Released
about six months apart the Warp influenced Kid A and its follow up
Amnesiac are difficult buggers to get into. Radiohead had obviously
sat down and decided that progressive rock just wasn’t progressive
enough for them and that they would have to take things a step or
five further. The results on Kid A (which is essentially a
collection of tracks from Amnesiac reworked in an electronic stylee)
are fairly patchy with most of it coming across as sub-Autehcre
musings which really don’t go anywhere. The follow up Amnesiac
sees the band in more familiar territory, albeit with New Orleans
funereal jazz and the odd bleepy/burpy moment, and is an altogether
more satisfying record to listen to. The vocal and guitar
experimentation gives the whole thing more of a direction somehow. I
tend to think that Kid A is really a B-Side remix record and
Amnesiac is the A-Side. And every time I do I imagine Radiohead
kicking my door in and giving me a right old battering in front of
the three bar electric fire. Don’t ask me why.
Kid A Rating: 3 out of 5 (Bronze) Amnesiac Rating: 3 out of 5 (Silver) Reviewed by Gordon
Peppard