Radiohead - Kid A
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Free Music Notes for Kid A
Free Music Review: Ice Age Comin' . Ice Age Comin' ... This is really happenin'
Hit: 5 Stars
At the time of this writing, the cover of SPIN magazine poses the question - "Radiohead: The World's Greatest Rock Band?" I haven't read the article and I think this CD is amazing, but "ROCK" band? It seems so out of context. I associate the term "rock" with a certain range of '70's sounds. The only '70's sound that I would compare this to is maybe some of Brian Eno's more atmospheric/ambient stuff twisted by the desolate, lonely but lovely vocals of Thom Yorke. I guess this sound is so different they couldn't come up with a name for it. Nonetheless this CD is incredible.Tracks 1 & 6 (Everything In Its Right Place and Optimistic) are pop songs for the new millenium. If you haven't already heard them, tune in to your local "alternative" or college radio station. If they aren't already in heavy rotation, some program manager has his or her head up their proverbial arse.
Track 2 has the distorted vocals of someone giving birth to a new musical form on the moon. The only link to gravity is the soft insistence of the drums.
Track 3 - The National Anthem - is a wilderness of sound with caucophonous saxophones and other brass that manage to barely hang on to the song structure like improv jazz ala Critters Buggin' at their least melodic. It sounds like a bad night after too much coffee, cigarettes, computer dissonance at 3 am and you're exhausted and can't sleep. Yet it hangs together at the end.
You come down from this schizophrenia with Track 4 "How to Disappear Completely" which sounds like Thom Yorke floating alone in space with a guitar strumming in the background as he contemplatively prunes his bonsai bushes on a future space station mission. A few satellites whir quietly by and whiz out of range. Trumpets float in softly with a sound reminiscent of Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain." If you found "fake plastic trees" on "The Bends" a little too much like the bands America or Bread (I did), this song will make up for it. It will not get airplay due to its slow movement and complex song structure, but deserves to be heard and is a reason in itself to own the CD. Imagine Pink Floyd at their most contemplative, softest and quietly emotional. The deep emptiness of space with all its possibilities are in this song.
Track 5 - Treefingers - is like an Eno-esque rendition of a slow, warm sunrise soundscape.
Track 8 - Idioteque is a little bit of stripped down d&b mixed with keyboard hiccups and eery Thom Yorke vocal loops that wind around each other, repeat and meet back up, creating another layer of rhythm. Unlike most of Radiohead's songs, the vocals in this one (Ice Age Comin' . Ice Age Comin' ... This is really happenin' ... Take the money and run...)lack the typical ballad structure of many of Radiohead's songs. Thom's voice is more instrument than narration, but contains social commentary and it's bouncy and catchy enough to sneak into your head and ramble around off and on throughout your day.
Compared to the rest of this CD, song #9 - Morning Bell - sounds positively sunny though it switches its moods delicately on and off in a light zephyr of sound.
Two final comments. First, the point to describing these (likely to be) lesser known tracks is because I fear that many people will take comments like "pop music" and "not so weird" to mean that it's mundane or similar to music you can find elsewhere. It's not. Though stripped down, many of the songs have subtle layerings, a comfortable groove, and a balance of the simple and complex. Second, while there are definite "hits" on this CD and songs that stand on their own, Kid A should also be appreciated as a whole and listened to in its entirety from beginning to end. If not, you risk missing the artistry, balance and emotional flow of this masterpiece.
Free Music Review: Everything In It's Right Place
Hit: 5 Stars
The opening synth line of the album was the first thing people had heard of Radiohed in a couple years. The huge commercial success of OK Computer had drained the band, and what would seem like bussiness suicide, rleased no single,. promos, or any publicity before the LP hit stores. Radiohead judged their fans well, because Kid A still is their highest selling LP to date.In Kid A, Radiohead was not merely being musically weird to just be cool or "post-modern", but it shows a true musical progression that represents the quintessential and apex of studio rock--after Kid A and her sister album, Amnesiac, a "return to rock" movement began, led by bands such as The White Stripes and The Hives, and Radiohead themselves said that their next LP (Hail to the Thief) would be a return to barer rock. Kid A is the Sgt. Pepper of this current cycle of musical progression, the peak of what their generation could produce experimentialy.
