wow, there IS catchy stuff on this album" and "Hmm, I've heard worse whining on a contemporary Fray album, this guy ain't so bad" were two notable quotables going through my head after "Motion Picture Soundtrack" faded out, came in and again, twiddled about and faded out again. My third, fourth, and fifth listens, proved I had an obvious addiction to the trippy textures, quelling atmospheres, and occasionally hooky melodies that could only belong to this album.

Now, it doesn't help "Kid A" that Radiohead puts their most difficult and challenging (Read: Not actually bad, though) "experiments" in the album's foreground, and decided to shove anything that could be relatively (and I would like to put an emphasis on the word relatively) commercial on side two. The album opener, "Everything in its Right Place" is downright freaky. Listening to Yorke's illegible screaming and whining alongside what sounds like a twelve year old girl singing distorted and played in reverse is probably not the best way to hook in new fans and positively influence people, you know, like a good album opener. But after a while, one will notice that the somnolent electric piano line that moodily opens the song is soothing and "Holy god's lover's son, this song actually has a pretty good melody" when you ignore the jarring backwards vocals.

The title track gives us a wonderful portrayal of childhood innocence within in the music. Whenever I hear that childish but gentle, electric piano melody, I can't help but think nostalgic thoughts of life in the town I played in and explored as a child and live so far away from now. It's that one part that just makes the entire song a highlight for me. I also like how the blissful ambiance is suddenly cut apart by the roaring "The National Anthem" which I believe, has one of the quintessential indie bass riffs of all time. We also learn that Radiohead is not devoid of a rhythm section, which finally makes it's prolonged debut here. Some people can't stand those dissonant jazz horns that appear half way through the song but I think they represent a total mental decimation mighty fine.

Bleh, but you'd be surprised at what I find filler on this album. "How to Disappear Completely", may be the unadulterated, raffinated, quintessential teenage depression anthem in the critical and Radiohead fanatic (I believe the correct term is Radiohead head) opinion but I can't understand why. It's just moves far too slow and is way too shapeless, draggy and overlong. (Wow, I must be the weirdest Radiohead fan on earth or something to dislike this song.) "Motion Picture Soundtrack" is similarly limp and self-important and way too padded. The ballads for the most part suck on this here save the eerie mid tempo ballad "Morning Bell", which is less draggy than the other two.

Everything else, despite being mixed with dark ambient elements, possesses a distinct 90's smell of grunge and indie-rock of the highest quality. Well, except for the somber ambient instrumental, "Treefingers", which get this, was what I believed the best thing on the whole album the first time I heard it. Why? Because Yorke, didn't sing on it! Ahahaha! Still, it's a quality Eno-esque keyboard doodle and certainly sounds like the soundtrack for that ghostly, never world pictured at the bottom of the album's back cover. "Optimistic" and "Idioteque", the wisely chosen singles, sound like they were also recorded in a ghostly, negative world but somehow manage to be insanely catchy distorted indie rock and psychedelic hip hop, respectively. I also have a special place for "In Limbo" in my Radiohead pantheon which really breathes life into the phrase "Your living in a fantasy world" that Yorke mutters throughout the song.

There's something one should be aware of before delving into this certain album: It's hardly pretentious at all, once one becomes acquainted with it. Yeah, yeah, "Floyd of the 90's" and all the other ridiculously pompous praise the sugar daddying critics have stuck to this band but the record itself doesn't take anything in stride. If you just pretend that you're listening to a heavily inspired but obscure indie band, you'll never find them a disappointment.

And lastly, I have no idea where all the stupid Pink Floyd comparisons the critics draw up for this record are. The entire album sounds like a teenage angsty Can with dabs of Eno during the instrumental passages. When Yorke sings, he never emotes David Gilmour but rather an emo, guilt-ridden, teenage Damo Suzuki, in my mind. He always mantralizes the lyrics and quietly mutters some gibberish under them a la Can. So, all you Floyd heads who believe the what the all the critics say better develop a taste in krautrock before buying this little piggy along with "OK Computer" for 15$ apiece at Best Buy. Shop smartly at this reviewers request, please.

