I've held off writing a review of this album for a long time now. Released in June 2001, Radiohead's Amnesiac, their fifth album, is a tough listen, even for someone like me who loved the atmosphere created on 2000's Kid A. I'm torn on this album, like I am on a few others, because when Radiohead hits here, it is fabulous. The best songs here remind you what made you fall in love with the band in the first place. Not necessarily the hard edged sounds but just that when they want to, they can craft a great song. But Radiohead has also created some completely forgettable tracks on this record, and unfortunately, it brings the great songs back down to earth.

What made me love Kid A was their bold, even punkish, removal of most of the guitars and live drums. Instead they delved deep into electronic blips and beeps and everything else. Sure, it wasn't The Bends, but those waiting for another one of those will be waiting for a long time. Despite all the pretentiousness and despite the lack of guitars, Idioteque was as frenetically charged as any other song in the band's catalog. And The National Anthem was by far the best song I heard in 2000 on any album. Alas, there's nothing like that here really. No, what's here is Johnny Greenwood's guitar, returning from the abyss that it had appeared to have been cast into at the beginning of the sessions for this album and Kid A. (They were recorded about the same time)

The disc's opening track, Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box, is an example of a band taking things to bad extremes. The synthetic beat, the dense melody that barely comes in, the cheesy 1980s like futuristic bridge, it all adds up to a song that I guess I just don't understand more than anything. The lyrics are rather System of a Downish, with the same line being repeated ad nauseum over and over and over. Not that it matters, because much like on Kid A, you can barely understand what lead singer Thom Yorke is singing.

The band begins to redeem themselves with Pyramid Song, the album's first single that is driven by simple piano chords and Yorke's pained voice. Some of the background music reminds me of the atmospheric nature of Planet Telex from The Bends. Lyrically, it deals a lot with water and the music lends itself to that idea very well.

On I Might Be Wrong (also the title to the band's new live album that came out at the end of 2001), Greenwood's guitar makes it's first real appearance other than what seemed to be occasional feedback and background noise. I really like the riff on this song, it's rather simple yet effective. My only problem with this song is Yorke's continued hard to understand whine.

With Knives Out, the second single, Radiohead succeeds in re-creating the atmosphere found throughout 1997's OK Computer. There's actually dueling guitars on this song, which is kind of refreshing given the lack of even one. I'm not a huge fan of Yorke's lyrics on this song, but then again, maybe I just don't understand them.

Hunting Bears is nothing more than a distorted guitar melody played over and over. What's most impressive about this track is that it does convey some emotion, mostly that of being a bit down and depressed. It almost sounds like it was written for a funeral, as the tone of the melody is very dark.

The rest of the album though, is a decided mess. The new version of Morning Bell is not nearly as good or as powerful as the original version on Kid A. Like Spinning Plates is noteworthy only because it actually sounds like plates are spinning to create some of the sound on the track. I won't even start in on Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors or Dollars & Cents.

Upon this disc's release, critics said it would appeal to the more casual Radiohead fan than Kid A had, simply because there were guitars on it. And granted, the songs that are great on this record will remind you of previous Radiohead. But the bad songs (and there are more than a few on this effort) outnumber the good and almost make you forget about the good songs altogether.

I'll be the first to say that Radiohead deserves credit for making music they supposedly want to make. I say supposedly because the pretentiousness that was found on Kid A is found here in oh, about three times the amount. It's one thing to experiment. It's another to intentionally not be commercial just to look cool in the eyes of critics. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

To learn more about Radiohead, you can check out my other Radiohead album reviews:
The Bends: http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-3228-17ED03D8-39D74E12-prod3
OK Computer: http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-5150-49F2A10-39F8DCB4-prod1
Kid A: http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-1531-DF3A36B-39FCE05D-prod2

Recommended: No