Amnesiac is oft considered the artistic twin brother to its predecessor Kid A; most of the songs were written during the former’s sessions, stylistically its very much in the same vein, and like Kid A, it takes a hell of a lot of work to listen to and appreciate. My friend Justin derides this album as the one where Thom Yorke started “f***ing his Mac” to make music. Not entirely a fair assessment in my book, but I get what he’s saying. Amnesiac is a continuation of Radiohead’s abandonment of the traditional rock band lineup in favor of abstract, electronic sounds. But whereas everything on Kid A felt natural, as though the abrupt shift in sound came easy, Amnesiac strikes me as being more chaotic, more forced. Yorke’s vocals and lyrics don’t mesh as nicely here, and the multitude of clashing sounds don’t seem to form as nice a picture on this record. There’s a bit more of a jazz feel to the album, especially in songs like “Dollars and Cents” and “Life In A Glass House”, which lends itself well to the rhythmic sounds Radiohead was going for here. But musically its just as unusual as its companion record, meaning it needs several listens before it sinks in.
What I like most about the Kid A/Amnesiac duo is how they interact with each other in terms of their musical themes and ideas. In doing my usual research for these two albums, I came across this quote from Thom Yorke describing the relationship between the two albums:
“In some weird way, I think Amnesiac gives another take on Kid A, a form of explanation…Something traumatic is happening in Kid A, and this is looking back at it, trying to piece together what has happened…I think the artwork is the best way of explaining it. The artwork to Kid A was all in the distance. The fires were all going on the other side of the hill. With Amnesiac, you’re actually in the forest while the fire’s happening.”
So in other words, both albums look at the same event, item, place, etc. from differing perspectives. What exactly the thing is…who knows? It’s all in Yorke’s mind to some extent. But knowing that’s the attitude that the artist has on his work opens up a stunning new glimpse at two very difficult, yet very impressive albums.
Radiohead – Pyramid Song [iTunes] (YSI)
==TJ==
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I heard Amnesiac before Kid A and not the other way around, but I really consider this the best Radiohead record. Kid A seems to clean and dawdling after Amnesiac’s sunk in, and it’s got the best back to back to back to back track opening since.. Mezzanine?