When Kid A came out I was a teenager in love with both Radiohead and UK IDM (Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Autechre etc), so Kid A was so perfect for me. I instantly knew that Radiohead had been hugely influenced by my other main musical love.
1:58 Everything In Its Right Place 5:23 Kid A 9:57 The National Anthem 14:26 How to Disappear Completely 19:45 Treefingers 21:02 Optimistic 24:36 In Limbo 29:32 Idioteque 33:54 Morning Ball 38:32 Motion Picture Soundtrack 42:34 Untitled
I will never forget my first listen to Kid A. In fact, out of all the first listens of any album I've ever had, this was the one that floored me the most, as a 21-year-old at the time. I had never heard music like this before, and in some ways it changed my music taste completely. Absolute masterpiece.
I already liked electronic music, I just didn't expect it from Radiohead. Looking back, though, I should have known. And they certainly did their own take on it. And it's glorious.
@@tamerail you shouldn't pay too much attention to most of the lyrics on this album since it's mostly trying to portray a distant, dystopian future that we can't comprehend (or thats how I at least tried to explain it to myself)
I'm so sick and tired of rh fans calling this "experimental." It's not experimental, stop overhyping it. It's good but it's only "experimental" because it's a rock band. Otherwise it's electronic music.
@@copbabycombo1311 at what point did I overhype it? i just told him to have fun. and also what's wrong with calling it experimental? it's like you said- they're a rock band that experiment with their sound. that's why I called it their experimental era.
This is the album they’ll be remembered for. Took me awhile(two decades), but it’s become my favorite album ever recorded. It is a quarter century old and still somehow sounds like it is from the future.
Here is a description of each album in a few words, just so you don't follow each album 100% blind *Pablo honey:* alt-rock, britpop, lonely, immature, energetic, easy-going *The Bends:* alt rock, melancholic, alienated, introspective, stressed *OK Computer:* art rock, melancholic, atmospheric, futuristic, spacy, existential *Kid A:* electronic, cold, abstract, experimental, mysterious, apathetic *Amnesiac:* experimental rock, electronic, abstract, haunting, spacy, dark, jazzy *Hail to the Thief:* alt rock, electronic, political, straight, messy, cryptic, chaotic *In Rainbows:* art rock, lush, pretty, poetic, mellow, warm, passionate *The King of Limbs:* electronic, experimental rock, percursive, hypnotic, atmospheric, rhythmic, ghostly, chill *A Moon Shaped Pool:* art pop, orchestral, melancholic, etheral, sombre, watery (you'll understand)
Ah yes, Kid A. It is a very interesting album. It’s hard to get into for some people, but I really like it. How to Disappear Completely is one of Radiohead’s best songs ever. Idioteque is a personal favorite of mine. It also has one of Radiohead’s best album opening and closing tracks respectively. Btw, Amnesiac is the next album if you’re going in order. KID A MNESIA is essentially just both albums, plus some B-sides. It’s not something you should have to worry about doing a video on.
@@tamerail its so long because is includes two whole albums, KID A and Amnesiac, you should listen to Amnesiac next. The extras tracks are really cool, including a version of How to Disappear Completely with just the strings isolated, its beautiful and I enjoy it as much as the original, I am also not ashamed to admit that I cried listening to it lmao.
@@tamerail I'd stick to listening to albums in order if i were you and maybe do the live/bonus stuff later on. So after Kid A : Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, In Rainbows, The King of Limbs, A Moon Shaped Pool.
