RADIOHEAD

Radiohead are the most remarkable contemporary band there is. And, by no little coincidence, the best. They are also, almost certainly, the best British band since the Smiths. From a personal point of view it is certainly nice that there is at least one band that I grew up with that I can impress my (potential) kids with later in life. Unfortunately I didn't see them live during their infancy in an intimate venue or anything but at least I pre-empted the OK Computer bandwagon (The Bends was the album that got me going). I would call them the best band of the nineties but it seems a little unfair given that two of their best albums have been released in the new millennium. I'll leave that particular honour to the Smashing Pumpkins. And best British band of the nineties? Let's say...Oasis, or maybe the Manic Street Preachers. Given that both went shite after 1996 or so says a lot about the nineties really.

So why are Radiohead so remarkable and the only great contemporary band in existence (barring further progress from the Strokes)? Mainly because they proved to be the most artistically adventurous and forward-minded band of their generation. Quite simply, they took steps forward that absolutely no-one expected or could forsee. Furthermore they did so without disminishing the strength of their songwriting. "Genius" is a strong word and I'm loathe to use it lightly but it really does seem as if few artists in the world could have made the leap, musically, that Radiohead did and for it to succeed so amazingly well is nothing short of awesome. Let's not forget that this intellectual nu-prog approach hardly killed off their fanbase either. Obviously neither Kid A or Amnesiac sold as well as OK Computer but Radiohead are still regarded as one of the biggest bands in the world, which is a standing even more impressive when considering their main rivals are probably those corporate-pandering shit-merchants U2. If you're new to Radiohead it is worth me pointing out that they began as a fairly standard alternative indie band, albeit with undeniable artistic ambition and ludicrously brilliant basic songwriting. The Bends, along with previous hit single "Creep", gave them their initial commercial success but, just as bands were starting to ape their sensitive acoustic-indie, they released the artistically brilliant OK Computer which is now commonly regarded as the greatest album of the nineties. In terms of fantastic songwriting combined with intelligent, progressive arrangements it doesn't take much initiative to compare it to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and the fact that it doesn't come off unfavourably speaks volumes. By this time English rock had become beseiged with shit imitators playing their morose, unoriginal and, above all else, worthlessly dull wallowings to the delight of the affluent middle-class (Coldplay and the utterly dispicable Travis being the main culprits). Everyone therefore expecting Radiohead to match their imitators ended up rather surprised. Instead of The Bends II Radiohead released the most adventurous and exciting album of the past... well God knows how long; namely Kid A. For the rest of this new millennium they have thankfully stuck to their non-compromising position and thus, I give you the most remarkable contemporary band in existence.

From: Tim Grocott

Hey. My name is Tim. I am a huge fan of Radiohead and I am doing an Essay on them for University. I was looking around for some album reviews today and I stumbled across your site. I must say that it is extremely refreshing to hear someone speak so highly of Radiohead's new material and then blatantly put down Pablo Honey, and some of the early work. 90% of the reviews on the net on Kid A/Amnesiac absolutely shoot it down in flames as hoyty-toyty, pretentious pieces of shite. And claim that, since The Bends, Radiohead just stopped caring about the average punter and made music that they wanted to listen to. (A bunch of wankers). Once again I thank you for printing the undeniable truth about this band.

From: Nicholas Spicer

Hey. Love the web site - your review of Radiohead are spot on. As a Brit in CA I didn't even hear Radiohead until about a year ago when I wandered past my kids watching MTV's lame "Top 1000 albums of all time" (Or something equally silly) and became mesmerized by a live video of "Creep". I instantly went out and bought, mostly 2nd hand, the entire set of albums, including, later, the live one. So I heard them all at once, and rate The Bends the least of them.

From: b.leiner@chello.nl

Well, you certainly seem to think that you know it all? What a waste of space. Radiohead are just as commercialised as any other band!! There is no denying that they are very good but they have released some right shit down the years. They want to earn their bread too,and to earn money you need to be known (commercialised).
Of course, you are entitled to your views but somehow I think you still need to mature a little. Anyway, they never will be as great as Floyd, now there really is a band that is timeless. Dark Side was in the charts like 20 years??? OK Computer, where is that now?

[OK Computer may not have sold as much as DSOTM (although it still shifted a fair few copies) but it is generally regarded as the greatest album of the nineties. Is Come On Over by Shania Twain better than any Beatles' album? Personally I've heard very few shit Radiohead songs and if you think Kid A was an album released to make money you, my friend, are the one who is naive - JF]