Album Grade: A-

"We're not scaremongering, this is really happening"

So where does music go from here? This is one of the most frequently asked questions in the history of music, and the fact that Radiohead were able to give a rather convincing answer speaks volumes to their credibility. I was originally planning to give this disc a solid four stars, because five should only be reserved for near-perfect albums. However, it became apparent to me that Radiohead's intention was indeed to make an imperfect album. They could have done have the easy thing: take the most accessible bits of the "Kid A/Amnesiac" sessions, make a smash hit super-disc, and leave the rest of the experimental works to sit on a hard drive somewhere. Fortunately, they did the artistically brave thing, delaying gems such as "Pyramid Song" and "You and Whose Army?" and including abstract pieces such as "Treefingers." Rumor has it that the band nearly broke up when trying to agree on the tracklist for "Kid A" and I can see why. Sometimes the most historically significant works are the ones that at the time of release were most divisive. Instead of living up to commercial pressures, Radiohead took their previous international success as a license to grant themselves artistic freedom, a course too little often taken by some of the major acts in today's music scene. As for the songs themselves, some are spacey, some are beautiful, some just wash over you, and for some you may never fully understand the meaning, but that is part of what makes "Kid A" so noteworthy. To listen to "Kid A" only once and write it off as weird would do this amazing music a great disservice. The soaking reverb, the synthesized electronic textures, the influences of modern classical music: it's all here, and the studio techniques perfected here have more or less become the standard in today's pop music.

"Kid A" leaves you wanting more, but fortunately there actually is more where this came from on the wonderful but sedated "Amnesiac" and that album's B-side discs (which contain some great but under-appreciated tracks from these same sessions).

"Kid A" is an enigma, but somehow also manages to be the wave of the future.

It took me some time to finally discover this album. For me, Radiohead is defined by The Bends and OK Computer, so I had quite a few reservations about this new electronica direction that the band was striving for with Kid A and Amnesiac. I remember seeing the video for Pyramid Song on MTV and feeling a bit betrayed by this promising young act. Besides, I was still in my early teens and had so much other music to catch up with which resulted in me completely ignoring these two albums upon their initial release dates.

Eventually I did try to reconsolidate with Radiohead once they released their so called back-to-basics album Hail To The Thief but that record left me even less enthusiastic about pursuing any new explorations of the band's discography and singlehandedly pushed my discovery of Kid A another 5 years in time! I finally worked up the enthusiasm to hear Kid A after the very unimpressive encounter with In Rainbows which left me completely scratching my head about that album's highly praised reception. It turned out that Kid A was very different from what I initially expected it to be and it soon became one of my biggest discoveries of 2008!

In retrospect, Kid A really feels like the next logical step in a creative direction that Radiohead were pursuing on OK Computer by pushing the possibilities of electronica genre way beyond its initial use. Just like its predecessor, Kid A is much more about the overall experience and not so much about the individual compositions. It's a well executed performance that takes us on another bizarre ride through the minds of these highly imaginative collective and I'll live my description at that.

Kid A is probably the next best thing after the band's two alternative rock era albums and unlike the obvious influence of OK Computer, I believe that it might take another decade of reflection before everyone, including myself, will truly appreciate how influential this album really has been on the music that is being created today.

***** star songs: Everything In Its Right Place (4:11) The National Anthem (5:51)

**** star songs: Kid A (4:44) How to Disappear Completely (5:56) Treefingers (3:42) Optimistic (5:15) In Limbo (3:31) Idioteque (5:09) Morning Bell (4:35) Motion Picture Soundtrack (6:59)

Radiohead caught everyone by surprise when they released Kid A. Nobody was quite sure what to make of it. Billboard magazine gave it half a star. Rolling Stone had a headline that read "in order to save rock music, Radiohead had to destroy it". Thom Yorke at this point was being influenced by experimental electronic artists from the Warp label. The main instrument on the album is the Ondes Martenot, a French synthesizer from the 1920s. The production of Nigel Godrich is great on this album.

There is lots of spacey effects and manipulated vocals on Kid A. The follow up Amnesiac (recorded at the same time) is even more experimental but not as consistent. "Everything In It's Right Place" has odd backwards vocal effects throughout the song. There is a steady electronic bass drum sound. The Ondes Martenot here sounds like an electric piano. The title track starts with a glockenspiel(?). It has programmed beats that you would find in IDM ("Intelligent Dance Music"). The vocals sound like a computer voice. Some nice atmospheric synth sounds after 3 minutes. Great bass after 4 minutes. "The National Anthem" has a post- punk style bassline which Thom Yorke wrote when he was a teenager. A great steady beat. After 2 1/2 minutes all sorts of horns come in. They create a free-jazz style cacophony. It sounds like a real national anthem is played at the end.

"How To Disappear Completely" is the first song on the album to feature guitar. It could have been on OK Computer. Lots of strings. U2-like guitar effects. Some lovely singing from Yorke in this song. "Treefingers" sounds like ambient Eno, while "Idioteque" sounds like Aphex Twin. "Optimistic" sounds the most like OK Computer. I love the fast guitar after a minute and a half. The song ends with a jazzy/funky beat. This version of "Morning Bell" is better than the one on Amnesiac. Features a great drumbeat. More electric piano sound from the Ondes Martenot.

