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intereact!Radiohead
Retail Price (not our price): $17.98
Release Date: 2001-06-05
Manufacturer: Capitol
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...
| Disc 1 |
Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
1) Amazon.com's Best of 2001
More song-driven and acoustic than Kid A, Radiohead's Amnesiac isn't quite "Kid B," but it is unquestionably cut from the same far-out cloth, as the band revels in fascinating quirks and abject nihilism. It's also the first time in Radiohead's career that a new record hasn't meant a complete shift in artistic priorities. Surely, however, regardless of which was released first, they both deserve recognition; after all, Amnesiac, like Kid A, is an amazing piece of work. Only lightly augmented with electronics, songs like "You and Whose Army?" and "I Might Be Wrong" almost sound like they came from a typical five-piece rock band. You may even believe the band still employs a guitarist after hearing Jonny Greenwood's wistful surf-guitar lead on "Knives Out" or his subtle but noticeable contributions to the anticapitalist rant "Dollars and Cents." But inevitably, the band continually shifts gears, moving into Boards of Canada territory on "Like Spinning Plates" and delivering dark, bass-laden oddities like "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors," a fuzzed-out piece of avant-garde techno that could just as easily be on an Autechre or Aphex Twin record. The song's half-sung, half-spoken vocal was laid down by either a heavily distorted Thom Yorke or, just perhaps, a loquacious microwave oven. Either way, the music always has momentum, regardless of whether propelled by man or appliance. Radiohead as a band understand how to make rock interesting again, and in the end, that's all they set out to do when they recorded Amnesiac, as well as Kid A. It's more than can be said for the bad frat-punk, teen-pop and soulless techno that currently rules the charts, and for that alone, Radiohead's astonishing exploration of 21st-century anguish deserves credit. --Matthew Cooke2) Amazon.com
Radiohead PhotosMore from RadioheadOK ComputerThe Bends Kid APablo HoneyHail To The ThiefThe Astoria London Live
Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5
1) ..this record is just not that good! [Rating: 2 out of 5]
I must preface this by saying that I am a huge Radiohead fan. I'm also a fan of all types of music and always open to hearing new sounds. The one thing I require is a semblance of a melody. You are not going to convince me that noise (although well put together) is a substitue for tunefulness. Some of the songs on this album are interesting as a peek at some very intelligent musical experimentation, but should not, under any circumstance, be confused with anything remotely enjoyable. The "emperor's new clothes" tag that some Radiohead fans get is dead on. Not only in the case of this album, but also in that other lovely invisible coat of the emperor's, Kid A. The flipside to all that reverence is the (undeserved) disdain towards Pablo Honey. My two cents on Radiohead's records:"The Bends" is a masterpiece. Beautifuly crafted music, soulful lyrics, all masterfuly executed. Every single song works. If you don't own this already, please do yourself a favor and go out and get it. "OK computer" is a great, innovative album. The first five songs are truly without reproach. "Fitter Happier" is an annoyance and I'm not really thrilled with the back end of the album ("Lucky" is a good song), but at least, all the songs are interesting and at the very least melodic. The two records that followed were not. Kid A has two good songs. "The National Anthem" and "Idiotheque".Amnesiac has two great songs in "I Might be Wrong" and "Knives Out" and a very good one in "Pyramid Song". The rest of these two albums is the result of brilliant minds searching for the next musical evolutionary step. Unfortunately they come up with dense, sometimes interesting, but never quite enjoyable noise instead. "Hail to the Thief" has "2+2+5", and "A Wolf at the Door", which are excellent songs and book end a mediocre record. "In Rainbows" is a much more accesible effort form the band and a hell of a lot more enjoyable than "Kid A" and "Amnesiac". "15 Step" and "Bodynatchers" are very good songs, and "Weird Fishes", "Faust Arp", "Reckoner", "House of Cards" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" are all solid songs. The kind of Radiohead songs that burrow their way in. Finally, "Pablo Honey". In my opinion an excellent album. Dismissed by Radiohead snobs because of its accessibility and straightfowardness. It contains their most popular song and nary an experimental noise track, which puts off the pretentious bunch that like listening to music that is above the masses. Truth is that "Blow Out", "Lurgee", "Anyone Can Play Guitar", "Ripcord" and "How Do You Do?" are great rock songs. The fact of the matter is that most people want something they can jam to and not some repetitive bullcrap chanting to a techno loop (unless they are really, really stoned). Call it what it is. Amnesiac is a self indulgent experimental record by a band bored with conventional rock and roll. I however, am not bored with rock and roll. I am bored by Amnesiac.2) Dollars & Cents ? [Rating: 3 out of 5]
