I MIGHT BE WRONG - LIVE RECORDINGS

One of the best live albums i have ever heard. A masterpiece created out of a 40 minute EP. This album delivers the incredible Radiohead live show, with incredible quality, showing off how dynamic and energetic this band are. They may be the perfect soundtrack to a life of misery in their studio albums but when they hit the stage they shine with positivity, life, energy, and amazing talent. Everything that Radiohead are is captured superbly here, which is why it is one of my favourite live albums of all time. It also manages to show how Radiohead evolve their very experimental tracks to fit for playing live as they are brilliantly reworked from the studio versions.

"The National Anthem" is much better here than on Kid A. It has so much more life and energy and really takes the word anthem furthur. This live version has so much more life and atmosphere as the crowd add well to it. radiohead obviously enjoy playing this one and making it a real favourite to play live, hell it may have even made Thom Yorke smile for once. "I Might Be Wrong" is played with much more speed and sounds livelier. Another brilliant reworking from its original and the crowd respond really well. "Morning Bell" is quite similar to the studio version and gets a good crowd response as it is one of the best tracks on Kid A.

"Like Spinning Plates" is the most different track. I love this version. The Amnesiac version was a technical rackett of noise. This live version has evolved into a gentle yet exhilerating piano movment with lushous vocals from Mr. Yorke. This is definetly a standout track on the album even though every track is incredible. The vocals and lyrics get their spotlight as it is a lot easier to digest than on Amnesiac. "Idioteque" was probably the best track on Kid A and it works wonders here. It is played excellently live as it is a difficult track to recreate. Obviously they gave it some tweaking to bring something new to the stage. If you listen close enough you will hear the crowd singing along to Thom's strange ramblings and they are definetly loving every minute. Radiohead prove themselves to be one of the best live acts in the world.

"Everything in its Right Place" is extended a lot here with a strange build up intro that is new to this album. The track is everything that the studio album is and more, the clowd clap along and there is a very positive vibe to this experience. This piece goes on to have an extended piece for the crowd well the band go mental. This track is usually a closer to the bands live sets. "Dollars and Cents" is a lot livelier and the bass sounds even better here. The last two minutes are exceptional as they progress furthur than the studio track dared to go.

and then there it is... an extra special acoustic piece by Thom Yorke alone. Still one of the most beautiful pieces of music i've ever heard, the lyrics relate well in their own weird Radiohead way. This song has brilliant chord progressions in an unusual manor, nothing prog at all, yet heaven. Thoms voice is emotional and moving and probably one of his greatest moments as a singer and a songwriter. Though i detect a very British feel to this. Does an American know what crisps are? Thom sure ain't eating no potato chips. This is a brilliant close to a brilliant live album, a track that has finally been dug out in truely exceptional form. This track was originally going to be on the bends but lost out to "Fake Plastic Trees" and never resurfaced till now. It certainly gets a grand new look and is the perfect way to close such a good album. You'll love this piece of music.

I'll preface this by saying that by and large I'm no fan of live albums. I find them completely unnecessary. Therefore it will come as no surprise that I'm not fussed about this. It's fine and the band work their way through material from Kid A and Amnesiac with chaotic enthusiasm but apart from the acoustic guitar/voice True Love Waits, which is passable, it's a collectors' only thingy I'm afraid.

Before I go further, I want to say that I do consider RADIOHEAD prog in the overall view. While I despise the "next Pink Floyd" comparisons I used to hear, I do think that's the element the two bands have in common. This album takes songs off of their most "proggy" albums, Kid A and Amnesiac, and I think it definitely falls under the category of prog. The following review will discuss the album on its own merits, with no consideration of the controversy. Unfortunately, this album is extremely erratic in its quality, to say the very least, so I've broken it up into two sections to address this.

PROS

There are certain songs on here that undeniably meet or exceed their studio versions, and those are the ones that make this album worth having around for the real RADIOHEAD fan. Most of them are from Kid A; thankfully, they chose this version for "Morning Bell", or I would have been sorely disappointed indeed! ED O'BRIEN's low mumbling in the end, which has clearly audible words (unlike the original) adds to the frenetic sense of this song. Afterwards, a fan screams "ENCORE!"...understandably so! The next good track was from Amnesiac, surprisingly enough, and has been completely redone. "Like Spinning Plates" turns into a heartbreaking piano ballad highlighting JONNY GREENWOOD's skills, and THOM YORKE sings much more clearly and beautifully than the original. I was surprised by "Idioteque", that they were able to perform it at all, and while the beginning is a little bit thin, it's cool to hear the audience sing along, and as it picks up pace, it's amazing to hear the sound of the synths blending into the roaring of the crowd. PHIL SELWAY's drumming is also notable here.

