Kid A- Radiohead

Before this project I rarely paid close attention to album art. From the CD's I have purchased over the years, none of the covers were as creative in my mind as Radiohead's. Before learning more about what makes a great album cover I always regarded Radiohead's album covers to be the best. I choose to analyze Kid A over there other albums because I feel that the music is depicted perfectly through its cover.

First and foremost it is important to realize where this album stands among the others. It is the bands fourth album and was released in 2000. The previous album OK Computer was a huge hit and there were extremely high expectations for Kid A. Stylistically the band did a 180 due to the lead singer and songwriter Thom Yorke's severe depression and possible drug use. They went from classic rock band to electronic underground minimalist music. In the end they won a Grammy for best alternative rock album.

The cover is not pleasing to look at. At first glance it made me think of the pre-historic age probably due to the volcanoes. But looking deeper there is a lot of contrasting elements. First of all the redish black sky is not only intimidating but overwhelming. The sky most is definitely relating to Thom's depression. The frozen mountain range depicts the music of the cd. The song Treefinger's has no lyrics or anything but an eerie echoing noise. It resembles the silence of being lost in mountains where you hear nothing but mother nature. The fire bursting from the frozen mountain tops is also very important. It seems to signify the breaking out of an old style or forming something new. Destruction and rebirth are in my opinion what They were trying to symbolize with the volcanoes. The end of something great but the start of something even better. Lastly there is a large sense of digital warping on the mountains. I think that this might hinging at them crossing into the digital music world. They used a number of electronic sounds in the album compared to their earlier ones.

Radiohead knew exactly what they were doing when they chose this cover. Their listeners expect something artsy and chaotic. After listening to the album through you feel lost, confused, but hopeful. I think the cover does the same.

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