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Amazon.co.uk Review
Though the songs on Amnesiac were recorded at the same time as those on its predecessor, Kid A, the gap between the releases of the pair suggests a determination on Radiohead's part that the two should not be perceived as halves of the same whole. However, there is little in the way of meaningful stylistic divergence between the two albums--Amnesiac shares with Kid A an atmosphere of defeated, vengeful paranoia, a heavy reliance on electronic noises and distorted vocals, a somewhat frustrating absence of Jonny Greenwood's guitar and the song "Morning Bell", which reappears on Amnesiac in a slightly less mournful arrangement. It may just be that Radiohead felt that it might have been a bit much to ask anyone, even Radiohead fans, to consume this entire lugubrious trove at once. Amnesiac, like Kid A is heavy going. And, also like Kid A, Amnesiac rewards repeated listenings generously. The more acute Thom Yorke's lyrical biliousness grows, the harder the band work to redeem matters with some moments of astonishing beauty. "You and Whose Army?" contains gorgeous knelling piano evocative of "Karma Police", "Like Spinning Plates" deploys a backwards backing track to bewitching effect, and the closing track, "Life in a Glasshouse", is an exuberant Laughing Clowns-style wig-out, featuring veteran jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton. Once again, it is not so much that Radiohead have not put a foot wrong, but that they're walking where nobody else has trodden. Amnesiac is another giant leap. --Andrew Mueller
Amazon.co.uk Review
Though the songs on Amnesia were recorded at the same time as those on its predecessor, Kid A, the gap between the releases of the pair suggests a determination on Radiohead's part that the two should not be perceived as halves of the same whole. However, there is little in the way of meaningful stylistic divergence between the two albums--Amnesiac shares with Kid A an atmosphere of defeated, vengeful paranoia, a heavy reliance on electronic noises and distorted vocals, a somewhat frustrating absence of Jonny Greenwood's guitar and the song "Morning Bell", which reappears on Amnesiac in a slightly less mournful arrangement. It may just be that Radiohead felt that it might have been a bit much to ask anyone, even Radiohead fans, to consume this entire lugubrious trove at once. Amnesiac, like Kid A is heavy going. And, also like Kid A, Amnesiac rewards repeated listenings generously. The more acute Thom Yorke's lyrical biliousness grows, the harder the band work to redeem matters with some moments of astonishing beauty. "You and Whose Army?" contains gorgeous knelling piano evocative of "Karma Police", "Like Spinning Plates" deploys a backwards backing track to bewitching effect, and the closing track, "Life in a Glasshouse", is an exuberant Laughing Clowns-style wig-out, featuring veteran jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton. Once again, it is not so much that Radiohead have not put a foot wrong, but that they're walking where nobody else has trodden. Amnesiac is another giant leap. --Andrew Mueller
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An essential album for any music fan,
By A Customer
This review is from: Amnesiac (Audio CD)
Kid A, Radiohead`s 4th album and Amnesiac`s predecessor, took the music world by surprise with a completely different change of direction. Many consider it a mistake for a band who made an album as good as OK Computer to try something new, but in my opinion, Kid A is Radiohead`s best album to date. Amnesiac was recorded at the same time as Kid A, but has a more conventional feel about it, featuring more guitar and more audible vocals than Kid A.The album kicks off brilliantly with "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box", a slight reminicant of Kid A highlight, "Idioteque", but nothing can quite prepare you for what follows. "Pyramid Song" is easily the most gorgeous, original single released this year, and is definately one of Amnesiac`s highlights. As it all quietens down after it`s stunning, euphoric climax, "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" takes you by surprise with it`s aggresive intro, and leads into Yorke`s incredibley distorted vocals describing different types of doors. It`s pretty hard work on first listen, but after listening to the whole album for about the third time, everything begins to make sense. After the angry, and slightly disturbing "Pulk", Anti-Blair rant "You And Whose Army" is perfect to lighten the mood. It builds from a beautifully serene beginning into a powerful, "Karma Police"-style climax. Third single "I Might Be Wrong" follows, opening with an impossibly catchy guitar loop, leading into Yorke`s (again) distorted vocals, before ending with a slightly quieter peice of music, which, apart from the fact that it also features guitar, seems somewhat unrelated to the song it follows. "Knives Out" comes next, opening with Jonny`s haunting guitar riff, before Yorke goes off on one, singing about dead mice and drowning dogs. Although this is pleasent enough, it is by no means one of the best songs here. It starts as it means to go on, and features no real musical development, unlike the track it is frequently compared with, the brilliant "Paranoid Android". This is followed by a remix of the Kid A classic, "Morning Bell", here retitled "Morning Bell/Amnesiac", and whilst being perfectly listenable is not a patch on the original. It is stripped of the drum