One of their lesser known works, but for some odd reason it seems to be the one that inspires filmmakers and creators outside of music the most? Denis Villeneuve used You and Whose Army (twice!) and Like Spinning Plates in "Incendies", Alfonso Cuarón used Life in a Glasshouse in "Children of Men", Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" is named after the song, Pyramid Song inspired an entire side quest on Cyberpunk 2077, almost the entire album was featured in "Peaky Blinders" at some point, etc. I guess there's something about that darkness you mentioned that lands really well on other forms of media...
Whoa whoa whoa can you elaborate a lil more on the cyberpunk quest?? Big Denis V fan too, has made some of my fav films. Of course haven’t see. Incendies, will check it out🤙
@@seffers4788 I haven't played it so I can't give many details, but from what I read the game features a side quest called Pyramid Song visually inspired by the music video with the idea of diving in an underwater city. You should definitely watch Incendies, it's one of my favorite films by Denis. He seems to like Radiohead a lot as he also used Codex in Prisoners. I'd love to see Jonny scoring one of his films someday.
Amazing! Thanks for that comment :) it’s my favourite album of theirs but probably wouldn’t say it’s “their best” but so interesting and creates so many emotions and strange visuals. Literally trippy haha
Like Spinning Plates was originally an earlier version of I Will from Hail To the Thief. They werent impressed by what they've made but once they reversed it they enjoyed it and Thom wrote some lyrics and taught himself to sing backwards for the song.
@@cavemanjack the live version of spinning plates is great too. Thom plays it on the piano and sings normally. it's beautiful and quite a different take on the song.
@@cavemanjack and also that strange beat at the beginning, to me at least, is supposed to sound like actual spinning plates, like the ones they used to do at carnivals. sometimes i've described my anxiety as feeling like spinning plates for an audience but they're all falling, so this song hits home for me.
Radiohead belong a generation of major artists whose ethos was to create art without caring about expectations of fans and public. You got respect what they did even when you might not instantly connect with what they did
You must delve into the Kid A Mnesia Exhibition on PS5, Mac or windows made by epic games An interactive exhibition using the visuals and sounds / songs from both albums. It’s unbelievable
This album really grew on me to the point it’s my 2nd favourite Radiohead album, with kid a at the top! Pyramid Song is a phenomenal track and one I’ll always love
Like Spinning PLates came in at such a confusing time in my life... I can't tell you how much itm means to me! I am so glad we both resonated with it :)
Love watching the Radiohead reactions, Could you maybe react to some Blur albums, I feel like they have an interesting evolution of sound from leisure (the worst album) to 13 (the best album) 😂🙏
still one of my favorite albums of theirs. i don’t know why so many ppl slag it off. ppl shouldn’t come to radiohead for easy listening feel good music tbh. it exists to challenge you
Surprised you weren't into I Might Be Wrong but you enjoyed this version of Morning Bell. To each their own I guess! Lol this album definitely takes multiple listens to untap. I still think songs like Knives Out, Dollars & Cents, and Life in a Glasshouse are very okay
I really enjoy your honest, raw takes on Radiohead && your other videos as well. Since you’ve been on this journey with us Radiohead fans, have you watched their music videos?
Tom sung Like spinning plates backwards because the lyrics were to difficult to sing in a normal way. At least thats what I heared. He did the song live normaly and it's even more emotional: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LnIHVvEwbLk.html
Kid A and Amnesiac pretty much came from the same studio sessions. They were overflowing with material and I think they took the decision to “string” 2 albums from it. If you pick your favourite tracks and ignore the weaker tracks you end up with an absolute banger KID AMNESIAC.
I learned to love Amnesiac for what it is but it wasn’t one of my favorites from the beginning. Definitely needs some getting used to. Im excited to see what you think of Hail to the Thief!
