Ten years ago, one of the most influential and innovative British albums of all time was released. Join us this week as we celebrate a decade of Radiohead’s masterpiece, ‘Kid A’.
When ‘Kid A’ was released in October 2000 the big boy hacks on the serious music titles ripped it to shreds. Melody Maker was venomous; Q uninterested. Jim Irvin at Mojo gave the record a bit of a licking too – saying that “self-consciousness shone through the music”, before later deciding he had grown to like it and calling it “a fascinating record”.
However, among the main players of the scene the album emulated it was a different story. Mo’Wax chief James Lavelle said: “I remember when they played ‘Kid A’ for the first time… when ‘Everything In Its Right Place’ came on, it was like ‘wow’.”
Meanwhile, it was also being grooved to by stylish kids in grubby basement clubs – off their box on bugle and one step ahead of the crowd. Lavelle added: “‘Everything In Its Right Place’ got played by everybody. You’d be in Fabric and you’d hear it, which rarely happens.”
Suddenly it seemed that Yorke had managed to not only crossover, but crossover credibly – at the same time reaching out to a new audience. Irvin added: “What it clearly did was call to a new kind of fan… it effectively broadened Radiohead’s reach.”
Despite his u-turn Irvin was still not the record’s biggest fan, saying they had recorded many great tracks that were left off the record, such as ‘Pyramid Song’ and ‘You And Whose Army’.
That’s because the band were already planning their next step, as Irvin, and the world, would soon find out. For the surplus left over from the ‘Kid A’ sessions was going to be thrown into the melting pot with a clutch of new tracks to make their fifth album, ‘Amnesiac’.
Because a lot of the tracks were laid down at the same sessions, ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’ seemed intrinsically linked – with many people viewing the albums as a pair. However, despite the continual emphasis on innovation, there was one major difference: marketing. The band decided on a full-blown campaign for ‘Kid A’’s follow up – replete with singles, videos and magazine features.
Some said they had sold out, but perhaps Thom had come full circle with ‘Kid A’: the choices he made recording and then selling it finally healing those deep emotional wounds inflicted during the madness of ‘OK Computer’.
Words by Shane Gladstone
Read more of Clash’s ten years of Radiohead ‘Kid A’ overage:
After Limbo – The Genesis Of ‘Kid A’
The Making Of ‘Kid A’
The Flavours And Ingredients Of ‘Kid A’
The Contentious Campaign Of ‘Kid A’
