Kid A is blowing my fucking mind!

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own your face off? ha! i love it. :up:

amazing that it's very nearly 5 years old...almost like how it's been close to 5 years since radiohead performed these songs on snl...that was an amazing show.
 
Zoomerang96 said:
own your face off? ha! i love it. :up:

amazing that it's very nearly 5 years old...almost like how it's been close to 5 years since radiohead performed these songs on snl...that was an amazing show.

I still have those performances on VHS...the same tape, of course, featuring U2 when they were on--you guessed it--a number of weeks later. I still bust 'er out every now and again (for purposes of nostalgia). I remember hearing Radiohead's performance of "National Anthem" being described as "ugly music." That made me laugh.

And, yes. Kid A is wont to leave one faceless. You know what I'm talking about...
 
I love this album, but I immediately preferred Amnesiac when it came out and still do. That's when a lot of Radiohead fans started turning into haters; I know many who don't care for Amnesiac or Hail to the Thief. I do feel that Amnesiac is more personal, and it hits me more on an emotional level.

Anyway, I remember reading a quote about how Kid A and Amnesiac are not only from the same recording sessions, but are two perspectives on similar subjects or themes. The Kid A view is cold and distanced, and Amnesiac is, as Yorke said, "right in the middle of the fire", or something to that effect. One song that perfectly illustrates this dichotomy is "Morning Bell", which appears on both albums. On Kid A, it sounds very paranoid and ominous. But on Amnesiac, it almost sounds angelic and liberating. With the lyrics saying things like "cut the kids in half", it sounds like this is about the ending of a marriage. Which can be something absolutely devastating, but yet can free someone at the same time. When you hear Thom singing "release me", it's plaintively helpless in the first version, but almost triumphant in the follow up. I don't know if that makes sense but take another listen and see what you think.

Everything in Its Right Place might be in my top 10 Radiohead songs, but frankly there's nothing on Kid A that reaches the majestic beauty of Pyramid Song or the out-of-left-field genius of Life in a Glasshouse. Listen to that New Orleans dirge now in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and it's even more poignant than it was before.
 
lazarus said:

Anyway, I remember reading a quote about how Kid A and Amnesiac are not only from the same recording sessions, but are two perspectives on similar subjects or themes. The Kid A view is cold and distanced, and Amnesiac is, as Yorke said, "right in the middle of the fire", or something to that effect. One song that perfectly illustrates this dichotomy is "Morning Bell", which appears on both albums. On Kid A, it sounds very paranoid and ominous. But on Amnesiac, it almost sounds angelic and liberating. With the lyrics saying things like "cut the kids in half", it sounds like this is about the ending of a marriage. Which can be something absolutely devastating, but yet can free someone at the same time. When you hear Thom singing "release me", it's plaintively helpless in the first version, but almost triumphant in the follow up. I don't know if that makes sense but take another listen and see what you think.

Everything in Its Right Place might be in my top 10 Radiohead songs, but frankly there's nothing on Kid A that reaches the majestic beauty of Pyramid Song or the out-of-left-field genius of Life in a Glasshouse. Listen to that New Orleans dirge now in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and it's even more poignant than it was before.

:ohmy:

I HAVE to get Amnesiac now! I listened to Kid A in my car today.. to and from work. Everything's In It's Right Place sounded fucking beautiful early in the morning.

:drool:
 
Oh my god.........

Optimistic/In Limbo...... my fav part of the album right now!

:drool: :drool: :drool:



What?... don't look at me like I'm a johnny-come-lately!

:shifty:

:wink:
 
Btw, great post there.. If You Shout! Good to know the album means so much to you! I wanted to reply earlier but it was getting late last night.

Wow... can't believe I dismissed this album back in 2000 just cos it didn't have enough guitar!
 
There's a ton of guitar, it's just that most of it doesn't sound like a guitar...
 
nothing beats playing air bass, martha. NOTHING.

especially if you play it really high...geddy lee style.

oh yeah...THAT'S the shit. :drool:
 
"Red wine and sleeping pills
help me get back into your arms."

