Picking up where their previous album left off, Amnesiac continues down the same path of experimentation and sonic exploration that Radiohead began on last year's acclaimed Kid A. Amazon.co.uk contributor Andrew Mueller speaks exclusively to guitarist Jonny Greenwood about the recording sessions and critical misunderstanding.

Amazon.co.uk: The songs on Amnesiac were recorded at the same time as the songs on Kid A. What, to your mind, are the main differences between the two albums?
Jonny Greenwood: I suppose this one's a bit softer sounding. There are more straight-ahead songs on it, like "Knives Out", but it's also got songs like "Spinning Plates" which... isn't, but it's the best thing on it. I was listening to it this morning and thinking that it's really close to what we wanted to do. That one especially. 
Amazon.co.uk:A lot of people would be surprised to hear you, of all people, singling out a song that features a weird, backwards-played backing track. There's a popular belief that, as a guitarist, you must be getting quite frustrated with the emphasis on electronica on the last two albums. 
Greenwood: I really hate false modesty, with a vengeance. But it's true of all the band that none of us feel like we're as good as what we do. I'm not as good a musician as I think "Pyramid Song" is a good song. And it's a great song. So that's enough for me, to be part of that and, anyway, I don't just play guitar. On Amnesiac I play lots of ondesmartenot, which is a [19]20s-30s electronic instrument which is a bit like a theremin; that noise at the beginning of the Star Trek theme that sounds like a woman's voice is one of those. I also play lots of toy plastic flutes and keyboards. But then, I joined the band as a harmonica player. 
Amazon.co.uk: Was there ever any talk of releasing all the songs as a double album? 
Greenwood: No, no. Lord love us. Bands do that, don't they? They get to album number four and think "Hey, what we're doing is basically opera, so here's three hours of your life." No. No no no no. It would be bad in so many ways. I don't know--are there any good double albums? 
Amazon.co.uk: There was a great deal of speculation that the recording sessions were spectacularly acrimonious. Were they? 
Greenwood: Oh... welcome to Radiohead, really. It was true of The Bends, as well. "Acrimonious" is the wrong word, because that implies arguing, which never really happened. It's more that it was just such a slog, really--by turns easy and fast-moving, and then nothing happening and everything 
Amazon.co.uk: How bad did it get? Did anyone consider leaving? 
Greenwood:No... no. No, never. Sometimes when it got really uncomfortable, it... actually, it was worse during The Bends. It's worrying. I hope we don't have to go through that just to make good music. Imagine that. It'd be rubbish, wouldn't it? But whenever it gets like that for me, I just remember that "Street Spirit" took months and months and months. . . and it's such a simple song. It just took that long for something to happen to make us think we were getting somewhere with it. Yes, it's precious, and all that, but in the end you don't know that. You just hear four and a half minutes of good music, and that's it. And then other things take an afternoon and they're done. That's the annoying thing--there's no consistency at all. But I'd feel really fraudulent going and playing guitar, or any other instrument, on something else, because I know it wouldn't be anywhere near as good. It's a Radiohead thing. 
Amazon.co.uk: How surprised were the band by reactions to Kid A--both the reviews saying it was really avant-garde and difficult, which it wasn't, and the fact that it topped the charts in America? 
Greenwood: The press was weird. If we wanted to be obscure and difficult and dangerous, we could have done a much better job. It's all repetitive, regular, melodic music, really. But, America... strange, absolutely. Radiohead being Radiohead, we all quickly found out that it was a very soft week, and if it had been released a week either side it would have gone in a lot lower. 
Amazon.co.uk: It's true that Kid A and Amnesiac are mostly comprised of fairly orthodox songs, but there are some tracks that take leave of normal structures. When you're doing that, how can you tell if what you're doing is good, or just an unholy racket?
Greenwood: Quite often it just comes about from us rehearsing something and saying "Wouldn't it be great if it ended here?" That's why "Spinning Plates" is like that--the long verse, the chorus and then it stops. No real planning goes into it. It's just a reaction against the possibility of repeating ourselves, even within one song. The Pixies were always banging out about how they didn't want to repeat themselves in songs, and thought it was better to stop them before they got boring. It's the same kind of thing. 
Amazon.co.uk: Does the creative tension between the five of you also occur when you discuss politics? Radiohead have backed some quite divergent causes--Tibetan independence, cancellation of Third World debt, anti-globalisation. 
Greenwood: The stuff we've got involved with hasn't really been political as such, it's been more about getting information across--trawling around looking for sites, like indymedia, or undercurrent, which are news services that provide a slightly different perspective, and which can then link to from our site. 
Amazon.co.uk: Do you have any idea yet how the next Radiohead album might sound? 
Greenwood:Everything we do sounds half like what we've just done. But we are playing loads of Neil Young in rehearsal now--"Cinnamon Girl", and all that--with loud, loud guitars. It's great fun. 
Amazon.co.uk: Thinking further ahead, are the five of you now looking at Radiohead as a job for life? 
Greenwood: Oh, God. What a frightening thought. No, I've no idea. Though it's interesting how once you've made five records you start finding other role models who've made slightly more than five records. 
Amazon.co.uk: Can you imagine doing anything else? 
Greenwood: No. I think I'm kind of unemployable. I only managed three weeks at college before we signed to EMI. This has been normal life for a very long time. Ever since adolescence, which I hope to leave any day now.