On Radiohead’s The King of Limbs

Posted by thizzfacedisco on November 7, 2010

The first time I listen to a Radiohead album I hate it (that goes for every album of theirs I’ve listened to, including OK Computer). Usually by the second listen I can admit that I might just not get it. By the third or fourth listen I can start to hear something good in there, and appreciate what they did. It’s not till the fifth listen that I really feel like Radiohead’s music really makes sense to me in a way worth talking about. Well, after nearly a month and a almost a dozen listens, it’s time for a confession.

I don’t get The King of Limbs. It’s that simple. It’s hard to quantify it in terms of like and dislike, because it just didn’t come together. The King of Limbs doesn’t feel like an album. Even taking into account for the fact that this is Radiohead we’re talking about, and that expecting verse-chorus-verse style singles is out of the question, it plays more like a collection of songs, tied together by very weak threads.

Opener “Bloom” starts out with hypnotic keys (not unlike those of In Rainbows closer “Videotape”) that lead into strangely melodic drums. Phil Selway’s percussion leads the way on most of the 8 tracks. Even when Thom Yorke joins in, the multilayered drums conquer all.  Meanwhile “Feral” has an ever-present beat while sounds fade in and out around it, as close to experiencing an acid trip as many listeners will come. It makes the difficult ambience of Amnesiac sound like Teenage Dream. When the album does dare to provide something a bit more straightforward, like on “Little By Little” and “Lotus Flower” (also known as the video that spawned a thousand memes), the results are generally enjoyable, but fall far short of the twisted genius of In Rainbows.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m willing to entertain the notion that this is a failure on my part, that amidst the twisted sounds and general lack of melody, Thom Yorke is trying to make some kind of point. It’s not that Radiohead just went and decided to turn in 8 tracks of meaningless garbage. But whatever picture the band is trying to paint on their new album, it gets lost behind a pervasive weirdness that ultimately detracts from getting that message. More than likely, I’m going to come back to this album in a few months and kick myself for the things I’m saying right now, but the simple fact is that The King of Limbs misses more than it hits.

Final Score: 5.8/10

Radiohead – Little By Little

¡Viva La Mainstream!

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Tags: King, Limbs, Radiohead’s

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