Radiohead - The King Of Limbs

hey i want to do it too

ok computer

kid a

the bends

amnesiac

in rainbows

hail to the thief

king of limbs

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pablo honey

and i do like king of limbs, even though it's "last." heh!

review roundup from atease

  Quote

When Radiohead released In Rainbows digitally in 2007, the collective music press got their reviews online in no time. Today is no different with the release of its follow-up, The King Of Limbs. Here’s a round-up of The King Of Limbs reviews that have been published online.

Rolling Stone has a track-by-track breakdown. “With eight tracks spanning 37 minutes, The King of Limbs is surprisingly short – but it’s also typically rich with electronic texture.” — Will Hermes

Another track-by-track review comes from The Telegraph. On closing track Separator: “It’s a perfectly understated ending to Radiohead’s most mellifluous collection, not so much a chill out as an exhausted cigarette break in the eye of the hurricane, down time from a disaster. If Radiohead are still a rock band, then no one has told them. This is something else entirely. The sound of the future calling.” — Neil McCormick

The Telegraph have another review up. This one’s from Lucy Jones and she asks “is this Radiohead’s most feminine album? [...] It’s a treasure. It places the band’s ability to write beguilingly beautiful songs first and puts the grit and testosterone on the backseat. There are songs on it which will win the band new fans, there are others (Feral particularly) which won’t. Codex, Little by Little and Separator are highlights and will leap high up the band’s canon. I knew it: there is no end to Radiohead’s genius.” — Lucy Jones

“A fans-pleasing eighth album from Britain’s most consistently brilliant band,” says the BBC. “Thom says something about dragonflies, something else about nobody getting hurt; the words blur and blend, though, as beneath them the simplest, most strikingly gorgeous piano motif bores its way into the heart. And it’s here, not any of your limited-character blogging or video-sharing sites, that Radiohead trump all comers, again. — Mike Diver

NME reviewed all eight separately as well, and in their final verdict we quote: “This is an avant-garde record, and most definitely not a return to the crowd-pleasing songwriting of the ‘OK Computer’ era. In a sense it’s a continuation of ‘In Rainbows’ in that Radiohead have now worked out how to be experimental without sacrificing the human element. As on that record, they display the knack of sounding deceptively machine-like. It sounds electronic even when it isn’t – but there’s always a pearl of soulfulness hidden within.” — Luke Lewis

Wall Street Journal: “The King of Limbs, the new Radiohead album, balances beautifully the band’s gift for melodic rock, energetic electronic rhythms and crafty musical experimentation. Quietly assertive, engaging and accessible, it’s a worthy successor to “In Rainbows,” their 2007 release. It’s a short album – eight songs; a little more than 37 minutes – but the music is richly textured and complex.” — Jim Fusilli

The Guardian: “Yes, you can still marvel that one of the world’s biggest bands are releasing music totally lacking in commercial concerns. And yes, they’re still leading the pack when it comes to releasing music in an exciting, innovative way. But whereas their business model is unusual, there’s a nagging feeling that The King of Limbs is more like business as usual.” — Tim Jonze

SF Weekly write: “Only half the grooves-not-songs were good on first listen, and none were great. The very little guitar is welcome when there is any, and judging by the same old rhythm tricks and dull James Blake rip, Radiohead no longer sounds like innovators thinking three steps ahead of us. The band sound like it’s been running on empty ever since John Mayer deciphered its Klingon. The best moments here were the ones least like themselves: South Asian guitars, Mideastern percussion, swooning (if not quite sultry) soul. Radiohead needs to go further, and the fact it needs to be told that means it’s no longer in the lead. — Dan Weiss

Vanity Fair: “Well worth the $9 download and will get several plays on headphones during Manhattan errand runs. But if I hear someone raving about it in line at the movie theater, I might just have to pull a Marshall McLuhan from Annie Hall: “Oh, really? Well, I happen to have the members of Can here.”” — Marc Spitz

Gigwise go track-by-track and end with: “Radiohead’s ‘The King Of Limbs’ might only be eight tracks long but there’s not a single moment that hasn’t been painstakingly constructed, de-constructed and put back together again. With all the ingenious ways the band are now choosing to release music, it’s easy to forget just how inventive, avant-garde and, at the end of the day, emotionally touching the songs they make are. ‘The King Of Limbs’ is an engrossing listen, an album that sends you to an emphatic high before wrapping you up in a blanket to recuperate. Masterful.” — Jason Gregory

