Customer Reviews

Knives Out / Cuttooth / Life in Glasshouse

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love a solid single. Radiohead's second release from Amnesiac, Knives Out, features "Cuttooth," which fans of any Radiohead era should fall in love with and the full-length edition of a Radiohead classic, "Life in a Glass House." I'm going to recommend you also pick up the 2nd UK import single which features two of the all time best b-sides, "Worrywort" & "Fog." "Fog" has previously been known as "Alligators in the New York Sewers" and it is incredible. Amongst their best songs ever. I give the US Edition 4 stars because it does have the "Pyramid Song" video on it, which is cool, but get the UK import singles too. They're 5 stars.

There were 2 knives out singles put out because Radiohead wanted to showcase their b-sides, im sure of it. The b-sides are 9 times out of 10 absolutely great. I'm sure you've heard Knives Out if you're buying this single so i wont go into that. Cuttooth is an amazing song, it really does have to grow on you after a couple listens though. The things Thom says in that song somehow struck a chord with me ("i dont know why i feel so tongue tied) ("im going to join the foreign legion"). I think that its just the way he says the lyrics that makes them so effective. the music fits it perfectly too. buy this single simply for cuttooth. Plus, we all know The Pyramid Song was one of the best songs on Amnesiac with that haunting piano line and that the video was great. Life In A Glass House, meh, they attempted swing/jazz, and got mediocre results.
Songs rated in order:
1. The Pyramid Song Video
2. Cuttooth
3. Knives Out
4. Life In A Glass House Video

1.Knives Out - You've heard it. Probably the most popular song off of Amnesiac. Also happens to be the least instrunmentally abstract song on the album. 2.Cuttooth - A solid rock song, which is almost as out of place in the Amnesiac family as "Life In A Glass House" is. Still, a very good song. 3.Life In A Glass House (Full Length Version)- Track 11 off of Amensiac. Only difference is that this version has a much longer horn section introduction. 4.Pyramid Song VIDEO - The video's great quality, and is a definite bonus. I believe this is their first enhanced cd. I'm also pretty sure that it's the only SINGLE since pablo honey that comes in a full jewel case. Basically the only b-side you're getting is Cuttooth, which isn't their best. The single's missing fog and worrywort, 2 of the best Amnesiac b-sides released so far (worrywort in particular, I HIGHLY suggest that you download this song). 4 stars only because it only includes one b-side. Order the 2 UK singles as well.

Not printing the track listing is reprehensible on Amazon's part. It is: Knives Out, Cuttooth, Life In A Glasshouse (full length version), Pyramid Song (video). You don't get Worrywort or Fog -- you'll hafta buy from amazon.co.uk to get those. But that's okay, cause I think Cuttooth is the best of the Amnesiac b-sides.

The ability to watch the Pyramid Song video whenever you want is one good reason to purchase this cd. Being an avid radiohad fan this is just another cd in my collection. Cuttooth is an excellent bends-esque song that is one of the best b-sides from the kid-a amnesiac recording sessions. And life in a glasshouse, come on people, this is Radiohead at its genius. And knives out. Before the onslought of Napster there were some sites dedicated to giving out mp3's. I made 2 burned cds and one track knives out, before it was release, it sounded like crap. Thank god they rerecorded it. And now, it is the best song on the album. Please, do yourself a favor and become a radiohad fan.

