Radiohead - Amnesiac
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Music CD Cover
Artist: RadioheadEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001
CD Release Date: 2001-06-05
Music Label: Capitol
Product features:
- RADIOHEAD AMNESIAC
- Packt like sardines in a crushd tin box
- Pyramid song
- Pulk/pull revolving doors
- You and whose army?
- I might be wrong
- Knives out
- Amnesiac/Morning bell
- Dollars & cents
- Hunting bears
- Like spinning plates
- Life in a glass house
Free Music Notes for Amnesiac
Free Music Review: Strange But Beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
By the time 2001 rolled around, Radiohead were one of the most critically-acclaimed rock bands of all time. "OK Computer" had been voted the greatest album ever on numerous occasions, and in late 2000 the band released the follow-up, titled "Kid A." The album stormed to No.1 in both the US and UK, which is an incredible achievement for an album which received no promotion from the band and no music videos or single releases. Six months later they followed this up with "Amnesiac," which was described by many as Kid B; an album similar to Kid A, recorded at the same time.
This album is very good in my opinion, but it took quite a few months for me to realise this. The albums that have come after OK Computer are more difficult to get into, and you really have to open your ears to appreciate what you're hearing. You can't just sit back and hope to like it, you've got to put the effort in as well. The music on this album divides critics because some see it as self-indulgent twaddle, while others see it as great music by a band who are experimenting with their sound through different styles and genres. The people who don't like it tend to be single-minded middle aged men who listen to nothing but glorified rock from bands such as Oasis, Led Zeppelin amongst others, and while there's nothing wrong with that music, they should really try and open their ears a bit more instead of being set in their ways.
Amnesiac opens with the brilliant "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box." This song has a tinny, transparent sound to it that sounds just like the title of the song suggests. The beats here are very electronic and ambient, and the chorus is memorable as Thom Yorke mumbles, "I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case!" The next song is the beautiful ballad "Pyramid Song." This song is a very gorgeous and heavy slow song with sullen wails and aching cries. Thom's vocals seem very off-key to begin with, but they soon become crystalline. The last two minutes of this song are brilliant and very visual; I imagine looking at a lake, shrouded in dense fog whenever I hear this song. "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" is one of my favourite songs that Radiohead have ever recorded, despite certain people criticising it. The reason for my love of this song is that it is unlike anything I have ever heard before, and this is because of the amazing beat that runs through the song. It starts abruptly and catches you off-guard with a beat that slams in hard four times. It then stops, and starts again, and stops and...you get the picture. Yorke's vocals are distorted here, adding a sense of coldness to the song; there's no emotion here, but the mechanical sound of the song is very memorable. "You And Whose Army?" is another amazing ballad that features clouded vocals from Yorke. You could imagine being surrounded by a pale blue light as he sings to you through the dense darkness. This song has political undertones and an amazing final minute where Thom's vocals ascend, sounding more like a rock standard from any other band.
"I Might Be Wrong" is another amazing piece of work that doesn't reply too much on the electronica of some other songs. The song has a rather catchy beat that runs the length of the song. Yorke's vocals are hidden behind this beat, sounding almost muse-like. "Knives Out" is probably the most accessible song on the album, and it's no surprise that it was one of the album's few singles. The video to this song is just crazy. The song itself, however, isn't so and sounds very typical of late Nineties Radiohead. The beat is rather fast and the lyrics are astounding as always. Yorke's vocals are on top form in this song which is rather gloomy and depressing in tone, but ultimately a great song with a peppy sound that contradicts its message. "Morning Bell/Amnesiac" is probably my least favourite song on the album, because I really don't like the intro. Yorke's vocals grate on me here a bit, but luckily the album is redeemed with the brilliant "Dollars & Cents." This song is so unusual and features a great string section that adds a sense of epicness to the song. I can't quite explain it, but this song has a beat that sounds just like the title suggests; like cents being dropped into a money box!
"Hunting Bears" is a short intro style song that runs for just two minutes. The guitar here is a bit harsher than anything else on the album, and the song seems pretty pointless. "Like Spinning Plates" is similar to Pulk/Pull from earlier in the album because there is a great focus on minimalism. It can be argued which song best achieves this, and while I think Pulk/Pull does, many others feel this song is more successful in doing so. The song opens with a strange beat that does indeed sound like plates spinning around at high speed which is joined by a jittery sound. There's no singing until about 106 seconds into the song, and when we finally do hear Yorke's voice, his vocals have been reversed so we don't know what on earth he's singing about! Overall a great song. The album closes with "Life In A Glasshouse," which is not the best song on the album but still features strongly in the album as a whole. The song features almost jazzy undertones and a strange trumpet, which recalls "The National Anthem" from the Kid A album.
OVERALL GRADE: 9/10
What I have noticed a lot by listening to this album is the way in which Thom Yorke has a brilliant knack for giving songs names that sound very similar to what you actually hear. This is evident on the first song of the album, and on songs such as "Dollars & Cents" and "Like Spinning Plates." This isn't the best Radiohead album in my personal opinion, but it's still very good and essential in any fan's collection. If you don't like it, try to listen to it more because it does grow on you. Infact, I'd probably place Amnesiac as my second favourite Radiohead album after OK Computer, because I'm far more inclined to the experimentation of their latest albums that their earlier stuff on "Pablo Honey" and "The Bends."
Amnesiac Poster
Radiohead Photos
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More from Radiohead
 OK Computer |  The Bends |  Kid A |
 Pablo Honey |  Hail To The Thief |  The Astoria London Live |
More song-driven and acoustic than Kid A, Radiohead's Amnesiac isn't quite "Kid B," but it is unquestionably cut from the same far-out cloth, as the band revels in fascinating quirks and abject nihilism. It's also the first time in Radiohead's career that a new record hasn't meant a complete shift in artistic priorities. Surely, however, regardless of which was released first, they both deserve recognition; after all, Amnesiac, like Kid A, is an amazing piece of work.
Only lightly augmented with electronics, songs like "You and Whose Army?" and "I Might Be Wrong" almost sound like they came from a typical five-piece rock band. You may even believe the band still employs a guitarist after hearing Jonny Greenwood's wistful surf-guitar lead on "Knives Out" or his subtle but noticeable contributions to the anticapitalist rant "Dollars and Cents." But inevitably, the band continually shifts gears, moving into Boards of Canada territory on "Like Spinning Plates" and delivering dark, bass-laden oddities like "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors," a fuzzed-out piece of avant-garde techno that could just as easily be on an Autechre or Aphex Twin record. The song's half-sung, half-spoken vocal was laid down by either a heavily distorted Thom Yorke or, just perhaps, a loquacious microwave oven. Either way, the music always has momentum, regardless of whether propelled by man or appliance. Radiohead as a band understand how to make rock interesting again, and in the end, that's all they set out to do when they recorded Amnesiac, as well as Kid A. It's more than can be said for the bad frat-punk, teen-pop and soulless techno that currently rules the charts, and for that alone, Radiohead's astonishing exploration of 21st-century anguish deserves credit. --Matthew Cooke
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