Dont really like this album just a small handful of the songs were good in my opinion, but ill try listening to it again in a while to see if that changes
this album is not my favourite, there are a bunch of songs that i find annoying or not finished, but it has one of my top 3 songs which is Pyramid Song so... yeah Oh and Like Spinning Plates is amazing live (or the "why us?" version)
Hail to the Thief has some v good listens on it, but In Rainbows is definitely the best album in store for you Literally every song is a 9+, not one weak point on the record Easily rivals Ok Computer and Kid A, and it's probably the biggest fan favourite
Pyramid song is in 4/4 time, but you can follow it much more easily by separating it into repeating bars of 3-3-4-3-3 (crotchets) Triangle (3) + triangle (3) + square (4) + triangle (3) + triangle (3) = pyramid 25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_meiu0pypNl1qf31sgo1_500.png
Thom said that Amnesiac is supposed to represent the feeling of being “stuck” mentally. At the time of the Kid A/Amnesiac sessions, Thom was obsessed with the story of The Labyrinth, a Minotaur stuck in a maze, “cursed to repeat its mistakes”, never being able to leave, and that’s why the Minotaur is immortalised on the album cover art. Thom also said: “Kid A was these increasingly urgent answerphone messages left on a phone that no one ever listened to, and Amnesiac - I had this idea that Amnesiac was songs that had been left in a drawer in an old dusty chest of drawers that had been left in an attic. So both of them were kind of … kind of crying out for attention, but had been forgotten.” - these are from the Kid Amnesia book
Yeah,...at the back of amnesiac u can read: store away from direct sunlight,preferably in a dark drawer with ur secrets,.. And inside u can read: after use remove staples,cut along the centre fold,place pages in a small box,place in a drawer and forget about..
Amnesiac is a fitting name, because it's the album that most forget about. It lives in Kid A's shadow, but I really love how weird it is. Definitely a grower.
NOT SO FUN FACT: Not only is the Like Spinning Plates progression based on a reversed version of I Will (which would only be released next album), but Thom Yorke figured out lyrics and a melody, recorded it, then played that recording backwards to learn how to sing the song backwards (reversed words and melody), then recorded that over the progression played in reverse (meaning played live but the pattern is backwards from the intended song, like the vocals), and then reversed them both back in order to have the original melody, lyrics and synth progression for Like Spinning Plates, but it all sounds reversed, like the sounds are being sucked.
One of their most underrated albums. Top 5 Radiohead album imo. Life in a glass house and You and Whose Army? Are some of my favorite songs of all time.
Life In A Glass House is by far one of the most beautiful album closers of all time. The New Orleans funeral jazz ensemble mixed in is nothing but spectacular and top tier gloom
The reason Pyramid Song sounds just barely off is that it's actually swung! The way the timing is arranged means the chord changes usually happen on the short note of the long/short pair. It always throws me off until the drums kick in, and then suddenly it makes sense.
Pyramid Song has been my favorite Radiohead song since the first time I heard it. Just so ethereally beautiful. Definitely understand why so many people aren't fans of this album, but its full of some of my favorite tracks by them, and as a whole it's an extremely engaging and cinematic listen, even if some of the tracks are hard to listen to. Looking forward to your Hail To The Thief reaction. Definitely a lot more "mainstream", but also one of my favorite albums by them
Amnesiac is such a weird album, its quite a challenging experience. Its definitely very obscure and unsettling. I didn't really like it at first, but after sitting with it for a few listens i was really engrossed in how strange and interesting it is. Its not for everyone and has pretty divided reception
"You and Whose Army" was used as the opening sound track for the Denis Villeneuve film "Incendies": you should look it up on RU-vid. It almost seemed tailor-made for that great cinematic overture.
Probably not the most popular opinion but this album is one of my favorites of all time. The dark tones and and the constant experimentation just vibes with me personally. Like spinning plates is probably my favorite song ever, it blew my mind when I first heard it.
The Amnesiac B-sides are simply amazing, absolute must listens for any Radiohead fan. It's also a lesson in how the band won't put arguably better/easier songs on an album if it goes against the artistic message.
This was a very challenging album for me at first. I have now listened to it many times and it grows on me each time. I seem to find a new song to love with each listen. This may be their most polarizing album they ever released, but I have now loved it for years. Such a grower and one of their most emotionally impactful albums they have released. I love it, but I would still rank it 6th amongst the Radiohead albums
@@cavemanjack I'm a balls to the wall fanatic about this band, but this album was a real head scratcher for me i just couldn't connect with it at all for a long time, I think it was hearing these songs performed live that changed my opinion on most of the tracks and i now love both the studio versions and live versions, its still down at number 7 out of the 9 albums they have done though, for me anyway.