@@tamerailJust follow the natural path. Amnesiac is the next one and was recorded in the same sessions as Kid A. Some people brand Amnesiac as the Kid A "B-sides", but is surely a complete experience and there are some gems there as well. Thom Yorke described Kid A as watching the apocalypse, while Amnesiac actually being in the apocalypse (or something similar). Both albums are very experimental, but from Hail to the thief on things will become more clear musicaly
For me personally, reflecting back on my teenage love for Radiohead and this album particularly,: I think it helped express the anxiety a lot of us felt and didn’t know how to express. The world changing at an accelerated pace but also the feeling of seeing the writing on the wall but no one acknowledges it, all of us living super isolating, unsustainable suburban lives and thinking “how long can this last?” OK Computer had similar themes but Kid A connected more for me. Kid A was more abstract and disjointed and embodied them in a more powerful way. And this was before social media, before we had any idea what the internet would/could be. Nowadays the collapse is closer and yet our music isn’t anywhere near as depressing as the 90s. People are maybe feeling too raw for the darker strains of music. Like if NIN just emerged today as a band, they might not have been as big. Lots of people want good vibes only. And being that way with life in general only means the shadow aspects of things get scarier, not to be Jungian or whatever. But coddling isn’t just something that happens to kids: I feel like our whole society was sheltered from hard facts of life for too long, and in many ways we’re still too squeamish. The 80s seemed like the last decade of exuberant decadence while still pretending it will all last and maybe even get better. The 90s got way darker, more ironic and jaded. And now it’s like we all know (and know that everyone else knows) that some big changes will come. Maybe the “collapse” won’t be as devastating as people feared, maybe it will. Governments know how to slow play certain things to avoid panic. That’s how things feel now to me anyway, walking on glass. Will these wars escalate? How much longer can the US rule the high seas? When will this ongoing financial downturn turn into another big recession? Or will govts find a way to slow play it further? Imagine another 10 or 20 years of of social institutions (marriages, families, communities, schools, etc) sllllowwwwlly crumbling. Because they are certainly still crumbling. Eventually people get very anxious waiting for the storm to break.
This album was written after Thom's depression following the OK Computer tour. The band was not sure how they want to proceed sonically and almost split up. They ended up purchasing multiple electronic instruments and recording this album, the sound is so different because they were tired of being known as a strictly "rock" band. The Kid A Mnesiac album is Kid A + Amnesiac (basically another album of leftovers from the Kid A sessions) and some bonus tracks on top.
@@tamerailyes, I think it’s true that you were very unprepared for this, as it is a very complicated experience, but I do assure you it has its sense (although it’s a messed up, broken one) to put things into perspective it really helps to see how Thom and the band were feeling at the time. Also, I like to see it as a journey through a world distant from ours, cold and separate, post-apocalyptic.
Greetings! It's always so much fun to watch someone discover Radiohead for the first time. I was in my 20's when this first came out, and Radiohead was already my favorite band. But the guts it took for them to create and release this and let it stand on its own merits elevated them to God tier in my opinion. They have remained there ever since. The run they've been on for almost 40 years now is unparalleled and remain a testament to innovation and following your muse wherever it takes you. It's been a real pleasure to watch your reactions to their work and I wish you continued success with your channel.
Disclaimer: the use of vocoder to add effect to the voice of Tom was inspired by Kraftwerk a band that influenced Daft Punk (and many other projects) too.
Oh cool. I've heard of Kraftwerk before but never checked them out. I think they're amongst the most influential and important German music artists (apart from like Beethoven and stuff of course)
@@silentgnome this - also I remember reading somewhere that radiohead sat down with them and just geeked out over their album Computer World over dinner at one point.
Great reaction as always. For me, it’s a masterpiece- definitely a ‘grower' like all the best albums. Very few artists can pull off such a total change of style but Radiohead are the masters at pushing themselves and their boundaries. We just go along for the ride…
This has been my favourite album from the day it came out to this day. Absolutely blew my mind back then and, as it harrowed my soul it also opened my mind to an entire new landscape of what music could be
I love Kid A. National Anthem is one of my favorites. I saw a comment once that said, "Everyone is gangsta until the horns come in." I have never felt a comment more 😂
Man… I remember throwing this album on for the first time, being knee-deep in already within the Radiohead Spiral (hooked by In Rainbows and Hail to the Thief, helping me through very tough times in life…) never caring for the „old classic stuff“, and then Everything in its right place coming on… this little smirk on my face thinking „oh boy, here we go… you missed out on something“… haha, damm, I would love to re-live these moments of all having the first glance on a Radiohead album throughout the years. Insane!