Interestingly the most famous lyric on this album, "I wish I was special", is actually rather appropriate to this album as a whole and Radiohead's early career. They were obviously a good alternative rock band but, "Creep" aside, there is essentially nothing on this album that indicates a particularly special band. Predating Oasis and the Britpop movement of the mid-nineties U2 and REM comparisons are unfortunately necessary and this album comes across as a modest British appropriation of the styles of both bands' early careers. Thom Yorke is yet to become enigmatic, although he still looks pretty weird, and is merely a frontman of above average ability who can occasionally flex an impressive falsetto range. In terms of looks, it is amusing to contrast the prominent weirdos Yorke and Johnny Greenwood with the the rest of the band, who look like non-descript locals down a pub. It is quite appropriate, though, that those two should stick out visually as it is Greenwood that probably provides the most interesting contribution to this album, with his atmospheric angular guitar playing. It ain't for any old reason that I rate him, along with Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, as the best and most innovative guitarist of the nineties and he was already showing signs on this debut offering. Indeed, other than "Creep", his guitar playing on tracks like "Stop Whispering" and particularly the excellent "Blow Out" is probably the best reason for buying this album (at least until a greatest hits package is released). One suspects the reason this album gets occasionally (and incorrectly) heralded as another classic Radiohead album is equal parts generous hindsight and the presence of the seminal "Creep". Like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" it has become the great song that isn't quite great enough to make you want to hear it yet another time. Greenwood's guitar playing is obviously an important element of the track (the tension-building "chug-chug" was apparently a mistake) and Yorke's falsetto during the coda is nice but something so obviously self-pitying just comes across as overly cynical and insincere. I know Yorke ain't the cheeriest bloke round his way but the alienated lyrics seem too obviously aimed at bed-sit losers and superficial students. The obvious grunge dynamics hardly help the case against selling out but it isn't hard to recognise it as the obvious highlight on such an unexceptional (although still quite good) album. Certainly one imagines if they hadn't followed up this album with The Bends they would have been unfortunately remembered as mere one-hit-wonders. The rest of the material is all decent enough melodic alternative rock and it is at least clear that they knew how to write songs. There are no obvious mis-steps or bad songs but the whole exercise fails to be massively impressive. The only two diversions appear to be the solely acoustic ballad "Stop Whispering" for which Yorke over-emotes simplistic lyrics and the curious "Anyone Can Play Guitar" which parodies classic rock but is neither funny nor that hard rockin'. I should stress again, though, that this is certainly an inoffensive album. The melodies are pretty sound and most songs manage to contain at least one memorable hook but the arrangements are not a patch on what they were to attempt in the future and the overall songwriting simply is not strong enough to raise this album into standards of greatness. If you are new to Radiohead and insist on starting chronologically then I'm sure you will not be put off by this but you will hardly be that motivated either. The one thing you can say for Radiohead, particularly when compared to the likes of Oasis, is that they've certainly come a long way in ten years.

From: Mart K. Kuhn

I largely agree with your assessment of this album (esp. the fact that it is the worst of Radiohead's studio efforts), but am confused about one thing in particular. You say that people seem to think this album is special (which is obviously wrong), and like this album the best (which is obviously foolish), but I've never heard anybody say such nice things about it... ;) Granted, "You", "Creep", and "Blow Out" make this album worth the (very) occasional listen, but I rank "Thinking About You" among them as well. Maybe it's not as clever as, say, "Idioteque", but it's very honest, which works well with the song's sound as a whole.

After an unexceptional and merely mildly promising debut offering one really needs to hit the ground running with the follow-up and thankfully Radiohead more than succeeded with the momentous milestone in the nineties movement of British rock - The Bends. Although it took the magnitude of OK Computer to cement Radiohead's revolution it has become clear in retrospect that this album is responsible for an awful lot. It is almost cheeky that the light-weight fans who didn't give this album the time of day when it came out are now chastising Radiohead for not giving them The Bends Mk II. Certainly when I bought this album back in '96 Radiohead were still regarded merely as superior alternative rockers rather than musical geniuses and/or pretentious snobs. It is all well and good for historians to present the "truth" about how things really happened but having lived through Radiohead's rise to the top and the dreary music scene they unfortunately inspired and subsequently disowned I find it hard to remember exactly what went down. Once Britpop had died on its feet, retrospectively pinpointed as the moment the Gallagher brothers popped into Number 10's for a few bevvies with Tony Blair and the wonderful Peter Mandleson, God-awful wallowing, unintelligently self-pitying and predominantly acoustic bands starting cropping up - spearheaded by Travis although later succeeded by Coldplay. Rock really was looking pretty dead (of all the good-time rock'n'roll revivalists around now, few are British) and The Bends became regarded as a template for bands who wanted to appeal to the affluent middle-classes who want to put their feet up with a not-quite-that-expensive bottle of wine after watching the latest episode of Cold Feet. Of course, times have moved on even further and Cold Feet has finished its run and the poor old Strokes are now suffering a similar purgatory to Radiohead, but that will be reserved for another story on another day. Although I'm not in the best place to comment I believe the appropriation of Radiohead by the similarly dispositioned American middle-classes also had a similar effect and now when the TV executives end an episode of generic comedy-drama with a "touchingly emotional" scene (alcoholic father hugs estranged daughter, etc.) they will be looking to soundtrack it with a Radiohead soundalike. It is all a big fat shame but one of music's great enemies has always been the lucrative market of music for people who don't like music. As it happens this is an album for people who do like music by a band who genuinely like music themselves, only the supreme melodic goodness and easily accessible psuedo-grunge arrangements has seen it hijacked by the sort of people who buy "Chill Out" compilations. One imagines that part of Radiohead's subsequent pretension and intellectualisms are a direct result of the band trying to prove that, contrary to their current market, they do like music very much. Certainly you cannot imagine Fran Healy of Travis or Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics buying up the entirety of Aphex Twin's or Charles Mingus' catalogue. It is also a mark of progression that whereas Yorke and co were still very much in the awe of U2 when writing this album they subsequently learnt their lesson and their music tastes matured sufficiently in the future to allow them to move away from any generic rock cliches. There are plenty of nice acoustic ballads on this album and I sure liked them at the time but, in retrospect, they have unfortunately become tainted and now seem rather generic. The highlights, perhaps surprisingly, tend to be the guitar-driven rockers such as the excellent title track and the better-than-Nirvana grunge stomp "Just" (ironically the song that got me into Radiohead). The alternative rocker "Black Star" is probably the least contaminated moody wallowing with a chorus most bands would kill for. There are still the occasional signs of pretentiousness creeping into the arrangements with the multi-part "My Iron Lung" and the masterful and utterly haunting album closer "Street Spirit [Fade Out]" being the pick. At least at the end of the album you are reminded just why Radiohead are so much better than their competitors as a song of the eerie majesty of "Street Spirit" simply could not have been done by anyone else. "Fake Plastic Trees" may have been devoured into the realms of Clueless' soundtrack but we'll always have "Street Spirit" of an unambiguous show of Radiohead's genius. This is a great album, of that there is no doubt, and if it wasn't then I doubt it would have been anywhere near as influential. Compared with later works, though, it can seem a touch generic and not every track is flawless but the biggest travesty is that the likes of Travis and the Cold Feet generation has meant I may never fully enjoy this album again. Cheers for that.

