Expectations. That must be a terribly filthy word to those who are known for creating exceptional works of sound. Most bands fail the test of colossal expectations; some don’t even bother to try.So what do you do if the last two albums you’ve released were successful in sales and considered two of the top records of the past decade? How does one meet such formidable expectations in the minds of fans, critics and your record company? If you’re Radiohead, you release a commercially unviable record that will likely turn off most of your core fan base and scare your record company to death. Critics will still like it, but they’ve liked everything you’ve done thus far and there’s nothing you can do to displease them That’s “Kid A” in a nutshell. It’s an odd recording that almost defies explanation. It’s an album with very little focus and a lot of instrumental experimentation. Few tracks fit the standard verse-chorus-verse format typical of popular music. “Everything in Its Right Place” sets the tone, replacing guitars with synthesizers and using different distortion techniques to muddy lead singer Thom Yorke’s vocals. The results sound like a quiet sea of song fragments mutilating each other. A feeling of musical claustrophobia is built in “The National Anthem” with various sounds invading the listener’s space like a creepy haunted house, and only a pouring bass guitar keeping this song together. “Morning Bell” is a beautiful crawling ballad, but falls short in the needed intensity during the heartpouring portions. The title track is a simple lullaby that moves along almost randomly, with dots and bleeps thrown amongst the pretty music. The highlights of “Kid A” include “Idioteque,” a very clever parody of dance club songs that nonetheless grooves smoothly. “How to Disappear Completely” is another beautiful Radiohead ballad and has the most honest feel of any song on the album. It starts quietly and slowly and builds at just the right pace. It’s probably the most “traditional” song on the album, yet strangely the least convoluted. “Optimistic” is also quite the wicked rock song. With only 10 tracks, “Kid A” feels like a glorified B-side compilation – not an essential rock record. Don’t believe the hype. This is not a work of genius so massive in scope that the common folk can’t possibly understand it, so therefore you (the elite-minded cutting edge consumer) should run out and buy it. It’s an interesting experiment with a couple of good songs, but it’s certainly not the album of the year. It’s probably not even the album of the month. In that regard, based on expectations (there’s that word again) “Kid A” is a severe disappointment. However, “Kid A” is not without charm, despite its lack of focus. Radiohead is one of the best rock bands in the world, even when trying to purge rock ‘n’ roll elements from their work. A mediocre Radiohead album is still better than most other efforts by most other bands. It’s not an album to recommend as a first exposure to the band, but it’s a worthy addition to most record collections.