Some of the lyrics for the album were made by cutting random lines out of newspapers and pulling them out of a hat. On "Morning Bell" the line "cut the kids in half" is taken from an article about divorce, for example. The last song "Motion Picture Soundtrack" is based on harmonium. Parts of it remind me of Sigur Ros. A bass sound comes from cello I think. Later on there is glockenspiel(?) or celesta(?). Very nice. A very experimental mainstream album for the year 2000. Radiohead directly influenced many rock groups of the past decade to add electronic elements to their music. Not a masterpiece but great modern 'prog'. 4 stars.

Wow, when I thought I had seen it all... I don't know what happened to this band after OK Computer, but something did. Just like Talk Talk before they thought they could succeed in trying something new. The problem is, new isn't always good, and with this album the results were catastrophic.

The album is monophonic, monotonous and uninspired. All the progressive traces of earlier albums were thrown in the garbage, and we are left with plain boring repetition. Also, what happened to their lyrics? But if all that wasn't enough, just one more argument to disqualify this terrible album, the total absence of melodies.

Anyway, I can't believe how they can manage to continue fooling people into buying that what they are doing has the smallest resemblance of competent music.

Radiohead? Progressive rock? This is a contentious topic to which I have only to add that Radiohead has certainly been a leader in music evolution, whether that be pop orientation, creative song and album formats, or technological advances and achievements--and none moreso than on this album, Kid A. Therefore, my inclusion of Kid A is more intended to give special recognition to a band that has forged new innovative songwriting, performance, and marketing techniques, and this, their finest album (their only one that I fined myself listening through, start to finish.)

Favorite songs: "Optimistic" (5:16) (10/10); "Everything in Its Right Place" (4:11) (9/10); "Treefingers" (3:43) (9/10); "Kid A" (4:44) (8/10); "In Limbo" (3:31) (8/10); "The National Anthem" (5:51) (8/10); "Morning Bell" (4:34) (8/10), and; "Motion Picture Soundtrack/untitled" (6:57) (8/10).

Four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.

Let me say categorically that I am a Radiohead fan. I regard the band as the most important of recent years, but their commendable obsession with change and experimentation often goes too far, and in fact, leads them away from moments of sheer grandeur and exquisite beauty.

There is no beauty at all in this record, in fact, it's almost entirely complete nonsense, noise substituting for sound, screeching and shouting instead of vocal clarity, mess instead of form, shapeless lumps instead of songs. There is nothing whatsoever here to commend itself to any listener, other than those who seize on its determination to be obscure and obtuse as some kind of genius that is beyond their comprehension, and therefore deserves their awe and praise. That to me smacks of the Emperor's new clothes.

Following the success of OK Computer, Radiohead pretty much could have milked the sound they had mastered on that record for years, but instead, they did the complete opposite: they almost completely changed their sound on their next record; the rocking guitar leads were almost nowhere to be found, atmospheric keyboard flourishes dotted almost every song on the entire album, Thom Yorke's voice was used almost like another instrument, and, for the first time, their electronic influences were brought to the forefront. The result was Kid A, a truly progressive record in every sense of the word, albeit not in the classic symphonic prog sense.

I know it is a cliche to say "this album has to be heard from start to finish to truly appreciate it," but in the case of this record, it really is the truth. Kid A takes each listener on a wonderful journey, musically, sensually, and emotionally.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the presence of one of the most powerful songs this music fan has ever heard: How to Disappear Completely. One of the most depressing songs any rock band has ever penned, this song evokes feelings and emotions out of me that few other songs of any genre can do. The next (or first) time you listen to this song, turn all of the lights out, and turn the music up as loud as possible, to get the full effect. By the end of the song, if you are anything like me, your entire body will be covered in goosebumps.

Challenging and brooding, with beserk experimentation

Radiohead's "Kid A" is the followup to the master work "OK Computer" and really that is a hard act to follow by any standards. Yorke's incongruous vocals are a trademark for the group as are the spacey ambient waves of sound and the bleak despairing feelings conveyed. The songs are sluggish, slow, brooding, pensive with a laconic delivery. One may call Yorke's style almost lethargic and aloof, considering the relaxed loose technique and soaring high falsetto. Radiohead are always going to be in the hard-to-define basket, with the beauty of keyboard strings merged with dark ominous tones, and reflective melancholy ambience merging with a pop oriented style. The layers of sound are immersed in gentle serenity and it threatens to break out into violent distortion. Like an angry wasp that searches for that elusive flower and gives up so that it can embark on a stinging spree, the music is jarring and ubiquitous, moving from eloquent passages of beauty that massage the ears to bellicose flashes of rage. The rage is downplayed though and it becomes dreary waiting for something to happen outside of the droll slow meandering.

The album was recorded in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and Oxford and given the magic touch by producer Nigel Godrich. This is perhaps the more experimental side of the band that really focusses on electronica and subtle rhythms. You can hear Krautrock oozing from the pores of the material along with classical music. The musicianship is completely out of the box utilising such weapons as the Ondes martenot, symphonic strings and brass.

