10 Biggest Love/Hate Albums In Rock Music History
1. Kid A - Radiohead
Formed in the small town of Abingdon, near Oxford, UK, in 1985, Radiohead are surely contenders for being the most popular, and most influential band of their era. Their 1993 debut album, Pablo Honey, marked the group down as 'ones to watch,' but it was 1995's The Bends and, especially, 1997's OK Computer which certified their credentials.
Arguably, not since The Beatles had any band so successfully managed to achieve overwhelming commercial success with an uncompromising, adventurous approach. Similarly to the Liverpool band, Radiohead seemed to evolve with every record. With 2000's Kid A, they took a controversial sonic leap into new territory.
It's easy to understand the confusion with which critics and the public greeted this album. The band's previous release, OK Computer, had served up a forward-thinking set of songs which nevertheless displayed a palpable rock attitude. At heart, Radiohead were a guitar band, or so we thought.
On Kid A, the group abandoned conventional song structures, building instead from soft electronic pulses and tones, with compositions drifting rather than powering. With hindsight, the wealth of negative reviews with which the album was greeted seem, at worst, ignorant. Blindsided by a sharp left-turn, critics scrambled to make sense of an unexpected offering.
Even among hardcore fans, Kid A continues to divide opinion, with many disappointed by the group's move away from a more readily accessible sound.