PJ Harvey released Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea PJ Harvey

Released: October 31, 2000 Charted: November 4, 2000 Peak: 42 US, 23 UK, 37 CN, 20 AU Sales (in millions): 0.36 US, 0.29 UK, 1.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: alternative rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Big Exit Good Fortune (11/13/00, 41 UK, 71 AU) A Place Called Home (2/26/01, 43 UK) One Line Beautiful Feeling The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore This Mess We’re In (with Thom Yorke) You Said Something Kamikaze This Is Love (10/8/01, 41 UK) Horses in My Dreams We Float Total Running Time: 47:25

Rating: 4.202 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Legendary DJ John Peel wrote the first ever review of a PJ Harvey song, ‘Dress’, in 1992: ‘Admirable, if not always enjoyable.’ For a decade, the label stuck, at least in part thanks to Polly Jean’s own insistence on reaching for Big Themes while screeching over blues guitar feedback.” TL On top of that “Harvey has had as many incarnations as she has albums. She’s gone from the Yeovil art student of her debut Dry, to Rid of Me’s punk poetess to To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire?’s postmodern siren; on Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea – inspired by her stay in New York City and life in the English countryside – she’s changed again.” AMG “The album cover’s stylish, subtly sexy image suggests what its songs confirm: PJ Harvey has grown up.” AMG “Album number five found her in New York and in love.” RS’20 “Stories resolves almost everything about her career – the battle between rough blues and sweet rock melodies, between demons and bright days – over the course of 45 minutes, and without a single dud track.” TL “Harvey had spent four records howling her sexual obsessions and romantic disappointments over stark postmodern blues. Her guitar attack was still forceful, but softened around the edges by marimba, piano, [and] organ.” RS’20 “Direct, vulnerable lyrics replace the allegories and metaphors of her previous work, and the album’s production polishes the songs instead of obscuring them in noise or studio tricks.” AMG “On the album’s best tracks, such as Kamikaze and This Is Love, a sexy, shouty blues-punk number that features the memorable refrain ‘I can’t believe life is so complex/When I just want to sit here and watch you undress,’ Harvey sounds sensual and revitalized.” AMG “The New York influences surface on the glamorous punk rock of” AMG “the surging opener, Big Exit” RS’20 and “the garage-y Good Fortune,” RS’20 “on which Harvey channels both Chrissie Hynde’s sexy tough girl and Patti Smith’s ferocious yelp.” AMG On the former, “she feels immortal and makes you believe she might be.” TL “You Said Something hovers gorgeously over Manhattan. Even a duet [on This Mess We’re In] with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke can't drag her back into paranoia.” TL “Ballads like [that one and] the sweetly urgent, piano and marimba-driven One Line…avoid the painful depths of Harvey’s darkest songs.” AMG “Horses in My Dreams also reflects Harvey’s new emotional balance: ‘I have pulled myself clear,’ she sighs, and we believe her. However, We Float’s glossy choruses veer close to Lillith Fair territory, and longtime fans can’t help but miss the visceral impact of her early work, but Stories… doesn't compromise her essential passion.” AMG “Hopefully, this album’s happier, more direct PJ Harvey is a persona she’ll keep around for a while.” AMG Harvey is “one of modern music’s great artists at the very peak of her abilities.” TL

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for PJ Harvey AMG All Music Guide review by Heather Phares RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” TL Time (11/13/06). “All-TIME 100 Albums” by Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light WK Wikipedia First posted 3/14/2010; last updated 4/24/2022.

