KID A

Radiohead are admittedly a band I have been avoiding for years for various reasons, mainly because they never really seemed like the kind of band I'd enjoy. On a whim recently I got a copy of Kid A and listened the whole way through and found it to be an entirely unremarkable experience. Whilst there is nothing inherently bad about Kid A I certainly didn't see any of the things to justify some of the wild praise I have seen it receive. The first 2 or 3 songs are rather pleasant relaxing ambient rock but by about track 4 I felt distinctly bored and this feeling continued more or less to the end of the album.

After some thinking I managed to discern what I think is 'wrong' with this album - It's dilute. It just seems like Radiohead have dabbled with a bunch of genres and concepts but haven't committed to one or the other and have brought them together in a nice cohesive digestible package adhering largely to the popular rock paradigm. And while this is a commendable feat it really didn't come off for me. In the different elements I was hearing I was thinking of bands that had done it before and had done it much better. Bands like Tortoise and Tangerine Dream sprang to mind as influences that would surely not be surpassed by this release.

I'd say approach this release with caution, there certainly is something to it given it is held in high regard by a lot of people. However it is in a sense going on an adventure without leaving your house, a paradox of ambition and execution.

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