Radiohead - Amnesiac
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Free Music Notes for Amnesiac
Free Music Review: Radiohead Knocks Us Out Yet Again
Hit: 5 Stars
A (slightly) more accessible album than Kid A which is nearly just as good. Pakct Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box is not as weird as it's title seems to indicate, it starts out with an odd percussion sound and then turns into a fairly conventional, fairly poppy opening number, faintly reminiscent of Planet Telex from The Bends. Next up is Pyramid Song, which is the most beautiful song we've heard from Radiohead since OK Computer. It features piano/orchestral backing and some nice singing (!) from Thom, quite good. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors is the oddest song on either this or Kid A. It has a peculiar electronics-driven rhythm that makes you think it will pick up pace, though it never does. Not a bad song, but nothing extraordinary, highly experimental. The next several songs are in a far more conventional mode (for post-OK Computer Radiohead, anyway.) You and Whose Army?, I Might Be Wrong, and Knives Out (the most traditional-sounding song on either this or Kid A), are a trio of great songs that are less electronics-laden than the rest of the album (or of Kid A) but still featuring Radiohead's unique approach. Amnesiac's version of Morning Bell is somewhat different from Kid A's, and I like this one better. Stripped of Kid A's bigger arrangement, this version features a gently strummed acoustic guitar and a beautiful vocal from Yorke. Dollars & Cents is a nice little ditty that was premiered on the last tour. It features some good bass and rhythm work and some fairly sardonic lyrics. Hunting Bears is a nice, short guitar-led (!) instrumental that segues into the strangness of Like Spinning Plates. The closing song is Life In A Glasshouse, perhaps the album's standout track. Including some memorable vocals from Yorke and a stuttering piano, this song is truly made great by it's horn arrangement. Perhaps the zenith of Radiohead's recent experimentation, this is truly one of the band's best songs yet. A perfect way to close the album, like The Tourist on OK Computer, nothing could possibly follow this. Amnesiac is a great, must-own album for any Radiohead fan. It doesn't take as many listens to crack as Kid A (and isn't, in my opinion quite as good) and an example of just how great and profound rock music, even in this day and age, can be if you let it.Free Music Review: Beauty and Ugliness are all relative in this album
Hit: 5 Stars
First of all, people that make combinations of the words real, fans, of, and music. This space is all about opinion, and to proclaim yourself as a real fan of music, or a fan of real music is in and of itself pretentious. But, hey... what's wrong with being pretentious?With that out of the way, if you liked Kid A, you'll definitely love this one. It's from the same sessions as Kid A, but these tracks have a very different feel. The guitar makes a subtle come-back in this album for one. The other is the overall feel of the album. Kid A was overall very mystically positive... almost like a two-year-old that's fascinated with everything it sees. This album is very negative... the tracks are haunting and spooky, making for an intense experience, but one you'll that'll make you thank the fact that you're sober and sane at the end (or are you?) The emotion in the album is still as intense as Kid A, but turned in a different direction. The cover describes this album perfectly.
A few of my favorites. Pyramid song... this song is incredible in so many ways, but the most interesting thing is how you don't think the piano is playing a rhythm at the beginning of the song, then the drums come in after a few minutes and you get this really odd triplet feel; the song overall is just a very peaceful poignant song. Pulk/Pull revolving doors... this is probably the weirdest song on the album with a very NIN feel to it, a perfect opposite for Pyramid Song. Dollars and Cents... the strings really add to the feel of the song, although the lyrics seem a little too complaintive, if you don't pay attention to them (and you can't really tell what he's saying that easily anyway), the musical aspects of this song are trippy. Like Spinning Plates... really really spooky... excellent climactic point to the album, the synth strings chill you to the bone. The last track on the album is pointless if you haven't listened to the album all the way through.
All in all, I doubt this album will make new fans, but it'll definitely keep old ones. It's far too weird for pop culture, which is why we like it. For those who thought Kid A was Radiohead's best album, this one's a good one for you. However, those of you who think that probably already have this album.
Free Music Review: Amazing...simply amazing
Hit: 5 Stars
To tell you the truth I've been listening to Amnesiac for a good month now and I can trully say the music grows on you like a fungus. More in the vein of Kid A than OKC and back, but this generally isn't a bad thing is it? The album also isn't as flowing as Kid A or OK Computer, but more of a collection of good songs like The Bends. To me this album may be Radioheads finest work. They are into heavy experimenting but keep the same feel of Radiohead.Pact Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box- 10/10, This is a very dancy song that opens up with a kettle drum. Pretty good lyrics a fairly deep singing for Thom. A great opener.
Pyramid Song- 10/10, Maybe Radiohead's finest work. Some simple piano chords and really emotional singing, around 2:30 seconds into the song everything just fits together and leaves you in a beautiful trance. The video is really good too.
