Radiohead - Amnesiac
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Free Music Notes for Amnesiac
Free Music Review: It is very good
Hit: 5 Stars
Wow. This album is great. I haven't listened to much Radiohead, but this is really amazingly good. These are the tracks:1 - Packt like sardines in a crushd tin box - Great opener. Sort of a danceable tune. Quiet beats and percussion that sounds like the drummer or someone is banging on pipes or a kitchen pot. It's really innovative and cool.
2 - Pyramid song - Hoo-boy. This is a harrowing, piano-driven ballad that is really inaccessible, but it is still marvelous and haunting. Thom's vocals are sublime.
3 - Pulk/pull revolving doors - Pure fuzzed-out techno. It enters with a bang. The track could easily be on an Autechre record. The spoken vocal is so heavily treated - with distortion, reverb, and god knows what else - that it's really difficult to understand what he's saying, although it seems like Thom's reciting a laundry list of different types of doors. Sort of dumb, but has the feel of the Alien spaceship.
4 - You and whose army? - Smiply divine. The track starts with a Country/Western feel (don't worry, that's really good in this case), but as the track progresses, Thom's vocals proceed to become more shrouded in reverb, and the piano and drums make an entrance for the ages. It ends sounding like late-period Beatles, and while I might have just committed blasphemy, I don't really care. Worth the price alone.
5 - I might be wrong - Indispensible. The twangy, distorted lead guitar is awesome, with drums that are quiet, yet riotously funky. The muted strumming and funky bass are sweet. Sounds like Thom Yorke in charge of a funk band. I like it when the tune suddenly deconstructs with a minute to go.
6 - Knives out - This is beautiful, classic Radiohead - the Radiohead I was expecting to hear when I got the disc. You can understand Thom's vocals. The lyrics are great. Such a relief after the first five tracks, although it's nothing of the sort on it's own. Splendid.
7 - Morning bell/Amnesiac - There had to be at least one misfire, and this is it. It is an utter death march. I loathe this track. Avoid it at all costs.
8 - Dollars and cents - Easily the best drumming on the allbum, and possibly of the year. Phil is great. The only misstep is the lyrics, which are a little too preachy. Basically an anticapitalist rant about how dehumanized captilism is, with "we will crack your little souls" ending it.
9 - Hunting bears - This is a doodly little instrumental consisting of guitar and a keyboard. Not much here, but better than the death march commonly known as "Morning bell/Amnesiac"...isn't there another version of this on Kid A? Is it any better?
10 - Like spinning plates - This is the notorious "backwards" song. Yes, it was recorded backwards, with the backing track of an unreleased song, titled "I Will", played backwards. It does sound like spinning plates. Thom sang the vocals backwards, and then they played the tape of his voice forwards. It's really good.
11 - Life in a glasshouse - I heard this described as Thom Yorke fronting Charlie Parker's band. That is not at all accurate. It sounds like Thom Yorke fronting Louis Armstrong's band. The sheer power of Humphrey Lyttelton's trumpet - still intact at 80 years old - is amazing. Thom's utter despair is great. I've run out of good adjectives, can't you tell?
I really love this album, but I wish they hadn't even tried that remix of "Morning bell/Amnesiac" because it really does [stink]. A lot. However, other than that, the album is incredibly good, and shows that at least one band is still making good music (although Blur's 13 was incredible, too). Buy it!
Free Music Review: Kid B you say? More like Kid A+
Hit: 5 Stars
Although this album was made of the same sessions of Kid A it sounds different and it has a different feeling to it then Kid A. This is by far the most underrated Radiohead-album, and its greatness stand in the shadows of Kid A. Well, I can say without any doubt this is my favourite RH-album.
'Packt Like Sardines In A Crushed Tin Box' was the first song I heard off of Amnesiac and was one of the main reasons why I bought this CD in the first place. Although is a quit simple song, it is amazing. The intro to the song is very good, and the rythm is danceble. The use of the different instruments is excellent, they use instruments they never used before. The lyrics are poorly but that's not important for this song. Some people though might concider this as 'bleep-bleep' on a keyboard, I say it's about time Radiohead did something totally different.
Then even a better song follows named 'Pyramid Song'. Slow paced, use of piano and beautiful vocals. Classical Radiohead you'd say, yet still different. This song is as underrated as this album.
Following is a track that many fans don't like. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors. To be honoust I like it, to be very honoust I love it. Although I can see why alot of people hate it. If I would concider it as a song I would put in my list of favourite Radiohead-songs, but I don't call it a song. It's more like a collection of weird, fascinating and interesting sounds. Travelling comes to my mind when I heard this song. It's like a train, travelling in and out of tunnels, slowing down and going faster.
Next in line, You And Whose Army?, is more a return to the classic Radiohead, wich is again slow paced. It's good but just a little too short.
I Might Be Wrong is my favourite song on here (it's in my Radiohead top 5). It's quit accesible, also for fans who dislike Kid A and Amnesiac. It has some electro-influences but there's a guitar in it, so it still reminds of previous Radiohead. It's catchy enough to be on the radio, most catchy song on Amnesiac.
