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Rating: All the poetics of “Kid A” vanishes with “Amnesiac”; the constant quest for an absolute antithesis, both spiritual and musical, is replaced by a less conceptually significant experimentalism, yet still excellent.
The nothingness, oblivion, terror, the freezing of minds, and self-denial that rendered the 2000 album immortal and unique fade away, as the concept gives more and more space to individual songs. This results in a very heterogeneous album, at times too cold; rather than a unified work, we have excellent tracks, unconnected to each other.
It begins with the synthetic dance of “Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box”, a syncopated pace and depressed singing take center stage in this quirky Indian nursery rhyme. Compared to the opening track of “Kid A,” it may come out victorious from a purely qualitative standpoint, but all the obsessive magic is gone. This isn't repeated with “Pyramid Song”, an excellent symphonic pop song, enhanced by Yorke's emotional singing, displaying all his expressiveness here. The result is one of Radiohead's best songs.
Now begins a tumultuous journey through nine bewildering episodes of creativity and inspiration.
“Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors” is a pounding electronic nightmare; super-compressed, stunning, and violent music, even the voice is computer-effected. All of this is interspersed with a few seconds of peace.
“You and Whose Army?” goes even further; a sort of jazz, retro sounds, and voice also effected here. The lyrics are among the most politicized and ferocious of the group. The synergy between pleasantness and refinement is at very high levels. The same goes for the following “I Might Be Wrong”, 21st-century rock; a hysterical guitar, sound effects, and insistent singing blend perfectly. Perhaps not very engaging, but it remains an excellent cue for possible rock evolutions.
After these three vastly different pieces, Radiohead offers us a break with “Knives Out”, a simple melody filled with emotions; another excellent example of alt-pop.
At this point, we can dive into the depths of experimentation; avoiding the obstacle of “Morning Bell/Amnesiac”, beautiful but forced, we arrive at “Dollars & Cents”. A sleepy depiction of darkness; enveloping strings support the slow funeral dance. This is the moment closest to the atmospheres of “Kid A,” darkness and hysteria blend into something elusive.
“Like Spinning Place” is another meeting of experimentation and melody; based on the sound of tapes played backwards, it is one of the most touching and intimate moments, especially for Thom's fragile voice.
The album ends as it began, with creativity, exploration of new musical territories, and solid compositions. “Live In a Glasshouse” is a New Orleans band meeting rock musicians. The splendid horns intertwine with yet another excellent performance by Yorke; particularly beautiful in the chorus, it's probably Radiohead's experimental pinnacle.
“Amnesiac” thus proves to be more than a step forward compared to “Kid A”; there are more ideas, more confidence in their means. The electronics expand, refine, and assume different functionalities. We move from simple background effects to compositions centered on electronic manipulations. But not only that; while on one side we find the rock inspiration, on the other we discover the group's interest in musical genres very distant like jazz.
In this splendid picture, what's missing is the soul the group had put into the previous album, not so creatively exuberant, but with unmatched continuity and concept logic. In the end, the two works are equivalent; one poetic, difficult, and unified; the other heterogeneous, stimulating, and sparing. Perfection isn't reached, but in both cases, it comes very close.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box (04:00)
After years of waiting
Nothing came
As your life flashed before your eyes, you realise
I'm a reasonable man, get off, get off my case, get off my case
I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
After years of waiting
After years of waiting
Nothing came
And you realize you're looking in, looking in the wrong place
I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
Get off my case
After years of waiting
I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case, get off my case
02 Pyramid Song (04:48)
I jumped in the river, what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
And all the figures I used to see
All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
I jumped into the river
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
And all the figures I used to see
All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
04 You and Whose Army? (03:11)
Come on, come on
You think you drive me crazy
Come on, come on
You and whose army?
You and your cronies
Come on, come on
Holy Roman empire
Come on if you think
Come on if you think
You can take us on
You can take us on
You and whose army?
You and your cronies
You forget so easy
We ride tonight
Ghost Horses
05 I Might Be Wrong (04:53)
I might be wrong
I might be wrong
I could've sworn I saw a light coming on
I used to think
I used to think
There was no future left at all
I used to think
Open up, begin again
Lets go down the waterfall
Think about the good times and never look back
Never look back
What would I do?