OutKast released Stankonia

Stankonia OutKast

Released: October, 31, 2000 Charted: November 18, 2000 Peak: 2 US, 2 RB, 10 UK, 4 CN, 33 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.1 UK, 7.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Intro Gasoline Dreams (with Khujo Goodie & Goodie Mob) I’m Cool (Interlude) So Fresh, So Clean (12/16/00, 24a US, 45 RR, 10 RB, 16 UK) Ms. Jackson (10/28/00, 1 US, 14 RR, 1 RB, 2 UK, 9 CN, 2 AU) Snappin’ & Trappin’ (with Killer Mike & J Sweet) D.F. (Interlude) Spaghetti Junction Kim & Cookie (Interlude) I’ll Call Before I Come (with Gangsta Boo & Eco) B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) (9/23/00, 58a RB, 61 UK) Xplosion (with B-Real) Good Hair (Interlude) We Luv Deez Hoez (with Backbone & Bigg Gipp) Humble Mumble (with Erykah Badu) Drinking Again (Interlude) ? Red Velvet Cruisin’ in the ATL (Interlude) Gangsta Shit Toilet Tisha (with C-Lo & Goodie Mob) Slum Beautiful Pre-Nup (Interlude) Stankonia (Stanklove) Total Running Time: 73:07 The Players: André 3000 (vocals, snythesizers, guitar, production) Big Boi (vocals, production) Mr. DJ (production)

Rating: 4.277 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Stankonia was OutKast’s second straight masterstroke, an album just as ambitious, just as all-over-the-map, and even hookier than its predecessor.” AMG “There’s a thrilling sprawl…a sense of limitless possibilities within the boundaries of hip-hop.” RS’20 “With producers Organized Noize playing a diminished role, Stankonia reclaims the duo’s futuristic bent. Keyboardist/producer Earthtone III helms most of the backing tracks, and while the live-performance approach is still present, there’s more reliance on programmed percussion, otherworldly synthesizers, and surreal sound effects. Yet the results are surprisingly warm and soulful, a trippy sort of techno-psychedelic funk. Every repeat listen seems to uncover some new element in the mix, but most of the songs have such memorable hooks that it’s easy to stay diverted.” AMG On“High Times, man of the millenium Big Boi and jodhpur-wearing thespian André 3000 have to bridge aesthetic galaxies just to make small talk, so it’s no surprise that their musical partnership, which started in high school, yielded an integrative masterpiece.” TL “The immediate dividends include two of 2000’s best singles.” AMG The first, B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad), “fuses funk, punk, techno, disco, Atari sound effects and a gospel choir into a millenial dance party.” TL “The music is sexy, bold, and hard, mixing…distorted metal guitar, an HBCU gospel choir, and a jittery techno beat. Big Boi says OutKast is ‘cooler than a polar bear’s toenails.’” RS’20 This “is the fastest of several tracks built on jittery drum’n’bass rhythms, but André and Big Boi keep up with awe-inspiring effortlessness.” AMG “‘We call it slumadelic,’ said André 3000.” RS’20 The other big single is “Ms. Jackson, which “is an anguished plea directed at the mother of the mother of an out-of-wedlock child, tinged with regret, bitterness, and affection.” AMG “Its sensitivity and social awareness are echoed in varying proportions elsewhere, from the Public Enemy-style rant Gasoline Dreams” AMG about “feeling excluded from the American dream.” RS’20 “The fluid rhymes (‘Speeches only reaches those who already know about it/This is how we go about it’) ground Stankonia in rap, but it’s the soul singing in the chorus that makes Ms. Jackson so tender and the jagged guitar riff that makes ‘Gasoline Dreams’ so hard.” TL There’s also “the heartbreaking suicide tale Toilet Tisha” AMG which discusses “the trauma of teen pregnancy.” RS’20 There are also songs about “good manners (I’ll Call Before I Come),” RS’20 and “the perils of sex (We Luv Deez Hoez) and alcohol (?).” RS’20 “The group also returns to its roots for some of the most testosterone-drenched material since their debut. Then again, OutKast doesn’t take its posturing too seriously, which is why they can portray women holding their own, or make bizarre boasts about being So Fresh, So Clean.” AMG “Given the variety of moods, it helps that the album is broken up by brief, usually humorous interludes, which serve as a sort of reset button. It takes a few listens to pull everything together, but given the immense scope, it’s striking how few weak tracks there are. It’s no wonder Stankonia consolidated OutKast’s status as critics’ darlings, and began attracting broad new audiences: its across-the-board appeal and ambition overshadowed nearly every other pop album released in 2000.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Steve Huey RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” TL Time (11/3/06). “All-TIME 100 Albums” by Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/20/2010; last updated 4/21/2022.

