My Vinyl Collection: Radiohead – Kid A

Join me as I go through my record collection and do write ups for all the stuff I own, from the cool to the questionable.

I love Radiohead. I love Radiohead more than people and chocolate. I love Radiohead more than coffee (maybe???) If I were to get a tattoo it would be the Radiohead logo and if I were to shell out a ridiculous amount of money for records and memorabilia for any band, it would be this one, no doubt.

However, I don’t even have all their albums on vinyl [missing Pablo Honey and the Bends] but I love the ones I do have, especially as Stanley Donwood’s album art is incredible.

This copy of Kid A is the Capitol reissue so its on really nice 180gram vinyl. It’s also a double album with a really fantastic gatefold and matching album sleeves:

What’s strange about Kid A and Amnesiac is that they are both 10″, which is neat in a way.

Quick Facts:

When did it come out: 2008 reissue

Label: Capitol

Size/Speed: 10″ 33 1/3 RPM

Where did you get it: My best friend in the known universe got it for me for Christmas, I got her Aeroplane Over The Sea. We’re a match made in heaven

How long have you had it: I got it end of 2011.

Condition: Mint! Gatefold! Everything you want in an album!

Vinyl 1 Side 1: Everything in Its Right Place, Kid A

Vinyl 1 Side 2: The National Anthem, How to Disappear Completely, Treefingers

Vinyl 2 Side 1: Optimist, In Limbo

Vinyl 2 Side 2: Idioteque, Morning Bell, Motion Picture Soundtrack

Worth owning?: Definitely one of Radiohead’s best albums, perhaps second only to Ok Computer. So it’s absolutely lovely to own on vinyl. Because its shorter/smaller than other albums its a little annoying, but matches nicely with Amnesiac. The reissued vinyl is really sturdy and the packaging is very sturdy as well. I bet it’s a bit pricy but it’s also very worth it.

Discogs

Top 10 Radiohead Songs

Are you trying to get into a band but don’t feel like listening to a whole album? Do you want to be made irrationally angry by someone else’s opinion? Will you read anything on the internet as long as it’s a list? Well 45-Revolutions Top 10s  are perfect for you:

Radiohead is my favourite band. Nothing makes me happier than Radiohead, nothing makes me feel better when I’m down than Radiohead- I have, no joke, 900 Radiohead songs in my iTunes as I collect b-sides and bootlegs and demos. I could talk about Radiohead all day.

So I agonized over this but I guess it’s safe to say these are my 10 favourite Radiohead songs.

Honorable Mentions: Videotape, Nude, Feral, Kid A, The Bends, Fake Plastic Trees

10. Bloom– King of Limbs kicked off my full blown music obsession [before I had picked only a few bands and fixated on them] and my first Radiohead show began with this fragile remarkable opening. So DAMN RIGHT my 10th favourite is Bloom.

9. Airbag– The opening track on my favourite Radiohead album and dare I say it, the Greatest Album of All Time. That opening riff is heartstopping.

8. Pyramid Song– I like my Radiohead melancholy and I love it anytime Thom sits down at the piano. This song is such a dreamy exploration of a track.

7. National Anthem– But I also love my Radiohead when they rock. And as a bass player I have a special soft spot for this intense track. [Funnily enough, though live it is Colin’s moment to shine, Thom actually plays the bass line on the album version]

6. Idioteque– Another an intense track, with the most frightening and apocalyptic lyrics of any Radiohead song.

5. Last Flowers– Painfully gorgeous, this track on In Rainbows disc 2 is another moment for Thom’s piano playing.

4. My Iron Lung– I first got into Radiohead through OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac and etc, it actually took me awhile to give the Bends a listen. This song is incredible and should never be overlooked. More alt-rocky than any other on this list, but still oh so Radiohead.

3. Motion Picture Soundtrack– “stop sending letters/letters always burn” tearjerker

2. Everything in its Right Place– The first Radiohead track I ever heard.

1. Paranoid Android– But this was the moment I fell in love. Just imagine how breath-taking a track like this is for someone who has never heard anything like it before. One minute its slow and weird the next they are melting your face off then suddenly its fragile and quiet and- what is he even saying what are these lyrics about, who can play guitar like that what is going on?! My favourite Radiohead song when I first heard it, my favourite to this day.