The All-TIME 100 Albums: Kid A by Radiohead

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The All-TIME 100 Albums

8 of 101

By Josh Tyrangiel Published: November 13, 2006

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ALBUM: Kid A

YEAR RELEASED: 2000 LABEL: Capitol ARTIST: Radiohead

TIME 100 ALBUMS PODCASTS

PODCAST: Welcome to the All-TIME 100 Albums - the musical compilations of the last half-century that need no introduction. That said, listen in below as music critics Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light introduce the list and talk about the top albums of the 1950s and '60s.

PODCAST: We know. Twenty-nine of the 100 greatest albums of all time come in the 1970s, and Pink Floyd isn't there. Play this podcast to learn why we picked the titles we did, and if you have something to say, tell us about it using the talkback link below.

PODCAST: Maybe it's a Sign O' The Times that you're listening to critics' audio recordings about great music, but this podcast about how we chose the best albums of the 1980s really is a Thriller. Give it a listen below.

PODCAST: Here's music even the younger set will know by heart. Listen to selected clips from the 1990s through present day as music critic Josh Tyrangiel discusses his picks.

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Rather than return to a straight ahead guitar sound after OK Computer, Radiohead went further down the experimental rabbit hole, embracing samplers, sequencers and, to the eternal dismay of drummer Phil Selway, a drum machine. The album opens with the heavily Cuisinarted voice of Thom Yorke declaring "Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon," and only gets cheerier from there. Melodies bob and weave behind walls of dissonance, but they are there, and when they resolve there are many moments of hard-earned beauty. Kid A is the opposite of easy listening, and the weirdest album to ever sell a million copies, but it's also a testament to just how complicated pop music can be.