Radiohead - Amnesiac
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Free Music Notes for Amnesiac
Free Music Review: kid amnesiac %^ ^%^%^56 456 slidingdoorslcokd
Hit: 5 Stars
Halfway between the experimentation of Kid A and the hi-fi angst rock of OK Computer, this is a great album and a very worthy inclusion in the Radiohead collection:"Packt Like Sardines...": This midbeat, bass heavy techno track starts us off with its pessimistic, cynical lines "After years of wating, nothing came/I'm a reasonable man, get off my case".
"Pyramid Song": One of my absolute favorite Radiohead songs now. A very metaphysical drift through the gates of heaven, the fourth dimension or something like that. It was this song (and its equally mesmerizing video) that made me get the record.
"Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors": A strange altered voice rambles about the many doors of life, including the 'trap doors that you can't come back from'. Scary and psychadelic. Reminds me of a great foreign TV series called the Kingdom, where 2 of the characters are retarted janitors who talk of the ghosts in their hospital ward. This is quite possibly one of the most peculiar tracks Radiohead has done.
"You And Whose Army?": A flashback to the old days of Radiohead. Half Pink Floyd, half downtrodden 50s balladry. Moving.
"I Might Be Wrong": Religious confusion and spiritual existenstialism seem to be the topic here. The most 'rock-oriented'. Reminds me vaguely of Pixies' "Down To The Well" on Bossanova.
"Knives Out": Seems to be about being stranded out on an artic tundra and having to turn to drastic measures to survive, such as eating a good friend who has rot out in the snow or catching a mouse that passes by. A grim apocalyptic prophecy? This is another return to their early sound.
"Morning Bell": This too is metaphysical and spiritual. The Kid A version was more or less a fast-paced escape from hell, while this has a 'reflect and repent' touch.
"Dollars and Cents": We are what we work. We are our own money. We are our productive efficiency. This song is all bout that, and how businessmen are hollow underneath. 'Scarecrows. Supply and demand. Credit. Voters...'
"Hunting Bear": Odd, tiny instrumental which sounds as if it were meant as a bside. Basically guitar over sound effects and wind. Could it be those adorable creatures from the booklets?
"Like Spinning Plates": The second most interesting track on the album. Yorke explains the act of dying as political lions tear him to shreds. It actually sounds like a backtrack into death where time is reversed and angels hide in the the backworlds invisible to the trained eye (poetic rambling)...
"Life In A Glasshouse":With music resembling early Tom Waits New Orleans jazz and grim lyrics of hipocricy and heiarchy (The mantra is 'Ofcourse I'd like to sit and chat/Ofcourse I'd like to stay and chew the fat"), the album comes to a great end.
Free Music Review: I'm a reasonable man; get off my case.