U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind released

All That You Can’t Leave Behind U2

Released: October 30, 2000 Peak: 3 US, 11 UK, 12 CN, 12 AU Sales (in millions): 4.4 US, 0.9 UK, 12.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: alternative/mainstream rock

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Beautiful Day [4:08] (9/9/00, 21 US, 19 RR, 4 A40, 1 AA, 14 AR, 5 MR, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU) Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of [4:32] (1/29/01, 52 US, 30 RR, 9 A40, 1 AA, 35 AR, 35 MR, 2 UK, 1 CN, 3 AU) Elevation [3:47] (4/28/01, 4 AA, 21 AR, 8 MR, 3 UK, 1 CN, 6 AU) Walk On [4:56] (1/6/01, 21 A40, 2 AA, 19 AR, 10 MR, 5 UK, 1 CN, 9 AU) Kite [4:26] In a Little While [3:39] Wild Honey [3:46] Peace on Earth [4:48] When I Look at the World [4:17] New York [5:30] Grace [5:30] All songs written by U2. Total Running Time: 48:25 The Players: Bono (vocals, guitar) The Edge (guitar, backing vocals, piano, bass) Adam Clayton (bass) Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums, percussion)

Rating: 4.113 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Nearly ten years after beginning U2 Mach II with their brilliant seventh album Achtung Baby, U2 ease into their third phase with 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind. The title signifies more than it seems, since the group sifts through its past, working with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, all in an effort to construct a classicist U2 album.” AMG The pair had produced 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire, 1987’s The Joshua Tree, and 1991’s Achtung Baby. As a result, U2 “avoid the alienating archness” AMG of 1997’s poorly-received Pop, “returning to the generous spirit that flowed through their best ‘80s records” AMG by returning “to song arrangements that consisted almost entirely of guitar, bass, and drums.” WK Entertainment Weekly’s David Browne said, “in their hands, falling back on old habits isn’t cowardice, but virtue.” WK Indeed, the album “may be reminiscent of The Joshua Tree,” AMG but it also “retained elements of the band’s 1990s experimentation,” WK albeit with “subtle risks, such as their best pure pop song ever with Wild Honey.” AMG “This is a clever and craftsmanlike record, filled with nifty twists in the arrangements, small sonic details, and colors.” AMG “They’re so self-confident they effortlessly write their best anthem in years with Beautiful Day.” AMG The song exemplified how they merged their past with modern experimentation. The Edge played a guitar tone he hadn’t used since 1983’s War WK but the song also used a drum machine and rhythm sequencer. WK U2 also pulled off the unprecedented feat of winning Record of the Year two consecutive years with songs from the same album. After “Beautiful Day” took home Record and Song of the Year honors in 2001, Walk On won Record of the Year in 2002. Previously, the only act to win the prize in consecutive years was Roberta Flack with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1973 and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” in 1974. They were, however, from two different albums. “Walk On” took on new meaning for listeners after the September 11 attacks. WK “They offer the gospel-influenced Stuck in a Moment, never once lowering it to the shtick it would have been on Rattle and Hum.” AMG Bono wrote the song as a tribute to his friend Michael Hutchence of INXs who committed suicide in 1997. WK The song garnered the group yet another Grammy – this time for Best Pop Perormance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. All told, the album and its songs won seven Grammys over two years. Rolling Stone’s James Hunter described the album as “U2’s third masterpiece,” the others being The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. WK Steve Morse of The Boston Globe said the album is marked by “great songs that tie together beautifully.” WK “Like any work from craftsmen, All That You Can't Leave Behind winds up being a work of modest pleasures, where the way the verse eases into the chorus means more than the overall message, and this is truly the first U2 album where that sentiment applies – but there is genuine pleasure in their craft, for the band and listener alike.” AMG Notes: A 20th anniversary reissue added a second disc of B-sides, outtakes, and alternate takes. There were also two discs in the super deluxe edition from a live show in Boston and a fifth disc of remixes.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for U2 AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/23/2008; last updated 5/1/2022.

