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So what's a band to do after creating perhaps the greatest album ever made? many predicted the end of Radiohead
after the gruelling Ok Computer world tour nearly sent the band into self-destruct. Well they didn't and although its been
a hard three years, comprising of months of wasted work, near band splits and a complete re-invention, they have produced
yet another modern masterpiece.
Even from the first song, 'Everything in its right place', you can tell that this
album has its own unique song. Thom Yorke's incomprehensibly garbled voice floods out of the speakers, back by an excellent
synth keyboard track and a strange chopped voice flicks the words "Kid A" through the left speaker (warning, listening
to this song on a walkman could send you insane). The song settles with Thom singing baffling phrases ("Yesterday I woke
up sucking a lemon") and his own vocals sliced, looped and reverbed to create the backing vocals. The title track sees
Radiohead going odder than they ever have before, as a keyboard plays a haunting nursery rhyme-type tune while Yorke's heavily
distorted voice sings random words.
Everyone breathe a sigh of relief now as Colin Greenwood's bass guitar kicks
in to "The National Anthem" and dispel fears that this album will be completely synth dominated. The brilliant bass
rhythm is soon joined by Thom's slightly fuzzed vocals which are then joined by a cacophony of trumpets, trombones and saxophones
which drown out all other sound to give this song a somewhat chaotic climax. The tempo changes now with one of the Radiohead
songs ever in "How to Disappear Completely". A very simple and gentle bass and acoustic guitar come in backed by
a swooning string section. Thom's far-away vocals sing "I'm not here, this isn't happening" about his experience
of facing a 40,000 strong crowd in Dublin in 1998. You can truly feel the anguish in his voice, and as the distorted violins
come in, drowning out Thom's cries there is a very claustrophobic feeling to this wonderful song. The next song is undoubtedly
the worst song on the album. 'Treefingers' is a bit of ambient mood music nicked straight from Brian Eno. It is very much
this albums 'Fitter Happier', completely pointless but still the album wouldn't be the same with out it. Thank god they cut
it down from the original 10 minutes though.
The next three songs have to be one of the best sections of any album
ever. First up is 'Optimistic', a superb electric guitar song that proves that they still have what it takes to create songs
in the kin of Just and Airbag. The lyrics are amazing with Thom singing "You can try the best you can, the best you got
is good enough" without a hint of cynicism, and something about Dinosaurs ruling the earth. This streams effortlessly
into the wonderfully swirling 'In Limbo'. Thom proclaims "I'm Lost at Sea, don't bother me" as his vocals spiral
up and down in a slightly sea-sick way. Next up is in my opinion the best track on the album, 'Idioteque'. This sounds like
a mid-eighties New Order song if it had been dragged through hell then Aphex Twin had remixed it. Synth and drum machine beats
make its brilliant rhythm while Thom sings fantastically outlandish lyrics over it. This is deep, dark and intense, everything
a Radiohead song should be, and this is one of the greatest. Your heart will be pounding ten-to-the-dozen after you hear this.
Everything slows down with 'Morning Bell'. Another oddity this one with Thom's pleading lyrics backed by Phil Selway's
unique drumming style, strangely dense but sparse at the same time. The final track is actually a really old song from back
in the Pablo Honey days, until now only available on bootlegs. Anyway, 'Motion Picture Soundtrack' is the perfect way to end
the album. A single electronic organ plays as Thom sings very quietly, almost whispering. The last line of the song, appropriately
enough states "I will see you in the next life" as a spine tingling harp plays in the background. There is also
a rather nice 50 second instrumental afterwards.
So that's what we've been waiting for for three years, and was
it worth the wait? most defiantly yes. Anyone hoping for a new Bends or Ok Computer, or just about anything like you've heard
before can forget it. Some may call this pretentious but I see it as a progression . This album is as big a leap ahead Ok
Computer than that was over the Bends, they just keep making albums way ahead of their time. I can see them losing some of
the wide-spread appeal achieved with the Bends because this is by no means a mainstream album, and good. As you listen to
this you can see heavy influence from Warp records artists like Aphex Twin and Archeture plus Thom's work with Unkle. All
this is just talk though as the fact of the matter is that this is, like Ok Computer before it, a brilliant and innovative
album. In a year when we have had brilliant albums from the like of Badly Drawn Boy, Doves, Primal Scream and Granddaddy,
this stands head and shoulders above them all, and in fact is probably the best album released since Ok Computer. I suppose
the real question is if its better than Ok Computer, well its difficult to say since half the appeal of it was that three
years on it still sounds fresh and innovative, and ten million times better than just about anything released since. If this
isn't as good as Ok Computer then it's certainly well up there with the best of albums and will be remembered for a long time,
because love it or hate you can't ignore it and with another new album just around the corner, the futures looking bright
for them. Oh and Muse sound nothing like them now.
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