I think that
The King of Limbs is a good and interesting record, but there's no question that it's also Radiohead's weakest album. (Yes,
Pablo Honey is better.) But you know, they don't all have to be masterpieces, and it's about time Radiohead deflated audience expectations a bit and loosened up enough to put out a relatively minor record. As far as I am concerned, this band has put out more than enough major works that if they want to spend the rest of their career releasing just-okay experimental albums, I am totally fine with it.
The King of Limbs is basically the opposite of
In Rainbows.
In Rainbows is so melodic, so easy to enjoy, so well rounded.
Limbs has its moments of beauty but it mostly rejects pop structure and hooks. It emphasizes rhythm, but its beats often sputter or clang together in awkward ways. It's heavy on atmosphere and mood, but the mood isn't especially pleasant. The album mostly evokes the feeling of being a bit out of it on medication for a nasty head cold. To some extent, we've heard Radiohead toy with similar musical ideas in the past, mostly on non-album tracks, but it's still very much an experimental work for them. One thing is very clear: All of the members of Radiohead are taking risks on this record, but none of them are playing to their strengths as musicians.
The King of Limbs reminds of those times when an established actor takes a part that is outside of their range and it doesn't quite work. (Especially comedians taking SERIOUS roles.) You're watching them thinking about how good they are when they do their regular thing, and only notice the stretching on screen, not the character they are portraying. It's admirable as an artistic endeavor in some ways, but it's often just the narcissism of a performer who wants more respect or to prove that they can do anything.
Melody isn't absent from
Limbs, it's just not emphasized. The prettiest, most melodic tracks come at the end -- "Give Up the Ghost" and "Separator." When the latter song comes on, it feels like you're suddenly snapping out of the record's weird daze. The beat is more assertive, the melody is much bolder, the arrangement seems brighter and more colorful. The lyrics match the sound, with Yorke singing about waking up from "a long, weary dream." He sings that he is free from a weight that he's been carrying and he sounds genuinely relieved and relaxed. Maybe in the future we'll look back at this song as a meta commentary on his career: It's the sound of the band shaking off the weight of being such an Important Band, and moving on as a band that's actually encouraged to explore, stumble and sometimes fail.
25 Responses.
2/22/11 8:40 am
This new one…Joni’s “Hejira”…Can’s Future Day’s…Miles “In A Silent Way”…Soft Machine’s Third…
2/22/11 9:06 am
Thanks for this review, it seems sensible. I adore the Lotus Flower song and video but haven’t gotten around to downloading/paying for the online version of the full album yet - maybe i’ll hang on a bit!
2/22/11 10:17 am
I liked the write-up but it seems a little early to declare it the worst anything. I know our current culture likes to decide where everything belongs in the canon within one week of release (or leak), but still.
2/22/11 10:56 am
I am no conspiracy theorist, yet I have a feeling that all of these reviews of TKOL (as we know it now) as a stand-alone piece are going to end up being premature–like critiquing half of a painting–as I have a feeling that we can expect more material to come as part of this “newspaper album” concept. I believe these 8 beautiful tracks will make more sense as part of a whole once the broader context is revealed. I certainly don’t agree with that Pablo Honey comment, either!
2/22/11 11:39 am
I think your assessment is well considered, Matthew, but I have a hard time putting TKOL below Pablo Honey.
The truth is, I’m not sure quite where this album fits in yet, only 5 days in or whatever it’s been at this point. You’re the first person, however, who’s mentioned that the antecedents to this album are non-album tracks. I’ve been thinking it since minute one the first time I listened to TKOL–most specifically I think you can go to the “Pyramid Song” b-sides from 2001 to find some pretty clear forebears to these songs. There are definitely elements of the each song that hearken back to album track sounds on previous releases, and a lot of listeners so far are caught up in the dubstep or “of-the-moment” elements of the album, and while that’s here to a degree, much more than that I think we mostly go back to experimental non-album tracks from 10 years ago to get where TKOL’s coming from.
The drum sound is jarring, not because of the loudness, but because of the consistency throughout the album. It takes a lot of cues from “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” and not much else–the snare hits snap, the playing is quick, light, and very precise, and the bass drum is there, but does not put forth a lot of “thump.” That mostly comes from Colin’s bass guitar.
It’s an interesting direction, at the very least. I will say this, too: I’ve been buying Radiohead albums since 1993, and the only other time I’ve had a reaction to an album the way I’m so far feeling about TKOL is when “Kid A” came out. It’s a really intrigued feeling, sort of perplexed, but really loving it from the get-go anyway. I’ve always thought it was hard to decide where an RH album fits in the context of the band’s work until I hear the next one. So it’s hard to judge TKOL at this point. I need some distance between myself and the music.
2/22/11 1:26 pm
TPH, until Radiohead tells us otherwise, this is a discrete album. That’s how they have presented it, and I strongly doubt they will say otherwise. There is nothing to indicate that this is a Body Talk deal. They may put out more music soon, but that doesn’t make this part of a series, just a cluster of records recorded and released around the same time.
2/22/11 2:08 pm
I don’t get the people who think this is part 1 of something. The King of Limbs is an 8 track, 37 minute album. It just is. Frankly, 37 minutes is not a short album! It’s pretty normal!
People keep pointing to the 2nd disc included with the In Rainbows discbox as evidence that there’s more music coming, but first, that wasn’t “In Rainbows, Part II”, it was a set of tracks recorded for the album and left off either because they weren’t good enough or just didn’t fit. In Rainbows is a 10 track, 42 minute album. And second, they included that that disc would be in the discbox when they announced the discbox, but the newspaper album announcement includes no such things.
