Radiohead - The King Of Limbs

Album Reviews Sun, 27 Mar 2011 Written by Paul Kelly
Editor rating
 
 3.0 User rating
 
 0.0 (0)
Radiohead - The King of Limbs

A little over a month ago, the new kings of music marketing abruptly announced a new download album, The King Of Limbs. We’ve taken a good listen over the last month, and ahead of the physical release of the album this week in the Middle East, give it a review.

No matter what you may like or dislike about all the twists and turns they’ve taken musically, Radiohead’s marketing nous has rarely taken a step wrong. The King of Limbs is a similar reflective journey, musically reminiscent in many respects of Kid A or Amnesiac, but still headline-grabbing.

From the ambiance of the opening track Bloom and the bounce and step of the second track (and potentially the stand-out single on the album) Morning Mr. Magpie the album’s intentions are clear early and have many of the hallmarks of producer Nigel Godrich’s past work with the band and Thom Yorke’s solo album.

As lyrically diverse as ever, it seems Yorke’s vocals are clearer than ever, with more space, on this album. Feral is as its title suggests, with complicated beats with  significant layering of soundscapes.

Lead ‘single’ (what do we call them these days?) Lotus Flower is the most ‘accessible’ song on the album and drives along with intricate layering and a meandering bass matching yet more blips and beeps.

The more subtle Codex is essentially an instrumental piano piece that fits the space afforded to it by Godrich. Sounding sparser than anything else on the album, complete with bird-song at the end leading into the heavily reverb-ed Yorke-driven Give Up The Ghost.

Final track Separator is a good finish to the album, with looped drums seeping into more ambiance with the presence of keys and synths as the song progresses to an abrupt ending.

The Kings of Limbs isn’t Radiohead’s best work – but the band isn’t about that now. More subtle and nuanced than anything they’ve done to date, it’s a pleasant listen, not challenging, but does seem to sit well on the speakers.

TRIPLEW.ME TRACK OF CHOICE

Morning Mr Magpie, Feral

BUY THIS CD

Find it at Virgin Megastores or get it from amazon.com

MAKSHOOF MUSIC SOUNDALIKE

Is it any of these?

RADIOHEAD - LOTUS FLOWER


Editor review

Radiohead continuing to be Radiohead

Rating:
 
 3.0
Reviewed by triplew.me
March 27, 2011
 
Last updated: March 27, 2011
This is an album that is an instant good listen, but feels like it's lacking some of the depth of the last two albums. Perhaps that's intentional - it's definitely a subtle, layered album that gives more space to Yorke's vocals than ever before. A good listen.
 
 

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