Entertainment For Lively Minds
The King Of Limbs - verdicts?
Posted by thecolonel on 21 February 2011 - 7:55pm.
Ah, the wonders of modern technology. No sooner is it announced that there is a new Radiohead album, it is upon us, available for download almost imediately, with the physical version merely a few days away.
I listened to four times consecutively yesterday and whilst initially slightly disappointed its now started to ingrain itself into my brain.
Standout tracks at the moment are the throbbingly hypnotic 'Morning Mr Magpie' and the frankly glorious 'Little By Little'. The single 'Lotus Flower' is almost be-bop in its construction.
Even though each new Radiohead album is starting to sound very similar to the last its still refreshingly ace. Repeated listening will inveil a cornucopia of delights.
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I think it is very good
but lacks the appeal of "In Rainbows." After 3 plays, it certainly feels like it's a grower. It's easy to see, though, why Susan Boyle is the UK's biggest selling artist abroad. (Which would possibly make a great Radiohead song title...)
Mind you, Radiohead's
US sales not too shabby, and I include the post OK Computer, supposedly challenging (actually not very) works.
It was funny..
..watching the critics scramble to get their definitive reviews in over the weekend. Like you say, you have to spend a fair amount of time with a Radiohead record to take it in and appreciate it. I'm about six plays in and it gets better with every listen : 'Codex' being the big standout for me so far.
It's certainly another excellent piece of work
and I can't think of another group who are doing anything remotely like this [plenty of studio bound solo artists] and that for sure is a good thing. And whilst it's growing on me with each listen, I'm still admiring it rather than liking it so far. The only other music I have in my collection that I can compare it too is the other Radiohead albums I own, so perhaps inevitably that's what I'm doing and I keep waiting for it to 'take off', for a song to grow & bloom into something big, like 'Weird Fishes' from 'In Rainbows' for example, this album sounds a little flat. I'm also very much a words man and the buried vocals on this record are harder to make out than they were on 'In Rainbows' - I think in essence what I'm trying to say is that much as I like this album, so far I prefer 'In Rainbows'…
It's the record
the muted fanfare deserved.
It's extremely subtle and slips by easily without real investment of your time. However, if you do take the time to listen you can hear the effort put in and thus you get the rewards.
And that's fine. But.
I wanted something a little different from this Radiohead album. I have recently been watching some Bends and OK period Radiohead and while I don't want a return to such chart friendly stuff I did want to hear some magnificent Jonny guitar rather than something closer to a Thom solo album. Radiohead have always been great for being unpredictable but this time we have caught them out and it will be nice to hear them mix the strengths of musicianship from their earlier efforts with the soundscapes of the more recent.
On it's own though 7/10, if that still means anything.
Bugger
you want to hate it after one listen, you give a second go, and by the third at least three of the tracks are on your 20 favorite Radiohead songs. If it were up to me, i'd have them all shot for being so bloody minded in being one of the consistently great bands of the past 20 years!