Radiohead - Amnesiac
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Free Music Notes for Amnesiac
Free Music Review: A thematic sequel
Hit: 5 Stars
I wrote a review of KID A and then I started seeing the same sort of storyline in Amnesiac. I think it's another album about the Son of Kid A. Onward.the opening moment of this album-the child of Kid A is recovering from amnesia. the album is the story of HIS life.
packt like sardines in a crushd tin box--
daddy's in the ground. it's a response to his father (who was Kid A)'s funeral. he is saying to his father, as well as the reporters who are asking him stupid questions at the funeral, that he's reasonable--just to leave him alone right now.
this song also foreshadows what will happen to the boy later on.
pyramid song--
the fact that he is alone again in the world, no cloned daddy or human mommy, depresses him, and he jumps in the river and finds a new meaning, as he almost DIES, he realizes he is a moron and that he should quit fearing his life and doubting himself.
HOWEVER, this song is also about Kid A in heaven and how he goes there. Perhaps the entire Amnesiac album is a duality from Father and (hmm, why not?) Son.
pulk/pull revolving doors--
almost like a near-death experience in the river. he knows that he should, um, quit drowning and get out of the water, but, um, he can't...and has a near-death experience with his dad, and sees the doors...all the doors of heaven and hell.
this also applies to his father, doing the same thing, before Kid A says "what are you doing here, go home!"
you and whose army--
he's back out, settling in to his life in the world. he's leading some sort of separatist movement, or he is rejecting his lover.
i might be wrong--
well, I might be wrong about all of this... :)
but hey.
he is out living his life, taking risks, he seems to have a love for the water (since it connected him to his Dad), and he might be a nature guide, "let's go down the waterfall", and "think about the good times." living easy in the wild, he leads people thru the forests and the rivers.
knives out--
he encounters his love that he dumped in "you and whose army". she is with her boyfriend/husband on a nature trip, when out of his innate jealousy and hate, he KILLS him, and since they also seem to be lost in the wild, suggest we eat his body to stay alive. in the end, his plan works out perfectly, as he gets the girl, but not before...
morning bell/amnesiac--
again. but it's more human this time, and different. the son of Kid A divorces his love on the same grounds that separated his parents.
dollars and cents--
now that he's free of the witch SHE turned out to be, he can move on, now in his fifties and rooted in the real world of money-changing, even in the temples.
hunting bears--
on vacation, he has to relive the experiences he had in the song "knives out", and his ex-wife, not so stupid after all, comes along and says "hey, why couldn't we have just hunted the bears in the woods?" that night, on the news, "the son of Kid A has been arrested and charged with murder..."
like spinning plates--
oh no, he thinks. I was doing so well, before it all started coming down around me. what is this nonsense? the plates are going to fall, i'll get 35 to life. oh no!
life in a glass house--
the title. he's still under the media's eye, he's the only child of a human clone, after all. all he does is watched, and then in the end, he is in trouble with the same government who created his father, his only friend, the reason for his being in the first place. this is when he finds US, the listeners, the millions captivated by his and his father's lives, and he'd love to talk to all of us, but how can he? the government is listening in. also, of course, he's denying he killed the man, with the ironic line "i'd love to stay and chew the fat". he's being sort of, er, flippant, so that we won't suspect him, and it remains to be seen if we do or not, since the song stops without a resolution.
Free Music Review: Wait....
Hit: 5 Stars
..and LISTEN to it. Don't just play it and wander off to do other things, LISTEN to this record. Let the sounds travel through your ears, through your body, through your brain. Absorb the music. Otherwise, you will drop this like a bad habit (unless of course, your into the various styles they represent on this album, which I am!).
