But it is for me. A great experiment in ambient music and although I didn’t care for it the first few times I heard it, now I love it. I can’t imagine what it would be like to see them perform tracks from it live…but I am damn sure going to find out!!!
The first listen left me disappointed. Listening to it, I kept wondering when the album was going to get started. I’ve paid attention to the band from the start, but wasn’t a rabid fan until OKC. While The Bends has some good songs, I never saw in it what a lot of people seem to. OKC, on the other hand, felt like an album that worked incredibly well as a whole. I did find myself wondering how the band would follow OKC, and think they did the smart thing by making that a non-issue based on the re-invention of their art on Kid A. As I said, the first listen was a let down. But subsequent listenings have revealed what I think is the best Radiohead album to date. Where OKC dealt in bombast (really lovely bombast) Kid A is an album which uses subtlety and insinuation to get across. The guitar solos are gone, as well as straight ahead rockers, ala The Bends or Electioneering. While the music is superficially gentler then prior releases, the sound dynamics offer moments of great tension, particularly the end of National Anthem, and the whole of Idioteque. In the latter song, Thom Yorke sounds almost hysterical as he chants out the lines “Ice Age Comin’, Ice Age Comin’”. On OKC, Thom’s voice was used as a virtuoso instrument, as in the massed choir of Thom’s in the 3rd movement of Paranoid Android, and the double-tracked harmonies in Let Down. On Kid A, the voice is still used as an instrument, but rather than being constantly spotlighted is subsumed within the mix to the point that many times the lyrics are unintelligible. Usually, that bugs me somewhat, but it’s perfect for this album. On previous releases, the message was treated as being as important as the sound, while on Kid A, the sound is the message. It’s one thing to have the guts (or stupidity) to re-invent a working formula, it’s another thing to do so and succeed so wildly. Hearing that the next album will be released in about 6 months, I’m tempted to hope for more of the same. But with the release of Kid A, more of the same isn’t really the point anymore, is it?
I read a really interesting interview with Thom recently (I think it was in the excellent Brit mag, Q), where he said that the point of Kid A was to avoid melodies at all cost.
Just something to keep in mind, as you make the inevitable comparisons to their prior canon.
(Also, watch Meeting People is Easy, if you can. That explains a lot, too.)
anybody familiar with the old live version of Motion Picture Soundtrack? I like it so much better than the album version. for one thing, the last third of the lyrics sold the song to me. also, I just don’t get the whole accordion/harp thing.
other than that, great lissen. my favorite part right now is the second repeat of “Women and children first” in idioteque, where he fucks with the notes of first
gives my sad chills. that and all of in limbo
jb
Its… good.
its taken a weekend for the album to grow on me. Some tracks are still making me reach for the skip button, but over all I’m impressed. best track is probably Idioteque or motion picture soundtrack.
Good album, but you know the next album will blow it out of the water, completely.
I hate to play the “favourite track” game on albums that are meant to be listened to as a whole, but right now, my the one I like the best is “How to Disappear Completely,” followed closely by “Idioteque.”
And, yes, the next album is going to be great, in the sense of being full of great songs, like The Bends, rather than being a cohesive piece like OK Computer or Kid A.
I truly believe that OK Computer was the best album of all time. The Bends was a masterpiece. Pablo Honey was pretty damn good.
Kid A seems to me to be Radiohead saying “nyaaah… we don’t want to be a rock band anymore. We can do what we want, cos everybody loves us”.
Anyone listened to any of the mp3s on the web of the songs they decided to NOT include? They could have made a truly great album. Kid A is not it. I really really really want it to be it, but it isn’t.
Conspiracy thought: maybe they knew that after OKC, ANYTHING they produced would suffer in comparison. So they wimped out of really going for it and produced something that was intentionally a bit crap (or at least intentionally bloody weird). That way the next album will be greeted with cries of “Thank God! Radiohead’re back!”.
pan
Sometimes I think it’s better than OK Computer, I really do.
But I make it a point never to make a final decision on comparisons between albums if one is new and the other is not. I have to wait until it’s not so new anymore.
But…
It blew me away. You can tell a cd is fantastic if several times while listening to it, you have to stop all conversation and say “Jesus Christ, this is brilliant!”
Me and my friend who were listening to it said that several times throughout the night.
we played it three times in a row.
My friend said
“If I ever kill myself, it will be while listening to this album”
NOt everybody can recognize what a compliment that is, but that’s the way he meant it. It was so good he choose it for the final step in the Great Circle of Life- the songs are good enough to die to, is what he meant.
I can’t say enough good things about it.
Still, I don’t know what Kid A refers to.
there’s a weird little almost pop-arty card series form a few years back. I forget what the name of the series was, something like “Kid As Adventures in ALphabetland” or somesuch.
it was like one of those grade school primers, where for each letter of the alphabet they alliterate a few words to drill the letter home. but Kid A is this skateboard riding youngster, and what is being primed is Freudian theory.
pretty cool. I had it printed out a while back, all 28 of the cards (2 linernote-esque cards, as well), after I stumbled across it on the net. probably not hard to find with a bit of trolling.
This album is different because it’s all about creepy or disconcerting dreamscapes. at least that’s my working theory
jb
just found out something pretty dece.
go to napster, search for artist=‘radiohead’ and title=‘different japanese hidden track’. quite the range these blokes have, at least in their hidden-track-making abilities.
jb
I read somewhere…I think http://www.followmearound.com/ but don’t quote me on that, “Kid A” is the title of a children’s music software that they used to help generate some of the stuff on the album.
