While most of my friends got into Radiohead via "The Bends" and pretty much everyone on earth got into them with "OK Computer," I wasn't properly introduced to them until this mind**** of an album. I remember feeling way behind everyone; I hadn't ever really been exposed to Radiohead since I grew up without MTV or VH1 (no cable in the sticks where my parents lived). So, I decided to fast-track-it and get "Amnesiac," the newest of their albums; I can honestly say that I've never been more confused by music. I had never heard anything like this before, I didn't know how to categorize it, and I sure as hell didn't know what to think about it. Most of my friends didn't really have an opinion of it yet and others just hated it. Thinking maybe it was just outside my realm of familiar genres, I let a friend of mine listen to it who was into electronic music, but he hated it; so, I couldn't even categorize it. I just didn't know what to make of this odd record, but I wasn't going to give up on it. A new part of my consciousness was fully realized with this album; a sense of
knowing, despite not immediately liking what I was hearing, that I should keep listening to it until I almost
made myself like it. Something else that was so perplexing, yet aesthetically pleasing, to me was the insanely scribbled artwork that filled the CD booklet. This artwork by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke, that actually won a Grammy, was so complimentary to the music and just plain awesome to thumb through - I still love looking at it. I listened to this album a lot from beginning to end for the next few months with a few songs starting to stand out such as "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box," "You And Whose Army," "I Might Be Wrong," "Knives Out," and my favorite track "Life In A Glass House." Then one day, things started to make sense to my ears on some of the seemingly un-accessable (and almost frightening) tracks like "Pyramid Song," "Dollars & Cents," and "Like Spinning Plates." The ultimate payoff of my repetitive listening was definitely realizing the full perfection of the track that I had hated most of all on those initial listenings, "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors;" what an incredible use of 4 minutes and 7 seconds. This album really taught me to not write-off music, or any art for that matter, that was strange and/or unpleasing at first and I am so grateful for that.
While most of my friends got into Radiohead via "The Bends" and pretty much everyone on earth got into them with "OK Computer," I wasn't properly introduced to them until this mind**** of an album. I remember feeling way behind everyone; I hadn't ever really been exposed to Radiohead since I grew up without MTV or VH1 (no cable in the sticks where my parents lived). So, I decided to fast-track-it and get "Amnesiac," the newest of their albums; I can honestly say that I've never been more confused by music. I had never heard anything like this before, I didn't know how to categorize it, and I sure as hell didn't know what to think about it. Most of my friends didn't really have an opinion of it yet and others just hated it. Thinking maybe it was just outside my realm of familiar genres, I let a friend of mine listen to it who was into electronic music, but he hated it; so, I couldn't even categorize it. I just didn't know what to make of this odd record, but I wasn't going to give up on it. A new part of my consciousness was fully realized with this album; a sense of 
knowing, despite not immediately liking what I was hearing, that I should keep listening to it until I almost made myself like it. Something else that was so perplexing, yet aesthetically pleasing, to me was the insanely scribbled artwork that filled the CD booklet. This artwork by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke, that actually won a Grammy, was so complimentary to the music and just plain awesome to thumb through - I still love looking at it. I listened to this album a lot from beginning to end for the next few months with a few songs starting to stand out such as "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box," "You And Whose Army," "I Might Be Wrong," "Knives Out," and my favorite track "Life In A Glass House." Then one day, things started to make sense to my ears on some of the seemingly un-accessable (and almost frightening) tracks like "Pyramid Song," "Dollars & Cents," and "Like Spinning Plates." The ultimate payoff of my repetitive listening was definitely realizing the full perfection of the track that I had hated most of all on those initial listenings, "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors;" what an incredible use of 4 minutes and 7 seconds. This album really taught me to not write-off music, or any art for that matter, that was strange and/or unpleasing at first and I am so grateful for that.
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