I thought I'd try a little feature here where classic (or maybe not so classic) albums get a bit of discussion or maybe just another listen.

 

We'll see if the idea floats but for now here's the first one:

 

Radiohead's Kid A is one of those divisive albums where a heckuva lot of people just don't get it or plain don't like it.

Full of bits of songs that don't go anywhere and where are the bloody GUITARS!

 

I think it's an absolute masterpiece and I still listen to it on a pretty regular basis.

From the very first listen it absolutely ensnared me.

And it's not just full of bleeps and blips but it has beautiful ambient pieces, throbbing bass led behemoths, and gorgeous song writing throughout.

 

So what are your thoughts on this album?

 

And here is the entire album if you want to reacquaint yourself:

 

Rumours of its electronic-ness have been greatly exaggerated. If you take away the first two tracks and Idiotheque there's not really much electronic music left.

 

There's loads of good ideas and as someone who likes production I should like it but I doesn't work for me at all. Everything in its Right Place has some nice filter work and vocal manipulation going on. Motion Picture Soundtrack is magnificent. That's about it.

 

How to Disappear Completely is nice enough but only because it's surrounded by so many boring tracks. On OK Computer it would be poor.

 

Idiotheque is a poor man's Windlowlicker. Everything else is just weak for me. Amnesiac is much stronger. Even Hail to the Thief is a better listen.

Edited January 27, 201411 yr by AnthonyT

I probably have the least controversial opinions on Radiohead ever. I toss up between them often, but I think for me this slightly edges out "The Bends" as their second best. It took me ages to get to that point though. I've always found it kind of ironic that on this album, they didn't bother with singles, and yet pretty much every track on here is distinctive enough to work as one (well apart from, 'that' one). "How To Disappear Completely" and "Morning Picture Soundtrack" are absolutely beautiful.

This is kind of the point where radiohead lost me in the main. I was never a big fan of theirs but really liked some of their tracks. Karma Police, Creep, My Iron Lung, Just, Street Spirit, No Surprises etc. After this it was rare for anything to really grab my attention anymore. Not saying it's a bad album, just does nothing for me.

Maybe I should try again

I really tried with it but never found it involving enough, despite really warming to OK Computer and In Rainbows over the last couple of years.

This thread has inspired my to give it another try. Just got it down to remind me to put it in the car tomorrow.

Eugh, In Rainbows has to be their most over-rated album. The only one where zero songs click with me.

Eugh, In Rainbows has to be their most over-rated album. The only one where zero songs click with me.

 

Hmm. In Rainbows is probably the one I most like to listen to as a whole. House of Cards, Reckoner and Videotape are some of the standouts for me, beautiful.

 

I listened to Kid A in the middle of the night last night after seeing this thread. While not my favourite, it's got some gorgeous sounds going on, like in the title track and the weirdness of the opener... OK Computer is the most overrated one for me. I like it, but it's not my favourite at all. Not sure what it is really... I mean I looked at the tracklisting right now and I thought to myself "Oh, that's a good song, yeah that one's quite good too", but it doesn't wow me as much as it does a lot of people. Hail to the Thief is probably the most underrated one for me.

In Rainbows is brilliant, One of my favourite albums.

Listened a few times again. Nothing particularly stands out individually on the album, but definitely a stand out album as a whole. For me anyway.

Never really listened to it. I loved Pablo Honey when it came out and, although it took a while, The Bends got me eventually and I was really, really into them around OK Computer. But what was being touted as indie music in general from around 1998 - 2001 was so piss-poor (The Verve, Coldplay, Travis, Stereophonics etc) that I was barely paying any attention to the current scene (Super Furry Animals and Beta Band excepted) and was checking out old stuff from before my time such as Joy Division and The Clash. As a result, I've never really listened to it...but don't feel I'm really missing out. Might give it a whirl this morning on Spotify.

Nope, couldn't stomach more than three songs. Not for me that one. As many have said before, what's the point in Radiohead trying to be Autechre or Aphex Twin when we already have Autechre and Aphex Twin?

For a long time, this was my favourite album ever... and it still may be so now.

 

I remember the first couple of plays left me feeling as though I had lost the Radiohead I loved and treasured forever (and as it happened, I had) and if it had been released by a band I had no emotional attachment to then I'd certainly never have given it the time and repeated plays I did until it finally all clicked into place, it would have likely been viewed by me as 'the one that contained How To Disappear Completely'. I think it's a difficult album to judge in retrospect as if you're listening to it for the first time now then it will just sound like Radiohead as frustratingly they have walked a similar path ever since this album, however back in 2000 Radiohead were a band that had taken huge leaps forward with every album and this was the result of a band reaching a commercial peak and having the daring approach of using that popularity and influence to actually bring underground sounds to the fore... yes we already had Autechre before this but they were a band who were never going to break into the public's consciousness and without Radiohead the soundscapes found on the likes of Tri Repetae would have remained hidden from people for so much longer. It was an exciting time to be a fan of a band who still felt potentially revolutionary, an excitement that unfortunately would only dwindle from here on in.

 

10 Everything In It's Right Place

10 Kid A

09 The National Anthem

09 How To Disappear Completely

08 Treefingers

09 Optimistic

08 In Limbo

10 Idioteque

09 Morning Bell

10 Motion Picture Soundtrack

 

 

Just have to agree with Harve here,

Much as I love what Autechre and Aphex Twin. they could never have taken an album that contained sounds like these to #1 in either the UK or the US.

 

I see this album as doing much the same that Bowie did with Low and Heroes, taking left-field to a much larger audience.

Bit like Shania Twain's Come On Over too, then?

side splitting that!