10 Definitive Rock Albums Of The 2000s
4. Kid A - Radiohead
If there was ever a band that was going to lead rock and roll into the next generation, it was going to be Radiohead. After overcoming the one hit wonder label on OK Computer, the band turned in an album that was a dissection of the human condition, having tons of melody while also having a lot to say about how technology should be going in the next few years. They had the template to rule the world for the next few years, but Thom Yorke was looking for something different on Kid A.
Operating in a completely different mindset, most of this album was constructed with a more electronic tinge to it, taking the more robotic moments heard on OK Computer and amplifying them that much more, like the haze that you're thrown into on Everything In Its Right Place or the white noise that coats the back half of How To Disappear Completely. While you could call this pretentious if you wanted to, the band were on the verge of a new type of music that no one had touched on before.
By taking away the big guitars, the band could delve into the world of post rock and ambient music, almost presenting challenges for themselves like the car crash horn section on the back half of The National Anthem or getting an entire tune out of little pieces of samples on Idioteque. Radiohead were just looking to find what the next version of their band was supposed to be, and Kid A found the answer by going beyond rock altogether.