The King of Limbs- Radiohead

Artist: Radiohead
Album: The King of Limbs

    The much anticipated Radiohead album, “The King of Limbs”, begins with what can only be described as a new age Tomorrow Never Knows. In Bloom is this first track, and it starts up with a fast paced electronic percussions. After about two minutes, a large synth orchestral comes in. The song ends on a nice smooth bass line, which can be heard throughout the track.
    The next song is Morning Mr. Magpie. For some reason when I first heard the title, I thought that it would be a new version of Mean Mr. Mustard or something. But of course, I was wrong. This track continues what becomes the on going tradition of electronic percussions on this album. There is nothing really special about this track. In fact, it basically sounds like an extension of In Bloom. I really wish that Thom Yorke and co, had tried harder to try and separate this track from In Bloom.
    The next track is Little By Little and just like the title, the song “Little By Little” creeps into your head. The song is marked by light plodding guitars. At points, one can hear Jazz influences. Yorke is again, masterful at turning his voice into an instrument. Feral (the fourth track) continues the fast paced beats. For all intensive purposes, Feral is an instrumental, which shows influences of African beats and Jazz.
    The fifth track, first single, and best song on this album, is Lotus Flower. This is literally a 22nd Century ballad that only Radiohead could’ve pulled of (or Pink Floyd for that matter). The instrumentals and arrangements are simple, but York’s voice is what takes this song to a whole new level. Codex is another song which is brought to you by Radiohead from the 22nd Century. A beautiful, soulful piano, with great synth horns, which are mixed in Yorke’s voice, also makes this song a must listen. There are definitely hints of Pet Sounds in this. And amazingly enough, the song ends with a literal “pet sound”
    Bird sounds are used as a transition to Give Up The Ghost. This starts out with light and soothing plucking from an acoustic guitar, and then follows the template of the rest of the album (synth instruments).The album ends with Separator. It features some of the best and most powerful lyrics from the album, such as :”wake me up”, and “if you think this is over, then you’re wrong.” It is a truly great and understated ending to this album.
    In the end, Radiohead do what most bands should do. “They take the best tracks that they have, and put them on an album. Forget about telling a story. Just make a good album.” Unfortunately, Radiohead seems to be the only band that keeps this in mind. This album truly is a new age Pet Sounds, and as Yorke sings so eloquently, “if you think this is over, then you’re wrong”.

RATING: 9/10 or 4.5/5 stars. 

Songs to listen to:

Little By Little

Lotus Flower

Give Up The Ghost

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