The Role of the Critic:
Radiohead's Kid A & The Next Great Rock 'N Roll Swindle Page 6

Making Sense of it All

By looking into the audience reaction to the release of Kid A, I feel that it helps to reinforce two main themes that I hoped it would. First and foremost, as evidence of Kid A being possibly the most obscure and least radio-friendly album ever to debut on Billboard at number one, critics have a huge impact on audience consumption. An album debuting at number one with virtually no radio play is nearly unheard of. Kid A, by way of the critical frenzy that surrounded it, was a success even before audiences had a chance to react to it.

Secondly, the audience reaction helps reinforce what my past work had suggested, that the audience is in control. While critical praise definitely affected the debut and sales of the album, the common audience did not let their perception get too caught up in the critical response. People took in the critical response but generally did not follow it blindly. They proceeded with caution and came to their own conclusions about the album. In The Rhetorical Limits of Polysemy, Condit argues, "Audiences do not simply receive messages; they decode texts," and in this case, that is exactly what audiences did (Condit, 104).

In conclusion, it could be said that critics play a very important role between the artist and the audience. This role, however, cannot define what and how people decode a text. While some audience members might agree that Kid A is indeed a masterpiece, they likely would have come to this conclusion on their own, just as people speaking out against the album had to form their own opinion. In essence, while critics do have the power to affect audience consumption, they will never be more powerful than the audiences own ability to decode a text.

Works Cited

Billboard.com Charts; http://www.billboard.com/billboard/charts/bb200.jsp
Condit, Celeste Michelle. "The Rhetorical Limits of Polysemy". Critical Studies in Mass Communication 6. 1989.
Courtney, Kevin; "Are Radiohead Ok?"; The Irish Times; September 15, 2000.
Fricke, David; Rolling Stone.com; http://www.rollingstone.com/recordings/review.asp?aid=64764&cf=236
Reynolds, Simon; "No guitars. No anthems. No future. Radiohead make a post-rock masterpiece"; SPIN Magazine; October, 2000.

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