The album was well received by critics in North America. "Rolling Stone", "Spin", and Pitchfork Media published positive reviews. In "The New Yorker", Alex Ross praised its progressiveness, and contrasted Radiohead's risk-taking with the musically conservative "dadrock" of their contemporaries Oasis. Ross wrote that "Throughout the album, contrasts of mood and style are extreme ... This band has pulled off one of the great art-pop balancing acts in the history of rock."