Saturday 26 February 2011

The King of Limbs

In Rainbows was always going to be a tough act to follow and having heard 2009's 'These Are My Twisted Words' I suppose I was worried that Radiohead's new offering was going to be a cluster of airy songs that rumbled along with no distinct melody or chorus. Click on Read More to see what I think of 'King of Limbs.'





















Although opening track 'Bloom' didn't exactly quash my fears, it is certainly a pleasing opener that immediately gets you round to Radiohead's thinking on this new venture. Moby-esque piano loops, disjointed drums and jittering guitar stabs are all thrown into the mix before Thom Yorke's voice finally kicks in to bring order to the madness. There is a powerful orchestral breakdown in the middle of the tune laden with horns and strings - perhaps Jonny Greenwood has exerted some of the classical prowess that we've seen in the 'There Will Be Blood' soundtrack.

The production on 'Morning Mr Magpie' is incredibly raw, with the drums and guitar sounding intensely crisp at the front of the mix. The initial backing instrumental is relatively unchanging which helps draw your focus to Yorke's aggressive vocals 'You got some nerve coming here!' Another song with a satisfying breakdown, with Yorke oo-ing over a stuttering electronic kick drum as bass and rickety percussion filter back in. But rather than building into the crescendo it deserves, the song reverts back to it's initial component parts before getting painfully noisy and eventually reducing itself into what sounds like a hoover. 

As the various guitar parts of 'Little by Little' are strummed into existence we hear that archetypical Radiohead "sound" for the first time on the album. Though at first the familiarity is warming, it becomes quickly apparent that this alone is not enough to keep the song interesting. And once again Radiohead insert an enticing breakdown only to follow it up by timidly bringing us back to the initial tune!

'Feral' contains some awesome effects that sound as though someone's blowing Yorke's vocals and synthesised noises across a bottle. This unfortunately is just about the gist of 'Feral.' There are occasional glimmers of brilliance, for instance when the powerful throbbing bass pierces into centre stage. But these moments are short-lived and are regrettably overwhelmed by the surrounding faff. 

I'll forgive Radiohead for thinking that a viral video of Thom Yorke dancing like an electrocuted mental patient was a good way of promoting 'Lotus Flower.' It is certainly one of the comparatively ordinary songs on the album, but at 5 songs into 'The King of Limbs' it is a pleasure to hear a genuinely engaging song with a distinguishable melody and chorus. The gloomy bass and up-beat drums with the high-pitched echoey vocals is a highly compatible match.

'Codex' is by far the standout track on the album. No fancy in-your-face drum sequences, just clunking piano chords subtly magnified by trickling filtered sounds. Thom Yorke's initially gravelly voice holds this tender piece together - 'Sleight of hand, jump off the end, into a clear lake, no one around.' At 2:16 a horns section is added to buttress Yorke's sorrowful vocals, adding a mournful tone to the minor parts and an up-lifting layer to the major notes. An excellent song, pretty much the only track from the album that I have listened to over and over again. 

Next comes 'Give Up The Ghost' - Equally eloquent and simple with beautiful layered vocals which are at first reminiscent of 'Nude's high-pitched opening refrain 'don't get any big ideas.' Whilst a simple kick drum keeps the rhythm, acoustic and electric guitars gently to-and-fro as Yorke's various vocal parts become intertwined and harmonise together magnificently.

It's a shame that the album didn't stop after 'Codex' and 'Give Up The Ghost' because they are truly the highlights of 'The King of Limbs.' The final track 'Separator' isn't bad, it just doesn't get going until about half way through. Prior to that point the drums are too intrusive and it is only when the guitars work their way in and Yorke's vocals start to escalate that the song actually takes shape. Not a rotten end to the album but just not the spirited climax that I think it could have had with a bit of track re-arrangement. Ah well some Radiohead loons have speculated that 'The King of Limbs' is in fact only the first instalment of a 2-part album because the last song is called 'Separator.' A bit far-fetched don't you think?

So all in all I found The King of Limbs to be quite the let down and it's a pity because they've produced some fantastic work since 'In Rainbows.' There were infinitely better-crafted gems on the In Rainbows bonus disk, which could have easily been full of experimental "Thom-foolery." Similarly the tribute song they did for the late Harry Patch was an immensely moving classical composition. In fact if you haven't heard the Harry Patch song, go and download it now. Is it wrong to say it makes the perfect alarm clock song as it's so darn soothing? Equally check out the In Rainbows bonus disc. 

When Radiohead have spoken out about their creative processes some interesting nuggets have often emerged. For example that the poignant piano piece 'Videotape' from 'In Rainbows' was initially visualised as a really energetic and electronic piece. Perhaps what I'm getting at is that it really seems that for the most part Radiohead get it together, add, subtract, do whatever they do to achieve the final product we all know and love. But sometimes (The King of Limbs) they get it wrong (in my opinion) 

Not sure if Radiohead were trying to be overly "raw" or "organic" or what but the drums are just too damn high in the mix, literally to the point of distraction. They did this on 'In Rainbows' with songs like '15 Step' and 'Weird Fishes' but the songs themselves had so much more to offer than just a strong drum beat and as a result the powerful percussion parts actually complimented the overall rich composition rather than coming across as the overbearing mainstay.

Couple the intimidating drum beats from 'The King Of Limbs' with the fact that the majority of the songs are structureless and free-flowing and you've got quite a monotonous combo. I've listened to the album through about 15 times and can safely say that it ain't a grower, for me anyway. Although looking around the web it appears that I'm in the minority, as most music review websites seem to be hailing this album as Radiohead's latest triumphant return. Ah well, as with a lot of Radiohead music, it is very much down to personal taste, so give it a listen and decide for yourself.










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