Hit: 5 Stars
While Radiohead's 2000 album Kid A was already a shocking experience, nothing could have possible prepared fans for what would proceed the album in only a year, the vastly obscure Amnesiac. Written as a parallels to one another, the two albums fit together like pieces of an obscure and disturbing, yet ultimately ingenious puzzle. Kid A had it's fair share of uplifting moments throughout the paranoia and gloom, but Amnesiac pulled no punches, and searched for an answer in the same vein as Kid A. Both albums share some specific themes, as evidenced by the two separate versions of the song Morning Bell, but both have very different personalities. It seems as if both started in the first place, a single point of birth, and spiraled off spontaneously in opposite directions. Kid A made the climb ad infinitum, and Amnesiac dug into deeper ground and swam into darker water. The album is largely a disturbing search for some kind of resolution to life's angst and internal pain, and the trip it takes to the answer is nothing short of astounding. But let's not kid ourselves, the chances that any album after Kid A would have been an easy listen is zero to none. That's not to say that this album is completely unaccessible. You have heard weirder music, but sometimes it feels like the emotional bomb is being dropped track after track, and the only thing that seems traditional are time signatures which aren't even always present. Upon first listen, the record will mostly likely sound distant and unapproachable, but once the listeners ears decide to take the wheel and drive the music home, a beautiful flower blooms and things start to make sense. Each song is hand crafted in this way, to reap rewards over time, and only time will do this work. Most of the songs, such as Knives Out and Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors meander with no real resolution, perhaps representing some kind of ongoing search. There is some accessible material here, namely I Might Be Wrong, an electronic groove which builds itself fantastically into catchy layers which build and then destroy themselves to a wonderful effect. Many Radiohead fans also cite Pyramid Song as the bands best song. But simple lack of accessibility leads many to believe that the album is at fault despite how much someone can enjoy it in the end. Radiohead know that how much one wants to make a record that can tear down doors won't necessarily make them deliver. While at first it may seem like a collection of songs that simply weren't strong enough for Kid A, Amnesiac actually has more structure than it's predecessor, and is just as enthralling when one finally comes to understand it's ins and outs. While this is easily Radiohead's most difficult, jarring, and wildly experimental album, it is also the most engaging, rewarding, and to some, the best.Free Music Review: Awesome
Hit: 5 Stars
Music is interesting because it comes in so many different forms. It seems that recently people are mostly satisified with tunes that grab their heart on the very listen. Amnesiac, similiarly to many other Radiohead albums, does not work that way.
They are so obscure and strange that you have no choice but to give it time. I first listened to this album and couldnt decide what I thought about it. Then I listened to it a second and third time, and began to discover the amazing inconspicuos qualities to this music.
The album is awesome. The wierdness within each song has some sort of hook or catch to it that reels you in. After a few listenings you'll become familiar with the structure of each song, and begin to fall in love with it.
Heres a rating of each song:
1. Packed like sardines in a crushed tin box. 10/10. Probably one of my favorites on the album. Thome Yorks melodies in this song are catchy in their own wierd way. Great song
2. Pyramid Song: 8/10. Most people would rate this song a 10.. but I give it an 8 just because I didnt like it as much as "Packed like sardines..." Nonetheless this song still rocks.
3. You and Whos Army: 9/10. The first half of this song is pretty good.. but then after a minute or so it gets incredible. This is also one of my favorite tracks.
4. Knives Out. 8/10. Most people adore this song, just like the Pyramid song. I think its pretty good, but I dont adore it. But I do like it.
5. I might be wrong: 9/10. Awesome guitar riff.. has a great dark feel to it. I love this song.
6. Dollars and Cents: 9/10. Wonderfully depressing. Most of the album has a great melancholy feel to it.. but this song probably hits it the hardest.
7. Pulk/Pull revolving doors: 8/10. Strangest on the album.
8. Hunting Bears: 7/10. I like this song.. but its just really short. Supposedly this was improvised while they recorded it.
9. Like Spinning Plates: 10/10. Amazing. Again his melodies hit the mark perfectly.
10. Life in a Glass House: 10/10. Awesome song.. all horned intsruments. Great track
Overall the album is one truely one of their best.
Music sometimes just takes patience in order to become interested with what it has to offer us. Amnesiac retains such a wonderfully mysterious quality about it.... just like Kid A and Ok Computer do. It takes a level of musical appreciation and maturity to fall in love with this album, but I promise you, if you are open to strange rock and you are patient.. then you will like it.
Free Music Review: Another Great Album
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought Amnesiac not knowing any of the hype that had been generated by critics about the return to guitar mixed with Kid A electronica. All I know is I loved this album from beginning to end. The genious of it is what makes it great, not necessarily each individual song. As long as there are no bands making this kind of music, all Radiohead albums will be great because of their uniqueness. The first track is very dance-oriented, sort of like Kid A's opener. It is very catchy and very layered with sounds. The lyrics are repetitve but catchy, "I'm a reasonable man, get off my case" Good Song.