As Tom said, Kid A is watching a forest burning, Amnesiac is beeing in that forest I really loved that this album was like a response for Kid A, you know, Kid A feels like it never stopped amd every song was conected, but this one is more sporadic
Interesting reaction. This one definitely grows on listens and for me years even. I was so hoping for Ok Computer Part 2 that Kid A really threw me, big time, my favorite band, and I felt lost. Then a year later Amnesiac came out and I honestly enjoyed it more - "Pyramid Song" is one of their greatest works I feel, and the songs "You Might Be Wrong" and "Knives Out" gave me the more rock side I was missing. The former I hope over time you give a chance its an all time favorite and "Knives Out" kind of is unique to anything before, its Thom on acoustic and Jonny plays this absolutely incredible, constrained yet perfect, solo throughout on the Telecaster, its so cool (both songs) on the live acoustic vids the 2 of them performed them. Whose Army and Dollars and Cents always were such a vibe and groove to me. But, it was literally a decade later I started listening to the album again, and "Like Spinning Plates" which I dismissed originally and used to skip, hit me so hard, I could not believe I did not LOVE it from the beginning. But that is par of following this band. I know it sounds absurd and pretentious as hell but this band has songs it takes literal years sometime before you fall for them. Glass House as well. In the very first Rolling Stone Top 500 albums list in 2004, "Amnesic" was in like the mid 400s. But it got bumped since - but for a brief while Radiohead were amongst maybe just 10 or fewer artists with 5 or more Albums on the list (such lists are what they are, taken with a grain of salt of course), but cool accomplishment and testament to the redeeming come-back-to element to this album, (though I could live without track 3). As to where this falls in my total list - after OKC, In Rainbows, Kid A (which finally clicked for me 8 years after it came out and I love it) and The Bends, I have to go with Amnesiac. Looking forward for you to here Hail To The Thief" - it is the return of the guitars - organic and electronic soundscapes - a couple odd songs which I had a hard time with but love now - and my all time favorite RH song is on it - lots of songs, sounds, and as such it feels s bit lacking some cohesion, but whatever downs, it i just a fun RH ride and there is no question plenty of killer music on it so it will be fun no doubt. Then..... the next Huge moment - the last(best?) of the Big 3! (For now at least - LP 10 will come someday and who knows what heights it could bring...)
Good to hear from you again Drew, was such a deep album I can tell it may take some time, there was moments while I was editing where moments I dismissed began to hit for me. I wonder what this album will sound like to me in ten years
@@cavemanjack Yeah man, been looking forward to this, so thank you! Truly the extra listens or time in your life - all can have an impact - you know given in RH fan world the 3 bands more close minded fans, and I am not hating its often part of how people respond about their true favorite with a little defensiveness (I admit I used to a bit but have outgrown PLUS expanding my own music making so I am in a 'soak in in anything I can mode') - in no chronological order more or less, Oasis, Coldplay, and Muse are the 3 bands most closely associated as getting superfans all bristled up when comparing them. But they are all different - the first was a contemporary and had a couple killer more BritPop sound Albums then faded - Coldplay is cool, they directly were inspired but so what, they've had a lot of good songs, but the reason for this long reply is Muse. They have one incredible song I love that was pretty popular "Uprising" (2009?)- amazing tune -I saw you reacted to them didn't watch but now I'm thinking I trust/enjoy your mindset and style so I'm going to expand and watch then listen to the whole album - I bet I end up really liking them. So hey man, I'm going to stick with your other journeys now too and open my mind, my gratitude in advance (ha, unless I hate it but I kind of doubt it)!
@@cavemanjack Oh one other thing - "Hail To the Thief" has a lot of songs for a RH album but some real classics - others you may be like I was and be confounded BUT I like them all NOW, them there right. They even admit the overall experience would have been better if they slimmed it down but it is real experimentation despite a much more instantly alt-rock feel, they work to meld their classic guitar sound with what they found in the Kid Amnesiac sessions, and a song called "Where I End and You Begin" is a great example - I used to skip the saw it on (like one day you will have the joy of) notorious Basement concerts, and it hit me - it has such a badass bass and drum underneath it that ought to be enough alone but then the 2 non-Thom Guitarists - Ed who does a lot of the spacey effects and backing harmonies (a lot of times you think Thom is double tracked he isn't usually, it is Ed doing a great job as backing vocalist) get together to put down this wide spacious classic RH sound, Jonny is on his favorite unique instrument, the Ondes Martenot, a keyboard you use a ring to slide up and down and play vibrato - prominent on "How to Disappear" - while Thom does his thing perfectly, great lyrics, singing and subtle rhythm guitar - point is, used to skip now its in my Top 10. Peace, and also remember this was them working out their new approach one more time before putting out what could easily be argued as their very best album and an astounding piece of musical art and history in "In Rainbows."