The lyrical content is abstract and hard to pin down, open to interpretation as was "OK Computer", but is nowhere near as depressing as some of their more recent material. Thom Yorke has been quoted as saying the album was never intended to be "art", but instead reflects the music they listen to at the time of recording. Listen to the dark 'Idioteque' and sounds nothing like other Radiohead songs, and that is perhaps the best and worst of what the group can achieve. The ghost track is an unwelcome component too.

The album is incredibly bleak and stark with unsettling variances in cadence. It begins with icy soundscapes that chill you to the marrow and it is a ferocious diversion from the material on other albums. It is not until we get to 'The National Anthem' that we have something that may resemble a song, and even then the vibe is off kilter. Some of the highlights include 'Optimistic' with its infectious hook, and 'Morning Bell' with some insane drumming and chiming keyboards.

The experimentation is perhaps too heavy handed for the average music listener but it still is hailed as one of Radiohead's greatest triumphs. I cannot agree with this view as it is not my style of music and its hard to sit through. I can still applaud its originality and sheer atmospherics nonetheless as one of the bleakest albums in existence.

Having been hailed as the saviours of indie rock on the strength of the prog-leaning OK Computer, Radiohead decided that they really didn't need to cultivate any more commercial ambitions and chose to focus on creating more experimental music. The end result is the sprawling mass of material which was eventually sorted into two albums - Kid A and Amnesiac.

Guitar rock isn't gone from the band's sonic pallette - it bobs up again on Optimistic, for instance, but this is a mild intermission in the midst of a morass of electronic strangeness. Beginning with Everything In Its Right Place, which combines sombre piano tones, progressive electronic distortions and dark ambient soundscapes into a finely honed statement of intent, the album sees a side of Radiohead which, thanks to the unstoppable commercial power OK Computer gave them, the record companies could no longer hold back. It's also, despite the cold aesthetic, hauntingly beautiful and at points even comforting.

In common with many other old style prog fans, I dare say, I lapped up the incredible passion and sheer progressive rock beauty of OK Computer, this on the back of The Bends, itself a loud shout to the world announcing the arrival of an intelligent rock band for the post- rock generation. I thought that Pink Floyd themselves had been reincarnated, and that the future of expansive, conceptual, spacey, progressive rock was utterly assured.

So, with the arrival of the new millennium, this came as a bit of a shock, to say the least. The dancy, trippy, Yorke wailing experimentation of the opening track, Everything In Its Right Place, the title track itself, sounding for all the world like Marvin The Paranoid Android on mogadon, came as a huge, well, it was difficult to describe.

Of course, all of this was done perfectly deliberately. I don't subscribe to the view that the band were frightened of being labelled the new prog alumini. I think it was all a little bit more subtle than that. Yorke, especially, wanted a change, and wanted the band to break the limits, and he found an especially willing accomplice in Jonny Greenwood.

This is an album which splits opinion more than most on this site. Ranging from genius to diabolical, I actually find it somewhere nearer the former. As with its predecessor, there are moments of utter, lovely, beauty on this album. The musicianship is awesome, and Colin Greenwood, especially, absolutely shines on bass, heavy and pounding virtually throughout, and on no track more than the entrancing Morning Bell, which has a bass led melody at the heart of more experimental goings-on elsewhere.

Of course, though, the main focus was on those strange vocals, and the almost complete absence of the younger Greenwood guitar that had so impressed us on the previous two works. I found Yorke's vocals, for perhaps the final time, to be fascinating here, before the new style started to grate on later works. I began, eventually, to really appreciate the almost psychotic experimentation and effects on tracks such as The National Anthem, which does, of course, bare more than a passing resemblance to early Floyd works such as Atom Heart Mother.

Because, at its heart, this is a band right at the top of its game pushing themselves, and refusing to be pigeon holed or stereotyped. Given that this could almost be a definition of classic prog artists such as Hamill/VDGG (and there is more than a little bit of that going on here), Crimson, and Floyd themselves, this is deservedly, I believe, a classic modern progressive rock album.

Of the more experimental tracks, my favourite is Idioteque, at first glance an electronic dance beat led track for the masses, but, again, repeated listens reveal it to be far more interesting and subtle than just that. The beat is hypnotic, and I swear that this is by far the finest vocal performance by Yorke ever. Yep, that's right, even more so than any of the more prog songs on other albums, because the sheer emotion of these vocals, and the exceptionally dark and cold portrayal of a relationship breakdown are utterly incredible. Not all dance influenced electronica is bad. On its own, I regard this track as a masterpiece.