The next song, "Everything in Its Right Place", was also a surprise; I would have thought this one doomed to utter disaster in concert, yet instead it's the highlight of the album. Although I can't figure out why THOM YORKE is apparently so winded at the beginning of this track, I think it was very clever of the band to include the equipment check, to demonstrate the coolness of what they're about to do with the vocals. (Suffice it to say, if that sampling equipment failed during a performance of the song, they would have been screwed.) This one--astoundingly enough, considering how great "Everything in Its Right Place" originally was--actually manages to top the studio version. It's absolutely amazing as the vocal samples...taken and manipulated real-time, during the concert warp dizzyingly around the audience. The last track on the album is also very nice...I know some people here seem to hate "True Love Waits", but I do think it's nice to have the "kinder, gentler" side of RADIOHEAD here, too.

CONS

For starters, I don't think this is at all a representative setlist of all of RADIOHEAD's work to this point. I can understand wanting to go most heavily on your more current material--but even on albums like PINK FLOYD's PULSE, the band does pull out some of the old classics. RADIOHEAD seems here to try to act like everything prior to Kid A doesn't exist, just tossing one little bone to the listener in the form of "True Love Waits", which apparently goes back to the time of The Bends, but I didn't even know that until just tonight when I read someone else's review. The other problem with the setlist is that it is way too short. Only eight songs? That just doesn't cut it; I really think there should have been at least four more on here, preferably OK Computer material, with maybe one from The Bends.

Also, there are some very serious sound problems plaguing some songs, like "The National Anthem", "I Might Be Wrong", and "Dollars and Cents". Sometimes the instruments can be so muffled that you can hardly tell what they are; it sounds more like some fan's bootleg than a professional recording. The sound quality is about where PINK FLOYD's Ummagumma Live album is--but they actually had an excuse, considering it was the 1960s. I was quite disappointed, because from Amnesiac I do think those last 2 I mentioned would've been the best tracks to perform, but unfortunately they were ruined and quite a bit weaker than the originals. "The National Anthem", without the horn section, lost the richness of the original...and in some places, THOM YORKE's vocals really can be abysmal. In terms of his ability to hold a tune outside of the studio, he's as pitiful as PINK FLOYD's ROGER WATERS was back in the 1970s, and when he messes up, it's earsplittingly bad.

Overall conclusion: I give this one a 3--but by the skin of its teeth.

Radiohead - I might be wrong: Live Recordings

Only having the "OK Computer" album and knowing from other people that you can't judge Radiohead sole on that album, I decided to buy another release. Since this album was out on budget price I bought it.

The thing I immediately noticed about the band is that they are constantly very energetic while playing. The only bad thing regarding that fact is that the audience is hardly noticeable and therefore I think you miss the reaction from that audience towards the band, something which I'm always fond of hearing while listening to live albums.

The quality of the album is good, but I can't enjoy this album as much as the studio albums I've heard until now. I can't really focus on the layers of sounds within the music, which is why I can't give it more than 3 stars.

It's good, but I prefer the studio versions over these live renditions.