Linkin Park Hybrid Theory released

Hybrid Theory Linkin Park

Released: October 24, 2000 Peak: 2 US, 4 UK, 5 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 12.0 US, 1.8 UK, 27.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: nu metal/rap rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Papercut (6/18/01, 14 UK, 32 MR) One Step Closer (8/29/00, 68a US, 24 UK, 4 AR, 5 MR) With You Points of Authority (7/30/02, 29 MR) Crawling (3/1/01, 75a US, 16 UK, 3 AR, 5 MR) Runaway (5/25/02, 37 AR, 40 MR) By Myself In the End (8/25/01, 2 US, 8 UK, 3 AR, 1 MR) Place for My Head Forgotten Cure for the Itch Pushing Me Away Total Running Time: 37:45 The Players: Chester Bennington (vocals) Mike Shinoda (vocals, rap, keyboards, programming, samples, rhythm guitar) Brad Delson (guitar, backing vocals) Rob Bourdon (drums, percussion) Joe Hahn (turntables, samples, synthesizers, backing vocals)

Rating: 3.881 out of 5.00 (average of 27 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Linkin Park originally called itself Hybrid Theory and has retained that phrase for the title of its debut album. The ‘hybrid’ in question is the overly familiar one of rap and metal, to which the group has little new to add. The guitars and drums lock into standard thrash patterns, over which singer Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda alternate in furious expressions of rage and frustration.” WR “The album’s lyrical themes deal with problems…Bennington experienced during his adolescence,” WK “including child abuse, constant and excessive drug and alcohol abuse, the divorce of his parents, isolation, disappointments, and the aftermath feelings of failed relationships..” WK Shinoda “characterized the lyrics as interpretations of universal feelings, emotions, and experiences, and as ‘everyday emotions you talk about and think about.’” WK “It might be easier to believe in all this angst if the group members didn’t take such pains to thank their families in the lengthy acknowledgments in the CD booklet, followed by an extensive list of product endorsements.” WR The music “draws from diverse inspirations. Bennington’s singing style is influenced by acts such as Depeche Mode and Stone Temple Pilots, while the riffs and playing techniques of guitarist Brad Delson are modeled after Deftones, Guns N' Roses, U2, and The Smiths. Mike Shinoda’s rapping, present in seven tracks, is very close to The Roots’ style.” WK “One Step Closer, the track released to radio in advance of the album’s release, is a typical effort, with lyrics like ‘Everything you say to me/ Takes me one step closer to the edge/ And I’m about to break.’” WR It “was gradually recorded in increments after Linkin Park struggled with Runaway, and features a guitar riff and electronic percussion in the introduction transitioning into a bridge with distortion-heavy guitars and aggressive drums. It is also infamous for the ‘Shut up when I'm talkin' to you!’ refrain screamed by Bennington one minute and 48 seconds into the song.” WK “The second single was Crawling. Lyrically, the song focuses on Bennington’s personal experiences with child abuse – the physical violence, the difficulty in breaking the cycle of abuse, and the subsequent loss of self-esteem. This concept is echoed in the music video, in which a girl (Katelyn Rosaasen) is abused by her father and can be seen in the beginning of the video with several visible bruises.” WK “Papercut was the album’s third single, and its lyrics describe paranoia. The music video for ‘Papercut’ features the band performing in a hallway opposite a completely dark room on the walls of which are scribbled the song’s lyrics. Various supernatural themes are present in the video, and special effects are used to create eerie renditions, such as the ‘stretching’ of Shinoda’s fingers and the ‘melting’ of Bourdon’s face.” WK “The fourth single to come from Hybrid Theory was In the End, which prominently features a signature piano riff performed by Shinoda. His rapping also dominates the verses of the song and is later joined by Bennington’s vocals in the chorus. The song’s concept is mainly based on one person’s failure. It is considered symbolic of an ending relationship, however, it can also represent broken trust in a once long-lasting friendship.” WK “The music video won the Best Rock Video award at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.” WK “Points of Authority, the fourth track on the album, has its own music video that can be found on Frat Party at the Pankake Festival, the band’s first DVD. Drummer Rob Bourdon describes the recording process of the song: ‘Brad wrote this riff, then went home. Mike decided to cut it up into different pieces and rearranged them on the computer…Brad had to learn his own part from the computer.’ Regarding the song, Delson praised Shinoda’s skill, describing him as ‘a genius’ and ‘Trent Reznor-talented.’” WK “With Hybrid Theory being Linkin Park’s first album, Mike Shinoda, who had worked as a graphic designer before becoming a professional musician, has stated that the band had looked through books for inspiration on how to present themselves for the first time. The result was a winged-soldier which Shinoda illustrated himself. According to Chester Bennington, the idea of the soldier with dragonfly wings was to describe the blending of hard and soft musical elements by the use of the jaded looks of the soldier and frail touches of the wings. The cover also features scrambled lyrics of the album’s songs within the background, though the lyrics of ‘One Step Closer’ are the most prominent.” WK Critically, the album received mixed reviews. PopMatters’ Stephanie Dickson said the band was a “far more complex and talented group than the hard rock boy bands of late” WK while Rolling Stone’s Jenny Eliscu said Hybrid Theory had “as much potency as albums by Limp Bizkit or Korn” and that it was an album that “reflects the frustration of life.” WK All Music Guide’s William Ruhlmann said, “Linkin Park sounds like a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style.” WR NME’s Noel Gardner said that “otherwise damn fine soaring emo-crunchers like With You and A Place for My Head are pointlessly jazzed up with tokenistic scratching.” WK Notes: In 2002, a special edition of the album was released in Asia which contained a second disc with live performances of “Papercut,” “Points of Authority,” and “A Place for My Head.” Also featured are non-album cuts “My December” and “High Voltage,” as well as an enhanced video for “One Step Closer.” In 2002, the group also released Reanimation, which was a collection of remixes of songs from Hybrid Theory.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Linkin Park WR William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/20/2011; last updated 3/3/2024.