One of the best couplets I've ever heard in a song (one of the best I've ever heard) which I wouldn't hesitate to call one of the best I've ever heard. Such beauty, such heartbreak, such painfully uplifting (???) desolation. And, like most of the great ones, it's able to make me feel like it was written not about somebody or something, but about ME.

God damn it. I really don't have time or emotional stability enough, right now, to fall back in love with this album.
 
Zootlesque said:
Btw, great post there.. If You Shout! Good to know the album means so much to you! I wanted to reply earlier but it was getting late last night.

Wow... can't believe I dismissed this album back in 2000 just cos it didn't have enough guitar!

Oh, and thank you for reading and "appreciating," for lack of a better word, Zootlesque. Glad to know somebody else is reading, listening, and feeling it.
 
Zootlesque said:


:ohmy:

I HAVE to get Amnesiac now!

Fuck yes! Amnesiac is amazing - don't listen to the naysayers. It took me longer to get into Kid A than Amnesiac. Even still, I think Kid A is the better of the two, but Amnesiac isn't very far behind. Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box, Pyramid Song, You And Whose Army?, I Might Be Wrong, Knives Out, and Dollars & Cents are perfection.
 
Amnesiac has brilliant songs on it, but I don't think it is as good as Kid A (or The Bends, OK Computer or Hail to the Thief for that matter) just because of a few weak songs (Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors, Hunting Bears, Morning Bell is better on Kid A, and Like Spinning Plates is better with the live piano version on the I Might Be Wrong Live Recordings). Still highly recommended.
 
Kid A is a beautiful, gorgeous record. However, it is the absolute most depressing record of the Radiohead catalog. I can't listen to it without wanting to kill myself afterwards :wink:

NOTE: I am not actually suicidal.
 
namkcuR said:

NOTE: I am not actually suicidal.

:lol:

Really? You really think it's depressing? More than OKC? Maybe cos you're paying too much attention to the lyrics!

I see it as one of the most relaxing records out there that I can just sink into... esp. with something like the first track!

:drool:
 
Zootlesque said:


:lol:

Really? You really think it's depressing? More than OKC? Maybe cos you're paying too much attention to the lyrics!

I see it as one of the most relaxing records out there that I can just sink into... esp. with something like the first track!

:drool:

There are two songs on the record that I find utterly depressing: How To Disappear Completely and Motion Picture Soundtrack. How To Disappear is, imo, one of the most gorgeous songs in the RH catalog, but the lyrics are morbid(I'm not here/this isn't happening). And I can't put my finger on why, but the closing track, MPS, always leaves me wanting to cry for no apparent reason. There is a lot of heartache in that song.
 
Does any one else see the Radiohead as the E. E. Cummings of music connection?
 
namkcuR said:
And I can't put my finger on why, but the closing track, MPS, always leaves me wanting to cry for no apparent reason. There is a lot of heartache in that song.
i absolutely LOVE motion picture soundtrack for that very reason. :heart:
 
namkcuR said:
Kid A is a beautiful, gorgeous record. However, it is the absolute most depressing record of the Radiohead catalog. I can't listen to it without wanting to kill myself afterwards :wink:

NOTE: I am not actually suicidal.

i feel like that after listening to OK Computer. I find that album disturbing for some reason. more disturbing than Kid A. I think Kid A is more robotic and distant, so it doesn't affect me emotionally like OK Computer does.

i LOVE Kid A but i don't know if it's my favorite Radiohead album...it's a tie among the Bends and OK Computer. they're all so different.

Kid A totally shocked me when i first listened to it. i couldn't get over how brilliant it is. i guess that's why i never warmed up to Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief...they're both great albums but sort of a letdown (no pun intended) after kid A.
 
xtihn said:


i feel like that after listening to OK Computer. I find that album disturbing for some reason. more disturbing than Kid A. I think Kid A is more robotic and distant, so it doesn't affect me emotionally like OK Computer does.

