The Greatest Albums of the 2000s: #1

My apologies for the long delay on this final post, but I was physically drained by the time I returned from NYC, and this past week of work was pretty grueling as well.  But here it is, my number 1 album, although I
doubt it will be a surprise to most of you.



1) “Kid A”- Radiohead (2000)


 It doesn’t matter if it’s 2010 or 2050, odds are either way I’m going to still think that this was the finest musical work of the 2000s.   There’s about a million different things I love about this album, but for me, it comes down to 3 main factors.




1) Radical Sound In the year 2000, the entire world was anticipating the next Radiohead album.  Their most recent album, “OK Computer” (1997) was widely hailed as being one of the best albums of the nineties, and was a revolutionary album in its own right, in terms of both the band’s artistic maturation, and music in general.  The album also achieved widespread commercial success, going triple platinum and receiving a Grammy nomination for album of the year (not that Grammy’s matter really, just wanted to state the facts). It would have been easy, therefore, for the band to go into the Kid A recording sessions using that same OK Computer formula, but the band had other designs.  Lead singer and frontman Thom Yorke had been growing restless with same rock formulas the band had used on its previous album, and was looking for a more rhythmic sounding album, one that drew from source such as electronic, jazz, and even classical music.  This sound would rely less on traditional instruments, such as the guitar and drums, and more on synthesized sounds from modern instruments such as drum machines and other digital recording tools, as well older tools, such as the ondes martenot, an incredibly rare electronic instrument invented in 1928 (and used to great effect by Jonny Greenwood on songs like “The National Anthem” and “How to Disappear Completely”).  Even the way Yorke sang his lyrics had changed, with his voice being distorted and synthesized, almost like another instrument in the band’s recording arsenal.


Somehow the band was able to buy into the idea of a more unconventional recording style and finished Kid A by 2000.  Early reviews of the album were extremely mixed, mainly because it was such a jarring departure from the sound from their beloved OK Computer album.  Indeed, for first time listeners, the music does take some getting used to.  But the work the band put into the recording paid off, because they built an amazingly complex sound filled with rich layers.  The song’s strange title track, is a perfect example of this, and was truly unlike any other song that had been produced beforehand.  It’s now been 10 years, since the album was released, and even when I listen to this album today I’d be more likely to believe that it was recorded in the year 3000, rather than 2000.

Kid A - Radiohead

2) Emotionally Moving Even though the band took a drastic turn with its musical style, they still manage to employ many of the same themes that made OK Computer successful, which was capturing the sense of alienation and isolation that accompanies the growing wave of globalization and swelling of information available through the internet.  Indeed, the first decade of this century could be best characterized by the acceleration of globalization and the inevitable backlash against it, and it’s as if the band could forsee all of it before it even unfolded.  “Kid A” is not a political album, however.  Despite titles like, “The National Album,” the album is more about drawing moments of beauty from amongst the chaos.  And while there are certainly emotional downers on the disc (such as the eerie yet brilliant “Morning Bell”, a song about divorce featuring such chilling lyrics as “cut the kids in half”), there’s some uplifting moments as well, such as “Optimistic,” in which Thom tells the listener, “the best you can is good enough.”  But the emotional highpoint of the album has to be “How to Disappear Completely,” perhaps the most beautiful song on the album, and one that captures the band’s overall theme of isolation.  Still gives me chills every time I listen to it.

How To Disappear Completely - ...

 3)Timeless You know what I love about this album the most?  The fact that it was released now nearly a decade ago, and yet nothing about the music sounds dated.   Part of this has to do with that radical, futuristic sound I was talking about, and part of it has to do with vivid pictures it displays in your imagination, but I always find something fresh and exciting when I pop on the album and those first chords of “Everything in its Right Place” kick in.   There’s just an infinite number of subtle sounds hidden within each layer of the album‘s tracks, and you really have to listen to it dozens of times to really hear and appreciate all of it.  The fact of the matter is, every time I listen to this album, it sounds new, which I think is an amazing feat in the world of popular music.

Everything In Its Right Place ...

With “Kid A” Radiohead can lay claim to having two albums, the other being “OK Computer,” that are, if not the greatest albums of their respective decades, at least part of the shortlist.  That’s back to back decades of producing music of the highest caliber.  In the history of modern music, I can’t think of another band that can claim such a feat.  Now that it’s a new decade, and the fact the band looks poised to continue recording new albums, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the band went for the three peat.




Honorable Mention:

30) “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” - The Flaming Lips
29) “ Stankonia” - Outkast
28)  “Transatlanticism”- Death Cab for Cutie
27) “Amnesiac” - Radiohead
26) “Discovery”- Daft Punk