From: Mart K. Kuhn

Hands-down Radiohead's best album. Not as revolutionary as OK Computer but the crucial distinction is this: _every_song_on_the_bends_is_very_good_. More often than not I skip through a good deal of OK when listening to it to get to the good parts, but every part of The Bends is a good part. Well, maybe not "Bullet Proof", landing unfortunately as it does between "My Iron Lung" and "Black Star" (both of which still give me shivers), but the rest is all A material (perhaps "Planet Telex" and "Sulk" should be downgraded slightly, but I digress). Last but not least, the fact that The Bends spawned the entire mopey-British-band movement does not make it a worse album. It makes as much sense to bash A Hard Day's Night for giving us the last 40 years of music on the grounds that 95% of the music released in that time was utter crap.

Few people in the spring of 1997 could have really predicted what was on the horizon for Radiohead. I remember my friend had a 16th birthday party the weekend before this album was released and at times it resembled a convention for excited Radiohead fans. That said, many fans were not even that confident. The recording sessions had reportedly been taught and tense and apparently many original songs were shelved and the release of the album delayed when the band lost confidence in their ability to match other releases of the time, most notably (and inappropriately) Blur's muddled but influential eponymous album. Certainly I knew very few people at the time who were immediately sold on the strength of this album and many soon discarded it to return to their beloved Bends. Thankfully, this album was very definitely a "grower" in that it took several months for not just me to catch on to its greatness but for the whole world to. In the ensuing months and even years after OK Computer was released its stock kept on rising and more and more people kept on buying it until, now, it has become regarded as the greatest album of the nineties, if not of all time. Listening to it now such an assessment seems far from inaccurate. The band still wrote proper songs for this album but with such complex, intricate and progressive arrangements and married to such a deep and rich emotional investment that few albums within the sphere of popular music (or any sphere of music) come close to matching it. Unlike their subsequent albums it is not just the intellectual and innovative art-rock arrangements that inspire awe but the songwriting as a whole is unbelievably strong. It is nowhere near as immediately accessible as The Bends (as my little anecdote was supposed to show) but when you do take the time to perceive beyond the technical intracies you are confronted with a wealth of atmospheric and unforgettable melodies. "Airbag", "Subterranean Homesick Alien", "Let Down" and "Karma Police" all feature peerless melodies that are easily the match of the alt-rock of The Bends. Where this album really succeeds, though, is in the fact each of those songs is also SO MUCH MORE than just great melodies. The angular guitar playing on the opening "Airbag" expertly recreates the imagery and atmosphere of a futuristic car-crash, the atmospherics on "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and "Let Down" are beyond perfect and help give this album a unique and innovative ambience of technological isolation and emotional numbness (aided by the evocative artwork). And, like a see-saw, if you don't like such progressive atmospherics then you can just go back to the melodies again, the highlights of which include the jolt of a chorus for "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and the most evocative harmonies perhaps ever put on record during the climax of "Let Down". This album is balanced further between the songs that embellish the atmosphere with nightmarish arrangements, such as the suicidal "Exit Music (for a Film)" and the claustrophobic "Climbing Up the Walls", and the more straight-forward rock songs that did well enough as singles to establish Radiohead as one of the biggest bands on the planet - "Karma Police", the searing and caustic "Electioneering" and the classic "No Surprises" which perfectly evokes the child-like emotions of a resigned suicide. The only two moments on the album possibly dipping below masterpiece standards come at either end of the accessible/inaccessible extreme. There is the legendary two minute track of spoken word (by a computer programme), "Fitter Happier", that turned out to be far more indicative of Radiohead's future career than we could have imagined and hoped. Secondly, there is the unambiguous rock song "Lucky" which, although obviously still a strong composition, is nothing they didn't do on The Bends. Apparently they originally recorded it for the charity War Child compilation and subsequently included it on this album so it was inevitable that it would sound a touch out of place. To make up for such mini-lags Radiohead also included on the best album of the nineties the best song of the nineties in the form of the magnum opus "Paranoid Android". It was actually released as the promotional single, before the album came out, and it is fair to say people did not know what to make of it. When it was placed in the context of this album, however, its true qualities soon came to light. Over the course of six minutes it is dragged from eerie acoustics to a raging electric guitar solo to an emotionally devastating climax before finishing with a further storm of electric guitars. Easily the master of something like "Bohemian Rhapsody" it stands alone as irrefutable evidence of Radiohead's claim to be able to take their place amongst the rock greats. Even music fans who generally ignore contemporary rock should get themselves a copy of this album. Classic rock does not get much more classic than this and if you thought Dark Side of the Moon was good wait until you hear this baby. For six years, since the day it came out, I've been listening to this album and I swear it still gets better with every listen. In short: a masterpiece.

