Jigsaw falling into place

At the heart of Dale Cornish's assessment of Kid A at 20 is a very astute point: "For me, ultimately all the criticism comes back to one question: are you listening to the music, or are you listening to the music and comparing it to OK Computer?"

In fairness, back in 2000 it was nigh-on impossible for anyone not to be drawn into doing the latter. OK Computer was such a monumental release, such an astonishing leap forwards, that it has inevitably cast a shadow over everything the band has done ever since. But Cornish is right - try to meet Kid A on its own terms and you'll be richly rewarded.

On the one hand, it was still recognisably a Radiohead record - tracks like 'How To Disappear Completely'  and 'Optimistic' ensured that much. As Cornish puts it, "For all the manipulated vocals and electronics, there are acoustic and electric guitars, and 'proper' vocals. The album continues their path of consolidation of what they were known for, adding new sonic flavours with each album."

And yet on the other hand, especially on first listen, it seemed challengingly different, a conundrum, taking many fans far outside their comfort zone through the incorporation of electronics, jazz and experimentalist flourishes. Of course, it was a journey that some were unhappy to be asked to make, and Cornish rightly cites 'Idioteque' as the album's Marmite moment, a pivotal deal-breaker. But lots of us found ourselves going along for the ride, and it's for this reason that I can't abide those who carp about the band's appropriation of outsider musics. Who cares if they were cribbing from DJ Shadow and Aphex Twin? They had the skill, self-confidence and cultural capital to prise open ears and minds that would in all likelihood otherwise have remained closed.

Twenty years on, Kid A's significance - both for the band and beyond - seems blindingly obvious. Back to Cornish: "It challenged what rock music could be, and now seems to happily exist as one of those albums, like Neu! 75, "Heroes" and Tilt, that are touchstones for rock music; records that have popped expectation and become something new, something other."