• Record Label: Capitol
  • Release Date: Oct 3, 2000
User Score
8.9

Universal acclaim- based on 1244 Ratings

User score distribution:

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  1. Melíza
    May 3, 2003
    6
    I feel guilty about giving this album the score that I did, but I think a 6 seems fair. I will continue to maintain the opinion that Thom Yorke has one of the worst voices in popular music today, and in addition I sometimes feel as though the ambient lyrics reflect an equally ambient style. I can see how some listeners got the impression that in an attempt to sound original, Radiohead I feel guilty about giving this album the score that I did, but I think a 6 seems fair. I will continue to maintain the opinion that Thom Yorke has one of the worst voices in popular music today, and in addition I sometimes feel as though the ambient lyrics reflect an equally ambient style. I can see how some listeners got the impression that in an attempt to sound original, Radiohead went off the deep end and into the "weird" catagory. With that said and out of the way, I love most of the tracks on this cd; each song gives off a distinct feel which I think is much more defined by the song-writing than by the somewhat etherreal sound of keyboards, drum kits, effects, and other electronic equipment. I said "guilty" in the first line of this review because to this day, Idioteque is still my favorite song of all time. The song-writing has always been there. I think once they settle on a style that suits them, Radiohead will truly shine. Expand
  2. Apr 5, 2011
    5
    I don't doubt the time and effort put into this album, wonderful technique, and ability. From an objective stand point though, if you're not shuffling through the gray streets of london, you need to put on something else. This album is to Radiohead as Something in the Way was to Nirvana. Not terrible, but I'd rather hear Dive. Get me?
  3. AdamVV
    Jul 11, 2001
    4
    I think this album would have been amazing if the band had spent 2 seconds writing meaningful lyrics.
  4. ARC
    Jul 16, 2003
    4
    Okay. Radiohead has admitted that this album was influenced by Faust, Can, and other gonzo `70s German bands but unfortunately they don't really bring anything new to this sound--even their noodling with the synthesizers could have been recorded thirty years ago. Radiohead is too serious for this kind of music, and as a result come off sounding pretentious and unspontaneous. They Okay. Radiohead has admitted that this album was influenced by Faust, Can, and other gonzo `70s German bands but unfortunately they don't really bring anything new to this sound--even their noodling with the synthesizers could have been recorded thirty years ago. Radiohead is too serious for this kind of music, and as a result come off sounding pretentious and unspontaneous. They sound more like they're trying to deliberately confuse everyone than experiment for the sake of experimenting. The results don't really break apart from what othes have done--several sections of this album even directly lift little tricks from old Faust songs. If you're looking for something strange and unnerving, skip this album and buy Tago Mago by Can, any of Faust's `70s albums, D.o.A. by Throbbing Gristle (a fellow British band), or a good Pere Ubu album instead. Expand
  5. SmithV
    Apr 27, 2006
    4
    Experimental? Not really... The breakthrough sound that many publications have communicated to the public is hardly breakthrough at all. What we have is a recording joke....seriously! Radiohead has pulled the hoodwink of the 21st. century. They have put almost no thought into writing the music, they have written lyrics comparable to a seventh grader's english, and, they have somehow Experimental? Not really... The breakthrough sound that many publications have communicated to the public is hardly breakthrough at all. What we have is a recording joke....seriously! Radiohead has pulled the hoodwink of the 21st. century. They have put almost no thought into writing the music, they have written lyrics comparable to a seventh grader's english, and, they have somehow convinced the so-called experts that this is a masterful accomplishment! It is more of reflection on those emotionally disturbed listener individuals that are drawn 'in' to this music than it is on any musical accomplishment. "OK Computer" was magnificent, a work of art, full of melody, capable of taking the listener to places rarely reached previously - this, however, is the 'sting' of the century. Expand
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 24
  2. Negative: 1 out of 24
  1. 100
    Comparing this to other albums is like comparing an aquarium to blue construction paper.... It's the sound of a band, and its leader, losing faith in themselves, destroying themselves, and subsequently rebuilding a perfect entity. In other words, Radiohead hated being Radiohead, but ended up with the most ideal, natural Radiohead record yet.
  2. Spin
    90
    Radiohead have completely immersed themselves in the studio-as-instrument--signal processing, radical stereo separation, and other antinaturalistic techniques. Even the precious Guitars--saturated with effects and gaseous with sustain--resemble natural phenomena rather than power chords or lead lines. Essentially, this is a post-rock record.... Kid A is not only Radiohead's bravest album but its best one as well. [Oct 2000, p.172]
  3. For an album that apparently grew out of the band trying to get away from melody, there's a lot of it here. They can't help themselves. They try to do a song with a robotic dance beat, load it up with bleak phrases like "laughing till my head comes off" and "take the money and run" and "this is really happening," call it "Idioteque" for chrissake, and what stands out are not the beat and not the phrases or the apparent concept of dance music being silly when horrible things are happening in the world, but the seven or eight different heartwrenching vocal lines and the amazing way they intertwine.