Well, this is the only one Live album officialy released, we can find loots of bootlegs and things like that, but this is the only officialy. Radiohead is a band whicn has the will of experiment in every album, not always with a good result, but always with a good taste. This live album i thing is great, if you are expecting some early Radiohead, The Bends , Ok era, then, this wont be your cup of tea, here you will find some songs of Kid A (the most enjoyable album for prog fanatics ) and Amnesiac. The first song is The National Anthem, bass sound here is unique, that lines are well known i think, an excellent performance, and i think an excellent starting song for a concert, next, the title of this album , I Might Be Wrong, in Amnesiac is softer , here i think is faster, and it sounds great, guitars are good, a nice bridge and good lyrics, next Morning Bell, we can find this song in both Kid A and Amnesciac but in different versions, here a live version is always good, well not always, but here it is, Morning Bell is not my favorite song, instead of it i would like another song, the next song is very special for me, because it is totally different as Amnesiac version, Like Spinning Plates, when i listened to it for first time, i didnt recognize it, because i heard a very clean piano, good piano, then, when Thom started to sing, i was very excited because i thought, wow!! , great stuff, this is for me a very special song, beautiful here, much more beautiful than Amnesiac`s version, the next song is the coolest of them all, Idioteque, with weird lyrics, and good drumkit and spacial effects sound, i think it it the best song, is really awesome, the next song is another from Kid A, Everything in its Right Place, i feel bored when i listene to that song, is not my favorite, but its good in some cases, next Dollars and Cents, i recognize it immediately because of the bass lines, is avery good song, and at the end of this album, one B-Side, a beautiful song, acoustic of course and it is one of the favorite b-sides of any fan i think, its beautiful, i would die for see and listen to it alive. This is a very good album, the most of the time is always progressing, it has its weak parts, but i think its great, for this, im going to give it 4 stars. Excellent recommendation for all of you.

I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings is Radiohead's only live album up to date. It features songs from Kid A and Amnesiac, and as well an unreleased song. I must say that I think this live album easily is better than both Kid A and Amnesiac. Why? The album features only the best tracks from both Kid A and Amnesiac, which means that there are no fillers or bad songs. Also, the band's performance is excellent and where I found Kid A and Amnesiac having a bit of a flat sound, this album doesn't.

All songs are performed in an excellent way. The sound is rich and the band proves to be pretty innovative live. Some nice examples of this are "Everything In Its Right Place", which is two minutes longer than the studio version and features a nice intro. Also "Ideoteque", with its pounding beats and bleeps, is much more powerful than it was on Kid A. "Like Spinning Plates" also sounds like a completely different track compared to the version on Amnesiac. The synth sounds have been replaced by piano, and I must say it makes the track much more interesting. The final track is "True Love Waits", an unreleased song. It's a sad song featuring acoustic guitar playing and is a really good one, though not as interesting as some other tracks here.

Since I've got this album, I rarely listen to Amnesiac and Kid A. The songs are so much more enjoyable here and I don't get disturbed by bad tracks or filler. Classic Radiohead songs like "Morning Bell", "I Might Be Wrong" and "Dollars And Cents" are so much better here than they are on their respective studio albums. I rate this album with four stars, as it's a fantastic live performance. I don't feel good with rating this five stars, as I find it difficult to call a live performance a masterpiece.

What makes a great live album even if it's an E.P.? One that can stand on it's own as an album. One that has enough differences from the studio recording that it is interesting, but still recognizable in some aspect. And one that captures the excitement of the crowd without it overshadowing the performance so that it gives you the desire to go see them live yourself. Does this album accomplish this? I really believe that it does in every way.

The versions of the songs, for the most part, are different enough to make this album worth it's price and worth it's purchase. The tracks are interesting in that you can hear how they treat their songs in a live setting, and some of them get quite a different treatment. The E.P. is great enough to listen to on it's own and has it's own qualities over the studio versions of the songs in that it is satisfying enough on it's own and has enough elements to make it even superior to the studio versions in some aspects, but it doesn't take away from the original recordings of the songs at the same time. There are also times like in "Idioteque" where you hear the crown singing along to the lyrics and how they get excited through the build up and release of the song. Sometimes, the audience almost disappears under the music, but you can always hear their appreciation of the show and their excitement between the songs. I know it makes me want to see one of their live shows.

One thing I have admired about Radiohead, especially on the Kid A and Amnisiac albums is their impressive way of building tension and release in their music. Since 7 of the 8 songs on this E.P. are from these two album and are recorded in different venues through 2001, you get a nice dosage of the tension and release of the songs, and the crowds are definitely appreciative and it show. The last track on this collection is an acoustic version of a previously unreleased song called "True Love Waits" which is quite lovely enough, but I don't consider it the highlight of the album. There are better tracks like the beautifully performed "Like Spinning Plates", the amazing tension of both "Idioteque" and the extended "Everything in it's Right Place", the latter having some very great effects.

Oveall, this is not a masterpiece because of a few inconsistencies in the recordings, but for a short live album, it is excellent and should be considered one of the band's best albums. Because of the passion of the songs and the uniqueness throughout most of the album, it is definitely deserving of 4 stars.