Besides this historical and theorhetical significance, Kid A is one of the most enjoyable albums to experience. It is held together so well. My main complain with Amnesiac, is that it, Side A namely, does not hold together as well as Kid A as a whole does. Be forwarned: as a Radiohead fan, it was the hardest for me to initialy absorb, but I can say now a s a music critic, that it is my favorite.
Here is my track-by-track breakdown:
1. ETIIRP-a shocking begining with a luring looped Thom repeating, "yesterday i woke up sucking a lemon" ad absurdum
2. Kid A-the group's singer/songwriter once commented that this album was dedicated to the first cloned human baby. how apropos that the tilte track would feature a electronic voice singing an eirie, yet utterly bautiful lullybye. FYI, if you search online for a 2000 concert in Berlin, Radiohead plays a stunning live version of this song that proves that Radiohead didn't loose their musicianship when they went electronica
3. TNA-have you seen the great Guy Ritchie movie, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels? the music in the chase scene sounds very similar to TNA's infectous bass riff. As Thom screams "It's holding on!", horns and synth noises sound in a chaotic symphony
4. HTDC-written during the OK Computer tours, this piece is about the presures of being a star, and wanting to just float down a muddy river
5. Treefingers-Critics of Kid A say they dont like it because there are no guitars. This peice is nothing but guitars...cut up and patched samples of guitars, mind you. just listen to the whole thing, im sure you'll learn to like it
6. Optomistic-probably the most accesible song on the album. the jam at the end is magnificant, and it leads perfectly into:
7. in limbo- a perfect illustration of Radiohead experimenting with the emerging musical field of the aimbaint movment which involves layers of music to create a textured landscape aural experience.
8. Ideoteque- a huge live favourite, this song is a fun spoof of dance club music. its lyrics are very Clash-esque apocyliptic: "ice age coming, ice coming, women and children first"
9. Morning Bell- one of the most pleasurable songs, aural-aestheticaly, however, it is also one of the most violent Radiohead pieces lyricaly. the pumping organ and snare kicks are so delightful. the musical tension echos the lyrical theme at the line "cut the kids in half" with a change to a minor key. a very catchy but somber song.
10. MPS-the masterpiece and tear-jerker of the album. it is a lovely ballad of a man who lost his loved one. for those who think Radiohead is a morbis and depressing band, i leave you with the fianl words of Kid A: "I will see you in the next life" (as a harp creates an image of ascending up to heaven)
Free Music Review: Pet Sounds 2000
Hit: 5 Stars
There is something about Radiohead, they just seem to be able to do what needs being done. Kid A, the long awaited (three year) follow up to what many call the best album of all time, OK Computer, measures up uniquely as the progression of all their previous albums. At first listen, one eyebrow raises. Does anybody really like a Radiohead album on first listen? I hated The Bends when it came out, then I loved it, I badmouthed OK Computer when it came out and have since, in repent, decided to shave a few years off my life for such blasphemy (those few years will be donated to the lifespan of the album, so, if my calculations are correct, OK Computer will fall from favor in the year 2388 plus three years from me, so that puts it at 2391...). So, am I really a good judge, a worthwhile reviewer? No. But, you are reading anyway. I am of the to-understand-Kid-A-one-must-understand-OK-Computer school of thought. I believe that all of Radiohead's releases, album releases anyway, are concept albums, and, furthermore, I believe that you can string them all together like popcorn on a string. They exist simultaneously as the past present and future of what we all can identify with, as my friend puts it, "I wasamwill-be here". If Pablo Honey (the seeds were sewn then) was about feeling isolated, different, alone, unwanted, unheard, the central character was using his one true gift of observation (that's why we all liked it so much). Then, that character moves on to The Bends, as the title suggests, the pain due to coming up too fast. That can be interpreted in many ways, and fame being only one of them, but I think, more devastatingly, our hero gets the bends just by getting up in the morning, coming up from the sea of dreams too fast, the pain of existence in a cruel and uncaring universe. In The Bends, our hero notices that the fake-plastic world is not quite all right, but through his reports (to us) he seems to be the only one who notices, all the madness, and he feels himself sinking in the quicksand, and smiling-strangers reply to his pleas for help cheerfully, they say, "We cannot help you, you are on your own..". Then, we make it to OK Computer, where man-vs.