I Might Be Wrong (Live Recordings) [Live]

Whatever way you go about it, opening with a thundering rendition of 'The National Anthem' is a pretty damned good statement of intent. While hardly to the quality of more recent live versions of the song (not least the band's performance of the song at Earl's Court in 2003, where the song was layered with deafening war reports), it still retains a similar snarling edge. 'I Might Be Wrong' is transformed, the original somewhat slower, the version here closer resembles Radiohead's more guitar-based work like 'Electioneering'. 'Idioteque' (arguably the best song from 'Kid A') is a cacophony of beats, drums and Yorke's lyrics of impending doom, and is twice as frantic as the original. 'Morning Bell' remains faithful to the original (that "cut the kids in half" lyric is still as frightening as the first time you heard it), as does 'Amnesiac''s 'Dollars And Cents' (although here it sounds unremarkable after the hundreds of buzzing, chattering Thoms that bring the extended 'Everything In Its Right Place' to a close).

'Like Spinning Plates', originally a bizarrely beautiful experimentation of distorted and twisted sounds (not least Yorke's vocal, which sounded like it was being played backwards), here is completely stripped and turned into a brooding, funereal piano ballad (similar to 'Pyramid Song') unarguably superior to the 'Amnesiac' version. Of course, the final song is what EMI would probably consider the big "incentive" to buy 'I Might Be Wrong', 'True Love Waits'. While the song has been bootlegged since 1995 (!), the quality here is perfect. Merely Thom Yorke and an acoustic guitar, the song is so achingly beautiful, so simple and frail you think it might fall apart at any moment. Even better, the song is completely untainted by the usual whooping sycophants that plague live albums by screaming halfway through the most beautiful song of the performance.

While there are occasional flashes of genius, 'I Might Be Wrong' has two major faults. Firstly, the lack of songs. Only eight songs on the cd leaves you wanting so much more. Secondly, the choice of songs is lacking. While it is quite obvious the EP is meant as an advert for Radiohead's supposedly more "awkward" albums, the absence of anything pre-'Kid A' hurts. Also, some of the better songs from the 'Kid A/Amnesiac' sessions like 'Pyramid Song', 'How To Disappear Completely' and 'You And Whose Army?' are strangely missing. Although 'I Might Be Wrong''s most beautiful moments ('Like Spinning Plates', 'True Love Waits') means that the CD does merit a purchase, it leaves you begging for a live album proper.

Amnesiac takes some of the finest tracks from "Kid A" and "Amnesiac", and introduces the public to the live recordings of these tracks. All are different from the originals, with new instruments being introduced to substitute old ones, often enhancing the music, and, other songs being revamped completely. For instance, instead of the backwards warbling and somewhat boring backing theme that "Like Spinning Plates" had on the album, a piano is introduced, which creates a far superior track in my opinion.

There is one new track on the album, which is "True Love Waits". This is the highlight of the album, and consists of Yorke pouring out his heart over a beautiful acoustic ballad in the vein of "Exit Music".

The crowd cheer along to the crashes and wails of "Idioteque", the rumbles and cracks of "Dollars & Cents", and the haunting "Morning Bell" sounds as superb as ever. The only track that I didn't enjoy was "Everything in it's right place", which just doesn't seem to work live.

Definetely worth buying if you have Kid A & Amnesiac, if you don't, get the others first.