Word: although
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...Although Jones later in his career was able to overcome the ornate encumbrances of Epic producer Billy Sherrill (think "He Stopped Loving Her Today"), he is at his best unadorned by violins and massed choruses. I also think that the early Sixties, when "Mr. Fool" was recorded, was when he was at his vocal peak. Writers often rave about how Sherrill persuaded Jones to explore a greater range, but the high-lonesome sound on this cut has a rawness and emotion that travels even further into the heart than his more mannered later efforts. If you agree, "Cup of Loneliness...
...Although Kid A is indeed a testament to the triumphs and pitfalls of ever-changing, ever-challenging human/technology symbioses, it is also an autobiographical benchmark on Radiohead's evolutionary path. 1993's Pablo Honey saw the Oxfordians feel their way through the essence of being a so-called alternative band in a glut of Seattleites. Zeitgeist-capturing grunge-guitar riffs, perennial themes of love and loss, and charmingly obtuse self-loathing (remember "Creep?") earmarked the band for their potential in the mainstream music scene, and, more importantly, heralded the band's existence as a self-aware musical entity...
...created to make us "fitter, happier" and "more productive" in OK Computer can now manipulate human beings at its electronic will. However, interspersed throughout the album are electronic baby babble and lullaby-like fragments-poignant moments that reminds the listener that the Kid A of the album's title, although a triumph of technology, is still a human being-an element of hope that has been lacking in Radiohead's previous releases. The struggle in the album reaches an ambiguous end in a setting where nothing is as it seems...
...Although extraordinarily clever as conceptual art and an enjoyable listen, Kid A, as one would expect from a clone, is not particularly striking in its musical originality. Peter Frampton was experimenting with electronic voice manipulation when my parents were still in college, the synthesized matrix in the album's title track resembles devices Bjork has been employing since Post, "Optimistic" could easily be mistaken for an R.E.M. tune and "Morning Bell" sounds like a track cut from Portishead's Dummy...
...That, Diana's transformation from an offensive and frightening bitch into a beautiful and self-assured woman does not involve suddenly putting on lipstick and high heels. Instead, the way she manipulates her dark, piercing eyes, which are emphasized throughout the film, does the trick. And although I refuse to buy that Diana and her imposing boyfriend would be boxing in the same weight class, Diana's fight scenes with him and others thankfully skip the gratuitous melodrama plaguing many of the battles in typical action films...