When I have a hard time getting into an album, I put some decent headphones on and immerse myself into the world that the band is trying to convey. Radiohead has always been a great band, they have just evolved into something better. Layers upon layers of music exist here, in the world of Radiohead, and you have to have patience and an appreciation for life to enjoy it. ADD generation, look somewhere else, cause this aint for you. There are no two minute head banging pop sing-a-long song tracks here that satisfy the material world here. Sure, you can sing a long to almost all of the songs here, but they are not necessarily radio friendly, nor are they easily accesible. None of Radiohead's albums are really easily accesible. The Bends, Pablo Honey and Ok Computer seem accesible because they are wrapped up in a radio friendly traditional packaging (Ok COmputer less so). But still, Radiohead has always been about mystery and deep emotions and meanings that don't shine out on the surface, but rather are buried deep below in the soil, the dirt the anguish and pain of humanity in our technology age. There is no such thing as a layman's Radiohead song, they are DEEP. I don't believe that Radiohead are the best band on the planet, I'm not that brainwashed. However, they are amazing, and Thom Yorke's lyrical style is poetic, even if our Starbucks and Old Navy generation has no idea what he is saying.
To me, it seems that Radiohead craft their music with the idea that whoever listens to it must have a working intuition and a working understanding of the underlying in life. That which is not spoken speaks the loudest, that which is most ugly is actually one of the most beautiful.
Every track shines with blistering emotion and more layers than an onion. Effects and electronic influence are rampant, however they do well to create a lush atmosphere.
When paired with "Kid A", the picture becomes complete, since both albums were cut from the same session.
A view into the post apocalyptic end that humanity brings upon itself in its un-relenting and subtle way. I highly recommend this, and "Kid A". Just don't be fooled by all those so called Radiohead "fans", who are more or less fanatics that love the bandwagon and love to praise other humans like they are gods or something. Very wierd! Those are the kind of fans who cannot embrace anything new from their "gods". They like the same over and over again. That is why you will find reviews that compare this album to their previous releases. That is why you will find reviews that totally trash this album because it is too avant-garde or whatever. Truth is that people are not prepared for music that stretches outside of the radio norm/MTV generation style pop music that pleases all and lulls you to sleep, depriving you of originality and creativity.
We live in a generation that enjoys the novelty of past hits re-hashed and glazed over to sound fresh and new. Some of us can see right through that garbage and require something with more substance, more depth. And that is what this comes down to, Radiohead bring depth, regarless of whether you think it melodic or not. Regardless of whether you understand it or not, they bring depth and soul to an otherwise dead and souless music world. It is very incomprehensible, and very mysterious, but that is the way they like it. You can either like it or not, I have a feeling they could care less. For every so called Radiohead fan that hates their music as they evolve, others who can heed the call will listen to them. After all, real recognize real.
Free Music Review: The Only Kick In Life...
Hit: 5 Stars
Radiohead's latest effort `Amnesiac' is a close relative to its predecessor `Kid A'. I am really disappointed that so many so-called fans have not given these two albums a second listen, because in their opintion, it did not sound like the classic `OK Computer'. So what? The one thing that I love about Radiohead is the surprising element in their music: its continuously changing sound. Every album has its own identity, and so far... all identities have stunned me in the most positive way possible. How does Amnesiac differ from `Kid A'? Quoting Q Magazine: `... where it differs vitally from `Kid A' it is being 1) better balanced, 2) more emotionally intelligible and 3) even more grimly beautiful.' That's absolutely true. Where `Kid A' was quite dark (and maybe incredibly `unemotional', according to singer Thom Yorke), `Amnesiac' is definitely more accessible. Just listen to the incredibly moving single `Pyramid Song', or the quite catchy tune `Knives Out', just to name a phew. Opener `Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box' isn't as good as Kid A's opener `Everything In Its Right Place', and this track might give you a wrong impression of what to expect from this album. Yet, it's a very nice song.
The track `Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors' is heavily influenced by one of Thom Yorke current favourites artists, Aphex Twin. This track might have been a way to mock the fans. It's something Thom Yorke just had to put here, I guess. Indeed, it doesn't sound like anything Radiohead has ever done before, but somehow it seems to fit Amnesiac's picture perfectly.
Haunting anthem `You And Whose Army?' and bluesy `I Might Be Wrong' are definitely highlights as well. These might even please the fans of OK Computer.