It does settle down in places to something approaching recognisable. The incredibly mournful, and sadly stunning, How To Disappear Completely, is perhaps the best example. That it sounds most like tracks from the predecessor album is, I would venture to suggest, a good illustration of this reviewer's personal tastes, but those guitar bursts, combined with a delicate rhythm section, symphonic strings, and depressed vocals and wails are a joy to listen to. It is one of the finest tracks they have ever recorded, and is starkly magical. Optimistic is one of those relatively straightforward guitar led tracks that all would later hail as a "return to classic Radiohead" in later years, but, even here, the sonic effects, at times, take over and take the track to something altogether different.

This will not be an album to everyone's tastes, that is for sure. I do, however, regard it as the last great Radiohead album. It took an age for me to really appreciate it, but once I did, the time taken was worth it. In my opinion, it is the last album by the band to feature a collection of great songs, rather than just one or two gems amongst a pile of caterwauling dross.

If we had such a rating, 4.5 stars, rounded down to four, because, as excellent as it is, I do not think it is as strong as the previous two, which were both masterpieces.

It is, though, excellent, and highly recommended. Don't be afraid of the experimentation. It works here, and if you are a sucker for the harp, then Motion Picture Soundtrack makes it worth the purchase alone!

You know, judging by the massive hit 'Creep', RADIOHEAD were never going to raise any eyebrows within the Prog world. At least, that's what I always thought. Fast forward a few years and the band churns out an eclectic run of songs on an album which did raise eyebrows of music lovers the world over, regardless of genre preference, O.K. Computer. To me, it went down O.K., but that was it. Finally, having acquired the lovely double 10" vinyl package, courtesy of 'Skully'z Records', Bourbon St. New Orleans, and a fine little shop it was, I had to wait for my return to the ole homestead to give it a whirl. What a surprise this album was from the get-go. Surely it sports an 'Indie' vibe, but the clever song-craft and thirst for new sounds saw the band stretching even further out of their comfort zone and trying different things. One can most certainly discern the influence of such Kraut bands as CAN and KRAFTWERK ; it's there in the grooves, the rhythmic patterns and the other-worldly quality of the emotional out- pour of atmospheric sounds. Vocalist Thom Yorke has a soft, uber-cool falsetto voice which serves the songs well, keyboards play a large part in creating their unique blend of accessible stylings with a more personal approach. Had it not been for the lightly techno flavoured 'Idioteque', this would have been a masterpiece, as all other tracks have interesting elements on offer. Of the highest-of-highs, opener 'Everything In It's Right Place' hits the spot instantly, the eerie 'How To Disappear Completely' is out of this world, the instrumental piece 'Treefingers' is reputed to be made up entirely of guitars but sounds like anything but, and there's a superb tune with 'In Limbo'. Absolutely mesmerising. I was surprised that Yorke utilised an old Harmonium (or Pedal Organ) for the final song, 'Motion Picture Soundtrack', which rounds off the precedings with a timeless antiquity. A most excellent album of 4 stars. This is a fine example of what defines the 'Crossover Prog' sub-genre.

I love the time I spend listening to music and think of it as a pleasurable experience. But if what the music began to resemble a monstrous creature that, having somehow leapt out of the stereo, started creeping towards me slowly but surely? And if it was yet so enchanting that it paralyzed me to watch, frozen with fright, as it did so?

That weird description would aptly sum up my reaction to the first time I 'properly' heard Everything In Its Right Place. The first time I actually heard it, it sounded too unlike what Radiohead I knew and I couldn't penetrate it. When I did, I was, needless to say, mesmerized.

The repeating electronic loops of Everything in Its Right Place more or less sum up what Radiohead achieve with Kid A. It's electronic, but it's still alive, so much so that it's scary. It is just a repeating loop but it's not static; it feels like it's moving, all the time, closer to you. And powerless as you are to resist, you shall be sucked into another world, one of a cloning experiment gone horribly wrong.

What's interesting, though, is you don't really need to know much about the concept to enjoy this album. In fact, you may not need to try too hard to understand what on earth is Thom Yorke saying (or singing). I don't. It hardly matters, at least to me. Kid A portrays a powerful and hypnotic mood of the kind that's rarely heard in contemporary music. The kind that has labyrinths of seemingly infinite depth from which emanate strange sounds that you notice for the first time after having listened to the album several times..."oh, did I really miss this before!"

Everything....is hardly the only track that manages to achieve such a mesmerizing effect. How to Disappear Completely is not too far off on the creepiness quotient. I don't know whether I should feel sad for and empathize with Yorke as he sings, "I am not here, this isn't happening" or listen to the ominous sounds in the background and feel afraid. Once again, not a track that exhibits a lot of development in the conventional sense understood and favoured by progheads but its impact is profound.

Morning Bell is a little more conventionally proggy. It changes direction quite a bit and comes the closest to sounding like Pink Floyd of all tracks on this album....and it's still not a whole lot. It's decidedly a far cry from the Radiohead of OK Computer and is often even more effective than the best moments of that album...quite comfortably so.

