Los Angeles / give me Norfolk, Virginia / dial one oh four ten oh nine / tell the folks back home th...
Los Angeles / give me Norfolk, Virginia / dial one oh four ten oh nine / tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling / and the poor boy is on / the line
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What a strange album this is. It's not a follow up to Kid A, they told us, neither was it outtakes from that session (yeah right) but it should be seen as a "companion" to that famous experimental sound where Radiohead left the guitars at home and moved to a techno-based sound at the turn of the millenium.
It's difficult for me to review this as an album in its own right, because to your humble writer it strikes me as a band arsing aimlessly about in a recording studio knowing full well they are so huge that EMI won't really mind what the end result is. Kid A had gone to No 1 on the US albums chart and practically set the band up for life so there was no danger of this being rejected by the suits.
The trouble is, I like records with "songs", and there are not many of those on this one. It's basically the boys twiddling knobs and playing with things in the studio to make some noise. I can't think of any better explanation. Leave it to the poncey Sunday supplements to decide if this is "ground breaking", "edgy", "cutting", or whatever other buzzword some up-and-coming journo uses these days, because as a purely musical album it ain't got much to recommend it.
When the 'Head do get it going and actually produce something approaching a song, as in the fab lazy jazz sound of Living In A Glass House (with Humphrey Lyttelton playing) and the sparse but nicely structured Pyramid Song, they show they are still capable of grinding today's opposition into the dust. Oh that the brothers Gallacher wished they could write such as the bittersweet rambling guitar line that is Knives Out "look into my eyes, it's the only way you'll ever repel the truth" or that excuse of a hippie Damon Alban can only dream of a lyric like those on You And Whose Army, an attack on your friend and mine Mr Blair. This one even has something approaching a production with a growing sound coming in at the end.
On the flip side, the self-indulgence of Hunting Bears - two minutes of an aimless guitar over some shouting in the studio, and the sub-Chemicals compressed numbers Pulk/Pushed, sounding like Tom Yorke was trying to tune a radio in whilst the tape was still running on the mixing desk - I mean my daughter has better songs than this on her Tweenies Singalong CD.
Funnily enough my favourite tune on here is Like Spinning Plates, which is a compromise between a song and an experiment. Backward tape loop combines with a straightforward lyric to produce something you can almost dance to.
Depending on your taste this will either be very good or very bad. It is neither the proud rock band of OK Computer nor is it the-watered-down-for-America of Hail To The Thief. If you liked Kid A then you'll probably like this too......I shall merely comment that it is not a CD that gets much air time in Chez Pink .
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I can't say it appeals to me much, but then I'm old fashioned in the same way as you and like to hear "real" songs rather than someone noodling around with the latest electronic gizmos. Having said that, there is some music that appeals to me less. The rich musical gifts of The Tweenies are an excellent example...
jayne30165 14.02.2006 01:01
Good review. I've now put it on because I realise that I haven't listened to it in a while. I like it, but then I also like the fact that they sound like they're writing for themselves rather than for the sales figures. (And having worked for one of the major labels, it always amuses me to think of the reaction of some of the 'suits' there)
Entwined 13.02.2006 21:16
good review. radiohead ahh they do like experimenting. New album out soon wonder what it will be like
Though the songs onAmnesiacwere recorded at the same time as those on its predecessor,Kid ... more
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...
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Though the songs on Amnesiac were recorded at the same time as those on its predecessor, ... more
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. Howe...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Though the songs on Amnesiac were recorded at the same time as those on its predecessor, ... more
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. Howe...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: perfect comedown/Sunday music for those of us not part of the 'handbag culture' Disadvantages: some indulgence, dangerously close to cod jazz at times
mabaker 13.07.2001 (14.07.2001)
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Review of Amnesiac - Radiohead
Advantages: It's great! It's mad! It even has a couple of guitars on it... Disadvantages: Should have featured Humph and the band playing Mornington Crescent!
Dick_Dangerous 13.06.2002 (13.06.2002)
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Review of Amnesiac - Radiohead
Feb 9th, 2006
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