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And then there was 'Kid A'... Never was there so much being written about an album before it was released. It will be an experimental record, they said. It will be so much different from the things they've done before, they said. There will be no real "songs" on the album, they said. And for once, the music press was right. 'Kid A' is a difficult, experimental album, without easy pop songs.
25% of our readers didn't like 'Kid A'. And yet almost everybody I speak to here and there - people who listen to mainstream pop normally - likes the damn thing. It sells hugely, and the people mentioned above are declaring Radiohead the best band they ever encountered. Why? I don't get it.
'Kid A' sold more than 400,000 albums in the first week of release in the USA and enters the Billboard charts at the number one spot, and that's not a market that is known for its progressiveness. How the hell is that possible? 'Kid A' was supposed to be experimental and difficult, wasn't it? Well, I think most people like 'Kid A' because it's Radiohead. And I also think that is in many cases the sole reason. Do they like the music? No, I don't think so. But the last few months there's so much being said and written about Radiohead by not only the music press, people are afraid to dislike them. It's not politically correct to dislike the acclaimed best band since the Beatles. They like 'Kid A' because it has the name Radiohead written all over it. If 'Kid A' would have sounded like Bon Jovi, people would praise it because of the catchy instant-hit songs, if it would have sounded like Ultravox or Pink Floyd they would have praised the original use of retro ideas. It wouldn't matter anyway. Because it's Radiohead. Is there any other way to explain why the record is such a succes? It is impossible that all those people like experimental music.
Obvious 'Kid A' influences like Autechre, Aphex Twin (nobody can deny the Aphex Twin influence in the title track) and Boards of Canada don't sell shit. Yes, maybe Aphex Twin doesn't sell badly, but only because of his reputation and fame (may we call this the "Radiohead Symptoms"?). And not nearly as well as Radiohead. I don't hear the average record-store customer talk about the amazing melodies and experimental song structures of Autechre, but when Radiohead produces those kind of things it is the highlight of the day. And I'll bet 95% of the 'Kid A' buyers have never heard of Boards of Canada. And that is too bad, because I think those three acts have been making the kind of music Radiohead tried to incorporate in their own music for quite some time, without getting the attention they deserve. I hope some of the people who really like 'Kid A' but never checked the above acts will go listen to them, because there's quite a chance they'd like what they'd hear.
But to be honest, I think that in the next few months more and more people will find 'Kid A' not the album they would have wanted from Radiohead, if they don't already think this now. The point is they will never admit this. Radiohead is too big to dislike. And the opinion of the press, who praise 'Kid A' like there's no tomorrow, is in many cases the defining force behind the opinion of the masses. "And you, dear KindaMuzik writer, what do you think of 'Kid A'?", I hear you ask. Well, yes, I do think it's a - very - good album, with a very original approach for a pop band. But then again, I'm of course not that average mainstream pop music listener I was talking about.
http://www.kindamuzik.net/achtergrond/radiohead/and-then-there-was-kid-a/502/
Meer Radiohead op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/radiohead
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