I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings [Live]

Radiohead

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 13, 2001)
• Original Release Date: November 13, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00005QXXO
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (149 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,286 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

By now, everyone knows how adventurous Radiohead are, which makes this live record--a hairy rock-band cliché--seem like a strange capper to their decidedly cliché-rejecting records. But throughout the hubbub surrounding Kid A, and its Amnesiac companion piece, Radiohead never embraced the notion that they're reinventing anything. Even while a tempest of critics hailed the band as saviors, pulling rock from the jaws of consumerist self-destruction, the band ignored it all, going into stadiums and working out their twisted angst through angry, direct means. "National Anthem"'s fuzzed-out riff rages aggressively behind Thom Yorke's crazed, breath-scat vocal, giving the song a rollicking edge that was nowhere on Kid A. The same effect is heard on "Idioteque," as Yorke, getting backup vocal help from the crowd, sings over an acoustic beat, removing the distant, electronic touch of the studio version. "True Love Waits" aptly ends the record with Yorke and a solo acoustic guitar, which finds just the right touch on a song that Radiohead have played with for years (long-term fans should note the first ever appearance on record of the track). In the end, Radiohead don't really stray too far from the original templates of these songs, they merely play up the highs and milk the lows, just like any good rock band should. -- Matthew Cooke

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, but it could have been so much more, November 14, 2001

By	M. Hendrickx (Chicago, il United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having seen Radiohead last summer in Chicago, I knew they were awesome live, one of the few bands who can bring studio brilliance to the stage, and I had high hopes when I heard a live cd was being released.

What is on the cd is great, but I docked it a star for the compact length of the album, only 8 songs. They could have EASILY added another 3-4 songs from Kid A/Amnesiac that were mesmerizing live, namely You and Whose Army, Pyramid Song, Packt Like Sardines, or How To Disappear Completely. The only reason I can think of that they kept it this short is that they will release a dvd next year of an entire show, and they didn't want to let too much out of the bag at this point.

What is on the album is excellent though:

1. National Anthem: this song truly transcends the studio version. Colin Greenwood rules on the bass, providing the twangy foundation for the song, and the keyboard and echo effects make one wonder if they are listening to Dark Side of the Moon. Thom is his usual great self.

2. I Might Be Wrong: the song on the album that most closely matches the studio version, though there is some cool jamming at the end of it.

3. Morning Bell: this performance of the song is based on the Kid A version. The song starts out slow and erupts with emotion about 2 minutes in.

4. Like Spinning Plates: Most people will buy this album for two songs, this one and True Love Waits. I am not a big fan of LSP on Amnesiac, but this song is SO GOOD live. The piano brings a tenderness to the song, and Thom's voice bleeds with melancholy. Truly amazing.

5. Idioteque: an interesting change in tempo, following the slow and somber LSP. The song starts out powerfully with Phil's drumming, along with Ed and Jonny's electronic whirly sounds, and it has an edgier sound than on studio version. Thom continues his brilliance on vocals.

6. Everything In Its Right Place: another song that has a more atmospheric, dreamy sound live than the studio version. At the end of the song Thom makes things interesting by kicking in the voice modulation/echo effects.

7. Dollars and Cents: The rhythm section, Phil and Colin, impress again with the beats. Another song I am not too crazy about on Amnesiac that comes alive onstage and has some great improvisations.

8. True Love Waits: glad to finally have this on an album. It is a fitting end, and the highlight, of this live album. Coincidentally, it is also the most simple, just Thom's captivating voice and an acoustic guitar. This song really shows the true versatility Radiohead have. They can move from psychadelic, cutting-edge electronic songs to guitar-based anthems to stripped-down acoustic affairs, and blow us away equally with all of these approaches.

This album would have been better with 3 more songs, and way better if they just had released one single concert they thought was particularly good, but at least we finally got a live album out of them. Get this and enjoy what doesn't come around often enough in the U.S.: live Radiohead.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Radiohead live? That'll do nicely, June 15, 2002