Still here enjoying every second your Radiohead journey. I wish I could listen to this album again for the first time. It blew my young, metalhead mind away. After a few more listen, I really think it'll grow on you. Also, idioteque is such a banger. It was locked down, pandemic song... Very appropriate for those times
Kid A was a hard album for me to understand and figure out what to like about it. But after playing the game and seeing the setting meant to fit the sounds of the songs, the otherworldly and extremely alien sound for everything was something I came to enjoy and really like from Kid A.
I still get chills when Everything in its Right Place hits. This album took a while for me to "get". National Anthem stood out right away. My grandfather was an Afro Cuban Jazz band leader/vocalist/percussionist. I wish I could have played National Anthem for him to see what he thought about it. I like to think that song is taking analog jazz and converting it to digital in a really fun way.
This is the funniest reaction video, not because the reaction is funny, but because your a comedian, if your not, you should be. 10 points for comedy. PS, they're making music for TV and movies so don't try to make any sense out of it, just enjoy it.. PS, you know the town Hameln in Germany. PSS the Liffey is an Irish River
FYI, this is rarely a "love at first sight" album unless you're big on sound design / experimental electronic music. Those who keep at it usually come around though. Try and forget everything you know about music before diving in... don't bring any preconceptions with you. I know it's hard but having that mindset really helps with these outlandish albums. Don't worry they get back to "normal" within a few more albums. Always keeping us on our toes which I love. Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Bjork, Boards of Canada, all big influences on Kid A. it's like a more futuristic version of the 70's "Krautrock" genre which is part of your heritage! Kid A is probably their most strange album and it alienated the more "radio-friendly" fans, but the cool thing is over time it ended up probably their most cherished album by core fans. It's a god damn psychedelic work of art. Kid A & In Rainbows are probably my two desert island Radiohead discs. Between them you pretty much cover their wide talent. You might not believe it, but the songs come turn into something pretty remarkable for the live shows.
This album was very unsettling for me on my first listen, its still disturbing all these years later - but I think thats the intention. Its like a bad dream in audio format.
Originally in the cd the track "untitled" came after a long silence between motion picture sound track and that It serverd kind of as a "secret" track for those who sat there waiting for the cd to loop Since its a secret track that is probably why it did not loop well into EIIRP
If you want to "get" the sounds on this album, listen to some 90s Aphex Twin. I think Thom said at the time he was listening to a lot of 90s electronica and Aphex twin in particular. Plus the first Selected Ambient Works is incredible, and worth listening to just to see how fresh something from the 80s can still sound
Kid A is the most brutal an intelligent turn in music Industry..... At this time every Radiohead listeners just saids "What the fuck'..... Thom Yorke was highly impressed by Bjork and her Studio, after he witnessed her at work he thinked that Rdiohead had to change end evolved for something different....
'Kid A, The Greatest Left Turn In Music History' is a video done some years ago; that description of this album is still stuck in my head. This is such a gorgeous album.
Hearing this album when it first came out was life changing. I remember where I was and how I felt as I played through my headphones. This is from a life long Radiohead fan.
This is not my fav radiohead album track by track, not even top3 I think, but as a complete journey, it's such an experience, always makes me think so much when I finish listening Untitled.
My favourite Radiohead can change from moment to moment, but Kid A is probably objectively their best album? Purely because they had the balls to make it and release it after OK Computer 😂 I like me experimental, so the sonic weirdness of this album, while maybe not their most accessible, is next-level worthy only of praise. Similarly yo your reaction most critics really were at a loss for this album which I think is pretty awesome. Radiohead will always surprise you and subvert expectations. And I think this album is the benchmark for that.
