Amnesiac

by

Radiohead

Edit

I'll do a few things in this review. I'll give some facts about the album, go over the songs, and comment on the packaging (which is important on Radiohead albums and very important when it comes to the limited edition of this one).

The historical background: When they released Kid A in Oct 2000, Radiohead said they had recorded more than 20 songs and they weren't kidding. It is very tempting to consider these 2 different albums and critics have already labelled Amnesiac as a sort of reaction to Kid A and a return to more conventional Radiohead. The truth is that Radiohead had all those songs recorded, took 10 tracks to make Kid A, and have chosen 11 more for Amnesiac. I happen to be a big fan of those sessions and argue that they produced Radiohead's best work to date. Don't expect Kid B or a regression from Kid A and it doesn't matter if you haven't heard Kid A.

The songs:

- 1. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box It's got a drum machine and electronic effects, follows in the tradition of Radiohead openers, and is an excellent song. Note that when played live, it's a rocker.

- 2. Pyramid Song A good representative of this period in the band's career. You've probably heard this one since it's the first release.

- 3. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors It's totally electronic with computerized vocals and very strange. It's a love or hate song.

- 4. You and Whose Army This one is Thom on crooning one of his best vocal performances while playing piano. It's just him and the bass until the rest of the band come in at the climactic and anthemic ending.

- 5. I Might Be Wrong This one is a riff based rocker. It's one of the more radio friendly tunes on the album and might be released as a single.

- 6. Knives Out This is another riff based song and note that it features all of the members playing their "original" instruments. It has drums, bass, and 3 guitars along with a great vocal. This one will be released as a single next in August.

- 7. Morning Bell/Amnesiac This is a reprise of Morning Bell from Kid A. Thom's vocals are haunting and drive the track. It's a great song in both versions but the original is played live.

- 8. Dollars and Cents A very spooky song that is based on a bass riff and enhanced by a wonderful orchestra. One of the more moody pieces where Thom shines.

- 9. Hunting Bears An instrumental that has only guitar with some background noise. The guitar is reminiscent of the vocal in I Might Be Wrong but not enough so to be considered a reprise. Note that it's pretty short (one of the better aspects).

- 10. Like Spinning Plates Completely electronic with distorted vocals. However, it's not as hit or miss as Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors. It is an excellent instrumental and the vocals add to this to make it one of the most intense and haunting songs. It's said to be a reversed version of another unreleased instrumental track and in my opinion, the best instrumental track they've done. It is more conventional in it's original unreleased form but it's great whether backwards or fowards.

- 11. Life in a Glass House Follows in Radiohead's tradition of emotional closers and features a jazz band. The song is very emotional and builds to a climactic end.

The sleeve: The artwork is very strange and is pretty much hit or miss. It features computer manipulation of photographs, paintings, and drawings. The booklet has no lyrics. A very important note is that the artwork in the album and in the limited edition book is the same (with a few subtle differences in cropping and two more images in the book). The difference is that the book a library card from "Nosuch Library" with dates in the future where it holds the cd. For this reason I advise against purchasing both. I thought the book was cool, but had I known the cd's artwork was practically identical I might not have bought both.

The band: I'll close by saying I give 5 stars because I am a fan of the band. They consistently make great music and I gave all of their albums 5 stars (after Pablo Honey which I gave 3). The thing I love about them is that they continue to move foward with their music and manage to keep their identity and artistic integrity. They knew they couldn't follow up Ok Computer with Ok Computer Part II. Instead of feeling pressure to follow up their masterpiece record they moved on to produce some of the most groundbreaking music in recent times (Kid A and Amnesiac). Note that Ok Computer was the same: It was not a follow-up to their previous masterpiece, The Bends. They have made a career of putting out records that are impossible to follow up, then changing and keeping the incredible quality of their music. Radiohead definitely deserve a lot of respect for making music on their own terms.

It seems that most reviews about Radiohead are written either by individuals who feel it their personal duty to either demolish the Radiohead "myth" or defend it with blind ferocity from such attacks. In a sense this itself proves their greatness, simply by their innate ability to provoke such strong emotion. So let me say right off that I am a HUGE Radiohead fan, and this CD, flawed though it may be, is still better than most stuff out there. However, it sounds too much like leftovers (which it is). I have no qualms with experimentation (I truly love "Kid A", and it IS one of the first CD's I put in the player-see below) but it must have two things to be successful:1) some continuity throughout the album to give it some sort of meaning 2) It must still be enjoyable to listen to (yes it IS possible). On "Amnesiac" Radiohead fail completely on the first point and often forget the second. True, a couple of the odder songs on the album are quite good; unfortuantly there are just as many songs that are, sadly, quite unlistenable. You just sit there waiting for something magical to happen, but it never does. The sad thing about this album is that (at least for fans) it really DOES have some great songs on it ("Packt like...", "Knives Out", "Life in a Glasshouse", "You and whose army?"), but they all sound like they would fit in better on different albums; maybe even an album that doesn't exist, with "Big Boots" and "Big Ideas" (oh well... in a perfect world...). Thom seems to have developed an aversion to actually singing (there is only one song with truly unaltered vocals), which is quite disappointing because he has the best, most distinctive voice in rock music today. Consequently, what you're left with is a collection of songs that would have otherwise been "the weird one" on other albums. However, this album is still worth buying. To sum it up as simply as I can:If you're not a Radiohead fan, you still won't be after this album. If you ARE a Radiohead fan, you still will be after this album. My advice? Make a mix CD with the best songs from this album spliced into "Kid A", "The Bends" and "OK Computer"--it's the only way to see what could have been.