rolls and keyboards, and the "round and round and round.." refrain is not nearly as effective here. Through the bass-lead "Dollars And Cents", and the brilliant (but frequently slated) intrumental "Hunting Bears", featuring mainly Jonny and/or Ed mucking about with a delay pedal, the album reaches it`s penultimate track, the stunning "Like Spinning Plates", probably the most experimental track here (apart from Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors). But no matter how good the album has been so far, the album finishes with the absolutely breath-taking finale, "Life In A Glasshouse". It features jazz veteran Humphrey Lyttleton and his band, and is without doubt the best song here, and maybe even the best track to come out of the Kid A/Amnesiac sessions. This undoubtedly brilliant album is absolutely essential for any Radiohead fan, or then again, any fan of decent music, music with a difference, a major rock band making music that demand, but greatly rewards a bit of patience from the listener. But no matter how good Amnesiac is, it still doesn`t meet the impossibly high standard set by Kid A, which is in my opinion the greatest album of all time. But, nevertheless, this is fantastic. Buy it now.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ambitious ... but what's everyone moaning about?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Amnesiac (Audio CD)
Reviewers should probably start by admitting their bias, and mine is that I loved Kid A. Having I enjoyed Radiohead since Creep and The Bends, I realised with OK Computer that this was not a band content to musically stand still. All of the major artists like The Beatles,Dylan,Bowie etc.have been driven by the urge to explore and, despite the inevitable clunker, emerged stronger for it. And, inevitably, their old fans attacked them for it. I find Amnesiac to be a far more melodically accessible album than Kid A, but it only works if you're not expecting more of the stadium rock anthems of yore. Certainly, it's not an album for everyone, but compared to the later work of,say, Autechre or Squarepusher it's actually rather user-friendly given its ambitions. I left one star off because I feel the best work of Radiohead is still to come. But complaining that it doesn't all sound like My Iron Lung is like complaining that I Am The Walrus isn't as good as Please Please Me.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great album becomes a good one,
By
This review is from: Amnesiac [2CD & DVD] (Audio CD)
"Kid A" and "Amnesiac" are largely the two sides of the same coin. Written and recorded at the same time, the two albums are the twins of the same musical pregnancy, seperated and left to live their own lives. "Amnesiac" suffers slightly from being the younger brother - the perception being it is made of out-takes and not very good songs. This is nonsense.
The two albums really are part of the same whole and should be seen only as companion pieces, not seperate entities. One could argue that each should have different selections and running orders, that the records are in a way, slightly schizophrenic, split personalities that would've benefit from seperation into two distinct stories, and you would be right. But they are in themselves, both, valid artistic statements with no shortage of integrity or vision. What is truly baffling is the bonus tracks are, once again, shattered into pieces and fragmented out. The concert that appends "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" is a complete, and passionate one hour from French television after the release of the second album. Nonetheless, the concert is broken into two parts, and the songs divided into their parent albums. Instead of a Radiohead concert, you get a random assortment of songs lacking any cohesion. And since it was broadcast on French Television, you might expect the television broadcast on the DVD that accompanies them.... Well, you'd be wrong. The callous and heathen mutilation of the material is lacking in even a moments thought. Not only that, but the bonus tracks are frankly, very incomplete, and are presented without a moments thought as to how they may sound when listened to as a complete experience. The shows they are taken from are mutilated, cut to pieces, kids cut in half, torn apart by demons, and abandoned as roadkill with no care. If these releases are EMI's funeral farewell to Radiohead, theyc ould at least bury the records with dignity instead of leaving the corpse in the road. The 10 song DVD that accompanies "Amnesiac" is servicable, but again, there's so much space unused, and the whole of that Paris concert that is licensed - and available spread across the two CD's in bits - still remains in a vault visually. What a waste. How these can be regarded as bonus editions when they are assembled with no artistry, no coherency, and no consideration is fairly incomprehensible. This is the sound of a slapdash, half-bothered attempt to put together some vague appetisers to fool the majority of the public and assembled without any consideration for either what is actually available or what makes any form of musical or artistic sense, validity, or cohesion. The sound of a goal being missed as administrators devalue the art. Sure, it's a fairly hefty bonus package and assembled with some decency, but it is, by any standard, an incomplete package assembled with no thought for what could provide a truly outstanding release. Why be great, when you can be good? Must try harder.
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