By	"idj_mac_mcnicoll" (UK) - See all my reviews

I Might Be Wrong is a live recording of a set Radiohead took across Europe (Oslo, Berlin, Vaison-la-Romaine, and erm Oxford)in 2001. Minus all the songs that made their name. 3 songs from Kid A, 3 from Amnesiac, 1 that crops up on both those records, Morning Bell, and a new track, True Love Waits. The prospect of listening to the offspring of those two sibling albums: potentially bug-eyed, three-legged and otherwise "seriously" deformed, may not be a particularly attractive one. But I Might Be Wrong has denied modern genetics and is actually a cracking album in its own right.
The National Anthem and I Might be Wrong kick proceedings off. Wired, buzzing, electrified and raw, these songs take on whole new dimensions when performed live.
Morning Bell has now popped up on 3 different albums within 2 years. Bridging the gap between the Kid A original and the more organic, funeral-like take on it during Amnesiac, the song is driven by a gorgeous patter of drums by Phil Selway and a lonely keyboard, or treated piano, motif. Mid-way through, the song suddenly takes off, fuelled by a buzzing electrified *noise* presumably from one or other of Johnny Greenwood's instruments, before all but the drums cut out as Yorke demands "Cut the kids in half, cut the kids in half". The song appears to be about divorce before any of you start getting worried out there. Yorke mutters in deep paranoia, and then an almost religious trance as Greenwood picks out ugly notes on his guitar.
And then comes the most startling track. Like Spinning Plates was one of Amnesiac's more horrible pieces. Eventually the backwards, slightly sickening, swirling track did grow, and take on a spectral landscape feel. Here, however, Yorke is backed only by himself on piano. To say the song is sumptuous is an understatement. A hushed respectful silence falls on the crowd, as Yorke cries out: "I'm living in cloud cuckoo land. And this just feels like spinning plates, Our bodies floating down the muddy river". A gigantic round of applause turns into whoops of delight as the beat to Idioteque kicks in.
Had this been released as a single back with Kid A, I'm sure it would have topped the charts. An infectious, dancey, trippy, electronic piece of *weirdness* containing perhaps the definitive lyrics of this period from Radiohead. Yorke comes alive on the record and round about "We're not scare-mongering, This is really happening, Happening, We're not scare-mongering This is really happening, Happening, Mobiles working mobiles chirping, Take the money and run, Take the money and run, Take the money and run", the whole crowd bursts out into spontaneous sing-along. Now this song is about as far away from Wonderwall, or How You Remind Me as you can get. It just goes to show the breadth and depth of Radiohead's reach. At the end of the song Yorke giggles indulgently and self-congratulatory. The "miserable dwarf"..., can't contain himself. That's how good it is.
Everything in Its Right Place finally kicks in, with yet another beautiful underlying piano motif. The song is as subdued as its Kid A counterpart, and rather suffers from what has preceded it. That's not to say it isn't hypnotic, especially when Yorke's words are somehow cut and split into each other, colliding into one long headache, with the odd word bursting out. As the song apparently deals with Yorke's frustration with the outside world and his messed up head during the OK Computer world tour, it illustrates his feelings perfectly. The wailing pre-natal screech that cuts in at around 5 minutes 30 is deeply unpleasant, and this track certainly won't appeal to those who hated Kid A.
Dollars and Cents follows, another of the weaker efforts from Amnesiac. It is frankly amazing that having ignored songs of the quality of Pyramid Song; You and Whose Army?; Knives Out; Motion Picture Soundtrack and Kid A, (all of which could have been pulled from the parent albums), let alone the numerous crowd pleasers from the Bends and OK Computer era, that Radiohead have come up with such a strong album. Dollars and Cents fully evolves on this offering. From a rather murky, non-descript song on Amnesiac, it is beautifully realised. An organ provides a perfect companion for Yorke's voice, while a threatening bassline rumbles in the background. "We are the dollars and cents, And the pounds and pence, And we're going to crack your little skull" spits out Yorke, before the song ends in a curious Johnny Marr-esque solo, minus any of the playfulness of the Smiths guitarist.
True Love Waits is the absolute highlight. A quiet, acoustic solo-Yorke ballad: it is one of the greatest songs Radiohead have ever done. "I'll drown my beliefs, To have your babies. I'll dress like your niece, And wash your swollen feet." Later Yorke pleads "Just don't leave" in the chorus and states "I'm not living, I'm just killing time". The lyrics and Yorke's voice are haunting, passionate, cold and yet warm. They sum up this record perfectly.
Whatever, this record is a must if you own Kid A and Amnesiac, if only to allow you to go back to those records, and see how the songs grow, once you have heard them in such a raw environment. If you own neither Kid A nor Amnesiac, I would strongly suggest buying Amnesiac first, and then this album. Anyone who loves electronic music, buzzing basses, or spine-tingling ballads with a twist will find something for them on this record. It perfectly completes the triptych. The only question is, where do Radiohead go from here?

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Radiohead should be regarded as a drug, December 1, 2001

By	Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This album, in many ways, is a bitter pill for me to swallow. I had tickets to see Radiohead play Bull Run, VA. - a show that was rained out and cancelled. So "I might be wrong" is really the only chance I have to hear the band play material from the last two albums live.

On the whole, the album is very successful. In many cases I prefer the more straight forward or energetic versions performed live to the studio versions. Highlights include the gorgeous "Like Spinning Plates," the frenetic "Idioteque," and the warped and spiraling "Everything in its Right Place."

"True Love Waits" is a beautiful and haunting song, and the version on this album is the best recording of it available, but Thom's vocals sound a little thin compared to bootlegged versions available online. Still, it's great to finally have a CD version of one of my favorite Radiohead songs.

The only disappointing track, for me, is the title track. The dissonance Radiohead has successfully embraced over the last two years just doesn't work here. The album version is clearly superior. Still and all, a nice sampling of Radiohead's tour-de-force live show that will whet my appetite until the next tour, when Radiohead better return the Baltimore/Washington area!