Track Listing

1. The National Anthem
2. I Might Be Wrong
3. Morning Bell
4. Like Spinning Plates
5. Idioteque
6. Everything In Its Right Place
7. Dollars And Cents
8. True Love Waits

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7051 in Music
• Released on: 2001-11-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .15 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Given that Radiohead are one of the most zealously bootlegged bands in the world--nearly every public utterance is out there somewhere--the emergence of I Might Be Wrong, the band's first ever official live album, would seem a tardy and superfluous gesture. Conversely, Radiohead have never gone out of their way to actively discourage the black market trading of their live wares. Which makes you wonder just what is the intention of this live album? Could it be for hardcore fans who wish to remain on the right side of the law? Or could it be symbolic; the drawing of a double-ledger line under the sporadically interesting but frustratingly contrary anti-guitar rock intransigence of the Kid A/Amnesiac era and the opening-up of whole new chapter? Or perhaps it's because they just wanted to put out a live album? We must wait and see. And so, in all probability, must they. Nevertheless, I Might Be Wrong--featuring eight songs culled from live shows in Berlin, Oslo, the Roman amphitheatre at Vaison le Romaine (how very Pink Floyd of them) and their triumphant homecoming gig at Oxford's South Park--is pretty much beyond reproach, even if the renditions here--"National Anthem" (Charlie Mingus inspired with a raspy Motorhead bass line) "I Might Be Wrong" (Led Zeppelin meets Blondie's "Rapture") deviate little from the script of the original studio versions. The notable exception is an enchanting recital of "Like Spinning Plates", wherein the backwards electronica of the Amnesiac original is superseded by a romantic, ornate piano accompaniment for a classic Radiohead moment. Long-term devotees will also notice the first ever appearance on record of "True Love Waits" (Yorke with solo acoustic guitar), a song which Radiohead have grappled with for years and which finally finds a handle--and a home--right here. --Kevin Maidment

CD Description
This release features live recordings of material from Radiohead's no.1 albums 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac'. Half of the tracks included were recorded at their gig in Oxford's South Park, in July 2001. The remaining tracks are taken from European dates of the same tour.

Customer Reviews

Brilliance shinning through!!!
How very untrue the review saying Thom's awful live is!!! I have watched them a couple of times live, first after OK Computer was released and afterwards just before Hail To The Thief and both times I was amazed by their performance and by how amazing Thom is live! I can even say they're the best live band I've seen and I've seen quite a few. This Live Album is no less a masterpiece, the brilliant choice of songs containing a definite Radiohead jewel True Love Waits. Also the breathtaking piano beginning of Like Spinning Plates makes me like this version better than the album one. I would also like to add that I'm not a fan of live albums but this one's just too amazing to be left out. If you don't own this piece of work you truly are losing a lot

An interesting one...
If the hurried release of 'Amnesiac' barely a year after 'Kid A' wasn't enough of a shock for Radiohead fans, a live EP (containing only tracks from the aforementioned albums, bar one rarity) in the same year must've seemed like an overload. Quite what the motivation for the release of 'I Might Be Wrong' was we may never know, but for what it is, three years on it remains an interesting anomaly in the back catalogue of Yorke and his companions.

Whatever way you go about it, opening with a thundering rendition of 'The National Anthem' is a pretty damned good statement of intent. While hardly to the quality of more recent live versions of the song (not least the band's performance of the song at Earl's Court in 2003, where the song was layered with deafening war reports), it still retains a similar snarling edge. 'I Might Be Wrong' is transformed, the original somewhat slower, the version here closer resembles Radiohead's more guitar-based work like 'Electioneering'. 'Idioteque' (arguably the best song from 'Kid A') is a cacophony of beats, drums and Yorke's lyrics of impending doom, and is twice as frantic as the original. 'Morning Bell' remains faithful to the original (that "cut the kids in half" lyric is still as frightening as the first time you heard it), as does 'Amnesiac''s 'Dollars And Cents' (although here it sounds unremarkable after the hundreds of buzzing, chattering Thoms that bring the extended 'Everything In Its Right Place' to a close).

'Like Spinning Plates', originally a bizarrely beautiful experimentation of distorted and twisted sounds (not least Yorke's vocal, which sounded like it was being played backwards), here is completely stripped and turned into a brooding, funereal piano ballad (similar to 'Pyramid Song') unarguably superior to the 'Amnesiac' version. Of course, the final song is what EMI would probably consider the big "incentive" to buy 'I Might Be Wrong', 'True Love Waits'. While the song has been bootlegged since 1995 (!), the quality here is perfect. Merely Thom Yorke and an acoustic guitar, the song is so achingly beautiful, so simple and frail you think it might fall apart at any moment. Even better, the song is completely untainted by the usual whooping sycophants that plague live albums by screaming halfway through the most beautiful song of the performance.

While there are occasional flashes of genius, 'I Might Be Wrong' has two major faults. Firstly, the lack of songs. Only eight songs on the cd leaves you wanting so much more. Secondly, the choice of songs is lacking. While it is quite obvious the EP is meant as an advert for Radiohead's supposedly more "awkward" albums, the absence of anything pre-'Kid A' hurts. Also, some of the better songs from the 'Kid A/Amnesiac' sessions like 'Pyramid Song', 'How To Disappear Completely' and 'You And Whose Army?' are strangely missing. Although 'I Might Be Wrong''s most beautiful moments ('Like Spinning Plates', 'True Love Waits') means that the CD does merit a purchase, it leaves you begging for a live album proper.

Not just clicks and bleeps
Some fans of Radiohead complained that "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" were just too clean cut, not containing the edge or emotion of the previous bunch. This live collection is kind of a step between.

Amnesiac takes some of the finest tracks from "Kid A" and "Amnesiac", and introduces the public to the live recordings of these tracks. All are different from the originals, with new instruments being introduced to substitute old ones, often enhancing the music, and, other songs being revamped completely. For instance, instead of the backwards warbling and somewhat boring backing theme that "Like Spinning Plates" had on the album, a piano is introduced, which creates a far superior track in my opinion.

There is one new track on the album, which is "True Love Waits". This is the highlight of the album, and consists of Yorke pouring out his heart over a beautiful acoustic ballad in the vein of "Exit Music".

The crowd cheer along to the crashes and wails of "Idioteque", the rumbles and cracks of "Dollars & Cents", and the haunting "Morning Bell" sounds as superb as ever. The only track that I didn't enjoy was "Everything in it's right place", which just doesn't seem to work live.

Definetely worth buying if you have Kid A & Amnesiac, if you don't, get the others first.