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| Music,
Martin Algesten,
15 January 2001 |
Rating: F4
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If there is such thing as a stereotype for a third album, then this is it.
I think we all remember Radiohead as the slightly melancholic (read depressed) cousin of the Britpop relatives that once defined the genre. Even though I was one of the last to discover the excellence of this band, I ended up being one of those who awaited their next with feverish anticipation. Would they be able to take the trend further, Street Spirit (The Bends), Paranoid Android (OK Computer) and now ...?
No, that did not happen. As always with today bands, rather than working on a winning concept there is a need to find that "special sound" that is the distilled essence. And I find it quite ironic that a band like Radiohead, who so desperately tries to do be "alternative", jumps on the obvious trend of making introvert and tedious follow ups to smash hits albums.
Now had this been an album of a band I've never ever heard before, I would have considered it as brilliant. The problem is that I see this album in the context of the previous but in a world where an album rarely contains more than two good songs, this one does stand out. There are at least three tracks we can use for some quality spacing out (read mourning).
We have a strong start with "Everything in its right place", one of those where the musicians in the band have to give way for a more experimental sound. Is that a sequenced Rhodes with some filtering we hear? Anyway, a great track. Then the next to stand out is "How to disappear completely". A composition very much back to the way we remember Radiohead (depressed yet brilliant that is). "Optimistic" is quite OK, "In Limbo" is fine and "Idioteque" is annoying though very good (once again the musicians don’t get much to do).
Most of the other tracks are variants of more or less pretentious BS. Why on earth they choose to name the album "Kid A" is beyond my comprehension. The parallel would be to call OK Computer "Fitter Happier". The sleeve artwork leave a lot to wish for. I suspect the same quasi-intellectual force is behind this one as the previous as well as their web site (even though I must admit I enjoy some of the "blips").
Apparently they have recorded 23 tracks during the last three years, and another album release is due for spring. So my hopes are up again!
Decca
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