I might be wrong...... (I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead)

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Product:	I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead
Date:	27/03/02 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: (none)

Disadvantages: Goth, load, no point to songs

Before we begin, a word of warning to fans of Hear'Say (and other related tendencies): please leave the room now, children. The following article will not interest you in any way whatsoever. It concerns music you may find distressing. It concerns Radiohead.
"Hmm...", you may be thinking, "Radiohead? Distressing? So what's new?" - and you'd be right. Thom Yorke & co have never been scared to blast their audiences with weapons-grade bleakness and, post-OK Computer, the band's legions of fans have demonstrated both stamina and loyalty beyond the call of duty in sticking by them through a barking-mad two-album-long metamorphosis, during which they've mothballed their guitars, their melodies (and, questionably, their sanity) in favour of jagged prog-rock keyboard experiments, demented rhythms and, er, British jazz. Post-modern, minimalist, anachronistic self-referential trumpet solo, anyone?

"Throwing the door open to the uninitiated and illuminating the faithful, this is raw, peerless creativity at work."

Exhibits A & B are, of course, Kid A and Amnesiac, Radiohead's weapons of choice over the last year - two of the most provocative releases ever produced by a mainstream rock outfit, representing (to some) sonic genius to rival the likes of Stockhausen and Cage, or (to others) the sort of Vangelis-on-bad-acid wibbling which suggests a bunch of burn-outs on their way to joining Syd Barrett in the "What planet are they on now?" file. Love them or hate them - once heard, you can't fail to have an opinion on them.
Trouble is, they left out the instructions.
Perhaps sympathising with those still struggling to make sense of it all, the band have, thoughtfully, just released a guide to their recent projects in the form of I Might Be Wrong (a handful of live recordings laid down during their recent European tour) which combines with its two predecessors to complete Radiohead&
#39;s bizarre, avant-garde triptych.
It opens, not with the usual self-congratulatory cheering crowd, but with radio noise, snatches of disembodied voices looped back on themselves as the band thunders into 'The National Anthem'. The defining elements of the song's original Kid A appearance are all present and correct: the grinding, distorted bass, the ethereal 70s synthesiser line, the disjointed vocals. The astonishing thing about this cut (and this is true of every track on the album) is the way it's brought into full colour by live performance. The additional warmth of a live drum-kit and Yorke's gutteral, rhythmic scatting reveal the true power of the song, sometimes obscured by the strangeness of their studio productions.
There's more where that came from, too: 'Like Spinning Plates' is reduced to a piano, synthesiser and bass backing, softening and humanising the harsh tones of the original, and emphasising the displaced, despairing panic of Yorke's lyrics ("While you make pretty speeches, I'm being cut to shreds"). Likewise, 'Everything In Its Right Place' is given roots by the addition of a thumping 4/4 backbone from bass and drums, before building to a mesmerising crescendo as layer upon layer of sampled vocals from Yorke swoop around each other until the song is engulfed in a vortex of hypnotic noise.
Only one 'new' song is included as a lure to the casual buyer - in fact, 'True Love Waits' has been lying around unreleased since 1996, and is featured since the band tossed it in as an encore recently. While the song itself is unremarkable, its simple arrangement (Yorke accompanying himself on acoustic guitar) reminds you of the sheer enormity of Radiohead's transformation in the period since it was written.
As live albums go, it's short (at 40 minutes), but therein is contained all you need to unlock the mysteries of Kid A and Amnesiac, distilling them and
re-examining them at once. Throwing the door open to the uninitiated and illuminating the faithful, this is raw, peerless creativity at work. Indispensable.

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