That brings us to `The Morning Bell Amnesiac'; a different version from Kid A's classic `Morning Bell'. It's a very nice effort, but it's unable to overshadow the original version. The band itself seems to prefer the Kid A version also, because the Amnesiac version has never been played live so far. I also call it the Morning Bell X-Mas version, because of its tubular bells.
`Dollars And Cents' is a terrific song, but somehow the album version sounds somewhat weak in comparison to the live version. It's just my opinion though, but I think this track might have easily become the album's ultimate highlight when it was recorded in a different way.
The only disappointment of this album is `Hunting Bears', a short guitar-based track. Surely an Amnesiac B-side such as `Kinetic' or `Cuttooth' could have easily replaced this track. Now I'm sorry to say that the skip-button is often used when listening to this album, which I have never did before with a Radiohead album. Sorry guys...
`Like Spinning Plates' is an excellent way of showing what Radiohead's capabilities are. The vocals of this track were sung backwards when recording the album, Bizarre, you might think. Strangely enough this is a definite highlight in my opinion. I have never heard a live version of this song, so I'm looking forward to the next album `I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings', which features a rare live recording of this track.
Closing track `Life In A Glass House' is an excellent jazz-song, which features jazz trumpet guru Humphrey Lyttelton. An excellent way to end a great, great album.
`Amnesiac' might not be Radiohead's best album to date, but it deserves a 5-star rating nonetheless because of its passionate, brilliant experimental offerings.
It's an album every artist should have been proud of.
It's an album every Radiohead fan should be proud of.
It's an album that deserves recognition and acceptation by the media.
It's an album that deserves a place in history...
A final word to all who did not listen to Amnesiac more than once: `Suckers!'
I rest my case. Thank you for reading.
Free Music Review: Listen to Amnesiac
Hit: 5 Stars
If you think "Amnesiac" is a jumble of blithering nonsense, you're obviously not really listening.To be honest, I once blew off "Amnesiac" as "Kid A Leftovers" and rejected the notion of even hearing the album. I assumed there was no way this album could be even remotely up to par with its fabulous predecessor.
But then I did. And it is just as intriguing as "Kid A."
But yes, the songs are ordered in a sort of jumbled, "Collection of Songs" fashion. ("I Might Be Wrong" and "Knives Out," two guitar-driven tracks, lie right next to each other on the album. The coherency between "Like Spinning Plates" and "Life in a Glass House" is...far from understandable.) Despite those mix-ups, some of the contrast works. The transition between "Pyramid Song" (as outstanding as anything off OKC) and "Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors," although jolting, is effective in catching the attention of the listener.
Overall, "Amnesiac," (aside from the new "Hail to the Thief") is Radiohead's most stylistically diverse album. "Kid A" has its futuristic feel. "OK Computer" has its space-rock feel. "The Bends" has its U2 feel. "Pablo Honey" has its grunge feel. But between "Pyramid Song," "I Might Be Wrong," and "Life in a Glass House," this album abandons genre. As mentioned, "Pyramid Song" harkens back to "Lucky" in some ways. Its underlying piano melody mystifies and hypnotizes. "I Might Be Wrong," conversely, relies on its endlessly repeating guitar and bass riff to keep the song fueled. Although, upon first listening, this track often irritates, it simply requires a few more tries. Thom Yorke's soaring, sighing, really pulls the ensemble together. "Life in a Glass House," with its horn and wind ensemble, is quite confusing on a Radiohead album. The syncopation of the rest of the band (piano, percussion,) almost seems to contradict the seemingly random entrances of the horns. The two counterpoint in this fashion until the song's climax, where all seems to come clear: the final unification between the conventional and unconventional shapes the song.