Which brings me to the most amazing aspect of Kid A. It is one of the most incredible attempts by a rock band to reinvent itself. Very few rock bands have changed their style so drastically with their follow up to a (proclaimed) masterpiece and still retained an intangible something that's recognizable as their trademark. Robert Fripp achieved it by overhauling the line up of musicians. Radiohead did nothing of the sort for Kid A. Every band member found a role for himself in this new style and contributed to creating a radically different experience for the audience. While their execution is still convincing enough to make this drastic change of face work.

There's not a whole lot more to say about what is easily my favourite 21st century rock album. I don't think attempting to describe the tracks any further would make much sense when it comes to this album. Especially because the surprise at discovering that this is indeed Radiohead, the same band that made Bends and OK Computer, is a huge part of the experience. Magnificent masterpiece of modern rock, gets all 5 stars without hesitation.

This was actually the first album by Radiohead that I heard, and I came to it by a rather circuitous route--the only reason I heard it in the first place was because of the Punch Brothers' cover of the title track. But it turned out to be a worthwhile experience. This album is a peculiar and overall unique collection of post-rocky, poppish tracks with a gloomy, eerie atmosphere and an emphasis on bizarre experimentation. The end result is impressive and, at points, terrifying. The only outstanding flaw that could be ascribed to it is an occasional lack of energy. Even the more active songs that should be driving the album seem lifeless, and just as strange as the slower ones. The one exception is "Optimistic", one of the album's standouts for this very reason.

The opener, "Everything in Its Right Place", is another highlight. Like many of the tracks on the album, it contains very few instruments, consisting of only a clean chord progression with a barely noticeable bass pulse and Thom Yorke's voice. But the sound on which the chords are played, shifting from a muted electric-piano-like tone to a buzz in a seamlessly fluid way, is perfectly chosen. The chords themselves also are effective--almost triumphant, in a way. The piece is also peppered with electronically modified clips of the album's title and other incomprehensible phrases, while Yorke sings regularly on top.

Following this is the title track, which sounds quite similar in some ways, but the smoothly shifting chords have been replaced with plucking, bell-like tones, and supplemented with drums. Yorke's voice is also heavily modified in this piece. By becoming even more minimal, this piece ramps up the eeriness of the previous one, but it also doesn't hold my interest as easily.

After this, the band apparently decided to compensate for the sparing arrangements with "The National Anthem". A menacing, heavy bassline is soon covered up by a wailing chorus of brass instruments, which end up filling out the rest of the song. Small pieces of the resulting free-jazz meltdown are interesting, but the whole thing stretches on too long to sustain my attention, and it loses the drive that it tries to achieve at the beginning.

The album calms down again after this with "How To Disappear Completely", which is a pretty ballad on acoustic guitar which gradually gets overtaken by other ambient synth noises, string arrangements and a repetitive bassline. The melody is quite simple, but more than any other track on the disc, this one has emotional impact; it very clearly communicates a sense of melancholy. The ending, in which the strings suddenly spiral out of tune, is very effective.

After this comes an interlude in the form of "Treefingers". This track is a very slow, instrumental, and completely ambient piece, with no melody, but rather subtle shifts between bell-like tones. This gets boring very quickly for me, and while it would be ideal in the position of background music, it falls somewhat flat on its own.

Fortunately, after everything grinds to a halt with "Treefingers", the album picks up speed again with "Optimistic". It's one of the most guitar-dominated pieces on the disc, but it still keeps a droning feel throughout. The chorus breaks out of the drone with an ascending guitar pattern backed by a perfect chord progression, and gradually other sounds begin to come in over the drone and leave. What really makes this song, however, is the chord progressions--while this contains much less sonic experimentation than the rest of the album, the sound is much richer and fuller overall.

"Optimistic" suddenly turns into the totally different "In Limbo", which is almost dreamlike--it feels like two different songs being played at the same time, as the guitar and keyboard don't entirely match up. As a result, the song ends up feeling a bit cluttered, although there are times when it rises out of the chaos with a guitar line, which helps quite a bit. After a while, I also get used to the whole mishmash.

The next track, "Idioteque", is a strange piece of almost dance-like music, with electronic beats and samples from a couple of other electronic pieces, woven together in an excellent way, so that Radiohead makes it their own. The various layers involved sink out and move back in unpredictably, and the melodies added on to the samples are also good.

"Morning Bell" has little besides an electric piano line and an unusual drumbeat, both in 10/8, playing another effective melody that alternates between the conventionally gloomy mood of the album and a more upbeat style, without losing its fluidity. This piece has the droning feeling that accompanies most of the record, but it occasionally falls away from its central note in a triumphant way, accompanied by the unnerving lyric "cut the kids in half".

