Customer Reviews

Amnesiac (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This review is for those of you wondering what is different about the limited edition and if it is worth shelling out the extra money for (since it isn't apparent from this listing, and the above photo is actually of the regular edition). Look elsewhere for reviews of the music (which is excellent).

There is not a second of additional music in the limited edition. No hidden tracks, remixes, etc. Just the exact same musical content on the exact same cd (except it is printed in Europe). The only difference is in the packaging.

With the limited edition import, the cd comes inside of a bright red hardcover book. This book is basically the same one pictured on the cover of the regular edition (without the wear and tear). The book has a dimension approximately four times the size of the one depicted on the cover of the regular edition (the actual cd booklet, not the photo above).

Attached to the inside front cover of the book is a library jacket which contains a sign-out card and is also used to hold the cd. The remainder of the book reprints all of the artwork from the regular edition's booklet, with the exception of the last page (which lists the recording credits), but at a larger size, with the sides cropped to various degrees to allow for the book's different shape (but, consequently, there are sometimes details visible at the top and bottom of each page of artwork that gets cut out of the regular ed.'s booklet). The artwork underneath the cd tray in the regular ed. is also reprinted as one of the pages, and there are four additional pages of artwork nowhere to be found in the regular ed.

So is it worthwhile? Only if you want to get an interesting collectible or invest in something that might increase in value, or if you are a huge fan of the artwork on Radiohead's other albums such as Kid A and OK Computer. Personally, I found it to be quite cool, but I wish there was also bonus music.

After Radiohead lost some fans over the electronic, experimental feel of Kid A, they had to convince those lost fans that this would be more like "old radiohead", less experimental and more direct. well, this album is a mix between both ok computer and kid a. there are some songs that sound like they come from kid A- like the first track- Packt like Sardines in a Crushd Tin- with a banging kettle drum and electonic beats. It sounds somewhat like Kid A's first track, Everything in its Right Place. Packt like Sardines is a great way to start off the album. Then we get into the Pyramid Song, a song in heavy rotation on MTV2. The song is just as abstract as the video. It ranks on my list as one of the top "easier" radiohead songs, with "how to disapppear completely", my all time radiohead favorite song, and "exit music (for a film)". It then goes into the next song with a heavy, thumping beat. Its somewhat of a trance-like song, something that sounds like a normal radiohead song with a massive attack remix. There is alot of variety on this album- it has the same atmosphere as it did on Kid A- dark, mysterious, intricate, spacey, and moody. Yet there isnt really a song on here that is as emotional or as intense as "Climbing Up The Walls" from Ok computer. Its a great album all around, and it fails to disappoint from all the anticipation and the hype. Die hard radiohead fans as myself (i got it at midnight) will embrace this album like every other radiohead album. We better learn to enjoy it, because they probably wont release another album in about 3 or 4 years, we just got lucky this time.

Yet just like Kid A, (and with all other radiohead albums), you cant judge by your first listen. Allow the cd to grow on you. This album, along with Tool's Lateralus, is the best album to come out this year so far, and will definately be on some critic and fan's top ten year lists.

The special edition is definately worth investing in- its about 3 times better than the disappointing Kid A special edition. It is the book that is on the front of the normal CD cover. It has 32 pages of brilliant artwork in a hardcover book. Get this special edition if you can find it- its definately worth it....

After listening to this album many times I have found that it is an excellent piece of music just as I would expect from Radiohead. This album sounds alot like Kid A but it's definitely not composed of throwaway songs from the Kid A sessions. Amnesiac is different than Kid A because it has a different mood and if any of these songs were put on Kid A instead of this album it wouldn't sound right. I think this album is more sombre and depressing than Kid A. Songs like "Pyramid Song" and "Life in a Glasshouse" are so powerfully melancholic that they harken back to the OK Computer days. Alot of people seem to like or totally dislike this album and the reason is that people are divided between those who like Radiohead's new electronic sound and those who don't. I don't care whether it's electronic or Ok Computer-like, I just like good music. This is good music in my opinion. In comparing this album to Kid A I think that a couple of individual songs are better than any of the songs on Kid A ("Pyramid Song", and "I might be wrong") but, Kid A is more consistent as a whole than this. If you're a Radiohead fan I don't know how you couldn't like this album. I really don't know why anyone would give it any less than 4 stars. The Limited Edition CD is probably not worth your money unless you want to look at some weird pictures that have showed up on Radiohead albums ever since OK computer. Definitley buy this album if you liked Kid A. If you didn't like Kid A I'm not sure if you'll like this one or not because it definitely has some OK Computer-like songs on it. But, in my opinion I think it's a great album so I would reccommend it to anyone.

