Review Summary: I Might Be Wrong mostly succeeds at bringing its source material to new life. Mostly.
After the sister records of Kid A and Amnesiac, it was odd to see that Radiohead's next release was a short live album of songs from the two records. While Kid A's electronica and Amnesiac's fusion of jazz and glitchy soundscapes were both excellent, there was a very real risk of listeners burning out on the same session of material being opened up for a third time. However, when transitioning the complex electronics of the albums to the stage, Radiohead reworked and even spiced up several of the songs, giving them an added bit of life missing from their original forms.
The opening of the album, oddly, completely fails at this. These two songs are the weakest on the album - not because there's any problem with how they are played, necessarily, but how they were recorded. The National Anthem's iconic bassline is mixed so loudly and is so fuzzed out that it drowns out most of the rest of the song, while the same can be said about I Might Be Wrong's guitar riff, which with the added echo of the live venue makes the entire song rather muddled and indistinct. It's a shame since both songs are performed well, and replacing the horn section in Anthem with distorted radio clips would have been an interesting switch had the mixing been better. At least I Might Be's solo at the end survives mostly intact.
Fortunately, the ensuing six songs don't have this problem. Morning Bell is just as hypnotic as the Kid A album version, remaining more or less exactly the same. It's followed by a beautiful piano and bass piece that roughly a minute in is revealed as an almost unrecognizable rendition of Like Spinning Plates - it's jaw droppingly gorgeous, and a wonderful reinterpretation of the experimental original. Idioteque follows like a shot of adrenaline, with the added live percussion and careening, Silent Hill-esque background noise giving it some added chaotic flair as it closes. Listening to the crowd chant and cheer during this song is just plain fun, in all honesty.
After this burst of energy, it settles back into hypnotic territory with an extended version of Everything In Its Right Place and all the vocal manipulation that entails. Again there's a (minor) problem here as a couple of the instruments seem louder over the mix then they should be, but it's easily overlooked. The performance of Dollars & Cents that follows as Right Place closes in a hail of nightmarish layered distortion is much better than the original. Here's it's given much more energy, Yorke's vocals are much more menacing (he outright snarls more than a few lines), and its climax is more of a, well, climax. Greenwood's guitar adds a gritty texture to the music, and his extro is a nice touch.
The album closes with the only original song on it, an acoustic guitar piece titled True Love Waits. It's a spellbinding song, with clear chords and emotionally charged lyrics. Yorke's voice cracks with emotion at one point, which makes it even more affecting - the disc is worth it just to hear this song. A wonderful closer for a nice live performance.
Overall, despite the opening pair of songs being crippled by poor mixing (and it coming back in a much more minor form later), this is a good album. The complete reinvention of some songs for the stage combined with its one original track make this an entirely worthwhile listen. If you come across it in a music store (a sadly dying breed), it's well worth a purchase.
