Radiohead

Persistent rumours that Radiohead would be releasing a rock record to follow up the Warp-ed electronics of last year's success are proved wrong with the arrival of Amnesiac. Instead, the world's most over-praised band has released another album from the Kid A sessions that might as well be called Kid B. And while putting them out simultaneously as a double CD last year might have tempered the drool-fest of accolades that followed Kid A, Amnesiac is no mixed bag of weak leftovers. It's just not a surprise, and from Radiohead, that amounts to a disappointment. No longer will fans wonder how the band will translate these extended grooves in performance, since the band proved they've lost no ground on that front with last year's shows. But also gone is the sense of wonder that accompanied Kid A, that anything was possible in its wake. All that Amnesiac proves is that more of the same is possible, and while most fans will, of course, buy them both, they'll soon discover it's only necessary to listen to one or the other and it won't matter much which one.