This LP should have been called Hit or Miss.Maybe even Dollars & Cents.It looks as if the band cashed in here,left off some tracks from Kid A and released them here.Kid A is a very,very good album.But it has two flaws.Treefingers and the title track.Awful tunes.Dont tell me bout the band being artistic.Please.Those 2 tracks left Kid A short of being a masterpiece.Now,this LP has tracks that were ready for release on the Kid A disc.How do I know this? I was at a show,Warrington ,England,10/02/00,when the band played Dollars & Cents,Pyramid Song(called Egyption Song)I also own a bootleg from Holland,09/16/00.The band performed You And Whose Army? and Knives Out.So whats the big deal you say? Picture those four tracks if they were on Kid A.Now,thats a great disc.This disc is like very good one moment,and very bad the next.Its uneven and never flows.Now,Iam a huge fan.As I have stated,I live in New York City and traveled to see them in England.So,fellow fans dont kill me here.Ok.Packt Like Sardines is a below average track.Live it is a solid rocker.A burst of guitars jump at you during the live version.Thick buzz sounding music ,like The Beatles,circa Rubber Soul.This version is weak and bland.Someone,I guess Phil is hitting a cow bell or something.Where are the guitars? I wish it could have been recorded with the same fire as the live version.Pulk,what the hell is that??????This is not music.Its noise.I dont care what anyone says,this is hands down,the worst track I have heard by Radiohead.In my opinion, not even worthy of being released .Period.You and Whose Army?,Im sorry,this version,unlike the live version,is so annoying.God,when Thom wants to sound bad,he can.Pyramid Song sounds very good,as does Knives Out,Dollars & Cents and I Might Be Wrong.These tracks are why I give this even 3 stars.Maybe an EP would have been better? Whats with Morning Bell/Amnesiac.Is this version better than the one from Kid A? No.So, why do we have it? Hunting Bears?Brutal.Like Spinning Plates is all cloudy and muddled sounding. The live version ,is so much better.Thom ,alone at the piano.Its a haunting version performed live.Here,they messed it up with Thoms laptop effects.Life In A Glass House.I cant tell you how I dread this tune.Please, someone tell me that how or why this is good,or even music.This disc should not have been released like this.The tracks that were not ready for Kid A, should have been left for Hail To The Thief or released as independent singles. Maybe even added to I Might Be Wrong,since that disc had only 8 tracks.Some live,then a couple of new studio tracks? A wishful thought.3) Great Album [Rating: 5 out of 5]
It's a very nice album. I still like listening to it after all these years. In many ways it's absolutely beautiful, stunning music. Lovely.4) Amnesiac should not be forgotten (its not just "Kid B") [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Radiohead have pretty much run the gamut of rock music (from alternative to uncategorizable), and nearly all of their albums have been fantastic. Following the unsettling and fascinating sonic landscape of OK Computer (my favorite description of it was that it "sounds like what the future will look like" or something to that effect), the band emerged with the bizarre Kid A, which has its great and not-so-great moments. Amnesiac was released shortly thereafter, with what appeared to be much less fanfare- and thus far less subsequent attention. However, it is the one Radiohead album I return to more than any other...even though I enjoy HTTT very much (and feel that it was their most cohesive record since OKC), both it and In Rainbows, as lovely as it is, do not match the spirit that lies within Amnesiac. At times sparse, at others emotionally complex, the songs that comprise this album are truly distinct and carry a weight which transcends melody or lyrics; they seem to have an urgency and depth about them, a sense of impending...well, inevitabllity- as though events are transpiring rapidly or coming up from all sides (both within and without) and we must navigate them with care lest we become caught within the labyrinth (as some of the artwork also seems to suggest). With the much-heralded release of IR, and the well-deserved accolades of OKC, Amnesiac should not be overlooked or dismissed as merely the happenstance sibling of Kid A, but observed perhaps as an artifact of some of our innermost (labyrinthine?) desires and often unspoken concerns...and cherished as such.5) Far from unlistenable noise... [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I'm intrigued by the number of Amazon reviews of this album that claim it is unlistenable noise, made up predominantly of synthetic sounds... I can only imagine these people bought the CD, skipped straight to track 3 ("Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors"), then pressed stop and started writing their review.Because aside from that track, Amnesiac is an album full of highly melodic pieces. Yes there are some electronic elements present but they are sparingly used. Maybe some of these people were longing for the guitars that dominated The Bends and OK Computer? Mind you guitars are all over tracks like "Knives Out" and "I Might Be Wrong". And believe it or not folks, pianos, strings and horns are real instruments too!A lot has been made of the fact that Amnesiac is leftovers from Kid A. I've got to say that when I first heard the album I was unaware of this fact, and quite frankly it's irrelevant - all I heard was a great set of music.After the simple but effective opener (curiously titled "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box") comes the slow off-kilter piano of "Pyramid Song", almost worth the price of admission alone. The aforementioned "Knives Out" and "I Might Be Wrong" are straight-forward guitar-based songs that even the rockiest Radiohead fans can enjoy. And despite the electronics, "Like Spinning Plates" is probably one of the most beautiful songs the band has ever done. If the blips and blops really bother you I recommend checking out the live version, played on acoustic piano.As others have mentioned, it probably isn't that necessary to have another version of "Morning Bell", though it is quite beautiful, and a very different version to that on Kid A. Similarly, "Hunting Bears" (which is a solo guitar reprise of "I Might Be Wrong") is not exactly essential, though it explores some interesting sounds and it's nice to hear that melody in a different context.So when all's said and done, I'm still (or perhaps even a little more) puzzled by all the negative reviews. Yes I'll admit that "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" is pretty odd and I might skip it on occasion. But apart from that we have 10 great tracks, which are highly listenable and flow remarkably well. 5 stars.