From: Mart K. Kuhn

Yes, it's very good. But "Fitter Happier" and "legendary" don't belong in the same sentence unless said sentence conveys a meaning like this sample one: '"Fitter Happier" is "legendary" for having breaking up a great album, and in particular for wedging its way between two perfectly serviceable songs, necessitating the pressing of the track-forward button on any CD player playing it.' In any case, if you've read this far, you may be wondering what tracks on OK Computer I listen to much less than the others; if so, here is the list: "Subterranean Homesick Alien" - much much weaker than the songs before & after "Let Down" - I'm impatient to get to "Karma Police" (which I admittedly like mostly due to peer pressure) "Fitter Happier" - can't stand the piece of shite, plus "Electioneering" is great "Climbing Up the Walls" - gets skipped less than others, but the siren song of "No Surprises" cannot be avoided "The Tourist" - the note and tone on which "Lucky" ends make a better ending for the album As you can see, that leaves only 7 of 12 tracks that get a guaranteed listen, and not even because they're bad songs or anything, but because the overall album quality varies so widely. The Bends is a much more consistent effort, and "consistent" does not mean "all songs sound the same".

From: Alex Scordellis

Basically in reply to what Mart Kuhn has said, I reckon "Fitter Happier" really works in the place on the album where it is. The main point is that it enhances the impact of "Electioneering" - which I consider is probably Radiohead's best out-and-out rock song (i.e. better than "Just", "Creep", etc.). It clears the air of the claustrophobia of the songs that come before, meaning that when *that* riff kicks in, the listener is suddenly catapulted straight into the heart of the song.

From: Mike Bryant

If I have to go to every single WRC site and defend "Fitter Happier" than I will do just that! Too many people look at individual songs all the time. According to them, an album is only good if all the individual songs are good. But that's why bands release albums and not just individual songs. "Fitter Happier" is the centerpiece of the entire album. In my opinion it one of the most unsettling things I've ever heard. Just listen to what the computer is talking about and those creepy violins and piano in the background. The theme of OK Computer is contained in one song that happens to be under 2 minutes. It's not meant to be a sing-along fan favorite, it's meant to do exactly what it does. It expresses all of Radiohead's ideas in one hard-hitting emotional punch.

