‘Amnesiac’ Is the Darker Twin of ‘Kid A’: 7.5/10

Radiohead made Kid A‘s difficult twin. Amnesiac, released in 2001, came from the same sessions as its predecessor, but it is not a retread. It is the darker, jazzier, more cryptic sibling — less overtly experimental than Kid A, but no easier to love on first listen. The band took the electronic textures and fractured song structures of those sessions and pushed them toward something stranger: a record that feels like a séance conducted in a locked room.

Opening With “Packt Like Sardines”

“Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box” opens the record with a lurching, percussive groove and a murmured vocal that sets the tone. This will not be a comfortable listen. “Pyramid Song” follows, and it is the album’s centerpiece — a haunting, swung piano figure that builds into something almost devotional, with some of the most poetic lyrics the band has written, inspired by passages from Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha.

“Pull Pulk Revolving Doors” is the record’s most abrasive moment, a glitchy, percussive collage that sounds like a malfunctioning machine. It is the kind of track that divides listeners, but it earns its place. “You and Whose Army?” slows things down with a sparse piano ballad that swells into a slow-burning climax. “I Might Be Wrong” is the closest thing to a conventional rock song here — a bluesy, hypnotic groove that carries real momentum.

“Knives Out” is the most straightforwardly melodic track, a jangling, unsettling pop song that recalls the band’s earlier work without abandoning the record’s uneasy atmosphere. “The Morning Bell Amnesiac” is a reworking of a Kid A track, and it is the weaker of the two versions — less immediate, more diffuse. “Dollars & Cents” builds from a jazzy, bass-led pulse into a tense, angry crescendo. It is one of the record’s strongest moments.

The Lesser Tracks

“Hunting Bears” is a brief, wordless guitar sketch that feels like an interlude rather than a full song. “Like Spinning Plates” is built on a reversed vocal sample and a skeletal piano line, eerie and beautiful. The record closes with “Life in a Glasshouse,” a slow, mournful jazz dirge with trumpet and clarinet that feels like a funeral procession. It is a perfect ending — bleak, elegant, and final.

Not every track earns its place. “Hunting Bears” is too slight to justify its two minutes. “The Morning Bell Amnesiac” is a shadow of the version on Kid A. “Pull Pulk Revolving Doors” is more interesting as an idea than as a song. These are minor complaints against a record that is otherwise remarkably consistent.

Verdict: A Companion, Not a Sequel

Amnesiac is not the masterpiece that Kid A is. It is messier, more uneven, and harder to grasp. But it is also more human — less determinedly avant-garde, more willing to let songs breathe. These 11 cuts are as fully realized as anything the band has recorded, even if they don’t seem quite as determined to push the boundaries of what rock music can be.

The album rewards patience. Its cryptic lyrics and fractured structures do not yield their secrets easily, but they do yield. “Pyramid Song” alone is worth the price of admission, and the record’s best moments — “Dollars & Cents,” “Like Spinning Plates,” “Life in a Glasshouse” — rank among the band’s finest work.

Amnesiac is a companion piece, not a sequel. It is the sound of a band at the height of its powers, refusing to repeat itself. It is dark, cryptic, and occasionally frustrating. It is also essential.

• Artist: Radiohead
• Album: Amnesiac
• Released: 2001
• Tracks: 11
• Running time: 43 minutes
• Metacritic score: 75/100

2001 music · album review · Amnesiac · Kid A · Radiohead