Amnesiac

Andrew Raff
June 05, 2001

Radiohead returns with Amnesiac, their second album in 8 months. The British quintet's previous outing, Kid A, garnered critical acclaim and topped the charts in the week of its release, despite the band putting together no singles or videos. Of course, many critics panned the album for being inaccessible and hard to get into. Amnesiac comes from the same gene pool as Kid A. While it is more accessible, it is not a return to guitar-hero territory for Yorke and company.

Radiohead (and Capitol Records) did little to promote Kid A in the traditional fashion, eschewing singles and videos for iblips-- short video clips distributed over the Internet. For Amnesiac, which draws on material recorded during the same sessions as Kid A, Radiohead returns to releasing singles. (Knives Out is the first US single, Pyramid Song is the first single thoughout the rest of the world.) This was seen as a sign that Amnesiac would be more traditional and commercial than the abstract Kid A. Amnesiac does not fall too far from its older brother.

While I characterized Kid A as being comprised of more textures than songs, Amnesiac is unquestionably song-centric. Tracks flow together less than Kid A's did. While the songs on Amnesiac are on par with those from the previous album, they stand alone better than those from Kid A.

Once again, Radiohead has put out a front-loaded album. Opening track "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box" draws on the same electric piano that opens Everything in its Right Place on Kid A, albeit in a much more upbeat style (and tempo). "Packt Like Sardines..." is one of the tracks that is most similar to Kid A, featuring electronics and sampling. "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" and the instrumental "Hunting Bears" fit in the same mold. The most obvious evidence that Amnesiac is related to Kid A is that a reprise of "Morning Bell" appears on Amnesiac. "Amnesiac/Morning Bell" is a slower, more ethereal version, though. Bassoon and bells add to the surrealness of the track, but hearing fingers sliding on acoustic guitar strings will please the traditionalists.

The traditionalists will be overjoyed by the reappearance of electric guitar on multiple tracks on the album. "I Might Be Wrong" is an actual rock song, as are the disarming "Knives Out" and the jarring, driving "Dollars and Cents," which is one of my favorites, weird time signature and all. Piano makes an appearance as the basis for my other favorite track, "You and Whose Army."

Radiohead takes on jazz a couple of times through Amnesiac. "Pyramid Song," the first European single, is a slower song based on piano, which features some jazzy drumming from Phil Selway. Closing track "Life In A Glass House" once again reminds listeners about Thom Yorke's considerable mental anguish, but features some of the best clarinet work I've heard on a rock album in a long time. With a New Orleans jazz feel, I really dig the clarinet solos-- a great way to close an album.

While not as highly anticipated as Kid A, Radiohead and Capitol have succeeded in creating buzz for Amnesiac. Once again, they are actually using the Internet as an innovative promotional tool. Capitol is streaming the entire album from its own site in just about every format-- including Real, Windows Media and Quicktime. Finally, it looks like a major label is beginning to understand that the Internet can be used for good, not just evil.