The album's closer, "Motion Picture Soundtrack", is a slow, ambling progression powered by an organ lead, and eventually peppered with ethereal harp glissandos and voices underneath Thom Yorke's somewhat less ethereal one. This turns out to be one of the scariest tracks on the album, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that it is extremely minimal--the glissandos just seem very wrong.

But wait! Just as you're wondering whether you're going to get any sleep that night, one last hidden track comes in, consisting just of a single swell that sounds like the combination of an orchestra tuning up and a choir of angels descending. It's an amazing sound, and a fittingly unnerving actual ending to a highly unnerving album.

This is overall a very good album, and it does best when it's trying to either be atmospheric or creepy (or ideally, both--see "Motion Picture Soundtrack") Thom Yorke's voice isn't really the most pleasant to listen to, and as mentioned above the drive is sometimes lacking, but these are minor quibbles about a mysterious and sometimes disturbing album, that manages to craft amazing ambient soundscapes with usually very minimal instrumentation. Highlights include "Everything In Its Right Place", "How To Disappear Completely", and "Optimistic".

To say I got off on the wrong foot with Radiohead is an understatement. When I discovered this web site back in 2006 I noticed that the band was considered to be in the progressive camp so I figured it was high time I gave them a listen. I'd heard of them, of course, but I'd never gone out of my way to lend an ear to their music because for all I knew they were a bunch of grunge-inspired punks trying to emulate Kurt Cobain like hundreds of others did in the 90s. Some of the prog reviewers I respected had good things to say about them, though, so I ordered the heralded "OK Computer" CD and popped it into the player. I couldn't stand it and still can't. Way too loose and un-cohesive. That experience put me off them for years until I unintentionally came into possession of their other offerings and I decided to give them another chance to impress me. I was delighted to find that both "Pablo Honey" and "The Bends" were not only listenable but quite enjoyable. What intrigued me most was the fact that Radiohead sounded different on every album, a rarity in today's music scene. But the best of their recordings I've come across so far is their fourth release, "Kid A." It's so unlike their other discs it could be another band's work altogether and I'm all about variety and risk taking in my prog preferences.

They open with the brilliant "Everything in its Right Place" that sports an unexpectedly mellow atmosphere that caught me off guard. The song feels like it's building up to some kind of explosive peak but it never climaxes and, in a strange way, I find that wickedly cool. "Kid A" is next and by now I realized that this album was turning out to be much more electronic oriented than what I'd heard coming from the group before. They were definitely burning some popular bridges this time around and exploring fresh avenues of expression. What Thom Yorke does with his voice on this cut is inventive and cutting edge. "The National Anthem" follows and it has a stronger bass and drum presence that raises the energy quotient substantially. It's very psychedelic in an early Pink Floyd motif but it's the horn melee that's the biggest and most pleasant surprise in the piece. Reminds me of what made King Crimson's underrated "Lizard" LP such a fun trip. A highlight track is "How to Disappear Completely." A lightly-strummed acoustic guitar and a wandering bass line set up the tune's melancholy mood but it's no downer. The band erects a beautiful aura around Thom's emotional vocal delivery without allowing the whole thing to become sappy. Kudos to Jonny Greenwood for his excellent orchestral score. It's delicious. I also savored the instrumental, "Treefingers." Its deep, encompassing soundscape is liquid and mesmerizing.

On "Optimistic" they really go off the reservation, especially in their approach to establishing the unusual rhythmic foundation and the subtle guitar tones they incorporate. Overall the compositional structure of the song is downright fascinating. "In Limbo" projects a stringy, fibrous texture that swirls around Yorke's unconventional melody. What I like most is how the tune dissolves into a thick soup of chaos in the end. To hell with finesse. "Idioteque" is the runt of the litter. All along I suspected they'd venture into Techno territory as they do here but I can't say I'm all that inspired with what their excursion yielded. For once they were too predictable. "Morning Bell" is a step up. Its proggier 5/4 time signature grabbed my attention immediately and I appreciate their taking a jazzier path at this juncture. Glad to hear they ain't skeered to bring foreign elements into the proceedings, too. They end on a very classy note with "Motion Picture Soundtrack." Pump organs are the nazz so I was drawn into this song's intro without hesitation. The track eventually evolves into a lush, purposely-overproduced extravaganza that I consider an extraordinarily courageous experiment that succeeded on every level. "Genchildren" is a short but not out of place aural epilogue that fits in perfectly.

I now understand why Radiohead is so revered in the music world. It's not often that one comes across a well-known group this bold and willing to depart from what their fans are anticipating they will produce next. I'd say they're not comfortable to stay in their comfort zone but, after hearing four of their CDs, I don't think they ever had one to begin with. "Kid A" debuted at the number one spot on both the US and UK album charts when it was released on October 2, 2000 and to date it has sold over four million units. It's nice to know that an entity so brave can be so widely accepted by the public. 4.1 stars.

