The year 2000 was a major turning point for society. The previous decade brought major advancements in genetics, biology, the internet and more. But right at the end of the '90s, many people thought that computers wouldn’t be able to understand the difference between 1999 and 2000, and that going from 99 to 00 would cause a widespread technology outage — Y2K. There was wide speculation that society would be thrown into a technological stone age and the gains made from the previous 10 years would be lost and undone. That didn’t happen. Instead, we’ve continued to advance at a lightning pace, and we've gone well past what many had predicted for the future of tech and science. Many, but not Radiohead.
Kid A, Radiohead’s fourth album, was released in fall 2000, and it's a masterpiece. It’s stark, depressing, thought-provoking and one of the best musical offerings of the last 25 years. It has many themes, but the overarching one is losing our humanity to technological advancements. Even the name hints at the unknown of the new millennium and an uncertain future (“Kid A” was Radiohead's nickname for the possible first cloned human). With the 1996 breakthrough cloning of “Dolly” the sheep, it felt like science fiction had become reality. It was (and to a large extent still is) unclear how we as humans were going to move forward morally, ethically and in practice with our newfound technological discoveries.
Time has shown just how ahead of its time Kid A was and how society has come uncomfortably close to the apocalyptic musings of Thom Yorke’s lyrics. Songs like “Idioteque” explore a world destroyed by global warming. “Optimistic” hints at consumerism gone wrong, where the “big fish eat the little ones” until we’re all fighting for scraps. “How to Disappear Completely” imagines being so isolated by the modern world that to cope you just disappear and watch as the world unravels around you. Any of these themes sound familiar? Relevant today?
The accuracy of the foreshadowing of Kid A is more remarkable each year that passes. Thom Yorke and company were imagining a future where technology had become so ingrained in our everyday lives that it has caused us to lose sight of our humanity. In their imaginings, we’ve become permanently plugged in, and eventually our species is wiped out, to replaced by something else entirely.
Anticipation for Kid A was astronomical. The band was riding the success of their other masterpiece, Ok Computer, and the stress of a follow-up was wearing at frontman Thom Yorke. Instead of releasing Ok Computer part two or even another rock record, the band went down a road no one expected.
Electronics abound in this album, while standard melodies are sparce. Kid A has more in common with the works of Phillip Glass and abstract jazz than any rock act. The fact that natural instruments were not the go-to on this record made the point that technology is coming for us. Lyrically, there were many warnings of technological advancements, while the majority of the record was produced with electronic instruments — not a subtle statement at all! In another pointed decision on the band's part, this record was one of the first to receive internet promotion. Radiohead utilized its website to promote the album in a way that is commonplace now, but at the turn of the century was groundbreaking.
The instrumentation on this album — though electronic — is fantastic and diverse. Guitarist Johnny Greenwood explored many different types of non-traditional instruments, including modular synthesizers and the Ondes Martenot. What exactly is the Ondes Martenot you ask? Well, watch this compilation video of him playing. It may not answer that question, but it sure looks cool.
I remember the first time I heard Kid A. I was enamored with Ok Computer, so I didn’t know how to register the band's sonic difference. I had never really listened to electronic music before, and I ended up putting aside Kid A for the more accessible 2003 release, Hail To The Thief. My mistake. But, with time, some of the Kid A tracks got stuck in my head (album opener “Everything In Its Right Place” and the more ‘rock’ song “The National Anthem” have earworm tendencies). I re-evaluated the record and, maybe due to being older or maybe just being curious for new music, I heard it with brand new ears.
I’ve now probably listened to Kid A in its entirety north of a hundred times. Each time I put it on I know I’m going to enter a cold dark place that makes me uncomfortable, and yet I keep going back. It’s human to have fears of an unknown future, and listening to Kid A at least gives me the reassurance that I’m not alone.
The record for me (and many others) also became a gateway into musical offerings that I might otherwise not have tried. The albums released by Warp Records for example, or Aphex Twin, Kraut Rock or psychedelic jazz — none of these seem so hard to grasp after listening to Kid A.
Twenty-five years after its release, the themes of the record are stronger and feel more prescient than ever. If anything, we’ve become closer to the dark topics Yorke sings of. With AI ever more unescapable, global warming getting worse, worldwide pandemics raging and countries split by political agendas, the album hits to the heart of the moment. Reading that previous sentence it sounds like I’ve just recited the lyrics to “The National Anthem!”
Radiohead has remained relevant and is one of the most critically acclaimed bands of all time. But with their 2000 release they tapped into a creative vein that happens once in a career. Is Kid A the band’s best album? That’s up for debate. Is it the band’s most important album? 100%. It came at the right time and we’re still talking about it 25 years later.
Kid A is truly artistic expression in vinyl form. It's a masterclass on the importance of an artist’s album as a whole. Do we view Kid A as a warning? As a soundtrack to our inevitable demise? Maybe that’s what the band wanted. Or maybe I’ve been reading too much into things, and everything is, as Thom Yorke says, “in its right place.” Which leaves me listening to a record that stands the test of time, something all bands hope to accomplish.