I’ve only discovered the album recently and I would give anything to have been one of the fans who experienced it when it first dropped. To Radiohead fans who were used to the likes of Pablo Honey, this must have sounded something like Injury Reserve or Arca for the first time, and for it to come from a rock band like Radiohead of all musical acts….such a risky landing but they stuck it.
Kid A I feel is his journey through his depression. He wants to feel happy but he isn’t and that’s why you get the duality between kinda happier and darker tones on the album. How to disappear completely is his losing himself and rotting away. It hurts so much that he just refuses to believe he’s still there. As someone with depression it sounds familiar. Especially if you think about it as a story. I believe lemons are something you use as a chaser after drinking so when it’s mentioned in the first song he’s waking up in the morning, everything is in its right place, and he’s drinking, and he’s at peace. Whole thing is kinda sad. He makes it sound like he’s just babbling on and on about how he’s struggling.
How this album was perceived at the time: It was unlike anything I'd ever heard. I remember putting it on and thinking, WTF. It felt like I was inside a Van Gogh painting. So brave. A classic.
I can't possibly explain how much of a shock this album was when it came out they were being hailed as the saviors of rock and roll after the huge success of OK Computer and then they released this very different and quite confusing record. They lost some fans for sure because everybody was expecting some form of OK Computer pt 2 and instead got an album with much less guitars and a very non-rock type of album and that certainly pissed off a lot of fans. The great thing about Radiohead is they so often defy expectations and make some difficult albums, yet they weirdly remain somewhat accessible and are never boring. Later albums really showcase how incredible they manage to blend genres and still remain true to themselves somehow. Their next album is basically the songs that didn't fit on Kid A which really has some great songs on it and then, in my opinion, they really hit their stride as they bring back some rock elements with an electronic blend before they start branching off into more esoteric fare. There's very good reasons why they're one of the most critically acclaimed bands of all time and I envy you the chance to follow their very Beatle-like journey. It amazes me they ever got as popular as they ended up being, bands like them rarely ever get such a huge following.
36:10 i love how you finally thought you had a normal song about breakups or something only to scroll down and read that its actually about a friendly ghost that haunted thom lol
For Everything in Its Right Place, yes. Not the whole album. I’m not a music theory guy, but I’ve read also that the basis for the notes on that song are the same as a “perfect” symmetrical pattern that Mozart and Bach used. Everything ended up in its right place.
“Here I’m alive, Everything all of the time” on Idioteque. Wasn’t it “Here I’m allowed everything all of the time”? Edit: I kept on watching and on Morning Bell it says “Cut the kids in half”. I’m a Spotify listener and the lyrics there say “Got the kids in here”, while on Morning Bell/Amnesiac it says “Cut the kids in half”.
Hell yeah dude! I can understand this one is kinda hard to get into especially if you dont expect the different sound but it really grows on you. Are you still gonna be doing the Pink Floyd videos? Can't wait to see what you think of The Wall
Once you listen to In Rainbows, this album makes a little more sense. Plz listen to In Rainbows though it's definitely one of my favorite albums of all time
Österreicher? Gösser aus der Flasche, Festival in beschissener Destination? Franzose in Österreich? Egal, keep on your journey int the sane heads of Radiohead!
you don't have to describe the sound, we can hear the sound. edit: and now i fear you have no idea who aphex twin is and he is going to blow your mind.
I actually thought about doing dirt by Alice In Chains as a new "hard/punk/grunge" band. I only have the two performances from nirvana left and intended to do other ones now
@@tamerail that's pretty cool, excited for Alice in chains. If you like nirvana's heavier stuff you should check system of a down out sometime in the future. Also i wanted to say, love the videos almost as much as I love your mother
Amenesiac is next, but I absolutely can not wait for you to review Hail to the Thief! It’s a bit more rock focused and I’d love to see your thoughts on the political aspects of it. Love the vids man
@@tamerail Excellent choice. It may change as you get farther along, but it also might not and that's totally fair. It's the one I've probably listened to the most.
