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The
Role of the Critic:
Radiohead's Kid A & The Next Great Rock 'N Roll Swindle
Written
by Michael Black
Previously, I have taken a strong stance in supporting the power
of the audience in finding their own meanings within a musical text.
While I still find that an audience's ability to interpret is very
powerful, I have also come to realize that perception can go far
beyond just the relationship between the artist and the audience.
Other forces such as critics have a huge influence on this relationship.
Knowing this, I set out to find how much influence critics can actually
have.
Critical
response, however, is certainly not directly related to the success
of a band or album. In the late nineties, with the critically
lauded releases of Being There and Summer Teeth, Wilco were darlings
of the critics. Since then, Wilco has maintained moderate success
but never hit huge and was recently dropped from their label.
On the other hand, Creed, a band that is continually lambasted
by the critics for their rip-off sound and watered down lyrics,
currently has the number one album on Billboard's Top 200 chart
(Billboard). While critical response to these bands did not mimic
audience reaction, sometimes critical hype gets so huge that an
act or album is destined to succeed. Such was the case with Radiohead's
2000 release of Kid A. In turn, I will argue that the critical
response leading up to and going through the release of Radiohead's
Kid A essentially pre-subscribed the album's success. Condit would
say that the audience's view, "is constrained by a variety
of factors," and one of these factors that can constrain
an audience reception is the critical response (Condit, 103).
The goal is not to aesthetically judge the merits of the album,
but rather show how the aesthetic value of Kid A had little to
do with its success.
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