Amnesiac
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- This article is about the Radiohead album called Amnesiac. For information about suffering from a loss of memory, see amnesia.
Amnesiac is the fifth studio album by British band Radiohead, released on June 4, 2001 in the United Kingdom and on June 5 in the United States and Canada, debuting at #1 on the UK charts and #2 on the Billboard Top 200. Seen as the furthest departure yet from the arena rock style and heart-on-sleeve songwriting of the band's early career, Amnesiac nevertheless has more audible guitar than its direct predecessor Kid A, and spun off several modestly successful singles. Like Kid A it synthesizes influences of electronic, noise and ambient music.
Both Amnesiac and Kid A, which was released eight months earlier in 2000, were recorded in the same period, and most if not all of the songs from Amnesiac resulted from the same recording sessions that produced Kid A. This fact has led some to refer to Amnesiac as a "b-sides" album (or as "Kid B"), although the band has said the two albums should be considered separately, as twins "separated at birth." Amnesiac also includes a very different version of a song from Kid A, "Morning Bell".
While Kid A garnered much critical attention, Amnesiac is often viewed as the less accomplished of the two works. It has been criticised for a lack of cohesion. Some critics, and a growing number of fans, even refer to this fragmentation as a deliberate device used by Radiohead to completely escape the epic rock formula of their previous work. Nevertheless, the album was received very well and nearly reached Kid A's sales (debuting lower in America, but with more copies sold in the first week), marking the band's continued musical exploration as commercially viable and accessible to a mass audience. Amnesiac cemented Radiohead's status as one of very few modern UK artists in any style able to achieve consistent international success.
While explaining the decision to release two albums rather than one, Yorke illuminated his artistic point of view concerning them: "They are separate because they cannot run in a straight line with each other. They cancel each other out as overall finished things. They come from two different places, I think ... In some weird way, I think Amnesiac gives another take on Kid A, a form of explanation." He continued: "Something traumatic is happening in Kid A, and this is looking back at it, trying to piece together what has happened. Go back and listen to Kid A after listening to Amnesiac, and I think you'll hear it."
About the differences with the previous record he says: "Kid A was kind of like an electric shock. Amnesiac is more about being in the woods, in the countryside. 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. With Kid A, when you sequenced certain tracks together, this play started appearing."
In addition to the standard release of the album, a special edition album was released in limited numbers. This consists of a red hardback book with the CD inside the cover. The book is styled as a library book from "Catachresis College Library" complete with library slips and date stamps, and featuring many pages of art designed by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke. Yorke went by the pseudonym of "Tchocky" when credited. In 2001, the special edition album won a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.
The album is dedicated to "Noah and Jamie", sons of Thom Yorke and Phil Selway, respectively, who were born between the release of Kid A and the release of Amnesiac.
The song "Like Spinning Plates" was created by playing the backing track from "I Will" backwards. Singer Thom Yorke then sung the lyrics, played them backwards and learned how to sing them backwards. He recorded them backwards and reversed them for the final take of the song.
Track listing
- All tracks written by Radiohead.
- "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box" – 4:00
- "Pyramid Song" – 4:49
- "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" – 4:07
- "You and Whose Army?" – 3:11
- "I Might Be Wrong" – 4:54
- "Knives Out" – 4:15
- "Morning Bell / Amnesiac" – 3:14
- "Dollars and Cents" – 4:52
- "Hunting Bears" – 2:01
- "Like Spinning Plates" – 3:57
- "Life in a Glasshouse" – 4:34
Clips
-
["Life in a Glasshouse"] ([file info])
- Problems playing the files? See .
Singles
- Pyramid Song; #5 UK
- Knives Out; #13 UK
Release
The album was released in various countries in June 2001.| Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | June 4 2001 | Parlophone | CD | CDFHEIT45101 |
| Canada | June 5 2001 | Parlophone | CD | 7243 5 32764 2 3 |
| United States | June 5 2001 | Capitol | CD | CDP 7243 5 32764 2 3 |
| United States | June 5 2001 | Capitol | CD | CDP 7243 5 32767 2 0 (special edition) |
External links
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