-a machine-like-society. The same ones responsible for the mini-malls and chain-conveniences, to make life better, easier (fitter, happier, more productive). OK Computer is where our wild animal is beaten and trained to heal, sit, stand, smile, all the while with fear in his eyes, remembering the training and the freedom only too well. If OK Computer was training/taming man the animal, then Kid A is the domesticated, subdued, behaved result. Kid A, on first few listens sounds a lot like AIR (French Band). While AIR has more of a seventies backdrop to their scores, Kid A is pure NOW. And, while AIR is dreamy and free, Kid A is panicky. Kid A is said to be the first cloned person, reborn into place, still in the shell of another. What an idea! Anyway, the songs are great, textured and layered and thick and gooey. Everything In It's Right Place picks up right where we left off, full of lethargic anxiety, National Anthem is just fantastic, complete with horns. How To Disappear Completely is acoustic and sweet like several of Radiohead's B-sides, with the lulling lyrics "I'm not here, this isn't happening". Optimistic is anything but, well, it's rich in sarcasm at least. Idioteque is chock full of trademark Thom Yorke falsettos, bridge chorus's, and strange mix of yodeling, screaming and slurring. Morning Bell is Bostonian, it seems. And the lush strings in Motion Picture Soundtrack make for a wonderful ending. You don't have to like this album, but you really should. Oh, yeah, be sure to tear apart the plastic packaging to find the secret hidden prize!Free Music Review: The Greatest album I have ever heard
Hit: 5 Stars
I am very critical of music. It is very hard for me to give anybody props to so called great music. After I hearing Kid A, I gonna give my first five star rating (this is only my second review on Amazon. I reviewed amnesiac and gave it four stars). I raised myself on Hip-hop music. For 18 years, the only music i would buy (not listen too. I am very opened-minded about music.)was hip-hop. I talked the wu-language (i still think wu-tang is the greatest music entity ever created.). In 97, I was first introduced to Radiohead through their fantastic video for Parnoid android ,but i didn't follow up on them and purchase Ok computer. One day during 2000, i was thinking to myself whatever happen to radiohead not knowing that ok computer was considered one of the greatest albums of all-time. To make a long story short I read i favorable review of Kid A in that stupid magazine rolling stone and it peaked my curiosty to hear this so called weird album. I purchased OK, and Kid A on the same day. Computer blew me away then i listend to Kid A and was floored by such creativity by a "mainstream" group.(other people have me made music like this they were just not a million unit selling "rock band".). This ablum is perfect in all ways possible. The closer, motion picture soundtrack, literally sends a chill down my back. "how disappear completely" (except prymaid song) is the most gorgeous song i have heard in years. Most reviewers say this album is cold and inhuman. I strongly disagree. Underneath the cold exterior and electronics beats a very human heart. This album sounds like a man scared to show his head in society and is trying to disappear from this cold world we live in. People we live in a very cold world eventhough people ignorant to the fact will tell you otherwise. Kid A is the soundtrack to our world. Listen to "in limbo" closely. It sounds like a man spiraling into madness cause he can longer deal with his surroundings. The lyrics on this album are subdued but with small pharses the message is still potent and meaningful. This album is very introverted and in my opinion (being an introvert myself)introverts are the only people who can truly understand this album for what it is. You have to be capable of contemplation and philosphizing to grasp the full effect something loud mouths are uncapable of. (i'm not insulting anyone just stating a point.) This is not, i repeat, is not diffcult or weird album (bjork is weirder). Kid A is not for everybody and that is how radiohead likes it. They are finding their true fanbase. I sick and tried of reading reviews where people complain about the lack of guitars. If you want guitars, Queens of the stone age have plenty of good guitar work (they are good band). Kid A in my opinion the greatest album of this era (excluding the Beatles it's hard to top anything they made.) Radiohead have put their reputation on the line making such a reclusive record and... this is how the world really is. Their are no fake smiles and gestures on this album. Radiohead exposes man's faults for all to see starting with Ok Computer continuing with Kid A and Amensiac. Radiohead, along with the Beatles, are the most creative and musically talented "rock" band of all-time. (This is my opinion. If i had my way, wu-tang's music would be taught at every major university to be examined and studied). Radiohead is no longer rocking your high school parties anymore. Get over it, radiohead is deeper than clothes, dating, expensive cars and being fake to fit in. Kid A is an album for people who exactly understands and has the knowledge to see what is going on around them in this world. People do not be scared of the unknown. Buy this album a listen closely. Radiohead is trying to teach you something.Free Music Review: It's like entering the Twilight Zone.