The 1st installment of the "Knives Out" singles is hardly essential. The EP's title track is on Amnesiac, and the "Full Length Version" of "Life in a Glass House" is basically just the original version with the garbled electrobabble intro replaced by about a minute of brass-band noodling. There's a singular video for the scintillating "Pyramid Song" included on the disk, but it's at such a low bit-rate that you might as well watch it on youtube for free. So like I said, this release is hardly essential. Then why even bother with this EP unless you're a rabid fan or collector? To be frank, I can't recommend this to anyone EXCEPT rabid fans & collectors because, to prolong my candor, noone else would care that there is a rare gem on this disk: "Cuttooth". "Cuttooth" is the kind of song that a myriad of bands only wish they could write, yet Radiohead didn't seem to think it was worthy of making the Amnesiac track-list. It's a jaunty piano-driven krautrock-inspired romp that's well worth the price of this EP. In fact, it would've been well worth the price of Amnesiac if it had made the cut. So to everyone that isn't totally enamored with Radiohead, just nab this song off SLSK if you must. But to everyone else, especially the folks who actually realize that Amnesiac is much more than just "Kid B", shame on you if you don't own this. For a paltry sum, it's worth it.

As sencond single from Amnesiac out comes "Knives Out". An uptempo song gloomy and dark filled with guitar riffs and a melancholic tune. Included is "Worrywort" the best b-side out of the kid a / amnesiac sessions. This track is really worth buying, and is beautiful. It features a synth pattern repeating itself and varying along the way, and groovy percussions that seem vocal. The best part is Thom's melodic chant that reminensces none other. His voice is clear and bright as he sings "...mistakes mistaken/theres no use dwelling on/no use dwelling on."
Fog is mainly a bass track, with a repeating riff, and some tambourine and bells, and some other orchestra percussions. Its not one of the best b-sides of the session but it sure will please some.
If you are a Radioohead Fan, dont hold on to anything and buy this record imediatly, you truly dont want to miss out, on this great Radiohead Release. Worrywort is worth it...

Knives Out is a great tune to be taken from Radiohead's latest effort Amnesiac, though not their best. Still, it might be the most accessible track which makes it a great choice for a single-release. 'A song about cannibalism', that's what Thom Yorke announced about a year ago. That explains the phrase 'So knives out, catch da mouse, squash its head, put him in the pot.'
The b-sides are terrific too. 'Worrywort' is quite a melodic, nice tune, though probably the least interesting of the b-sides. 'Fog', however, is mindblowingly beautiful. This song is also known by the title 'Alligators In New York Sewers'. Very sweet. 'Cuttooth' is without a doubt the best b-side here. An upbeat track which really make you jump up and down. Too bad Radiohead left this one off the album. Surely this track is much better than, for instance, 'Hunting Bears'. And finally there is a full length version of the Amnesiac classic 'Life In A Glass House'. It's not really special, just a longer intro to the song. Still, this track is superb.

Surely if Worrywort was replaced by an even better track, this single definitely would have had a 5-star rating. Since I'm not able to give it a 4.5-star rate, it'll has to do with 4.

It's Radiohead. Buy it. It has an unreleased Radiohead song on it, so really BUY it. Cuttooth is a very catchy song. It doesn't stray too far from Radiohead's formula for "knives out" and
"dollars and cents" It is also seemingly upbeat, but who knows what cryptic message it contains.

I will recommend buying this if you don't mind buying singles, and dislike mp3s, however, it is 7 dollars for only 3 songs and a video, so unless you really like cd quality, I would suggest just getting mp3s. But on to the single itself, this one is very good. If you're even considering buying this you should already own Amnesiac, so you'll already have Knives Out. Even so, it's a good song and qucikly sets a mood even though the single's pretty short. The reason that I bought this was for one song: Cuttooth. Absolutely splendid song, energetic yet but not loud, I always sing along, you should download this song and if you like it, get the single, but if you don't like it, it's not worth the money. The third song is Life in a Glasshouse (full length version), which is the same as the album version, except instead of the spacey sounds in the beginning, it has a trumpet intro which is nice. I actually prefer this version and it ends the cd nicely. There's one more thing on this cd: the Pyramid Song video. This is an absolutely superb video, one of the best I've ever seen, to compliment one of the best songs in my opinion ever written. However, it's easy to find in the same quality on the internet, so it's not that much of a bonus. But if you're debating whether to get this, the video adds that much more value since you can easily access it any time. Overall a very good single, but a little short for the price.