Radiohead I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings CD

Radiohead: Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, Johnny Greenwood, Phil Selway, Ed O'Brien.
Engineers: Jim Warren, Nigel Godrich, Will Shapland.
Recorded live in England, Germany, and Norway.
Personnel: Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar); Jonny Greenwood (guitar, piano, electronics); Phil Selway (drums).
Audio Mixers: Jim Warren; Nigel Godrich.
Recording information: Berlin, Germany; Oslo, Norway; Oxford, England; Vaison La Romaine.
For their third release in 13 months, Radiohead let loose a mini-album of live material culled from four European dates and slapped them together into their standard excellent packaging adorned with manic drawings, scribbles, and text excerpts. I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, originally scheduled as a single for "I Might Be Wrong," is precisely what the title implies, a compilation of recordings and not a live album at all. While it seems as though Radiohead could have made it into a cohesive album if they had wanted to, or at least made this one sound like it was one show, what listeners find here is an uneven and incoherent set of Kid A sessions material that is sometimes strong but sometimes uninspired. When strong, the band seems as if it's in command by adding new texture and content. "Like Spinning Plates," "Everything in Its Right Place," and "Idioteque" are revelatory and at times feel almost new. Meanwhile, the track "I Might Be Wrong" just doesn't match in sound quality to the others, as the bass is completely lost and the additional percussion is way upfront. There are some serious benefits to be reaped from this collection, though. For those unlucky enough to not have seen any of the world tour of 2001, it is a serious treat to hear these studio-crafted songs played live (which also proves Radiohead are still a powerful rock band). But the real gift here is the last track, "True Love Waits." As yet to find itself on any of their singles or albums but played live for a number of years, it's easily one of Thom Yorke's most morose songs, but it's also one of his most powerful. In the end, it's a matter of Radiohead making some strange plays with the material that was recorded during the Kid A sessions. While the initial release of Kid A seemed logical and insanely cohesive, subsequent releases of that material (Amnesiac, Live Recordings) are incomplete. It might have been wiser to release Amnesiac and some of the material from this release as a complete Kid A sessions package, rather than a couple of thrown-together releases. ~ Jack LV Isles
So you're one of the most innovative, admired bands in the world. Your last three albums have been among the most glorified and scrutinized in post-Beatles rock history. What's your next move? In the case of Radiohead, that crucial next move proved to be the live album I MIGHT BE WRONG, which documents the intense performances of material from the last couple of albums and gives the envelope-pushing creative team a much-needed breather before unveiling their next masterpiece.
Not that I MIGHT BE WRONG bears the slightest hint of filler or contractual obligation; these fever-pitch versions of cuts from KID A and AMNESIAC add much to the band's legacy. From the driving, Can-like bass line of the opener "The National Anthem" through "Like Spinning Plates"'s moody, piano-led majesty and the quirky, minimalistic electronica of "Idioteque," Radiohead is at the peak of its powers here. These European concert dates find the band employing its vast array of sonic weaponry in the service of a forward-looking vision that I MIGHT BE WRONG catches in an exciting sonic snapshot.Rolling Stone (11/22/01, p.89) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Offers a clue about why Radiohead are so compelling live....the peaks are still somehow shaped by Yorke's sense of beautiful understatement."
Q (12/02, p.67) - Included in Q Magazine's "The 50 Best Albums of 2002."
Q (12/01, pp.126-7) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Listening to this live album, aside from its musical pleasures, you alight on a striking sound indeed: the most intelligent music of the age being received by thousands upon thousands of cheers..."
Uncut (12/01, p.124) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Radiohead prove here that they can conjure blazing intensity, visceral physicality and raging rock dynamics from even willfully opaque jazzoid chuffing..."
NME (Magazine) (11/10/01, p.40) - 8 out of 10 - "...This sounds significantly better than both the studio albums that spawned it..."