It goes without saying that when you release an era-defining album following it up can be something of a challenge. Over the course of three years (although two of which were spent on a draining but ultimately successful world tour) the hype, speculation and expectation grew with horror stories about the forthcoming album being leaked claiming guitars were barely used at all (partially true) and that the first actual "song" doesn't appear until 14 minutes in (also partially true but effectively dependent on the first claim). Radiohead may or may not have disappeared up their own arses but, one thing was patently clear, we were not going to get The Bends Part II. So, in September of 2000, with advance listenings for the press being kept to a minimum, Kid A was released. Given most people had needed plenty of time to fully appreciate OK Computer few dismissed Kid A upon preliminary listens and, in time, it has grown to become a real fan favourite. In a sense, it has done exactly what Radiohead set out to do and split their fans into two groups. The group that appreciate the bold steps the band are taking and being fully appreciative for it and the ones that still just want that elusive follow-up to The Bends and are getting more and more disillusioned with each further Radiohead release. Of course, there is also the middle ground of people who quite like the new stuff but still prefer the "classics" and, as a result, the biggest cheers at Radiohead concerts are still reserved for the likes of "Just", "Fake Plastic Trees" and, God forbid, "Creep". Still, it wasn't just Radiohead's profile that saw this album shift far more copies than you would have expected for such a complex release and it is their ability to produce material like this - utterly complex and dauntingly intellectual but still melodic and resonant - that really sets them apart from the likes of Coldplay with their modest ability to write nice songs. The overall atmosphere of the album is pretty much a continuation of OK Computer's numb sterility and suspicion of technology. Again such atmospherics are reflected with the glacial-themed artwork, although Tony Blair and chums do come in for a bit of sartirical criticism with the additional booklet. In truth, despite deserving limitless admiration for succeeding in the mainstream with a defiantly anti-commercial album, this release is not as peerless as OK Computer (although I would probably rank it as their second best). The title track (apparently about the first human clone) is effectively the four minute brother of "Fittier Happier" and shows, as hard as they tried, they could never make a decent song out of a computerised voice-over. The four minute ambient instrumental, "Treefingers", whacked in the middle to divide the sides never quite does enough to warrant its existence and, even as a marker between the two halves, it should have been at least half the length. I could also live without the impenetrable "In Limbo", even if the segue into it from the ashes of "Optimistic" is one of the most impressive moments on the album. As for the scurrilous rumours about the lack of guitars and real songs I'm afraid (or glad) to report that the first rumour turned out to be true whilst the other is up to your personal preference. Certainly Johnny Greenwood plays lead guitar far less on the album and has been much-maligned for sticking to twidling knobs on little boxes. As far as I can tell, what it basically involves is taking the music the band are playing and altering and distorting it so that it can be re-added to the song itself. His greatest success is on the excellent opener, the utterly guitar-less "Everything in its Right Place". The song rests mainly on a repetitive keyboard loop and Thom's detached vocals but both sounds are cut up and replayed over the top to create a truly transcendental and disembodying experience. The only two songs to actually rely on prominent guitars are the weary "How to Disappear Completely" (often hailed as one of their best songs but I, personally, don't rate it as highly) and the superb, ominous "Optimistic". Certainly the first "normal" guitar-based song does not appear until the fourth track, about 15 minutes into the album. The overall lack of guitars on the album, although not hindering the music in the slightest, does suggest it is hard to refer to this album as a rock album as such. That said, the fact that it does defy convention and escape classification is a great achievement in itself. The album ends at its strongest with the double bill of "Idioteque" and "Morning Bell" (two of my favourite Radiohead tracks) and the beautiful finale "Motion Picture Soundtrack" which sums up the entire emotional experience thanks largely to a wheezing pump-organ. I seem to recall "Idioteque" was referred to as a "dance" song by the rumour-mongerers and it is impressively pulsating and the sterile drum-beats do recall Prince's classic "When Doves Cry". The lyrical content alone ensures that it ain't likely to be played at many clubs, though, with a frightening abstract account of impending disaster. "Morning Bell" relies most prominently on another rolling keyboard line but again Yorke is at his finest with typically superb vocals and more disturbing lyrics, seemingly about divorce but they remain abstract enough to be impenetrably ambiguous. The album as a whole stands out as their most complex and inaccessible release to date. That said, they were arguably at their peak when they recorded it (depending on how good future releases are) and it shows through with repeat listenings and plenty of patience. It should also always be borne in mind that, regardless of their initial intentions, this was a decent commercial success so there must be a fair few people in the world who are willing to appreciate good music. If OK Computer elevated them to greatness it is this album, coupled with the fact that they are yet to release The Bends Part II, that keeps them there.

From: Mart K. Kuhn

Just slightly a bit too whacky for my taste; not helped in the least by "Treefingers"; "How To etc." was done better in the live mp3 I have; is it too much to ask to be able to play along on a guitar with an album by a band that has three guitarists? 3-chord songs are pleasantly accessible, dammit.

From: Thomas Rhydwen

I would have given Kid A a 10. I could listen to that all day, "Treefingers" and all.

From: Alex Scordellis

"Treefingers" on the other hand does a similar job of breaking up the album (Kid A) between the slower "How To Disappear Completely" and the (relatively) more energetic trio of "Optimistic", "In Limbo" (which I think you underrate by the way) and "Idioteque" but is twice as long and suffers as a result..

