Radiohead

With the release of last year’s Kid A, Radiohead’s publicity machine claimed that enough material was recorded during the session for two albums, and that a more “commercial, guitar-driven” album would be released in 2001. In truth, Kid A stands as the more “commercial” album of the two, and Amnesiac feels like Kid A outtakes. This, however, is not a complaint. Radiohead outtakes beat the crap out of most bands’ supposed best material, and Amnesiac is a solid listen. Amnesiac needs a few passes to get what’s going on, and then it just starts working. "Knives Out," one of the few tracks that actually contains formidable guitars, is a standout, while the opening track "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box," with Thom Yorke’s depressing mantra of "I’m a reasonable man; get off my case" over a hypnotic, sonic loop, is classic Radiohead.