At the end of the "OK Computer" tour, Radiohead was feeling very burned out. They all felt that they needed to take the band in another direction, but the direction they wanted to go was a matter of argument among the members. Of course, Yorke had the most say about where the band would go, but was willing to disband if everyone didn't reach an agreement where to take the band. Yorke had started listening to more electronic based bands and wanted to rely less on melody, and to use textures and treat his voice as an instrument and not necessarily the focal point with traditional melody after traditional melody playing one after another. He was really impressed with the range of emotions that were evident in different types of music, particularly electronic, and started to be influenced by Krautrock, 20th Century Classical Music and Jazz. He was also tired of the imitators that were out there, and after the success of "Ok Computer" thought it was time for the band to move on.

It is interesting that the success of the band just about brought on their demise. The members of the band had a hard time accepting that not every member would be playing on each track, and that caused a lot of arguments among the members. They tried splitting up the band so that at one time a few of them would work on song basics while the others fleshed out and finished the songs and then they would switch roles, that was everyone was involved with the music all of the time. After doing this for a while, using electronics to carry it out for the most part, the band all became convinced that this was the way to go, and "Kid A" started to come into being. In fact, there were so many songs completed, that they were going to release it as a double album, but then they decided to split it and save some of the songs for the next album "Amnesiac" which is what they did.

To me, this album is a masterpiece. Radiohead had progressed to another style of music, away from alternative based guitar rock to more of an experimental/electronic sound, and they nailed the sound on this album. This is quite a collection of emotive songs, with a lot of depth and texture, which is what Yorke was aiming for. The beautiful thing about the album is it doesn't sound like the band was stepping into unknown territory, the songs on this album are beautiful and full of emotion. Getting a lot of inspiration from Aphex Twin and a few others, Radiohead developed a new signature sound. They got away from the traditional pop format of verse-chorus formula to a more untraditional and unique way of songwriting. Yorke's vocals were sometimes processed and other times not. I feel his voice did become an instrument here, that he was able to develop different sounds to help add texture to the overall song instead of distracting from it.

There is quite a range of sounds here, including a brass section in "The National Anthem" that creates more and more dissonance as the song continues until chaos ensues. The instrumental "Treefingers" sounds like a synthesized song, but it is actually Greenwood's guitar processed by Yorke to sound ambient and electronic. "Everything in it's Right Place" and "How to Disappear Completely" processed Yorke's voice into a surprisingly beautiful texture, even taking a monotone recording of his voice and digitally altering it to create the melody. And "Idioteque" is such a unique song that uses short samples of two different electronic tracks from the 70s, that one of those creators of on of those samples (which was taken from a much longer work) actually wrote a book about "Idioteque" and the theory behind it.

This album is definitely progressive in every sense. Just because it doesn't sound like it's from the 70s doesn't mean that it is not progressive. Being progressive means not sticking with a formula, like sounding like something from the past, but it is building and developing sounds into new and exciting territories and not remaining stagnant. This is how we can consider Radiohead a progressive band. This is a masterpiece of an album and deserves all 5 stars.

I've always kind of dreaded reviewing Radiohead albums, mostly because I hear and acknowledge the artistry that the group puts into each of their releases, but it never really registers for me. Most people in my demographic enjoy Radiohead because their first encounter with the band was some sort of revelation that opened their ears to what artistic music could be. I was already deep into Yes, King Crimson, and other prog groups, so when I heard people say, "oh man you've GOT to listen to Radiohead! They're so inventive..." I immediately thought "screw you, I'm listening to a 20 minute song about transcendentalism and the flourishing of the human spirit." At any rate, its seems that one cannot be a fan of art rock without exposing oneself to Radiohead, so here we go.

I feel that Kid A is basically ambient/trance music with the occasional guitar noise and drums thrown in. Radiohead has composed a series of languid, synth-heavy songs that ebb and flow through rhythm and melancholy. The musicianship is one of subtlety and craftsmanship, creating generally moody emotions in abstract structures. There isn't a single chorus, hook, or melody that is likely to stick with the listener, but the general feeling while listening is generally quite pleasant, even if you can't really pick out what you like about it. The album feels very lazy and at times is even trance-inducing, but if you listen closer you'll actually hear quite a bit going on. I suppose for me I enjoy Kid A as sort of "avant garde light". It's crazy enough to be a weird and artistic experience, but not TOO weird and artistic as to be inaccessible. This is probably why Radiohead was so successful; they invented and created something that was just weird enough to still be popular.

As a rock album I think that Radiohead's performance on Kid A is underwhelming and forgettable. As a piece of experimental art, I think it's pretty good; however, it will definitely appeal to some much more than others, and probably for different reasons.

Songwriting: 3 - Instrumental Performances: 4 - Lyrics/Vocals: 2 - Style/Emotion/Replay: 3