Kid A (2000)

It may be a little perverse, but if I had to stack-rank Radiohead albums Kid A would be #2 after only OK Computer. The context may be different. They’re playing different instruments, with different arrangements. But it’s still Radiohead—couldn’t, for example, “In Limbo” fit on practically any of their albums? But then there is the controversy, which I saw split two ways: 1) I knew people who were literally mad at Radiohead, thinking this album meant they had been played for fools somehow. It reminds me of the way people can be convinced David Lynch or the Coen brothers are mocking them personally in their movies. 2) Others went a different direction, mulishly declaring Kid A the best Radiohead album and the only one they liked even remotely. Which reminds me that I never did get around to the follow-up album from the same sessions, Amnesiac—just not interested enough—so I feel it’s fair to say I’m somewhat more in the middle. I like Kid A in the same way I like the others—in fragments of the songs, rarely entire songs, and apparently depending on my mood when I sit down to listen. Do the snow-capped mountain peaks and/or icebergs on the cover of Kid A give us a clue to what we’re in for? All Radiohead music is cold at some level. Lyrics and lead vocals by Thom Yorke are the usual enigmas, when they can even be made out. But there are high points to Kid A if you’re willing to let them come to you. “Everything in Its Right Place,” led by an electric piano that will be ubiquitous on this album, is not just a great opener but apparently also the most popular track on the album. “How to Disappear Completely” carries a strange and beautiful musical figure that comes creasing in to haunt you. It might be under some influence of Ennio Morricone. “The National Anthem” has trace elements of free jazz, “Optimistic” offers up a nice clanking disquieting groove, and “Motion Picture Soundtrack” sounds like it could be, notably given that guitarist Jonny Greenwood was about to embark on a Hollywood career providing movie scores. He started with 2003’s Bodysong and his credits, mostly working with director and writer Paul Thomas Anderson, include There Will Be Blood, The Master, Phantom Thread, The Power of the Dog, and more. These guys have clearly got it busting out all over.