Hit: 5 Stars
Where do I begin. Well first I want to say that Kid A is tied for my favorite album ever with Nine Inch Nails "Pretty Hate Machine". This is one of those albums that you cant listen to the songs out of context it just doesn't work. Im not afraid to admit it this is the only album ever that made me cry. It's that deep, (and smoking 3 bowls of weed helps the cause too.) Kid A is god's gift to stoners. I can not get enough of this album. I can't say it's Radiohead's best album because I only have this album and OK Computer, but I like this more than OK. Kid A marked the change of Radiohead's sound form Rock and Roll, to A Pink Floyd direction. I will admit Radiohead is a little overrated by Rolling Stone and Spin but that does not change the fact that they are an amazing band. The kind of artist that comes once a generation. Thom Yorke is an incredably talented singer, he is up there with the greats like Robert Plant, and Layne Staley. As for the rest of the band they don't really make any great accomplishments on this album but thier still good. But I love the saxaphone solo on "The National Anthem". here is my revieew for each song.
1.) Everything in it's Right Place 8/10 This was my favorite song when I first got the album but as I explored deeper into the album I discovered better tracks but it's the best way to start this album.
2.) Kid A 7.5/10 A little boring but it's neccesary to complete the album.
3.) The National Anthem 9.4/10 Here is were it gets good, wow what a song, this song is mostly about the bass, and saxaphone. wow I have never herd anything else like it under the rock catgory.
4.) How to Dissapear Completley 8.4/10 Here is where it calms down a bit after the storm of the natinol anthem. really soft but neat. Thom Yorke demonstrates just how talented he truly is.
5.) Treefingers 8.7/10 the only insturmental track on the album. it's not dominated by one instrument inperticular it's a fair balance of all of them that's why it's so good. It's somehow pretty depressing.
6.) Optimistic 7.4/10 This is where it picks up the pace agian. Even though I like this song I think it kind of meeses up the pace of the album they probibly should have put in on a different record.
7.) In Limbo 9.5/10 I cant understand one word Yorke says in this song thats the beauty of it. The acoustic is terrific. the only bad thing is the ending where the song toatlly changes. without the ending I would have givin it a 10. You can't classifie this song as either soft or loud it's like right in the middle.
8.) Idioteque 9.1/10 This sounds almost identical to In Limbo just with louder drums and you can understand what Yorke says. this is the last at all loud song.
9.)Morning Bell 9.9/10 This is it folks. this was the part that I busted into tears at. It's that meloncholy. my favorite song off the album. probibly my 2nd favorite Radiohead song. 1st being Subterranean Homesick Alien off of OK Computer. get high and listen to this song it's amazing. words cant describe it just listen. this is reason enough to purchase the album.
10.) Motion Picture Soundtrack 8.9/10 The softest song on the album and a great way to end it. I have no idea what instrument that is in the background but it's still really good.
I strongly recomend this album to anyone with taste, does illegal activitys (if you know what i mean). but i don't recomend it to someone who is sucidal cuz the work of album just might make you kill yourself. You have to have paitence though and be willing to sit down and listen to the entire thing. but don't let that discourage you. Any Radiohead fan will truly apperciate this.