@@jameshannagan4256 I love it - it took me - like many of RH songs, literal years to have some tracks like "We Suck Young Blood" click for me, but there isn't a single song I don't thoroughly enjoy on this record. And in my personal fandom history, after they became my top band with OK Computer, Kid A really threw me off (love it and consider it a piece of Art now) and I went into a 6 year blues rabbit hole, until one night randomly turning on the TV jut a PBS aired In Rainbows from the Basement. I was so mesmerized, astonished, and overjoyed that they were still out there and creating such brilliance, I got on youtube and the first video I hit was "There, There" acoustic with Thom and Jonny, and I must have watched in 30 times in the next week, and it is my favorite RH song and song period still. It led me back to the band and I've never turned back, and in a way it was great as I rediscovered so much of what I did love about Amnesiac, Kid A finally began to hit home, and I got to indulge deep into HTTT. I think some of the less immediately palatable songs an large track number cause me to caveat it when I comment or talk to people about it before they hear it, but it has so much to love. In classic RH fashion, I used to kind of blow past "Where I End..." for awhile, which now seems so utterly ludicrous as it is another one of my very favorite all time band tracks now - how I couldn't get sucked into the groove alone is a mystery to me but I love it now so much that I am pushing my own mediocre hobby band to tackle it (as a big Ed supporter this one is an important song to me also as its a great showcase as to the final key to their spacious sound, there is nothing better than Ed with an E-Bow and Jonny on the Ondes, who else has or will ever create such a specific and unique lusciously spacey dynamic). Lot of words there, but I guess There, There.
This album will grow on you, but you probably wont want to listen to it as much due to how dark it is. You will probably have a simmilar reaction to The King of Limbs, but im telling you tkol is one of their best albums just dont give up on that one.
I like this album because I love Radiohead, but i definitely get those who don't... Amnesiac and the next one, Hail to the thief, (really looking foward for your review btw) are more of experimental albums where the band is still testing things out before they were ready to make their most magnificent album after OK computer: In Rainbows :) this seems to happen again later in the discography tho, with The King of Limbs being kinda experimental and then finally the 'answer' comes with A Moon Shaped Pool, one of the most beautiful and touching things I've ever heard. Great video !!!!
That's such a interest pattern that you have noticed, almost like testing different sounds before they find that complete sound they want! Super pumped to continue with hail to the theif! Really glad you enjoyed the vid
I see kid a and amnesiac as two sides of the same coin. Kid A has a big open soundscape and loneliness but oddly comforting and has a hopeful sounding ending like the gates of Heaven opening whereas Amnesiac feels very claustrophobic and off kilter in the mixing and like spinning plates feels like going down the river into hell. It’s crazy. I love both albums.
The live version of many of these songs, especially SPINNING PLATES, are really cool. Makes you appreciate the studio versions more. Love this strange album. Oh, and LIFE IN A GLASS HOUSE is probably one of my favorite Radiohead songs. It’s a vibe.
I think this is one of their more visual albums. Kid A started it and then this obviously continues it where it almost has a film score quality. For example, I think like half this album is used on the show Peaky Blinders, and it is used very well which gives me the appreciation for the songs. And of course, Johnny Greenwood not too long after this becomes one of the most celebrated composer in Hollywood, and Thom Yorke has since done great work as well.