Less than a year after Kid A had rocked the music world Radiohead announced another album was on the way, made up of left-over material from the Kid A sessions, and more guitar-based. Clearly this placated the fans who just didn't have the time or patience for Kid A but when Amnesiac was released (it was even preceded by a promotional single, something they didn't bother with on Kid A) most of the moaning fans were far from satisfied. Furthermore, the fact that this consists of session left-overs means it is usually regarded as a subordinate to Kid A and far more of an inconsequential release. As it happens, I think both treatments are unfair as this album excellently plugs the gap in the middle. It is far more song- and guitar-based and less holistic overall than its big brother but, on the other hand, it is still ruthlessly intellectual and choc-a-bloc with great, clever musical ideas. I don't know the details but I've always imagined that the majority of material on Kid A arose from a concentrated period of writing, such is the coherent nature of it, and therefore much of this material just didn't fit in with the overall theme. Certainly, despite the stylistic similarities, you'd be hard pushed to claim many of these songs could have seamlessly slotted into the tracklisting of Kid A. With such an amazing catalogue of songs spread over the two albums one might question why they didn't release a double album in the first place but, ignoring the fact you make more money from releasing two separate albums, if they did I imagine the songs would probably be divided up much as they are on here. I certainly wouldn't want the perfect flow of the second side of Kid A interrupted. Interestingly, the only overlap between the two albums is the reprised "Morning Bell" and the dreary Amnesiac version ain't a patch on the superb original. The only other whiff of filler is the two minute instrumental "Hunting Bears" but I don't have a problem with it. It is also interesting, to me anyway, that the instrumental on Kid A ("Treefingers") is all electronic ambience whilst "Hunting Bears" is a haunting electric guitar - rather like the different instrumentals on David Bowie's Low and "Heroes" respectively. Certainly I'd imagine Bowie's Berlin period was a strong influence during the writing and recording of the duo's material. The singles from this album did not actually set the world alight as the OK Computer singles had done but the very first one, "Pyramid Song", did crack the top five in Britain and is also, funnily enough, another of Radiohead's all-time great songs. I ain't gonna attempt to transcribe the funny time-signature (5/4?) but it is no matter as the gloomy melody is one of Yorke's finest and the eerie atmospherics are rather reminiscent of diving beneath a glacial surface to one's watery grave. Certainly, "Paranoid Android" aside, there are few songs in Radiohead's cannon that can top it and, even on its own, shows this album isn't just some outtakes collection. In an almost petulant manner the three "normal" guitar based numbers are thrown together at the end of the first half with the climatic build-up of "You and Whose Army?" (yet another anti-authoritarian song, albeit pre-September the 11th), the electric rocker "I Might Be Wrong" (the highlight of which is a spine-tingling coda) and the straight-up Smiths-esque "Knives Out" which apparently acquired a reputation of being a fan's favourite when played live, most likely because out of the new material they cheered loudest for the songs that sounded most like the nineties stuff. It probably is fair to say that the guitar-based trio would have sounded out of place on Kid A but that far from makes them artistic regressions. If anything, and as Hail to the Thief has subsequently shown, this release is more indicative of Radiohead's change of direction; Kid A is merely the most ambitious extreme. Of course, three normal songs does not a normal album make and the usual computerised vocals appear on the utterly impenetrable "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" whilst it took the subsequent live version of "Like Spinning Plates" on I Might Be Wrong to show us where the song is. The album opener, "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box" also harks back to Kid A with its similar structure to "Everything in its Right Place" - repetitive keyboard loop and fractured, isolated vocals - but is certainly a strong success. The lyrics are also indicative of Radiohead's brilliance - offering only glimpses of a story ("after years of waiting, nothing came", "I'm a reasonable man, get off my case") and being evocative but still frustratingly ambiguous. The album closes with the post-modern lounge-jazz of "Life in a Glasshouse" and, whilst it is a good song, one suspects the 'Head should have left such songs to Tom Waits. That said, take away the brass and you'd have a very strong song. Still, along with "The National Anthem" it shows the brass embellishments should be filed with computerised voice-overs in the "unsuccessful ideas" category. In any case, Kid A also had a couple of iffy numbers so there is no real reason to suggest this release is a whole lot worse. I'd venture its highlights are not as high as Kid A's highlights ("Pyramid Song" apart) but it still beats its competitors into the ground with the minimum of trouble. If only all left-overs were this good.

From: Mart K. Kuhn

Better'n Kid A IMHO; how dare you badmouth "Life In A Glass House"!

From: Applescruff909@aol.com

'"Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" is another computerised voice-over . . .'
No. That song used Thom's distorted vocals.

From: ace_vikram@hotmail.com

why did u give just an 8* to Amnesiac? i think its almost as great as Kid A (which is without a doubt the best 9* album ever i feel)

This was certainly an unexpected release. A live mini-album consisting only of material from their two recent "difficult" albums with an unreleased track tacked on to woo the uncommitted. To be fair, even though they themselves refer to it as a mini-album, it could easily be taken as a full-length affair. After all there are loads of full length albums that are forty minutes long and with eight tracks. Still, it meant it was cheap and I ain't complaining about that. I guess the idea is to show the "challenging" songs in a new light but what it really does is show how great Radiohead are. If nothing else this album is evidence that Radiohead are the greatest band in the world at present (yes, even better than U2!) and probably the best since the Smiths or maybe even their seventies' equivalents Pink Floyd. But this album is more than that. It is a very good live album in its own right. There are few revelations from the material being aired in a new light apart from the extraordinary transformation of "Like Spinning Plates". What was just a curiosity on Amnesiac is turned into a wonderfully sinister piano-driven ballad. Even the vocals are more or less coherent. "Everything in its Right Place" is also altered a little with it being given the self-indulgent pretentious prog rock style treatment. Not that I'm complaining but for all its eight minutes I don't think it really elevates itself above the more succinct original. The intro is good, though, with Yorke singing "here comes the flood" before the song suddenly drops into that distinctive keyboard loop. The other track most removed from its original incarnation is the album opener "The National Anthem". Stripped of the suffocating brass arrangement it takes on a much more throbbing-electro feel with Greenwood's bass fuzzed-up and Yorke's vocals distorted. The title track, "I Might Be Wrong", is given a fairly standard rendition. Nothing new but still a good song. "Dollars and Cents" is also given a standard rendition and unlike "Like Spinning Plates" this live version fails to elucidate a great song from a good if uncompromising original. The Mingus influence is felt most strongly on that number, just listen to the bass line. What about my two favourite Radiohead tracks "Idioteque" and "Morning Bell"? The former, like most of the others, isn't messed with much and thus stands as a typical rendition of a great song. No complaints but no great change either. The bit at the end where Yorke repeatedly cries out "a father to the children" is a suitably unnerving touch. It is also amusing to hear the crowd trying to sing along. Thankfully the version of "Morning Bell" is taken from Kid A and thus is another great song. Certainly the version on here is no worse than the original. There is also a really good wah-wah guitar break after the chorus. Finally we have the unreleased track, "True Love Waits". Obviously intended as some sort of encore the song features just Yorke and his now-unfamiliar acoustic guitar. Apparently the song has lain unreleased since 1996 so it dates from an era before Radiohead discovered weird electronic machines. It seems like a guilty pleasure to enjoy it as it seems strange to hear Radiohead doing such a normal song. Thankfully the lyrics are obtuse enough to distance itself from the likes of Travis and Coldplay and thus I can rest easily in my hypocrisy. Such a normal song also reminds us what a great vocalist Yorke actually is. The song is certainly not a disappointment. And here we are at the end of the gig. The roadies have packed up and the crowd have gone home. All that remains is for me to sum up: a very good live album and an excellent accompaniment to the last two albums. Not for the unconverted, though.