Pulk/Pull- 8/10, A kinda industrial esq. tune with heavy distorted bass. Thom sings about different types of doors. It is a little too similar through to much of the song but I think it's pure genious that they sampled some of Pyramid Song at the end of it.
You and Whose Army?- 7/10, An oldschool Radiohead song. I don't really like the lyrics much and Thom seems to be slacking with his singing. But it still turns out pretty good.
I Might Be Wrong- 10/10, The first catchy guitar riff from Jonny for a while and some great electronics and vocals round out the song. Gotta love how it ends.
Knives Out- 10/10, Another Bends era like song, should be the second single. Apparently about cannablism.
Morningbell/Amnesiac- 7/10, No where near as good as the Kid A version but seems more creepy. Sounds like it came out of a childs nightmare.
Dollars and Cents- 10/10, Good drumming and bass work. Reminds me of old Radiohead too.
Hunting Bears- 10/10, I love this little guitar peice, it makes a perfect transition from Dollars and Cents to.....
Like Spinning Plates- 10/10, AMAZING, really experimentive using turntables and wierd singing.
Life In A Glass House- 10/10, I've heard it called New Orleans Funeral music and that does a pretty good job of labeling it. I hope Radiohead does a jazz album because of this peice.
All in all it's just amazing.
Free Music Review: Far from unlistenable noise...
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm intrigued by the number of Amazon reviews of this album that claim it is unlistenable noise, made up predominantly of synthetic sounds... I can only imagine these people bought the CD, skipped straight to track 3 ("Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors"), then pressed stop and started writing their review.
Because aside from that track, Amnesiac is an album full of highly melodic pieces. Yes there are some electronic elements present but they are sparingly used. Maybe some of these people were longing for the guitars that dominated The Bends and OK Computer? Mind you guitars are all over tracks like "Knives Out" and "I Might Be Wrong". And believe it or not folks, pianos, strings and horns are real instruments too!
A lot has been made of the fact that Amnesiac is leftovers from Kid A. I've got to say that when I first heard the album I was unaware of this fact, and quite frankly it's irrelevant - all I heard was a great set of music.
After the simple but effective opener (curiously titled "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box") comes the slow off-kilter piano of "Pyramid Song", almost worth the price of admission alone. The aforementioned "Knives Out" and "I Might Be Wrong" are straight-forward guitar-based songs that even the rockiest Radiohead fans can enjoy. And despite the electronics, "Like Spinning Plates" is probably one of the most beautiful songs the band has ever done. If the blips and blops really bother you I recommend checking out the live version, played on acoustic piano.
As others have mentioned, it probably isn't that necessary to have another version of "Morning Bell", though it is quite beautiful, and a very different version to that on Kid A. Similarly, "Hunting Bears" (which is a solo guitar reprise of "I Might Be Wrong") is not exactly essential, though it explores some interesting sounds and it's nice to hear that melody in a different context.
So when all's said and done, I'm still (or perhaps even a little more) puzzled by all the negative reviews. Yes I'll admit that "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" is pretty odd and I might skip it on occasion. But apart from that we have 10 great tracks, which are highly listenable and flow remarkably well. 5 stars.
Free Music Review: Standing in the fire
Hit: 5 Stars
AMNESIAC is a dark album. And it's no wonder as it describes in greater detail the apocalypse which was only introduced in KID A. I would like to emphasize the message of the album, as I see it, as the music is not complete without it.In the drum-loops based and a very upbeat "Packt like sardines", Thom tries to shake the chaos off by saying "I'm a reasonable man get off my case", but "your life flash before your eyes". With the soft piano & strings of "Pyramid Song" we get a taste of a beautiful afterlife where "there's nothing to fear and nothing to doubt". Abruptly we go back and the catastrophe continues in the aggressive "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors", where we're told about "trapdoors that you can't come back from": there's no turning back. Thom's taking a deep breath before going into "You And Whose Army", where he sounds like he's giving his last powers in a final attempt at fighting back, but this hopeless attempt ends quickly: "we ride tonight ... ghost horses". In the guitar&bass-based "I might be wrong" - we remember voices of the past suggesting - let's "have ourselves a good time, it's nothing at all", but this is soon regreted as the more classic Radiohead track "Knives Out" comes in: here we're introduced to a cannibalistic world, where people are taken and "not coming back" because "there's no use in letting it go to waste". Old memories keep surfacing up again in a more dreamy and remixed version of "Morning Bell" ending with "release me". In the powerful "Dollars & Cents" we're introduced to the cause of the tragedy as Thom takes the voice of big corporations (or the economy) who will "crack your little souls", and ask to "be constructive with your blues". In the innovative and beautiful "Like Spinning Plates", it is the end and "our bodies floating down the muddy river". In the very horn-oriented funeral-like "Life in a glass house" the media world is "hungry for a lynching" so much that we have to live in a glass house because "there's someone listening in".