100 Best Albums of the Decade: 2

2: Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

Rated the best album of the decade by Rolling Stone and Pitchfork Media, Kid A is a record that is sometimes highly regarded for reasons other than the music. Is it experimental? Yes. Is it an album that can be hard to wrap your head around? Yes. Does Radiohead take a big step forward with complete disregard commercial viability? Yes. But do those reasons justify this album being the classic that it is? No. Some critics and music "know it alls" cling to Kid A so much because they feel it makes them an individual. Breaking news - it doesn't.

Rock has always been a constant struggle between opposite forces. The forces of "business as usual" (which likes to simply recycle what they know already works and never seems to hurt the bottom line) and the forces of "modernity" (which tends to progress music forward into a new state of existence) always seem to be going head to head. But for some reason Radiohead seem to live outside of this struggle. They are a force unto themselves. They live in their own world and live by their own rules.

Kid A is such a great record because it always sounds fresh. Released almost 10 years ago, the album sounds timeless because there was nothing constricting the band from their vision for the music. It was made outside of any kind of context therefore this is no context with which to date it. It's kinda like Joan River's face. Synthesizers, processed vocals, freak out jazz breakdowns, funky bass grooves, paranoid lyrics, drum machines and a plethora of other instruments all get a chance to shine. Sure that might make this album seem a bit off kilter, but listen closely and you hear the most important band of this generation making their magnum opus without fear.

Every song makes you feel like your (a) sinking in slow motion to the bottom of the ocean or (b) flying through the sky free from gravity's chain (sometimes even both - and those songs are the best). Either way this feeling can be incredibly paranoid or incredibly comforting. But that is how Kid A was pieced together. Thom Yorke and company try to get a reaction from everyone so that even if you don't like it, you can at least relate to it in some way - meet the newest version of Bob Dylan.

This piece of music is a philosopher's wet dream. It's completely cerebral and totally devoid of anything "pop". Yet it still sold over 1 million records to proove that if something feels right and sounds good - people will buy it. In your face Britney Spears. Top Tunes:(How To Disappear Completely, Everything In Its Right Place, Motion Picture Soundtrack)