Radiohead - Amnesiac
Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the younger brother of Kid A, Amnesiac. Mostly compiled of leftover ideas from the Kid A sessions, we find a weird selection of songs that at points, don't sound very Kid A-y. Let's see how these tracks sound then...
Packt Like Sardines In a Crushd Tin Box opens on some metallic SFX, robotic beats and a quiet synth melody. Thom comes in with the singing in one of his deeper vocal performances. This is one of the catchier songs on the album.
Pyramid Song, on the other hand, is the melancholic song on here. Whilst I do like it a lot, I feel as if it scratches the same itch as How To Disappear Completely. They both appear at the beginning of the album, and they both have a very sorrowful feel.
Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors is just straight up annoying. The drums are OK, but the vocals get tiring.
You And Whose Army? is one of the most hopeful and uplifting Radiohead songs, and that's through a simple piano and Thom's voice.
I Might Be Wrong is a surprisingly groovy song, that for some reason reminds me of the Home Depot theme song. The vocals are surprisingly echoey and the melodies are pretty catchy.
Knives Out is a softer rock song that would have fit in very nicely on OK Computer. The melancholic melodies and the echoey hihats are what creates this feel. Still a really nice song.
Morning Bell/Amnesiac is not bad, but it just doesn't have the same punch as the original Morning Bell. Due to it's slower tempo it isn't as welcoming as the Kid A version.
Dollar And Cents is not bad, but it just leaves my head everytime I listen to it. The strings are nice and the cinematic nature is a nice surprise, but it simply fails to deliver.
Hunting Bears is just a short interlude with a couple short guitar riffs, and that's it.
Like Spinning Plates would have been much better if it didn't have that repeating reverse melody. It hinders my full enjoyment of the song, because the second half of it is not bad at all.
And finally, we have Life In a Glasshouse, modeled after a New Orleans jazz funeral. I have a soft spot for jazz, and this song hits me right there. Those trumpets work surprisingly well with Thom's vocals, closing the album in a nice, mellow way.
Overall, the album is not bad and some amazing tracks. But then again, it really just isn't the most interesting at the same time. There isn't anything we haven't heard before on Kid A, and some of the songs on here really don't change the listening experience. A good album, with a couple missteps here and there.
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