Knives Out is pure classical Radiohead-stuff, but there are alot better songs then this one on here. For me, it is one of the weakest songs here.
The remake of Morning Bell was not really neccessairy. It's not bad, but the original was better. This is the obvious link between Kid A and Amnesiac.
When you hear the promessing intro of Dollars & Cents you know it's going to be a great song. And it is. A chill-out track with an energetic climax and a nice choice of instruments.
I liked Pulk, but I don't like Haunting Bears. Some weak jambing on the strings of a guitar for 2 minutes. It's a useless track but yet listenable and not really annoying, just very useless. When I hear what kind of excellent B-sides this CD has (Kinetic, Fog, Worrywort, Meeting in the Aisle and many other outstanding B-sides) then I can't help think what the hell Thom was thinking to prefer Hunting Bears above all those excellent B-sides.
Like Spinning Plates, arguably the weirdest song on the album, and like many already know it's 'I Will' recorded backwords. So this is supposed to be weird. An experiment, but not a failed one. Extraordinary.
Finally we got Life In A Glasshouse, yet another experiment of Radiohead. It seems to be quit out of place on this mainly electronic album when you first listen to this CD, but after many listenings it fits perfectly. It's a song you got to get used to (well, at least I had to). Nice effort.
Pretty weird, yet fascinating, yet amazing,...yet Radiohead's best effort...ever...
Free Music Review: Radiohead's best.... maybe!
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this CD on the day it came out. I had heard it before, so I knew what to expect, but the high sound quality was new(the leaked MP3s were terrible). To put it simply, it blew me away.Each of Radiohead's CDs in the past has had a certain feel. Pablo Honey and The Bends were conventional, yet amazing, albums. Compare them to OK Computer and Kid A, both concept albums, which felt like watching a movie or reading a book. I've tried to invent stories to go with those albums. Then there's the difference between OKC and Kid A. OKC is very down to earth. There are plenty of lyrics, emotion, etc. Kid A is something different. The lyrics seem to be coming from some other worldly place. The songs now can better be described as soundscapes. There's less emotion, yet just as much power. Amnesiac rests in the middle of all of this. It carries a variety of emotions and images, like The Bends and Pablo Honey, yet it flows as well as OKC and Kid A. It seems more earthly than Kid A, yet less earthly than OKC. For beginners, this and OK Computer are the best Radiohead CDs. And here's my song by song review....
Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box - Very good song. Sounds like anything off of Kid A(sort of like an EIRP-Idioteque-Kid A blend), yet has OKC-style lyrics.
Pyramid Song - Amazing. An egyptian-style piano line, combined with jazzy drums and a powerful string arrangement.
Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors - Hands down, the strangest thing Radiohead has ever done, rivaling even OK Computer's Fitter Happier. And it works, too! A lot of people slag this song off, but I personally find it quite cool!
You And Whose Army? - An excellent, OK Computer-style ballad. Apparently this is a great live song too.
I Might Be Wrong - By far Radiohead's best upbeat song. Rocks harder than anything since Pablo Honey, yet loses no emotion or beauty.
Knives Out - I'm guessing that this single is gonna be as big of a hit as Creep was. It has way more general appeal than anything they've done since Pablo Honey. Centers on a beautiful, haunting guitar solo.
Morning Bell/Amnesiac - Very interesting. This track was not included because Radiohead was out of stuff to use. It was put here to provide a link to Kid A. While I like the Kid A version better, this is a very good arrangement, and has more power when looked at in context to the rest of Amnesiac and Kid A.
Dollars And Cents - Quite possibly my favorite song off of Amnesiac. Sounds like the string and guitar version of Kid A's National Anthem. Translation: it freaks out.
Hunting Bears - Some people call this track filler. What they fail to notice is how beautiful it is. It's a guitar intrumental, with keyboards backing it up. Quite good. Like Spinning Plates - Easily the best and most outlandish experiment on Kid A and Amnesiac. The song is played backwards, even Thom Yorke's voice. Yet you can understand what he's saying. That's because they recorded it with him singing backwards, then reversed it. Very cool. I wonder if they play a reversed version live! :-) Life In A Glass House - This track dissapointed a lot of people. That's because it wasn't what they were expecting(a powerful, beautiful ballad). However, it's a great song. An outright admittance of the jazz influence that showed on tracks such as Pyramid Song and You And Whose Army. Not to mention, a great way to end the CD!
Free Music Review: Prog-rock continues untainted
Hit: 5 Stars
I may be one of the few who actually liked Amnesiac better than KidA. Don't get me wrong, KidA was a great release only surpassed by OK Computer in artistic terms but Amnesiac was altogether different and not touted as an "important" CD which is usually the kiss of death for any release regardless of the band. 1. Packt Like Sardines In A Crushed Tin Box - Much in the same vein as "Everything in its Right Place", it is a nice introduction. The differences between the two songs highlight the essential differences between the CD's. KidA is experimental and touts it while Amnesiac is experimental and ignores the fact.