What would I do?
If I did not have you
Open up, let me in
Lets go down the waterfall
Have ourselves a good time, it's nothing at all
It's nothing at all
Nothing at all
Never look back
Never look back
06 Knives Out (04:14)
I want you to know
He's not coming back
Look into my eyes
I'm not coming back
So knives out
Catch the mouse
Don't look down
Shove it in your mouth
If you'd been a dog
They would've drowned you at birth
Look into my eyes
It's the only way you'll know I'm telling the truth
So knives out
Cook him up
Squash his head
Put him in the pot
I want you to know
He's not coming back
He's bloated and frozen
Still there's no point in letting it go to waste
So knives out
Catch the mouse
Squash his head
Put him in the pot
08 Dollars and Cents (04:51)
There are better things
To talk about
Be constructive
There are weapons
We can use
Be constructive
With your blues
Even when it turn the water blue / Even when they tore the wall down
Even when it turn the water blue / Even when they tore the wall down
Why don't you quiet down?
Why don't you quiet down?
(Everyone has promised me!)
Why don't you quiet down?
(I want a piece of the promised land!)
Why don't you quiet down?
(I want to hear you promise me!)
(Man you always promise me)
Quiet down!
(Man I want to be free!)
You doing living in a fantasy / You don't live in a business world
You never go out and you never stay / He never calls and you never stay
With our cause and our liberal wills / We'll have goals in a liberal world
Living in times when I can't stand the beg
All over the neighborhoods
All over and maybe I could see out of here
All over the promised land / All over the clovers
All over the promise and let me out of here / All over the clovers and let me out of here
All over all over all over all over...
[Simultaneously on the background: ]
Why don't you quiet down?
Why don't you quiet down?
Why don't you quiet down?
Why don't you quiet down?
Quiet down!
We are the dollars and cents
And the pounds and pence
And the mark and the yen
In the end, we are going to crack your little souls
We are going to crack your little souls
We are the dollars and cents
And the pounds and pence
And the pounds and pence
In the end, we are going to crack your little souls
We are going to crack your little souls
We are the dollars and cents
10 Like Spinning Plates (03:57)
While you make pretty speeches
I'm being cut to shreds
You feed me to the lions
A delicate balance
And this just feels like spinning plates
I'm living in cloud cuckoo land
And this feels like spinning plates
My body's floating down a muddy river
11 Life in a Glasshouse (04:34)
Once Again I'm In Trouble With My Only Friend
She Is Papering The Window Panes
She Is Putting On A Smile
Living In A Glass House
Once Again Packed Like Frozen Food And Battery Hens
Think Of All The Starving Millions
Don't Talk Politics And Don't Throw Stones
Your Royal Highnesses
Well Of Course I'd Like To Sit Around And Chat
Well Of Course I'd Like To Stay And Chew The Fat
Well Of Course I'd Like To Sit Around And Chat
But Someone's Listening In
Once Again We Are Hungry For A Lynching
That's A Strange Mistake To Make
You Should Turn The Other Cheek
Living In A Glass House
Well Of Course I'd Like To Sit Around And Chat
Well Of Course I'd Like To Stay And Chew The Fat
Well Of Course I'd Like To Sit Around And Chat
Only Only Only Only Only Only Only Only Only Only
There's Someone Listening In
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Other reviews
By Sallu
This album is the greatest blend of masterpieces and nonsense put together.
Radiohead experimented so much they ended up being strangled by these innovations or got too caught up in '70s jazz.
By Solomon
I drift in an ocean of sounds that swim straight to the heart of my perceptions, flooding them with sublime melancholy.
To be listened to alone, sad, drunk and tremendously alive.
By Moretto
The album does not give the impression of being a collection of 'leftovers'.
Amnesiac... strikes against the rhetoric of certain hackneyed rock through their continued and never self-serving desire for experimentation.
By myork
We are soon “squeezed like sardines in a can of sounds.”
If these are the things that, as Thom says, “you forget and then remember again,” then they will remain forever clouded in the minds of our beloved Radiohead.
