(Here we go again, I am back my pedigree chums, it took a while but I have finally gotten around to reviewing Radiohead’s newest album The King Of Limbs. My music review takes a slightly different direction to my film reviews as I have dropped a lot of the sarcasm, and I have actually managed to avoid swearing – hooray for me. So yeah, enjoy my review and listen to the album otherwise ill do something regrettable. )
Radiohead are a band that has grown on me in recent months, up until earlier this year I was the complete opposite of a fan, having heard a few tracks from them I considered them rather boring and couldn’t understand their massive fan base. However I was persuaded by a friend to give their music a go and I haven’t been able to stop listening to them since.
Understandably then I was rather excited when their latest album The King of Limbs was released, having not been a fan of them when their previous record In Rainbows was released, this was my first opportunity to sample new material from them as a genuine fan.
The first song to be released from the album was the rather brilliant track Lotus Flower, the song itself has for me become an instant classic and the accompanying video is pretty much genius, if you haven’t seen it, it’s basically just Thom Yorke dancing like a twat to the song and yet he still manages to look cooler than me. The song itself isn’t a drastic departure from the bands signature sound, but then again it’s hard to give them a signature sound seeing as they constantly change their musical direction , you can listen to Kid A as an example of this. But all in all Lotus Flower is the standout track from the album for me.
Alas there are more songs to be listened to of course, 7 more to be entirely precise. Little by Little the albums third track is another eye catching piece of music; actually in this case I suppose it would be ear catching, because that makes sense to me. The song again I wouldn’t consider to be entirely unique in terms of the band’s sound, but the almost electronic sound makes it the perfect track to have on in the background, whilst also being something that you could listen to with the volume turned up to ear drum burstingnly loud levels.
The album overall seems to have a rather sombre mood to it, which as I have found is a recurring theme when it comes to Radiohead. A common complaint I have heard from people who dislike the band is that there music is depressing, and whilst I disagree with this, with lyrics like:
Don’t haunt me
Don’t hurt me
Gather up the lust and soul
In your arms
These come from the track Give up the Ghost which would for me is the sole ‘depressing' track on the album you could be forgiven for thinking that Thom Yorke is a rather miserable soul.
Sleight of hand
Jump off the end
Into a clear lake
No one around
Just dragonflies
Flying to our side
No one gets hurt
You’ve done nothing wrong.
These lyrics are strikingly poignant and the song they come from Codex is another eerily beautiful track.
The rest of the album fits together nicely with the tracks that I have already mentioned, with Morning Mr Magpie being perhaps my second favourite of the album. The albums opening track Bloom and final track Separator are further indications that Radiohead truly know how to make a coherent and well put together record. Even the instrumental track Feral works well and instrumental tracks can quite often be instantly forgettable.
So it should therefore be quite clear to you at this point that I am a fan of this album, it still falls short of being in the list of my favourite Radiohead albums overall, but it is still a very good showing from an excellent band who are fast approaching legendary status, if they are not there already that is.
I was a little disappointed that it only contained 8 tracks and I feel it lacks that certain something that made Amnesiac and OK Computer such memorable albums, but I still give this album and 8/10 and would recommend it to any people who are looking for a new style of music to get into.