2. Pyramid Song - Utterly haunting as if it were music filtering from the other side of the grave. A quiet despair imbues every note as Thom Yorke uses his voice to great effect. Without a doubt the best track on the entire release.
3. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors - I don't understand why this track is almost universily reviled. I quite enjoyed it but then I am a big fan of Kraftwerks. I see nothing wrong with electronic experimentation and this song works quite well in this respect.
4. You and Whose Army? - I get the image of a soundly defeated military general not willing to cede defeat and taunting a far stronger enemy before getting utterly crushed. It's almost as if he is enjoying the dire circumstances.
5. I might be wrong - The second best track. It has a new wave feel to it that is hard to ignore - sort of an amalgam of The Cars and the Alan Parsons Project with a touch of Roxy Music thrown in. So damn catchy that I hear it in my sleep.
6. Knives Out - Excellent guiter work using laid back California surfer riffs. Nice dissonance between the easy-going music feel and lyrics about killing.
7. Amnesiac/Morning Bell - Having gone through a recent divorce, this version of Morning Bell could have been the theme song for the process. "You can keep the Furniture - Bump on the Head.", "Release me." and "Cut the kids in half." (Hey, during some ugly divorces, this may be the only way of sharing custody - of course I am kidding). The errie, almost victorian feel, is in stark contrast to KidA's version which would have fit quite nicely on Alan Parson Project's I Robot - not at all bad in my opinion.
8. Dollar and Cents - Nicely put together song with flourishes borrowing heavily from the Moody Blues.
9.Hunting Bears - Filler with tinges of Spanish guitar motifs.
10. Spinning Plates - More electronic experimentation which vaguely reminds me of the Clockwork Orange Soundtrack. The vocals made to sound like a tape running backwards is reminiscent of some of ELO's dabblings.
11. What a New Orlean Funeral procession would sound like if performed by Steely Dan during the Pretzel Logic era. A nice closer to a very original release.
With Amnesiac, Radiohead continues to unabashadly fly the flag of prog-rock. Is the work pretentious? Honestly, yes. But that never hindered the greatness of Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Rush, Peter Gabriel and even the Smashing Pumpkins (I may get lambasted for adding them in the same sentence but stand by my assessment). Really, the only other current release that is even remotely comparable in terms of inventiveness is Tool's Lateralus.
Free Music Review: Radiohead at their best
Hit: 5 Stars
Amnesiac although recorded at the same time as Kid A, is really nothing at all like Kid A. In fact you could almost say that Kid A is easy listening when compared to Amnesiac. Once again, this is not the same Radiohead circa 1997. It is easy to see how much this band has matured emotionally, and most importantly musically. They are still playing with one hand behind their back (refusing to write stadium-rockers and end up like U2), but still are producing songs that through all the electronic-rock chaos are still more human than anything off of OK Computer. Kicking off with the electronic drum and keyboard beat of "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box", Amnesiac grabs you by the ears and sucks you into Thom Yorke's twisted daydream (nightmare?). "I'm a reasonable man get off my case" he mumbles over the hum and buzz of the music. "Pyramid Song" is a depressingly sad, neo-piano-ballad that really moves you - "I jumped in the river what did I see? Black-eyed angels swam with me" Thom almost cry's and it's easy to get teary listening to it. The pseudo-ambient groove of "Push/Pulk Revolving Doors" is not your typical Radiohead song (if there is such a thing). Like the song "Kid A", Thom's vocals are squashed down into computerised gibberish. "You And Whose Army?" is like a re-vamped "Karma Police", but this time not nearly so serious - it almost sounds like Radiohead are having you on. "Knives Out" is a Bends-era sounding acoustic jingle which has some bizarre lyrics - "Catch da mouse, squash his head, put him in the pot". Could Thom be describing what he felt people were trying to get him to do with the follow up to OKC? Only Radiohead will ever know the true answer, as no-one in the band is telling. "Morning Bell/Amnesiac" is an altered version of the original cut from Kid A, but really sounds nothing like it. Gone are the slick electric-guitar riffs, instead Colin and Ed pull off heavenly acoustic chords over Thom's incredibly high vocals. "Dollars And Cents" contains so many sounds it's hard to tell who's playing what - everything seems upside-down and inside-out, but at the same time coherent to the listener. "Hunting Bears" is a brief guitar solo, full of slides and echoes - simple though it may be, it is one of the best songs Radiohead has ever had the courage to write. It's almost a statement to say "forget the last nine songs you just heard, forget your conceptions of what we do, who we are - just listen". What other band in the world could do this in a mere two-minutes? "Like Spinning Plates" is again another bizarre trip into Radiohead's world - it's like a song was written in perfect order, and they've gone back and through it, creating something totally different. The closer "Life In A Glasshouse" is again totally unexpected. Thom wails over the brass hum of what sounds like a New Orleans' funeral band.
Amnesiac is nothing like what you'd expect it to sound like, but at the same time it's hauntingly familiar. It will take you some time to appreciate how brilliant it is, but once you relax and give in and allow yourself to enter their world. This is Radiohead at their best - difficult, inventive, moody, cheeky, bizarre, talented.