The Toronto Sun praise Radiohead on their release tactics and on The King Of Limbs they say: “It’s not a game-changer a la Kid A. It’s not even as accessible as In Rainbows (and that’s using the term loosely). It’s understated and introspective. There are no big anthems, no singalong choruses — virtually no choruses at all, in fact, just layers of skittery rhythms, dreamscape sonics and atmospheric vocals. The lyrics are preoccupied with nature — lotus flowers, magpies, fish out of water and whatnot — in contrast to the music’s unnatural chill. Coupled with the title — which refers to a 1,000-year-old tree in Britain — it suggests a man-vs-nature theme.” — Darryl Sterdan

London Evening Standard: As is the Radiohead way, as befits a an album whose cover nods to Edvard Munch’s The Scream, The King Of Limbs will reveal its diverse charms even slower than it downloads, but while there is no pop music among these eight tracks, there is much to savour . . . The King Of Limbs combines elegant pain, weary despair, uncomfortable dislocation and an unmistakeable seam of comfort. Business as usual for Radiohead, then. — John Aizlewood

The UK edition of Metro rates the album four out of five: “Like Yorke has already shown, The King if Limbs is music to rock out to in the most introspective way as its beautiful melodies drift into and linger in the forgotten pockets of your mind. — Ann Lee

http://www.ateaseweb.com/2011/02/19/press-on-radioheads-the-king-of-limbs-the-first-reviews/

i think i just heard ed's voice in the climax of "give up the ghost"

THIS ALBUM SUCKS SO HARD. FUCK YOU GUYS

  On 2/20/2011 at 12:31 AM, abracadabra said:

THIS ALBUM SUCKS SO HARD. FUCK YOU GUYS

haha

  On 2/19/2011 at 2:41 AM, Philip Glass said:

  On 2/19/2011 at 1:01 AM, Enter a new display name said:

The King Of Limbs is like James Blake's album: you have to agree with the mass that this album is great or you are an idiot.

 

 

Nope Oli... it's just accepting artistic creation as part of the whole canon / discography of an artist. This album fits perfectly into it, so what's to hate?

I really, really like the album. But your opinion isn't a fact so let's show some respect to those who don't appreciate the album.

[fan]I first thought, uh, it´s a little short, only eight tracks and nothing that really stands out, but I was in a rush at first listen. Now, after the second one, I feel much better having preordered it. I think it will be my musical company for the next few weeks for sure. So many ideas and progression in the tracks, it won´t get boring for a long time. And all these horns and voiceloops spread through the album. Trance. Sounds amazing...

[/fan]

  On 2/20/2011 at 12:31 AM, abracadabra said:

THIS ALBUM SUCKS SO HARD. FUCK YOU GUYS

Completely agree brah. More of the same bullshit since In Rainblows....

This album is so good. It's definitely a grower, on account of there being no super catchy vocal hooks or guitar riffs that are very present in the mix. In this way it differs greatly from just about all their other albums...even the esoteric Kid A & Amnesiac had extremely catchy singalong tracks like Idioteque, The National Anthem, and Pyramid song.

This is a cluster of sonic depth that is extremely rewarding when one invests the time to take it all in. My favorite track is at the moment is Give Up The Ghost. Such a beautiful tune.

Bloom is amazing as well. Radiohead always have the strongest album openers. It's pretty much a guarantee that track 1 will undoubtedly be one of the best ones on any RH album.

I've probably listened to this a dozen times in the last 2 days and it gets better every time. I think the last time I was this excited about a brand new release and listened to it with such obsession was Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion. This gives me that same feeling of complete, invigorating freshness permeating from every audible facet of the piece. This should be required listening for everyone who posted musical pessimism in the "concept of new music" thread, lamenting that nothing new & interesting could be done.

just listened to it now

Thoughts:

Sounds all a bit low key

Like the EPs do

They made Give up the ghost worse (have a hunch that they tried to make it more interesting/got bored)

Pretty good, which means it's below standard for them. Pretty much all their EP's i'd rate as being 'pretty good' too.

for you vinyl guys out there, how much music can you put on 2 10" records? I have a hard time believing tbat the special edition newspaper album is going to have 2 10" records with 2 songs on each side. what a pain in the ass that would be.

  On 2/20/2011 at 4:41 AM, jules said:

for you vinyl guys out there, how much music can you put on 2 10" records? I have a hard time believing tbat the special edition newspaper album is going to have 2 10" records with 2 songs on each side. what a pain in the ass that would be.

i'd reckon about 10mins per side, maybe 11-12 at a push

pressed at 33⅓ rpm

  On 2/20/2011 at 4:13 AM, autopilot said:

My favorite track is at the moment is Give Up The Ghost. Such a beautiful tune.

is the string arrangement jonny's, i wonder? it's absolutely heartwrenching stuff.

reminds me of joe boyd's absolute best work on nick drake's albums.

the acoustic guitar also reminds me of nick; the way the bass strings are hit very hard. that's total thom yorke shit.

