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Radiohead
I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings
2001, It felt like "forever" waiting for the release of Kid A, so it felt really shocking when both Amnesiac and this live album followed in quick succession the following year. In my highly unscientific estimation, nine out of ten live albums are just kind of trinkets for fans. They're easy ways to put out more product. But then there's that one in ten live album that really stands on its own. To me, this is one of those. It's the rare live album that I kind of think of as its own unique whole rather than just "a bunch of live versions compiled on one disc." It works as a perfect companion to Kid A and Amnesiac, given that there are no songs present from earlier albums. "National Anthem," "Idioteque," "Everything In Its Right Place," and the title track all have a new-found urgency here. Of course most listeners will tell you that the real reason to own this one is for "True Love Waits," which had been kicking around live sets since 1995 but would only have an official release via this live album until finally getting the studio treatment in 2016. And that's fine. "True Love Waits" is a fantastic song, and the sparse acoustic arrangement here works wonderfully as a set closer. But for me the real standout is the version of "Like Spinning Plates" on this one. Don't get me wrong, the original is a brilliant studio track. But it is a studio track. This live rendition gets rid of all the electronic trickery and instead rethinks the song as a piano ballad. It is mind-blowing and really, the two versions sound like two totally different songs. I love. "Dollars And Cents" is the only dud for me here - and it's not even really a dud, it's just that while every other song finds a new identity in this live setting, "Dollars And Cents" just really sounds like the studio version. Just not all that interesting. If anything, I wish that this album had been stretched out longer than a mere eight songs. But then again, Radiohead left me wanting more at the end of a live album so I guess that's proof that they did something really right.
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