"Pyramid Song" is a great tune. The Piano intro with the wispy sounds of wind in the background make for a great background for the verse, which has great lyrics about heaven and the great beyond. For those of you that think this song is "out of time," I figured out that the song is in 4/4 time with a 16 bar melody. (very standard form) But it's the rhythm of the melody that makes the time ambiguous. When the drums come in with the bass, it changes the whole feel into this funky, trippy piano groove. This song makes you think deeply. It's beautiful.
"Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" is my favortie track, despite the reactions of many others. It is infectious and scary but very clever. You can move to the beat and the distorted talking lyrics are very interesting. The high-pitched noises in the background are what make it creepy and alien-like. I love when the incessant beat stops for a measure or two for the piano interlude and then comes right back BOOM!. Great song.
"You and Whose army" has an old-school feel to it and it has cool lyrics.
The rest of the songs are also interesting but I'm sick of typing. "Dollars and Cents" is really good. It has a good groove and the vocals are really clever and melodic.
The Morning Bell/Amnesiac rendition of the great Kid A song, "Morning Bell" (which never got a lot of credit but was the best song on Kid A) is worth listening to. I prefer the Kid A version better but the comparison is cool because they switch to 4/4 time instead of 5/4 and the chord changes are more eerie and totally change the way the vocals sound even though the vocals are pretty much left untouched.
This album is a must have for any fan of modern music, not just Radiohead fans. There are only a handful of good rock bands making clever music with musical content out there and radiohead is one of them, along with guys like Incubus, Dave Matthews, David Gray, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, etc. Go buy it now, dont download all the tracks and burn it. Radiohead albums are worth the money and you might as well support the music.
Free Music Review: Continuing the Modern Life Soundtrack
Hit: 5 Stars
It is difficult to write as a critical listener without sounding like a critic. It is equally difficult to write as a fan or music lover with out gushing and sounding melodramatic. Is Amnesiac one of the best albums I've heard recently? Yes. It is indeed five-star material. Considering this album in a vacuum is impossible. Kid A haunts the back of your mind. Comparisons are inevitable and, with the inclusion once again of "Morning Bell", seem invited. I believe Amnesiac is the superior album, but there are songs I prefer on Kid A (for example "How to Disappear Completely" and the Kid A version of "Morning Bell").
These albums, as many before me have pointed out, are not electronica. Certainly, the instrumentation has changed and grown from the palette used on OK Computer, and even the song structure itself. But the new songs, particularly on Amnesiac, are organic. The sound is organic, the thought progression, the untranslatable feeling evoked by the blend of music and (sometimes nearly indecipherable) text, the structure of the album, all seem organic. The moment I heard the opening of "Packt like sardines . . ." I knew that this album had deepened and broaden what was done on Kid A. Indeed, unlike a few other reviewers, I am surprised that these songs came out of the same sessions as Kid A. There seems to have been growth on the bands part from that record to this. Perhaps Amnesiac is cut from the cloth, but Radiohead have learned to sew better..
Radiohead's impeccable musicality is paramount on this album. Critics who call the music on either Amnesiac or Kid A "a-rhythmic" or say that it lacks melody probably can't keep a beat or hum a tune on pitch. These songs do stay with you, in your head and on your lips. The rhythms are complicated indeed, but you can still tap your foot if so inspired. And the music is far from atonal (lord knows I've walked around humming and whistling Pyramid song and even bursting into "I'm a reasonable man/get off my case" particularly at work).
At times, yes, the computer sounds outweigh the traditional and dissonance overtakes the melodies. But it is Radiohead's ability, in the middle of all this apparently chaotic noise, computer generated beeps and harsh percussive passages, to suddenly surprise the listener with consonance, with a swell of strings, other traditional instruments, or even the strange haunting beauty in Thom Yorke's voice that reveals to the listener the soul trapped inside all the machinery, a soul which is all the more beautiful because it is contrasted by gloomy atmosphere and alien sounds.