Yup, You and Whose Army was s3 premier, life in a glasshouse was S3 ending, pyramid song s4 finale, and I know “I might be wrong”was used somewhere else as well. It’s what really put me into Radiohead
React to loveless - my bloody valentine bro, it´s such a different sound, so atmospheric, hypnotic and dense. It's that kind of music that when you listen to it again there were things you didn't perceive before or that you didn't fully understand
This album has always felt sort of alien to me, like its a little snippet of music from another world. Its quite unsettling, and the aura of darkness radiohead always has lingering in their songs is pushed right to the front, along with that vague menace that they have in kid a as well. Some of the songs feel almost purposefully difficult to follow and understand, all electronic beats and unusual pacing and rhythm, its like there's nothing alive or organic to cling to, just hard edges and cold metal in the darkness. I think i read somewhere that thom yorke was listening to a lot of aphex twin when he made the album, and you can definitely hear that. Its a good album, definitely one that grows on you, but its not an everyday album, far too dark and weird and sad for that. Excited for the next couple radiohead albums you've got to do, theres some seriously good tracks on hail to the thief, and anyone who likes radiohead will tell you in rainbows is just brilliant
Was such a wild ride and I agree there was moments that were seemingly made to be tough to follow! Super dark and had some moments where light would pop up and it was such a interesting contrast throughout the album. Thank you for checking out the video!
Amnesiac was a fun and wild album, one of my favorites from Radiohead! I wish they had incorporated the song "Cuttooth" into the running, but it was apparently demoted last minute to B-Side status... Also still holding out for the eventual possible reaction to Blur's album "13" :)
Such a wild journey ! Blur is coming before the end of the year, woooo has taken so dang long but have some time off work at the end of the year which im looking forward to!
The Kid A and Amnesiac recordings are my favourites from Radiohead. Just really dig the left field approach they took during those sessions. Like most Radiohead fans, our favourite songs change from time to time. There are just too many to choose from in their catalogue, but Pyramid Song really might be my favourite. It distills everything they’re great at as a band. So beautiful.
Suggestion (a crazy one): the portal soundtrack. I dont know it could be cool. Videogame soundtracks in general would be cool for you to listen to, but both are in one album so yee :>
Interesting that you weren't as big on the three (I think) most well liked songs on the album - Pyramid Song, Knives Out, and I Might be Wrong. I get it though, this album is disorienting. I've come around to liking it more but it's still not one of my favorites of theirs.
Songs like Pyramid Song etc have that jazz swing and swagger that’s amazing. Radiohead is great at that. Dunno I enjoy the songs you don’t including knives Out. The usage of jazz in their construct of industrial alternative is amazing. They took alt into a prog world so crazy.
What I love about this album is there seems to be a lot of thoughts on the songs and soundscapes which I think invites awesome moments of sharing. Very keen to continue seeing how this album sits with me over time
@@cavemanjack Thom and Lead guitarist and keyboard player Jonny Greenwood have worked on a movie or two and do soundscape stuff outside Radiohead. Their Sonic brevity together is great. They use flat 7ths and 5ths greatly and alternate majors and minors so soft in transition it’s so natural you almost can’t tell at times. I’m sure the jazz swag helps with the back beat and lazzy singing.
I can’t really explain why but it’s probably my favourite of theirs. It’s so interesting, wild, thought provoking and I feel like it appeals to the chaos within ourselves and is almost soothing in that way.
It sounds like a cold, wet winter. Like today, the sun set at 4pm, the lamp is too harsh/artificial, the apartment buzzes and is too quiet at the same time, the windows closed up, nobody to talk to, it's like being forced into a cardboard box. Very claustrophobic kind of feel, and this album is pretty fitting for it I think!
Strangely I find Knives Out to be one of the very few songs of theirs that I dislike. The only way I can explain it is it makes me feel bilious. Cracking album though, for me some of the all time greatest Radiohead songs are found here. Httt next, another cracking album, albeit somewhat bloated.
I’ve been listening to Radiohead since they first released The Bends and have listened to each new album as it was released so it’s actually a bit hard to recall my initial reaction to Amnesiac. I do think it will grow on you and for me even difficult (almost off-putting) songs like Pulk/Pull are integral elements of the album.
Amnesiac is my favourite Radiohead Album. That isn't to say it's their best, but it's such a mood. I love everything about it. Pulk/Pull was an obstacle until I decided to take it in a sort of poem with sounds that segments the Album.
