[Deep Dive] The album that changed the 21st Century: 25 years of Radiohead's 'Kid A'
As our first ever Wednesday Deep Dive, I wanted to start with a record that essentially forced the world to "talk music" in a new way.
When Kid A dropped, it was a massive risk. Coming off the anthemic rock success of OK Computer, the band traded guitars for modular synths, disrupted song structures, and embraced the "warmth" of electronic alienation.
Points for Discussion:
- The "Left Turn": In an era of streaming and instant gratification, could a major artist today get away with such a radical shift in sound, or would they be "dropped" by the algorithm?
- Production vs. Emotion: Does the heavy use of the Ondes Martenot and digital processing enhance the emotional impact of Thom Yorke’s vocals, or does it create a barrier?
- Legacy: Many argue this album "killed" Britpop and ushered in the era of Indie-Electronic. Looking back, do you see it as a peak, or was it the start of a "pretentious" trend in alternative music?
What are your thoughts on Kid A? Is it a masterpiece of reinvention, or is it an over-analyzed experiment?
I'll focus on a general discussion of Kid A and touch on the "legacy" topic... I'm not qualified to speak intelligently about modern music trends or the impact of digital processing.
I was at the music store, at midnight, at Kid A's release. OK Computer, their previous album, was a masterpiece. I couldn't wait to hear what they did next. My first listen was promising. I really enjoyed, metal/prog music at the time... So i expected the album's first listen to be dense, followed by a slow digestion resulting in ultimate appreciation. Over the next few days, i became obsessed with the album. However, in hindsight, i never liked Kid A more than either OK Computer, or their next "true" album (Amnesiac was essentially Kid A 2 in my mind), hail to the thief... But i do appreciate it as a representation of the band's evolution, and would put it at #4 or 5 on my Radiohead tier list.
But for alternative music lovers of the late 90s, the transition from rock focused to electronica focused wasn't novel. For me, my first exposure to this trend was the Smashing Pumpkins. Adore (1998), the album that followed Mellon Collie, was a much bigger departure than Kid A was from OKC. Frankly, at the time Kid A struck me as a much more natural progression between albums. I remember a friend at the time (a DMB, beatles and Oasis stan) arguing that Kid A was revolutionary. Then, i thought he was being pretentious about it... But i liked Kid A so much better than Adore (i was more of a pumpkin head than a Radiohead fan then anyway) so i just nodded along. But several bands were occupying the same space already. Nine Inch Nails were a more raw version of what Radiohead was doing from the electronica pov. Zappa, Kraftwerk, King Crimson .. each with their own levels of pretention, electronica, and complexity, had laid the groundwork years previously, for the trend Kid A represented. Concurrently with Kid A, Tool was transitioning from Aenima to Lateralus... I would argue a more objectively pretentious transition than what Radiohead was doing
Overall, i think music, starting in the 60s were grappling with the technology and it's effect on society... And by extension, the music. Bowie's early stuff is just one example of that. Then, the Internet exploding in the 90s, meant bands no longer had to rely on charts and radioplay to develop a fan base outside of the home town. Therefore i believe the creative evolution of Radiohead (and tool, pumpkins, etc) was a reaction to this. I don't think creative music has "peaked.". It will continue to influence music for as long as humans have voices to sing.
Anyone recommend any modern "masterpieces" with the same spirit as Kid A?
Do you think the reason Kid A is remembered as the more 'successful' pivot is because of the songwriting, or simply because Radiohead leaned harder into the 'alienation' theme that defined the early 2000s?
Also, for a modern masterpiece in that same spirit, have you checked out Low's Hey What? It has that same 'digital destruction of melody' vibe that Kid A pioneered.
I have not heard of that album, but will definitely check it out
It's hard to appreciate now how successful okay computer was in the '90s. Everybody who watched MTV was being exposed to paranoid Android and karma Police. That's 10s of millions of people.... Maybe 100s of millions internationally. And I think that exposure captured a lot of fans who maybe would have otherwise not been exposed to Radiohead-people who were looking for a little bit more complexity and frankly weirdness in their music. So I think a bright spotlight was on the kid a release, which probably accounts for much of the acclaim (and criticism) the album received.
very interesting insight, even more because I wasn't there at that time 😂 do you think these albums have changed something in the genre afterwards?
I think Radiohead has been immensely influential. Probably one of the most influential "rock" bands in the past 40 years.
let me talk in terms of memories not just about music
is ’01 or ’02, I am just a kid going with my class for a camping trip, our bus is cruising thru the woods, early afternoon, we are not the most crazy bunch of idiots but we all have plenty of stupid ideas — so all is great, lot of laughs, some singing and so on
one of my friends comes to me, she was always the one with headphones everywhere.. and in her own world most of the time — „hey, you have to listen to this, I just know you will like this song“, she sits next to me, gives me one earbud, clicks something on her discman a few times and blasts Idioteque
song ended, I look at her, she looks at me, I am mostly processing what just happened.. and she goes „wanna listen to the entire album with me?“
if there is a way to make „fuck yeah“ face, I made it right away
the bus disappeared, all the noises, just some trees in the background flashing from time to time, we were so gone
sure, later I had to re-listen the entire album back at home but still, if there is a list of the most pleasant and spontaneous music discoveries and explorations, that was the perfect moment to just leave reality and enter the world of music
Do you find that you still associate certain landscapes or memories with specific tracks on the album, or has the music evolved into something else for you as an adult?
I mean, I don’t have any control now on how this one specific situation is just in one bag with that album, for me this is the package as I got it then and there
I have some other stories like this
but generally those memories are more people based, with appreciation for them and music has its own value.. and some form of appreciation for the artists
so.. yeah, music has its own, separate field(s) to grow on in my internal space
and that's why music is beautiful :)
Kid A is fantastic, but I feel like it always overshadows Amnesiac, which was recorded during the same sessions and has possibly the best song they ever recorded (Pyramid Song), among a bunch of other excellent tracks.
Don't sleep on Amnesiac.
The best thing about Kid A is how mad it made insufferable Radiohead fans.