2/22/11 2:35 pm
Yeah, I don’t get this “8 tracks is not an album” thing I see all over the place. Yeah, you guys go tell that to Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan and Can.
2/22/11 3:05 pm
Yeah, I’m elated to see a basic, 8-track LP for once.
it’s worth noting:
Revolver: 34 minutes. (hell, Sgt Pepper’s only 39).
John Wesley Harding: 38 minutes.
Pink Flag: 35 mins.
Let’s Get It On: 31 mins.
Dirty Mind: 30 mins.
All the above are “real” albums, yes?. i’m sure you can find dozens of other examples.
2/22/11 4:06 pm
As for Pablo Honey: Nothing on this album touches “Creep,” “You” or “Blowout.”
2/22/11 4:59 pm
what about ripcord on Pablo honey? agree with Matthew that there is no “Creep” on this album, but arguably heard as a whole it is a more mature album than Pablo Honey. It actually reminds me of Amnesiac more than any other previous album. “Lotus flower” is a bone-fide awesome radiohead track that i think will age very gracefully and then followed by “Separator” and soon followed by “codex”–the album finishes very nicely. But maybe that’s why it seems short. Not that the first 4 songs are short, feel unfinished or are difficult to listen to (w/ maybe the exception of “Feral”–which to me is a hell of a lot easier to listen to than the “Gloaming” but still kind of weak–reminds me of the Eraser which i thought was very forgettable), but they seem to be building up steam and then it just ends. and where did the twin attack of the guitarists go? that’s definitely a bummer.
i think freed from corporate-Capitol Records constraints, we may be seeing albums more often especially since as big as R-head is, there are few commercial outlets for them and they don’t depend upon their singles to sell albums. So i’m prepared for another decade of difficult, yet profound radiohead albums that follow the whims of Thom Yorke and company. this is not a let down; this is an artistic statement completely removed from the expectations of its fan base.
2/22/11 5:06 pm
Blowout is the great lost Radiohead world-beater.
2/23/11 3:43 am
I’m sorta with Matthew on this one and I’d rather not go with the hype.
2/23/11 11:52 am
It is hard to rank TKOL compared to other Radiohead albums but that is true with any of their albums. You have to take each in its own right separately. Do that with King of Limbs and you will be much happier. Codex is one of the greatest songs I have ever heard by not just Radiohead but anyone. It is a gorgeous little song. If You go and listen to this album say 10 times you will start to really understand it and it surely will not disappoint. The only disappointment is really only the 8 song set, and well maybe Feral which isn’t all that great.
I am one of those firm believers who think this is only half the album and that there are another 7 songs left (hence Separator which is the last song and song 8 - which would separate the first 7 songs from the last 7 songs). “If you think this is over
Then you’re wrong” Can they really be any more clear here?
I am going to write my own blog post about the possibility of TKOL 2 later on today.
2/23/11 1:34 pm
Alright my official The King of Limbs Part 2 blog post is up now. Interested to see others views on the conspiricy of a 2nd part to TKOL.
2/23/11 4:45 pm
[...] band that has and will always do whatever they want, regardless what anyone thinks. I did read one blog that said it was their "weakest album," so thank someone for saying [...]
2/25/11 1:48 pm
Hard to call this the weakest album when it is still incomplete.
2/25/11 10:59 pm
My jaw dropped when I read that second line. I believe that the second half of TKOL is simply amazing, and the album is far superior to both Pablo Honey (although yes, Creep is amazing) and Hail to the Theif.
This album has been reviewed (often negatively) by Radiohead’s high standards, and although this is unavoidable TKOL needs to be considered both as a Radiohead album AND as a regular 2011 album. They shouldn’t be criticised for failing to produce another album of Kid A’s calibre when no other band around could anyway.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed this album, I wonder just how much longer Radiohead should (or even could) keep producing albums.
2/25/11 11:05 pm
How is this album “incomplete?” Seriously, even if Radiohead puts out another new album next Friday, this is still an album in its own right! They have said and done nothing to the contrary. Why is it so hard for Radiohead fans to grasp the notion that many albums are under 40 minutes, and that many albums have 8 songs or fewer? I mean, are you trying to say that Led Zepellin IV isn’t an album because it has 8 songs and came out under a year after Led Zeppelin III?
3/3/11 9:06 pm
[...] of Limbs, the other day. I don’t think I see much value in viewing it through the lens of “Radiohead’s weakest album” as does my friend Matthew Perpetua. I get what he’s saying about it being a relatively minor [...]
3/4/11 9:00 am
For the most part I am in favor of albums that come in around 38-45 minutes.
If Radiohead had cut some chaff from “Hail to the Thief” and got it down to under 40 minutes, it might be considered their best album (or at least on par with their best work).
3/4/11 10:57 am
Ahhh, but what would you cut? I think Hail is a pretty strong album and works very well as an album split over four sides. The only song I can imagine cutting is “I Will.”
3/4/11 5:42 pm
Oh, listen to it on vinyl? Interesting! I’ve never approached it from that perspective and I can see your point.
I think I’d cut some songs near the end that are just out of place enough that the record starts sounding like a long odds-and-sods comp: “I Will,”"Punch Up”, “Wolf at the Door.” And I love those songs, the last two being personal favorites, but they could be B-sides (or in the case of “Punch Up”, a nice fit on “In Rainbows”). After that I’d maybe delegate “Go To Sleep” to B-side status as well, to get it all down to a more focused and cohesive 42 minutes.
3/5/11 1:41 am
But “Go to Sleep” was a single! And the final four songs are the very best!
3/7/11 1:27 am
I just wanted to say that this is an amazing blog. It’s introducing me to new types of music and I didn’t think so much about how people analyze songs either!