I knew you'd like the Amnesiac version of "Morning Bell!" It's probably my favorite off this album, other than "Pyramid Song" and "Dollars & Cents." (And of course "You and Whose Army!") While "Amnesiac" isn't my favorite Radiohead album, I do think it grows on you after a few listens! It's definitely got it's own vibe to it, but honestly I think all of their albums have their own feel to it. Once again, loved watching you experience something new for the first time! Can't wait for "In Rainbows!"
This album is definitely not an easy first listen. I think the name Amnesiac is appropriate. If you imagine what the world would feel like waking up with no memories... everything would be absolute chaos, this album feels like the embodiment of that feeling to me. (where ironically Morning Bell is in 4/4 time and very pleasant in comparison to the more chaotic Kid A 5/4 time) The tracks that I still don't skip, after probably 100+ listens: Pyramid Song, I Might Be Wrong, Dollars & Cents, Like Spinning Plates, and my favorite... Life in a Glasshouse At first You and Whose Army is a really great track, but it gets a bit old over time. And Morning Bell is a little too clean and normal vs Kid A's version. The other tracks are pretty interesting, except Knives Out, which shouldn't have been recorded. lol Good reaction video btw, really enjoy hearing your thoughts on their albums.
Thank you for checking out the video, really appreciate it! There is so many layers to this album that im super keen to see how they sit with me over time, Each time I listen there is another sound or feeling that the song presents
Lmao I disagree with so much of this, for me You and Whose Army is absolutely gorgeous. The ending is a top 5 Radiohead song moment for me. And knives out slander??? 😤
The disjointed nature of it with all its different styles reminds me of the way your mind works after something traumatising like a car accident has happened to you. You seem kinda out of it and your consciousness starts picking up on random things you're perceiving and random memories that flash through your head while you're in this state of shock, like an escape mechanism of some sort. Which makes for a very oppressive listen, but also makes it feel strangely cohesive.
I like Amnesiac but It Is not my favourite album. By the way the art (videos, paintings etc) around this and kid a its probably the best. It's definitely hard to listen to, but more 'cause of its complexity than because it's boring, It doesn't bother me that a lot of people don't like it, for me it's not just another generic album, it feels like something deeper and connected to many not so obvious feelings. I think Hail to the Thief returns to what Ok Computer started but with more maturity and its a perfect mix of rock and electronics, but If there is something that excites me the most, it is In Raninbows I hope you get it soon! PD: the smile Is a new Thom Y. Project, They only have one album But it's Magnificent, I recommend that you bring it to the channel, A very professional job that highlights the experience of the band. In my opinion at the height of the best albums of RH.
Fantastic video! Idk if you do album recommendations but if so I heavily recommend Keane “hopes and fears” (one of my favourite albums of all time) and the fray “how to save a life”.
Do you apply any post editing to your Radiohead reaction videos to make the audio quality better? Your videos often sound clearer than the official releases from Radiohead.
That wasn't "auto tune" on the voice of Crushed Like Sardines. That was a synth line that was going in synch with Thom's melody changes, so it sounded auto-tuned, but it's just a vocal track and synth track following each other.
Amnesiac is my favourite Radiohead album, likely my favourite album of any band ever. Unusually, it is the album that actually really cemented Radiohead as my most loved band and has influenced my journey into music like no other.
Underrated album. As good as anything in their discography. Pyramid Song is genius. The time signatures are not like anything else. Both the track and album will grow on you with further listens. I'm still listening to it and finding new things over 20 years later. Sign of a great album.
When you said you’d never heard them do anything similar to Life In A Glasshouse before.. LITERALLY I always joke about it. “Oh boy Radiohead sure is good at jazz, I hope they do something similar soon-“ (never creates anything remotely similar ever again)
Defo my favourite album. It's equisite. Pyramid Song is probably my favourite song they've ever written (watch the video to the song - it's beautiful).
This record was the biggest grower, I thought it was absolute trash first time I heard it. Over a long time I really grew to love it. Interesting breakdown of this record tho mate, I’m sure you’ll come to love it in its entirety eventually 🤝
I'm just waiting for you to get to "In Rainbows" Nice reaction man, this one takes a while alright. Also I love Pyramid Song, and the video that goes with it. These are growers.
Completly agree. The difference between the bands is that Radiohead got more unique over the years and wanted to make their own sound while Coldplay started following other bands and now makes pop music. (Like Radiohead would never write a song with BTS 😂)