The ambience of this album is what drives its musical importance. Although it may be a mix of songs left off of "Kid A," that doesn't make them any less...well, good. Some accuse this record of being "background music." And that it is. But it's so universally appropriate and fitting, that you can't blame Radiohead for making it. "Amnesiac" fills to the brim with incomprehensible wails, courtesy of the ever-eccentric Thom Yorke, and slippery, sliding electronic interludes. Even "Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors," in all its pounding percussion, features brief respites for the overwhelmed listener. These interludes may repel some, but they are compositionally compelling. "Amnesiac" isn't so much an album as a trance. Not trance music, but an actual trance.
"Kid A" was made to push boundaries. I think, after "Kid A," most Radiohead fans expected another album that pushed boundaries, in one way or another. Although "Amnesiac" serves as simply a deeper exploration of electronic and atmospheric musical form, its content does not serve as another contreversial album. All in all, "Amnesiac" really is just a collection of "Kid A" leftovers. There's only so far it can go. "Amnesiac" is in no way an album demanding the listener of significant, philosophical thought, but solely an album that requires the listener to do just that: listen.
So listen.
Free Music Review: Difficult, massive and deep.
Hit: 5 Stars
Being a much more song-driven record than "Kid A", "Amnesiac" also offers an opportunity for more hooks and "moments" (so to speak) than "Kid A" did. That being said, where its predecessor succeeds in putting together a cohereant, pulsating album, "Amnesiac" contains more of what I would call "blips". Thom's voice is as always, and it usually either loved or hated by fans (I tend to vary based on the particular song).
There are group of songs, those that would score about 4-4.5/5, on my scale. Pyramid Song is solid, but lacking in any progression, with the exception of some excellent lyrics and a strange drum inclusion. Morning Bell/Amnesiac is a redux of the song from "Kid A", and I actually perfer this haunting version, with a background chorus and acoustic guitar. Hunting Bears is an interesting instrumental, guitar based and very moody. Leads well into the next track, Like Spinning Plates. Knives Out starts off very similar to Dollars and Cents. It's nice to see a straight up, alternative rock song on this album of oddities, especially with such amazing vocals and a neat little guitar solo.
Now for the REALLY good. I Might be Wrong completely rocks out, on a central, absolutely killer guitar riff. This track showcases the most perfect blend of rocker and synth-based work that Radiohead has ever done. The ending is also a nice touch. The album's closer, Life in a Glasshouse is also stellar, it really picks up at the end, with a full jazz ensemble, an emotional end to the album. Like Spinning Plates is also amazing, doing with minimalism what Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors could not. The melody is beautiful, and the lyrics are completely intense. I truly cannot stress how incredible this song is, lyrically, melody, everything. The opener, Packt Like Sardines, is another awesome vocal performance, and is different, because it is structured like a rocker, but is entirely electronic. Weird. Finally, You and Whose Army is probably my favourite track on here, opening with just a slightly muted piano and Thom's best vocal performance on the record. The lyrics invoke mockery, a lovely clash with the beauty of the piano. At around 2 minutes, everything explodes, as the track finishes with an anthemic ending, highlighted by Thom's haunting vocal melodies. Killer.
Then, there are the song that need a few (hundred) listens to appreciate/understand. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors is one of those, an entirely electronic song, based on a strange, rotating beat. Thom's voice is totally manipulated by electronics, I don't particularly care for it here, but the lyrics are astounding. Some of the arbitrary ambience that comes in is nice, this is definitely a song to be listened to in the dark, alone in order to grasp every layer of music that is being presented. The other oddity on this album that may not seem like one on a first glance is Dollars & Cents. It sounds "rock" enough (relatively speaking, remember the album that I'm reviewing). The lyrics here reflect the Thom Yorke tradition of having a couple of anti-capitalist themed tracks on each album. This song is very monotonous, but then again, this is relatively speaking. Thom's voice is acting as the lead instrument here, and enters some chaos around 2 minutes in, then chills out for a while on a bass line. Both of these songs can't really be rated, they are terribly subjective, but cannot be ignored.
So there you have it, Radiohead's strangest, but also much appealing album (in this reviewers opinion). Like it or loathe it, "Amnesiac", much like "Ok Computer", is required listening.