Published on Oct 10, 2000
The Internet is easier to log on to. You no longer see that pale
faced record store patron wiping his or her sweaty palms. Yes, for
some music geeks out there, October 3 was a special day. For some,
myself partially, the questions were going to get answered about
one of the most anticipated follow-up albums in the last ten years.
And no, it wasn’t Green Day’s album that people were waiting
for.
Radiohead’s
Kid A has arrived and some Radiohead fans are already
discarding the album as an indulgent experiment and pining away
until the “more traditional, guitar-oriented” Radiohead album
arrives next year. However, most Radiohead fans know this is the
same way a lot of fans felt when
OK Computer first came out.
To put rumors aside,
Kid A isn’t unlistenable. It is not an angry lash-out to
alienate fans that were new patrons to the
OK Computer corral. Come to think of it, the band still only
sold less than two million copies in the U.S. That is an awesome
feat, but in the diamond-obsessed platinum market out there, those
that picked up
OK Computer and loved it will likely take a risk with
Kid A.
Unlike
OK Computer and
The Bends,
Kid A is missing what defined Radiohead: squalling guitars
of Johnny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien and the full impact of Thom
Yorke’s voice. Both musical elements are intact, but require much
closer attention. The first two songs don’t even qualify for
traditional songs. You hear blurbs, zips and what sounds like a
tripped-out Kermit moaning on the title track. It is only during
the third song that the guitars really kick in. But then they
disappear just as quickly as they formed.
Don’t worry though,
Kid A has enough to linger with listeners after the first
spin. The beautiful, ambient sonics of the title track, the
calmness of “Morning Bell,” odd as it may seem, will lock in your
head just like a Backstreet rhythm. If you’re a rocker, the fuzzy
guitar riff of “The National Anthem” will merit repeated listens.
And if you’re a melodic fan, “Optimistic” may be one of the most
pretty songs the band has ever recorded.
Much has already been analyzed by the lyrical content of
Kid A already. “Yesterday I wound up sucking on a lemon” is
the most quoted line so far in
Kid A. Could that be because that’s one of the most
decipherable lines in the album? Thom Yorke’s voice is so
distinctive that much of the lyrical content is going to be
over-analyzed and scrutinized. But fans and critics who gripe that
Kid A is too difficult are forgetting how long it took for
The Bends and
OK Computer to settle in.
Kid A is a difficult album to listen to, thank god. In an
ever-more increasing environment where albums are becoming more and
more marketing products than musical statements, Radiohead has put
out an album that makes it feel good to be a music lover again.
Drummer Phil Selway and bassist Colin Greenwood provide much-needed
rhythmic stopping points during “The National Anthem” and “In
Limbo.” In fact, the 2/3 of
Kid A could qualify as a trippy buildup to “Idioteque,”
“Morning Bell” and “Motion Picture Soundtrack.”
If you let it,
Kid A will find a way into your subconscious and keep you
returning. As a result, this difficult album will fit nicely in
between
OK Computer and the next Radiohead masterpiece. Word of
advice however: stake your claims to
Kid A now. Seven years down the road, you will have bragging
rights next time you go into a record store and spout off, “I
always thought
Kid A was their best album.” Trust me, like
Paul’s Boutique, great albums are sometimes mistook for
cast-off side projects designed to alienate a fan base that never
needed alienated to begin with.