A product of The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A, Amnesiac should be called “Insomniac” due to its distorted and electronically hypnotic repetitions. Sounds fuse into one song after another. The first track, “Packed Like Sardines In A Crusted Tin Box,” mirrors submarine calls with a soft, and slumber reprise, “get off my case,” sounding like singer Thom Yorke is fighting off sleep. The “Pyramid Song,” stimulates melodic, eerie breezes with “nothing to fear, nothing to doubt.”

Amnesiac is not as addicting as the earlier albums, but has a similar basic makeup with, at times, an avant-garde feel. For example, “Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors” reissues that creepy computer voice from OK Computer, as do the flowing pop tunes and potential radio hits, “Morning Bell/Amnesiac,” with a romantic falsetto and a fantastical sound, and “Life In A Glasshouse.” I first heard "Life In A Glasshouse" before the rest of the album, and thought, Whoa! this will be their best yet. Wrong. Just a tease. But what a wonderful and diverse ending. A friend of my suggested a similarity to a funeral procession in New Orleans. That's a perfect simile. The piano, jazzy drums, and horns relay a dreary “rainy day” feeling with a touch of class and sex appeal. If only this song was a sample for what to expect next time. Well, ’till then... (P.O. Box 322, Oxford OX, 1EY)

-Melissa Bergeron

Flagpole
25.07.01