That's exactly how I feel! :yes:

I've been listening to Radiohead all day... first Optimistic/In Limbo :drool: and the 2nd half of Kid A... and now The Bends in it's entirety. :drool: x infinity.
 
Zootlesque,

Once you have the 6 main albums, make sure you get the following:

My Iron Lung EP: released in between Pablo Honey and The Bends and it really shows the transition. Make sure to get the 8-song EP and not one of the abbreviated single versions. Might be kind of expensive as it is an import, but well worth it.

Airbag/How am I Driving EP: released only in the US the year after OKC came out. Great outtakes from OKC.

I Might Be Wrong Live Recordings: taken from the Kid A/Amnesiac tour and shows how amazingly these cold, electronic songs become great rock songs in concert. Should be longer than 8 songs, but what is there is great. Also, the never released acoustic song (True Love Waits) is :drool: .
 
By the time I got into RH it was already too hard to find those EPs in stores...but I did download all of the 'new' tracks from them(not including the live stuff). All the B-Sides, if you will. (Mind you I have all six albums LEGIT)...

A Reminder
Banana Co.
Bishop's Robes
Citizen Insane
Coke Babies
Cuttooth
Faithless The Wonder Boy
Fast Track
Fog
How Can You Be Sure
How I Made My Millions
India Rubber
Inside My Head
Killer Cars
Kinetic
Lewis(Mistreated)
Lozenge Of Love
Lull
Maquiladora
Meeting In The Aisle
Melatonin
Million Dollar Question
Molasses
Palo Alto
Pearly
Permanent Daylight
Polyethylene(Parts 1&2)
Pop Is Dead
Punch Drunk Love Song
Stupid Car
Talk Show Host
The Amazing Sounds Of Orgy
The Trickster
Trans-Atlantic Drawl
True Love Waits
Worrywort
Yes I Am
You Never Wash Up After Yourself
 
KID A is classic stuff. There is nothing like it.

HTDC, Idiotheque, the title track, Morning Bell and MPS all blow me right away.


Not as good as OK Computer (barely anything is!) but KID A is masterclass
 
I'm actually quite surprised at how many people I come across who really hated Kid A when it first came out! I heard it and absolutely loved it from the start! Maybe getting Amnesiac before has something to do with it??
 
gareth brown said:
I'm actually quite surprised at how many people I come across who really hated Kid A when it first came out! I heard it and absolutely loved it from the start! Maybe getting Amnesiac before has something to do with it??

I don't know, I think it just depends on the person. It took me at least a year to truly appreciate Kid A in its entirity. I really didn't like certain songs like Kid A and Everything In Its Right Place initially. (Love them now.) On the other hand, it took me very little time to get into Amnesiac.
 
Radiohead has been annoying me lately. I bought Hail To The Theif last weekend, and I hate it. :| Thom's voice sounds like a shadow of its former self (remember those near-operatic notes he used to hit during the OKC era?), the songs are sub-par, and We Suck Young Blood? WTF?

Kid A I still don't find BRILLIANT, but I like it well enough. The title track, National Anthem, Idioteque, and Optimistic/In Limbo are the best songs on it. :drool:

Amnesiac isn't any better than Kid A, but Packt Like Sardines and I Might Be Wrong...:drool:

OKC and The Bends ROCK MY WORLD!!!! :rockon:
 
I still can't stand it, I can't believe the band that make OKC and The Bends could make something this dull. Sorry, it's only a personal opinion, but Idiotheque is probably the worst song I've ever spent money on. I can even appreciate Amnesiac in small doses (Knives Out, I Might Be Wrong, (better) Morning Bell) and HTTT has a few great tracks (There There, 2+2=5, Go To Sleep, Punchup...) but still can't get any further into KidA than Optimistic. I guess I just prefer my music to be more plain (guitars, drums, lyrics) although I do like the tune to Everything In Its Right Place after hearing it played on piano.
 
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