Rating: 8.5/10.0

I am not sure what happened during the three-year Radiohead withdrawal (between OK Computer and Kid A), but suddenly the whole music world was centered around the group. Every musician, journalist, actor, comedian and bowler was quoted on what he or she thought of Kid A. If anyone had enough balls to pan it, the offender's inbox would be flooded with hate mail from obsessed fans. Even Radiohead's "anti-marketing" marketing strategy wasn't enough to slow the spew of hype surrounding the Oxford quintet. As soon as we found out there was a "Kid B" on the horizon, however, the anticipation-meter was turned up to 11. Try as they might to escape attention, Radiohead are one of the most-watched musical acts on the planet.

Amnesiac picks up where its cousin Kid A left off. No surprises here, since the two albums were recorded concurrently. The band is quick to insist that the new record does not contain Kid A's outtakes, but rather another group of songs that flow equally well together. Still, it is hard to shake the feeling that these songs may actually be leftovers. Firstly, the flow of the album is discontinuous, and at times awkward. For example, "Pyramid Song," the beautiful piano-laden single, is oddly placed between two experimental beat-fests: "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box" and "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors." Secondly, the band presents an alternate version of "Morning Bell" that has neither the emotional impact or complexity of the version on Kid A. Thirdly, "Hunting Bears" is a bland musical fart that does nothing to enhance the flow or mood of the album.

 Despite rumors, the songs on Amnesiac are no more commercially appealing than their Kid A predecessors. "Like Spinning Plates" is a creepy tune run backwards and proves more experimental than any of their previous works. Thom Yorke adeptly sings the lyrics backward so when the track is reversed, they appear somewhat comprehensible. The Bjork/Aphex Twin-influenced "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" has indecipherable vocals woven into a pulsating electronic beat, while "Packt Like Sardines" is akin to a less hyper "Idioteque" shaking hands with b-side "Palo Alto." The problem with the experimental side of Amnesiac is that it dances back and forth on the fine line between innovation and studio wankery.

Even though these shortcomings are immediately apparent on the record, it is still as emotional as you would expect a Radiohead album to be. Repeated listens may be required before the songs fully reveal themselves, but the results can be stunning when they do. The guitar-driven tunes "You and Whose Army," "I Might Be Wrong" and "Dollars and Cents" are examples of what could have been organic rock songs, but instead have been fitted with electronic pacemakers. The former features Yorke singing through an egg box over lush multi-vocal harmonies, while the mysterious "Dollars and Cents" drenches every last instrument in reverb. Album closer "Life in a Glass House" is the most exquisite example of the group's uniquely culminating styles: with the help of jazz-trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton, the song is brought to new heights, far from the acoustic version that appeared in Meeting People Is Easy.

I am most amazed by the overall courage and boldness of Amnesiac. Radiohead had a winning formula with OK Computer and could have sold countless albums with that recipe, but instead they opted to experiment and defy rock conventions with Kid A and Amnesiac. Popular music needs role models that support the evolution of music and Radiohead are in the prime position to fill the spot. They didn't make Kid A and Amnesiac merely to be difficult or pretentious - they created these albums to express their mentality of trying new things and their efforts should be applauded.

The cultural implications can be enormous when a hybrid like Amnesiac is not only successful in morphing different styles together and forging new musical paths, but also is loved by the masses. We are at a point in popular music where if one style is praised, countless other bands will nurse it until it is dry. Radiohead's continual forward push is both good for their own evolution, and good for popular music as a whole.

-Marvin Lin

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06.01