Radiohead’s Kid A released

Kid A Radiohead

Released: October 2, 2000 Peak: 11 US, 12 UK, 12 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 1.48 US, 0.3 UK, 3.48 world (includes US and UK) Genre: experimental alternative rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Everything in Its Right Place Kid A The National Anthem How to Disappear Completely Treefingers Optimistic (10/7/00, 10 MR) In Limbo Idioteque Morning Bell Motion Picture Soundtrack Total Running Time: 49:56 The Players: Colin Greenwood (bass) Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards) Ed O’Brien (guitar, effects, backing vocals) Philip Selway (drums, percussion) Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, keyboards)

Rating: 3.660 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings) Quotable: “The weirdest album to ever sell a million copies, but it’s also a testament to just how complicated pop music can be.” – Josh Tyrangiel/ Alan Light, Time Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Radiohead’s fourth album, released in October 2000, remains one of the more stunning sonic makeovers in music history. The band had the freedom to do whatever it wanted after its 1997 alt-rock breakthrough, OK Computer.” RS’20 Bassist Colin Greenwood said, “Everyone expected us to become this U2 type of band, with that stadium credibility.” RS’20 Instead, the band “said to hell with commercialism and put art in the driving seat.” FO While OK Computer is considered Radiohead’s ultimate masterpiece” EB Kid A is “the sound of the biggest band in the land reinventing itself before our eyes.” PM Lead singer Thom Yorke said the album was “like getting a massive eraser out and starting again.” RS’11 “After Kid A, everybody had to pay attention…It doesn’t want any fairweather fans or looky-loos screeching past.” FO “Rather than return to a straight ahead guitar sound after OK Computer, Radiohead went further down the experimental rabbit hole” TL “with a disc of complex electronic explorations.” EW’09 Yorke opted “to put down his guitar and embrace the glacial beauty of abstract electronics, glitchy beats, and the challenge of free-form composition.” RS’20 With producer Nigel Godrich, the band “created an enigma of slippery electronics and elliptical angst, sung by Yorke in an often indecipherable croon.” RS’11 He acknowledged that “It was difficult for the others [in the band], ’cause when you’re working with a synthesizer it’s like there’s no connection.” RS’20 “What emerged was at once scary and enveloping, pitched between deep alienation and profound tenderness.” RS’20 “It is rich and luxurious but supremely complex and highly textured.” FO This is “the weirdest album to ever sell a million copies, but it’s also a testament to just how complicated pop music can be.” TL With Kid A, “Radiohead made the first true rock of the future,” RS’11 “a new, uniquely fearless kind of rock record for a new, increasingly fearful century.” RS’20 It “has proved to be the band’s most influential record” EB and “easily the most successful electronica album from a rock band – it doesn’t even sound like a rock band, even if it does sound like Radiohead.” AMG Yorke himself said, ““I find it difficult to think of the path we’ve chosen as ‘rock music.’” RS’20 “From the spine-tingling four-note downward melody that opens Everything in Its Right Place” GU and its “womblike, ambient