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Kid A came out 20 years ago today. I hated it the first time I heard it. Now it’s one of my favorite albums. Let’s talk about it! A lot! Go ahead and mute #KidA20 if it bothers you. Better yet, just go listen to it.
Crazy to think on 10/2/00, Clinton was still president. The drawn-out Bush/Gore election was still a month away. We all kinda still had a hangover from the world not ending at the beginning of that year and now wondering what a new century meant. It was a weird time. #KidA20
OK Computer came out 3 years earlier and had cemented itself as one of the greatest albums of all time. (It’s still in my top 3.) To say people were ready for a “sequel” is a soft way of putting it. I spent the day listening to OKC & The Bends getting hyped. #KidA20
I went directly to CD Warehouse after work and got the CD (yup, definitely 20 years ago.) Found the hidden booklet behind the CD tray. Nothing in it made sense, but it was still pretty cool. I waited until I got home to play the album itself. #KidA20
Popped it in the player. Everything in It’s Right Place starts up. Only synthesizers and distorted vocals. It’s barely melodic. I keep wondering what it’s building to. It never lets me know. #KidA20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUnXxh5U25Y">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
Next comes Kid A. Even more synthesizers and distorted, nearly unintelligible lyrics. Is this album a pisstake? Were they that disillusioned with fame they were trying to actively erase it? (A VERY ‘90s thing.) Did they just REALLY like Aphex Twin? #KidA20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXNbfU0Ww_E">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
The National Anthem starts up. Hey, there’s a driving bass guitar! And drums! And, um, a brass section that took the “everybody solo!” section from Let’s Go Smoke Some Pot literally! No guitars, but this sounds closer to what I was expecting? #KidA20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfQD1QiQ9o4">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