I was somewhat let down with the Kid A Limited Edition when I got it last year... all it had were 8 pages of different artwork than the regular booklet (1 or 2 of them were actually just different angles of the same thing taken from the jewelcase version), and that was all. I was a bit hesitant to buy the limited edition of Amnesiac, but I just couldn't resist. Thankfully however, I am much less disappointed this time around.

Right as you open the book, on the left inside cover is a catalogue card (the kind you can find in the library) that has printed on it, "RADIOHEAD, Amnesiac". The cool part about it is that there are fake due dates all over it, the words "SPINE DAMAGED" in sloppy handwriting, and the name of the college where the library this book supposedly comes from is, "Catachresis College" (I heard that catachresis is when you say one word in a sentence but you mean to use another?). And the neat thing is it looks really real. The due dates look like they were stamped onto the paper, the handwriting looks like someone actually wrote it... this catalogue card on the inside of the cover alone gets this limited edition five stars.

But there's more! After that are 32 pages of great Amnesiac artwork by none other than Stan "The Man" Donwood. Some of the lyrics from 'Like Spinning Plates' and 'Packt like Sardines' can be found in the artwork as well. I'm not sure if this artwork is the exact same as the jewelcase booklet artwork, but even if it is, this has got to be better, since they're bigger in size. Overall, definitely find this limited edition, even if you just started out liking Radiohead. If nothing else, you'll appreciate the faux catalogue card.

Once again, cheers to Radiohead, the best band of 2001 and to come!

Radiohead has been called one of the most magnetic and magnificent bands of our generation. Two of their albums come into the top five greatest of all time, right under the Beatles. Plus, lead singer Thom Yorke is always big about reinventing the band, never giving into mainstream.

Yet some how, Radiohead seems to come up in the mainstream, especially after the release of 1997's OK Computer. In October of 2000, the band released Kid A, a blend of electronic, brit pop, and rock, people were afraid. It was different and people weren't used to hearing these new sounds on the radio, which is why Radiohead didnt release any real music videos.

Amnesiac was originally going to be made into a double album with Kid A, but guitarist/vocalist Ed O'Brien said it would be too much, so with Kid A, they recorded what would become Amnesiac, the band's fifth LP.

Pyramid Song was released as their fist single, a duet between Thom and Phil Selway, drums. However, that is only one of the many shining beacons on Amnesiac. Many people use an comparison of Kid A and Amnesiac like you called someones house and kept getting the answering machine. They were there, but you couldnt talk to them. But now, with Amnesiac, its like you finally got the person on the phone. You see many of the same ideas on Amnesiac as you did on Kid A.

I think it would be my ultimate nightmare to have Radiohead become mainstream, but with this album, i think they could finally get the recognition they deserve. When i got this album a couple weeks ago off an auction site, i fell in love with it. Its nothing like Kid A, even though we see the same themes, its utterly different. Guitars and basses are back in place for this recording. While all of these songs have been previously written and recorded, they have never been released, until now. It was surprising to me that all this stuff is old, yet so fresh.

Songs like "You and Whose Army?" will be up a lot on MTV. Not that this is a good thing, but for MTV to play such a non-mainstream artist says something. Already "Pryamid Song" is in regular rotation! (YAY!) If you have a chance to find the lyrics for this album, theyre quite remarkable as well, but old Thom does have an English degree.

Other songs like "Morning Bell/Amnesiac" are not only featured on Kid A, but very similar, since this was a remix. Somehow, its still fresh because it doesnt use electronics this time. While this album has been edited and cut on a computer (Thom says that someday, all music will be made on a laptop) it has a feeling of connection and unison.