  On 2/20/2011 at 4:41 AM, jules said:

for you vinyl guys out there, how much music can you put on 2 10" records? I have a hard time believing tbat the special edition newspaper album is going to have 2 10" records with 2 songs on each side. what a pain in the ass that would be.

Mala did an EP with 3 vinyls, 1 4-minute song on each side, and half the dubstep world hailed it as genius.

  On 2/20/2011 at 5:04 AM, kaini said:

is the string arrangement jonny's, i wonder? it's absolutely heartwrenching stuff.

reminds me of joe boyd's absolute best work on nick drake's albums.

 

the acoustic guitar also reminds me of nick; the way the bass strings are hit very hard. that's total thom yorke shit.

I'm not sure. I would assume so.

Have you heard his soundtrack for There Will Be Blood? Some of the most affecting orchestration I've heard. That had me severely unsettled for the duration of that movie.

The thing I really like about Give Up The Ghost is it's solitary chord progression throughout, and then at the peak of the song, it switches up the chords only once in the duration of the entire song...right when he says Give Up The Ghost. The minimalism in the song structure gives it such effectiveness (along with the solitary kick drum + guitar bap rhythm) that it's unbelievable.

  On 2/20/2011 at 5:04 AM, kaini said:

  On 2/20/2011 at 4:13 AM, autopilot said:

My favorite track is at the moment is Give Up The Ghost. Such a beautiful tune.

 

is the string arrangement jonny's, i wonder? it's absolutely heartwrenching stuff.

reminds me of joe boyd's absolute best work on nick drake's albums.

 

the acoustic guitar also reminds me of nick; the way the bass strings are hit very hard. that's total thom yorke shit.

If you are talking about the string arrangements on Nick Drakes albums they were done by Robert Kirby.

Edit: for sentence structure failure.

  On 2/20/2011 at 4:13 AM, autopilot said:

This album is so good. It's definitely a grower, on account of there being no super catchy vocal hooks or guitar riffs that are very present in the mix. In this way it differs greatly from just about all their other albums...even the esoteric Kid A & Amnesiac had extremely catchy singalong tracks like Idioteque, The National Anthem, and Pyramid song.

 

This is a cluster of sonic depth that is extremely rewarding when one invests the time to take it all in. My favorite track is at the moment is Give Up The Ghost. Such a beautiful tune.

 

Bloom is amazing as well. Radiohead always have the strongest album openers. It's pretty much a guarantee that track 1 will undoubtedly be one of the best ones on any RH album.

 

I've probably listened to this a dozen times in the last 2 days and it gets better every time. I think the last time I was this excited about a brand new release and listened to it with such obsession was Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion. This gives me that same feeling of complete, invigorating freshness permeating from every audible facet of the piece. This should be required listening for everyone who posted musical pessimism in the "concept of new music" thread, lamenting that nothing new & interesting could be done.

lol

im having a little bit of difficulty gauging flylos praise there... i need a 9.2 or something... bnm??

  On 2/20/2011 at 4:13 AM, autopilot said:

the esoteric Kid A & Amnesiac

the radiohead essence

Yeah at first I was diggin on this album - and by all means still am, Lotus Flower is quite good

BUT

then I went back to other Radiohead albums.. and they are still DANK as fuck. Hail, In Rainbows, Kid A.. fuck all of them are incredible - my point being, I dont feel like this album has that caliber / lasting power

I really like Codex but that's about it.

  On 2/19/2011 at 6:03 AM, jules said:

  On 2/18/2011 at 9:54 PM, beerwolf said:

And Reign in Blood is 29 minutes long. So kiss my ass.

 

if you weren't a twat I'd give you an Internet high five.

 

  On 2/20/2011 at 10:23 AM, Dassler said:

lol nice

I consider Radiohead to be my favorite band, and I'm sad that I'm not too crazy about this album. The only track I truly enjoy is Bloom. The album sounds almost as safe as In Rainbows, which I didn't really vibe with either. It seems like they've stopped pushing boundaries and are just kickin' it. The production on it also sounds dry, and most of Thom Yorke's vocal melodies aren't taken very far. Not that he should over-sing, but some of them are kinda flat. Don't know what's goin on with them. It also seems like Jonny Greenwood didn't have much of a hand in this album.