From: Rob Hunter

Ok, a good opinionated site overall. Glad you recognise radiohead as theee band.
Just a couple things, even though I'm just a canadian musician dummy----in Radiohead/Kid A/"Idioteque" he isn't saying "Take a morning run." That would just be stupid. Its TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN. and also, he isn't saying "a father to the children", hes saying AND FATHERS TO THEIR CHILDREN because there is an ice age coming, something like would be said if a ship was sinking.
You have a UK email address, can't you understand the guys singing better than I can? Listen again.
Something else, I have to stand up for the live album "Dollars and Cents". "Dollars and Cents" live uses this vintage synth that sounds amazing, different from the studio version, so much more PROG as you might say. But wait, before it sounded as though you liked prog, and now it sounds like you dont. Also, the live version got a whole lot more aggressive too-- "We are going to crack your little skull" now, instead of "crack your little soul." Listen to the groove in "I Might Be Wrong" live once it gets going, the guitar strums rocking back and forth. Heavy sounds that weren't in the original, and a major bad ass groove. Altogether, the live album is more straight rock sounds, based more on grooves than on electric studio arrangement. Definitely a chance to hear Radiohead in all their lights.
One more thing, "Morning Bell" versions are on so many records because, as Thom Yorke said, it is like a recurring dream. All of Radiohead's newer songs are like recurring dreams, I love it, especially because it scrambles a lot of peoples brains. Glad you dig the subconscious dream rock too.

[I'll take your word on the lyrics but I still think "take a morning run" sounds better because he is creating a disturbing atmosphere from a far more superficially banal line - JF]

For their sixth studio release Radiohead did what barely anybody expected and just stood still. Given the unparalleled high regard I hold Radiohead in, most of which is based on their ruthless pursuit of artistic progression, it pains me to say that most of this album is just a continuation of the ideas on Amnesiac and, to a lesser extent, Kid A. They weren't rotten enough to write radio-friendly guitar-based alt-rock tunes, and therefore this album certainly isn't a sell-out in any strong sense of the term, but the fact remains that when we were are all wondering just where the 'Head were going to go next they decided that particular journey should be delayed for a future release. Guitars are used far more prominently than the previous duo but I am satisfied that the songs are still obtuse, challenging and un-commercial enough to deflect any unfair accusations. Indeed, the poorest efforts on the album are mostly those that aim to continue the progressive electronics of the likes of "Idioteque" and "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box". Furthermore, Radiohead's previous saving grace of never making an album too long is tainted with fourteen songs going on for almost an hour on here. Obviously that ain't a complaint in itself, and at least they resisted the infuriating trend of trying to fill up the entire CD, but of the fourteen tracks only two thirds are really up to the quality I would expect from a group I've dubbed the best contemporary band in existence. No matter how tongue-in-cheek it is "We Suck Young Blood" remains a charmless morose dirge and no matter how impressively "Sit Down. Stand Up" begins it cannot hide the fact that the climatic techno section is, frankly, a bit shit. Certainly it isn't fit to lace "Idioteque"'s boots (if that can be imagined). Similarly, the sterile electronics of "Backdrifts" and "The Gloaming" are far from engaging or even that impressive. Indeed, it is a worrying sign that the most traditional songs are those that sound best as I hope it doesn't mean Radiohead are forced to regress back into Bends territory. Of course there are traditional songs and there are traditional-by-Radiohead's-standards songs and, obviously, there are no such instances of the former definition. Every song on here is still sufficiently clever and haughty to ensure the band remain at a healthy distance from the likes of Coldplay. Furthermore, lest we forget, Thom Yorke is one of the great songwriters of his generation and there are still melodies on here that most normal bands kill for, albeit less disguised by the complex arrangements than they were on the previous two studio releases. Promotional single "There There" is, for my money, the stand-out track on the album with a truly haunting melody and almost a complete lack of funny synthesisers and electronic gadgets. Perhaps it does hark back to the complex but still guitar-dominated OK Computer but the mere fact that it is good enough to welcome comparison makes it a real winner. Indeed, I probably haven't made quite clear enough the fact that many of the songs on here ARE great enough to rank alongside Radiohead's other classics. The rolling, almost playful, "A Punchup at a Wedding" is another stone-cold classic with another peerless melody, heightened by the way Yorke morphs the verse into the chorus without you, the dimwitted listener, even realising it. The album opener, "2+2=5", makes no bones about the reintroduction of guitars as it is, at a push, the most straight-forward guitar-driven rock song on the album and also, thankfully, one of the best. The other highlights include the beautiful piano ballad "Sail to the Moon" (although obviously in the shadow of "The Pyramid Song"), the synth-bass classic "Myxomatosis" (one of the least representative tracks on the album, being a throbbing rocker) and the final "A Wolf at the Door" which features conflicting vocals during the verse but a harrowing cry for the chorus. Thankfully the album actually ends reasonably strongly as the maudlin "Scatterbrain" is also a rather impressive composition but one can't help but feel the middle is altogether more patchy with only brief highlights between "Sail to the Moon" and "There There". Maybe if this album had been cut from 14 down to 11 or 10 tracks I could have felt more inclined to award the 9* medal but, despite the obvious strengths of many of the compositions, one can't help but feel Radiohead are mostly just treading water. In doing so they've also put pressure on themselves to get back on the pioneering track with their next release to avoid accusations of stagnating and associations with the likes of REM and U2 (not that either were that great to begin with). Well, at least they're still better than Coldplay.