flow,” RS’20 “it was clear that Radiohead had taken a huge leap into colder, stranger territory.” GU “The heavily Cuisinarted voice of Thom Yorke declar[es] ‘Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon,’ and only gets cheerier from there.” TL “Cold to the core, Kid A made alienation sound so alluring.” EB This is the “opposite of easy listening” TL “Instead of simply adding club beats or sonic collage techniques, Radiohead strive to incorporate the unsettling ‘intelligent techno’ sound of Autechre and Aphex Twin” AMG by “embracing samplers, sequencers and, to the eternal dismay of drummer Phil Selway, a drum machine.” TL “To their immense credit, Radiohead don’t sound like carpetbaggers, because they share the same post-postmodern vantage point as their inspirations.” AMG The electronic influences that had filtered into OK Computer reached maturity – most spectacularly on techno anthem Idioteque.” GU With its “gizmo-groove paranoia” RS’20 it “seems to be about an evacuation or apocalypse, underscored by a driving and syncopated loop of electronic percussion and a moving set of four sampled chord inversions from avant-garde classical music.” PM “The closest thing to riffing…was the fuzz-bass lick” RS’11 in “the free-jazz implosion The National Anthem.” RS’20 It “rode a driving four-measure bass line to chaotic joy, allowing a group of eight saxophones and brass to play like a Mingus band on free-jazz amphetamines.” PM “Yorke’s loathing of celebrity inspired the contrary beauty” RS’11 of the “delicate and shimmering” PM How to Disappear Completely, “with its watery orchestration and his voice flickering in and out of earshot.” RS’11 Meanwhile, “the guitars in Morning Bell sounded more like seabirds” RS’11 and Yorke’s “electronically squished pleading in Kid A sounded like a baby kicking inside a hard drive.” RS’11 “OK Computer required many plays before revealing the intricacies of its densely layered mix; here, multiple plays are necessary…to get a handle on quiet, drifting, minimally arranged songs with no hooks.” AMG “Of course, the natural reaction of any serious record geek is that if the music demands so much work, it must be worth it – and at times, that supposition is true.” AMG “About half of the songs positively shimmer with genius,” AMG but Kid A is “self-consciously alienating and difficult.” AMG For some that will mean that “your tenth listen is better than your first and your hundredth best of all.” PM For others, the album may come across as seeming “deeper than it actually is.” AMG Notes: A collector’s edition of the album added a second disc of live recordings.

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine EB East Bay Times (12/9/2009). “Here Are the Top 25 Albums of the Decade” by Jim Harrington EW’09 Entertainment Weekly (12/3/2009). “10 Best Albums of the Decade” FO Far Out (7/16/2021). “The 21 Best Albums of the 21st Century” by Jack Whatley, Joe Taysom, and Tom Taylor GU Guardian (9/13/2019). “The 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century” PM PopMatters.com (10/28/2020). “The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s” RS’11 Rolling Stone (7/8/2011). “100 Best Albums of the 2000s” RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” TL Time (11/13/06). All-TIME 100 Albums” by Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/23/2008; last updated 6/2/2022.