I really loved what Radiohead did with this album, and i think that it will finally bring them some mainstream recognition, which may not be what Thom and the band wants, but it is what they deserve.

Amnesiac is wonderful, and the Limited Edition has great artwork by the remarkable artist, Stanley Donwood, who did the fold-outs for Kid A and OK Computer (and perhaps the other albums as well, but his name is not directly associated).

Try to catch them on tour this summer, too.

Amnesiac's limited Red Library Book edition is a treat. Larger prints of the fantastic artwork, with more pages not to be found elsewhere make this worth spending the extra money if you like unique and collectable packages as I do.
When I bought Kid A in the winter of 2000, I was curious as to where this band would choose to go afterward; Radiohead has shown more maturity and creative bravery with every release, and it would be difficult for a band to keep a fanbase that expects regurgitation of familiar formulas. It would also be difficult to recruit more musically diverse and critical fans that may dismiss Radiohead as a Brit-grunge rock band that just released Kid A as a one-time indulgence, soon to return to regurgitating familiar formulas. Amnesiac was a very wise choice - rather than releasing an EP and a series of single/B-sides, they chose to let these songs breathe on a release that, though recorded in the same sessions as Kid A and "related" to those songs, stands very much on it's own artistic merit. Though I am not a fan of anything Radiohead did afterward, Amnesiac is really a great and logical transition between Kid A and where they went with Hail to the Thief. It absolutely stands alone from Kid A but is respectfully symbiotic to it.

Amnesiac is an album which, listened as a whole extracts all inner emotions of the listener and elevates them to some subliminal level...enough said, try listening to Whose Army? and Knives Out in the dark, and singing along with Thom, you'll feel the hair on your back stand in cold sweat. Almost haunting by nature, Amnesiac is one album which keeps the listener awake long after the horns section in Glasshouse ceases...!!! Oh yeah, the artwork by Stanley & Tchock in the L.E also complements the surreal imagery that plays in your head when it starts to reach into the emotional depth of the music! 5 Stars for another 100 years!

Radiohead scores somewhere between OK Computer and Kid A on their latest release, both in terms of quality and creativity. Listeners still yearning for the melodies of Let Down or the languor of No Surprises since OK Computer's release will think that Radiohead has returned to their senses--somewhat. Those who hold Kid A as a remarkable breakthrough (including myself) might feel that Amnesiac falls short of their previous triumph.

The limited edition CD is a must for true fans; packaging has increasingly become part of the group's artistry, and the collector's book is an impressive visual counterpart to the music.

After a first listen, standouts include 'Dollars & Cents' and the incredible 'Pyramid Song.' Like their previous albums, though, I anticipate that my preferences will change as I become more familiar with the work.

IMHO this sounds like Kid A outtakes. Don't get me wrong, there is some great material here but it doesn't have the cohesiveness of Kid A. Some of the songs are as good as, if not better than, the Kid A stuff. Could do without Hunting Bears though, Neil Young did it better on the Dead Man soundtrack...sorry Johnny. Not a big fan of Knives Out either (yawn)...the rest of the world seems to love it though so trust them, it must just be a personal thing.

The amazing thing about Radiohead is how they reinvent themselves. Most people will call this album Kid B, and that isn't a bad thing. It feels like a spinoff rather than a sequel with more of a focus on rhythm and beat than lyrics. Pakt Like Sardines In A Tin Box starts the CD off with a clean beat and the lyrics "I'm a reasonable man get off my case" in a quiet voice. Throughout the CD, the lyrics are softer and, in my opinion, compose better songs than that of Kid A. "Morning Bell/Amnesiac" also adds another spin to a track that was on Kid A. As I mentioned before, the songs seem reinvented in a new style that is more of a preference to me than Kid A was. The finale of Amnesiac finished off with "Life In A Glasshouse" with a clever use of trumpets to make the off-beat and somewhat humorous lyrics keep you interested. And to answer the question: yes, the song is about people living in a glass house. Very clever. My one problem with the CD is that it is too short. However, I like to focus on different aspects of the songs which means it has an excellent replay value. I suggest you buy the CD if you want variations of Kid A, but if OK Computer was more of your style, this album goes farther from the OK Computer path.