Radiohead's Kid A: A Closer Look

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Kid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. They recorded Kid A with OK Computer producer Nigel Godrich in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and their hometown Oxford, England.

After the stress of promoting Radiohead's acclaimed 1997 album OK Computer, songwriter Thom Yorke wanted to diverge from rock music. Drawing influence from electronic music, ambient music, krautrock, jazz, and 20th-century classical music, Radiohead used instruments such as modular synthesisers, ondes Martenot, brass and strings. They processed guitar sounds, incorporated samples and loops, and manipulated their recordings with software such as Pro Tools and Cubase. Yorke wrote many lyrics by cutting up words and phrases and assembling them at random. Radiohead considered releasing the work as a double album, but decided the material was too dense; a second album of material from the sessions, Amnesiac, was released the following year.

Kid A was widely anticipated. In a departure from industry practice, Radiohead released no singles or music videos and conducted few interviews and photoshoots. Instead, they became one of the first major acts to use the internet as a promotional tool; Kid A was made available to stream and was promoted with short animated films featuring music and artwork. Bootlegs of early performances were shared on filesharing services, and the album was leaked before release. In 2000, Radiohead toured Europe in a custom-built tent without corporate logos.

Kid A debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart, and became Radiohead's first number-one album in the United States, where it sold over 207,000 copies in its first week. It has been certified platinum in Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the US and the UK. Like OK Computer, it won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Its departure from Radiohead's earlier sound divided fans and critics, and some dismissed it as pretentious, deliberately obscure, or derivative. However, Kid A later attracted wide acclaim; at the turn of the decade, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the Times ranked Kid A the greatest album of the 2000s. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it number 20 on its updated list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Other Radiohead albums include A Moon Shaped Pool, In Rainbows, The Bends, Hail to the Thief, Ok Computer, The King of Limbs and Amnesiac.

#volksgeist #radiohead #kida #altrock #postrock #music #videoessay

#radiohead

[Volksgeist]

Sign up for an annual CuriosityStream subscription and get a free Nebula subscription included and watch the FULL Kid A series:

[dfaull]

Radiohead really got three tens and a strong 9. GOAT band

[BehindtheCurtain]

I go through different seasons of listening to Radiohead and which album is my favorite. Right now it's In Rainbows. This was an excellent video.

[yacobkhari]

When I first listened to Radiohead's Kid A. It was a journey, so beautifully made, having excitement and calm all rolled into one. It was such a trip listening to the calm first 3 tracks then go into the "in your face" "The National Anthem. And the rest of the album was equally rewarding. Thanks for this vid!

[wosso]

Kid A: a depression put into music perfectly without even talking about depression. It's the feeling, the vibe you get from it that makes it so powerful and depressing but also beautiful and hopeful in a way by showing that you're not struggling alone and that you can rise from your own ashes by just saying fuck it and being who you really are

[NotAParanoidAndroid]

For me what made me love Kid A was the unsettling atmosphere, making me go out of my comfort zone.
“Art is meant to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed”

[leesnyder]

I downloaded Kid A on my ipod in like 2015 and it was during an uncomfortable time of my life. I didn't find the album to be uncomfortable or disturbing. It really comforted me

[FirstLast-kxuj]

Hey Volksgeist your daft punk video made me check them out and now RAM is one of my favorite albums of all time

[timmyteaching]

To me, OK Computer and Kid A came from some time travelers that just landed out of nowhere. They are a piece to me.

[nothingdos]

I've been getting into Radiohead more lately (for the 2nd or 3rd time). The way I absorb music is listening to an album over and over again. These past weeks I've been listening to more Kid A again, thanks for the video.

[lukecharlier]

Kid A is the greatest album ever created

[EPMTUNES]

Awesome video, great editing and videowork. The camera segments are just pleasant to look at, like even if you were speaking a foreign language it would be entertaining.

[veronicaeverheart]

oh to be a "model of perfection for the millions of people who observe you for their own pleasure"

[italadz]

I literally click so fast anytime i see one of your vids, I loved this one

[theonlywizardwashere]

One of your best videos in my opinion. I feel like some of your videos are a bit off in someway compared to other video essayists and I can't explain it but I still watch your videos because they're on topics related to my interests and are well made. I can tell you work very hard on them and you're passionate about your content. Overall I like your channel and I wish I could offer more constructive criticism instead of just "something is off", but i will say that I think whatever it is, you fixed it with this video. Keep up the great work and the hustle and I'll keep watching :)

[Aman-lsrg]

Oh my god!!!
Let alone the best album ever created by humans... This video features some great editing and music. It is clear how much effort you have put in making this video. Thanks a lot and good wishes.

[Invisbke]

Kid A was jarring, cracked the door but damn it sunk in where Ok left off. Amnesiac that followed took years of unease and beauty. I kept having to Stop. Start. Stop and age into it like I’ve never had with an album. I don’t know what it’s about, only how I feel when I listen to it. It use to scare me, now it’s comforting.
I first heard OK Computer on the way to an 11th Daydream concert at the Double Door in 97’ -I was stopped in my shoes. My life was unraveling as I was getting the first onset of a disease that would shape the next 25 years of my life to this day. I just got my first vaccine shot. It has nearly put me under. What a trip....fight to live another day and play the perfect chord.

[BLamb-kbgz]

Your videos are a beautiful piece of art. Thank you.

[owenobrien]

This is your best video yet. Thank you.

[PseudoLeopard]

Yess! Radiohead is my favorite band!! Thank you volksgeist!