Radiohead are famed for the infuriating habit of writing loads of great songs, leaving them off the albums and then compiling them on limited edition EPs that slip out of print before you even realised they existed in the first place. One day, one hopes they will do the decent thing and slap all their great non-album tracks on an all-encompassing compilation for us to uphold as the "great lost Radiohead album" or some other gratuitously pompous nonsense. Until then, you've just got to be quick out of the blocks when one of those EPs surreptitiously makes its transitory appearance. This one is apparently a Japanese-only release but the fact that it says so in English on the front suggests they were not overly concerned about keeping it out of Western hands. In effect, it consists of ten tracks compiled from the b-sides of the Hail to the Thief singles "There, There", "Go to Sleep" and "2+2=5" (none of which did particularly well). Now I've not heard these other compilations (How Is My Driving? from the OK Computer era is apparently the best) but one of the most obvious things you can say about this one is that it sure sounds like a b-sides compilation. Four of the tracks are simply different versions of HttT songs, two are instrumentals, meaning only four could be said to be "new" songs to any significant degree. It is not as if we should expect much more or, indeed, is the material much worse than the previous album it accompanies but one should in no way regard this compilation as necessary. It is a nice bonus but, given it does not cover their best period, is a mere supplement (even more so than I Might Be Wrong) rather than an essential. The live version of "2+2=5" is unremarkable and little is added to Yorke's over-earnest anti-Bush vitriolic ranting (and isn't criticising the President for being corrupt kinda like criticising the devil for being evil - it is not a good thing, obviously, but it is also rather inevitable). The remixes, at least, sound significantly different from their album counterparts but only the fuller arrangement of "I Will" is a real winner, with the maudlin nursery rhyme turning into something a little more affecting. "Myxomatosis" fails to benefit from replacing the gothic synths with sterile electro-clash dynamics and the haunting melody of "Scatterbrain" is lost in more cluttered surroundings. Like the ambient instrumentals, "I Am Citizen Insane" and "Where Bluebirds Fly", you wouldn't say they've become poor songs but your time could be best spent listening to something a little more arresting. Thankfully, this compilation is saved by three of the new songs (the fourth, "Paperbag Writer", repeats "The Gloaming"'s inpenetrability), which are more traditional than we've been used to (although it should be remembered most of this album is still pretty avant-garde). "I Am a Wicked Child" progresses with an abrasive battle between acoustic guitar and harmonica whilst "Gagging Order" and "Fog (Again)" recapture the deconstructed beauty of the live versions of "True Love Waits" and "Like Spinning Plates" respectively with their desolate minimalism and Yorke's obtuse lyrics. It is an inevitable and obvious comparison to make but one would easily imagine such numbers being popular cuts from the previous release, if they had made the final tracklisting. In sum, though, this release (although perfectly acceptable) does little to perpetuate the myth that Radiohead write the world's greatest b-sides (I was also disappointed with "Pyramid Song"'s b-sides when I bought both editions in a fit of fan-boy frivolity). Of course, this CD was not meant for official UK (or US) release so one can hardly criticise the band for something we were not meant to even buy. It is a decent little package but if you'd rather save your pocket money for the eventual follow-up to the Hail to the Thief I really wouldn't blame you.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk