Kid B (Amnesiac - Radiohead)

Member Name: PWilliams

Product:	Amnesiac - Radiohead
Date:	11/07/01 (514 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: grows on you

Disadvantages: a bit odd at first glance

Already known as "The Commercial Album", or better, the album where Radiohead would go back to some decent songwriting and the label 'guitar band' could be aptly used again. Two months before its official release, the complete album - of those songs, half were already known because they had been played at various concerts the previous summer, and as a result of whic decent quality copies were available online.
What does the album sounds like then? As weird as "Kid A", absolutely not more (or less) commercial than that album. Probably the only reason that it was labelled that way is the mere fact that singles are going to be taken off it, not because the songs are in any way more radio-friendly than those on "Kid A". For example: compared to "The Pyramid Song", "Optimistic" could easily also be a single.

"Amnesiac" has a lot in common with 'Kid A". Both start strangely; it takes a while for the first normal song to appear. Both albums contain lots of experimenting and still the original instruments Radiohead used to use (Guitars! Drums! Remember those?) are strikingly absent. Not only that, the very structure of the album, the sequencing of the tracks seem nigh on identical to "Kid A", with "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Box" being "Amnesiac"'s "Everything In Its Right Place", "Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors" its "Kid A" etc. etc.

Though it surprises at first, later on the album begins to dissapoint, albeit only slighty. There are more weak songs on this one than on "Kid A"; "Hunting Bears" is a fairly useless, short instrumental filler track (this record's "Treefingers", to ram the point home even further), "I Might Be Wrong" has a nice start but just goes on without really getting anywhere and "Dollars and Cents" - a meandering tune without much of a mel
ody to it - could be described as a leftover from the "Pablo Honey" era, reminiscing such non-classics as "Lurgee" and "Ripcord". The, more esotoric, spacy, re-run of "Morning Bell" is nice, but better suited for a B-side. Remains 7 tracks, running from good to classic.

The good tracks are the first single "Pyramid Song"; a quiet song, led by a piano; "Packed Like Sardines In A Crushd Box", is a nice, strange start of the album and even better is "Life In A Glass House" featuring trumpeteer Humphrey Lyttleton, Radiohead go all jazzy on us, with Thom Yorke's voice fitting in surprisingly well making an excellent end to the album.

Highlights of the album are 4 songs, two of them 'normal' songs, two strange songs. "Like Spinning Plates" is the strangest song Radiohead ever recorded. Not since The Beatles made "Tomorrow Never Knows" has such a huge band recorded such a song, so good and so strange. "Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors" is not quiet as weird, nor as good, but still manages to come frighteningly close on both accounts. "You And Whose Army" and "Knives Out" are the opposite of these songs, the first being the Radiohead rendition of a 1920's song, or at least Thom Yorke's voice is. The remainder of the song sounding a lot like "The Bends" b-sides (which is really a compliment), especially "Bishop's Robes". The second one, "Knives Out" with its slighty jazzy overtones and its equally jazzy guitar motif is simply compelling.

Question remains whether it was 'good' of Radiohead to release their material recorded a year ago - some 30 songs - this way. It has some positive sides, showing that they have guts, that they dare to experiment and dare to venture where most major bands never would; releasing two albums within the space of 9 months, the first one without a
ny singles. On the other hand, the two albums are both weaker, or at least more precarious, than their predecessor "OK Computer" and if they would have liked to, they could have most likely released an album that would be equal to, if not better than, "OK Computer". To Sheep, the tracklisting of that album (let's call it "Kid Amnesiac") should have been:

1) Everything In Its Right Place
2) Packt Like Sardines In A Crushed Tin Box
3) The National Anthem
4) How To Disappear Completely
5) Pull Pulk Revolving Doors
6) You And Whose Army
7) Like Spinning Plates
8) Optimistic
9) In Limbo
10) Idioteque
11) Knives Out
12) Motion Picture Soundtrack (the acoustic version)

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