19. Radiohead - Kid A

This is a very peculiar choice for me, not gonna lie. Ok Computer makes SO much more sense here - it was my first Radiohead record, and a staple of my senior year of high school. And the memories attached to that record are certainly warmer than Kid A’s, which I don’t even REMEMBER listening to for the first time.

But man, when I had to decide what Radiohead album to put on here, Kid A was always the first to pop up. Maybe I just like it ‘cause it’s the sound of a major rock group almost completely abandoning the sound that made them famous and completely confounding their critics, something I always appreciate (go back and read some of its initial reviews - they’re hilarious). But I just really like listening to it. Dark Eno-ish ambience, cold synth rhythms, eerily pretty “ballads,” the works. It’s a great album.

I remember reviews calling the album “hookless,” which has never made sense to me. Besides the fact that there ARE hooks (“Optimistic”? “National Anthem”? “Idioteque”? “Morning Bell”?), do you even NEED “hooks” on an album like this? It is designed to evoke a mood. A strange and sad mood. Whatever.

Another fun fact: “National Anthem” and “Idioteque” are the first two Radiohead songs I ever heard, back when they performed both of them on SNL when the album came out. Both songs/performances weirded me out SO MUCH that I avoided the band like the plague for another five years. When my friends started getting into Ok Computer and The Bends I didn’t understand it. “That weird bloopy band with that crazy guy flailing around onstage?? NO THANK YOU.”

Those SNL performances are actually pretty amazing. I was stupid dweeb for disliking them. The National Anthem one is here.