Or did I dream that…
My favorite Radiohead song of all time is still “Exit Music (For A Film)”
Purd, right on, man! I thought thoe comments were dead on…thanks for that.
wabbes, I was musing along the same lines, although I don’t ascribe as much conscious manipulation to the band. It would sorta fit their personalities (at least what we know of them) to kind of freak out after the success of OKC and try to reduce expectations, if only from a self-defensive standpoint.
On the other hand, if I were in their position I’d certainly be thinking “we can do whatever we want” (without the nyaaa part) and just following the muse.
The more I listen to Kid A, the more I’m convinced they’re just following their muse. And I like their muse.
I mean kabbes, of course. Dunno how I did that, the K and W aren’t even close to each other. Sheesh.
-wen
ren, thanks for the kind words, and I agree that the band is simply following their muse whilst inviting their fans along for the ride. Whether that happens or not is more up to the fans at this point then it is to the band. Considering the amount of involvement the band has through their website with their fans, it would be difficult to imagine them ever being at a point where they virtually thumb their noses at their fans. And yes, I sure like their muse as well!
jb_farley, thanks for the Napster tip to the alternative hidden track. I agree, the band shows quite a range, and it seems to still be expanding.
As for what Kid A stands for, I was wondering if it had something to do with cloning, as thematically, technology and its interaction with humans and humanity seem to be what the band is about. Seeds of this theme were found on The Bends, and blossomed full-flower on OKC. And recently, I read a reference to an interview with Thom Yorke in which he stated that indeed, Kid A refers to the first cloned child. The reference may or may not be true, but it would seem to fit considering the bands output in the recent past.
KAPITAL IMAGINARY DEATH DRIVE ACT
yeah yeah web rooting.
btw, did any of you see the webcasts? missed them all, and I do mean missed.
just bends
“i laugh until my head falls off”
Yup, that’s correct. I’ve read the same interview with Thom, and it’s fairly explicitly explained by him to signify thus.
I never did get an explanation for what, exactly, OK Computer meant, though.
I think the main thematic thrust of OKC was commentary on the shortcomings and pitfalls of living in an accelerating information based culture in which one increasingly loses, or more likely, has difficulty finding, a true sustaining sense of identity and self while going through day to day life.
The song Paranoid Android seems to be about a person feeling powerless and faceless; a cog in an impersonal machine, eventually attempting to wrest some sense of personal power by going on an office shooting spree.
Karma Police follows this up by casting other people as misunderstood alien noisemakers. The line: “He talks in maths, he buzzes like a fridge” indicates strong disassociation with those the pro/antagonist finds himself surrounded by. Then again, I’ve heard the theory that the song was a message from the band to their record company in response to the record companies request to write more radio-friendly hit songs along the lines of Creep, so draw your own conclusions.
Let Down is about rushing to get everywhere to the extent that one never feels at home in a single place, but rather passes through places only as a means of getting to some other place. The song finishes with a note of hope as indicated by the line: “Someday, you’ll know where you are.”
The song “The Tourist” reinforces the alienation theme through lines such as: “It barks at no one else but me, like it’s seen a ghost. I guess it see’s the sparks a-flowing. No one else would know.” These lines seem to infer that only a lesser animal would be in touch with nature enough to notice the otherwise invisible creature standing before it, a tourist in its own world, a mere visitor in its own skin.
The computer voice of Fitter, Happier is a litany of all the rules that one attempts to follow as a way to be a “successful” adult. Emotional, but not to much so. Following all the rules in a futile attempt to make every aspect of the chaotic reality of life tame and safe. The clincher in the song is the final line: “A pig in a cage on antibiotics.” This line suggests that by distancing ourselves from external nature, the result is that we end up distanced from our own true nature, and ultimately left in a sterile prison of our own making, afraid to really be alive. In a way, this song is very similar to the main theme in both the book and movie “Fight Club”.
While other themes are undoubtedly spoken to on the album, it’s the theme of alienation, both external and internal, which is foremost. While there’s nothing said on OKC which has not been said before, it’s said quite beautifully and powerfully on this album in my opinion.
And yes, I think about this stuff far more than I should. 
I understand the album perfectly, Purd, but I don’t think you understood my question. The Tourist is the prequel to Airbag, told from two different points of view (2nd and 1st). The album, I think, is an alien’s observations of life on earth, starting with when it crashes down, and ending with him about to crash down.
What I was wondering about was the title… Why OK, and why Computer?
Sheesh, don’t I feel the pompous fool. Please accept my apology if I came off as condescending, I certainly didn’t mean to.
You’re right Montfort, I totally missed your question. I never thought of the album from the viewpoint of an actual alien. Interesting to ponder.
As to what the actual title of OK Computer means, perhaps it simply references our giving in to technology against what should be our better judgement. Beyond that, I don’t have a clue. (In more ways then one, obviously )
Actually, it’s okay. My original reply was almost flame-like, and I had to edit it to make sure it didn’t seem like I was mad at you. I appreciated your post, but you just answered the wrong question.
I was afraid you were going to challenge me, too, for a cite on the “alien crashing into earth” theory. I read an interview from about three years ago where the interviewer asked Thom if that was the point of the album, and Thom said something like “Yes, congratulations, you’re the first one to figure that out.”
Of course, for the live of me, I’ll never ever find the link to that interview again, so I could be talking out of my ass. But, I swear that’s what I read. 