First Impressions thread

[The Trickster]

After several days for it to sink in, I think it could be better but am still pleased with it overall. Doesnt even begin to the quality of Kid A though.

 

This review sums up pretty much exactly how I feel about it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnfNcqX5AAA

[lifer]

oh anthony. i agree with all of his praise and none of his issues.

 

first spin: overwhelm

third spin: jesus fuck

[gnogghi]

nice

[lifer]

backatyr #603

[The Witty Man]

My long, lengthy impression of The King of Limbs:

 

It seems Radiohead’s eighth borrows elements from previous works– the abstract electronic found in Kid A, the funky beats from Amnesiac, and the beauty from In Rainbows. It’s also influenced by Thom’s solo stuff. Though it is Radiohead’s shortest album, The King of Limbs is frantic, dense, harrowing, and beautiful; an overall great addition to their impressive discography.

 

Bloom is an ethereal song with Yorke’s lyrics delaying out into space. “Open your mouth wide/A universal sigh.” The disjointed rhythm seems like it could never work, but the song unfolds powerfully. Morning Mr. Magpie is layered with busy guitars and bass, similar to The Clock. Thom ominously sings about a Mr. Magpie stealing away his magic – a political reference, probably.

 

Little By Little is the most “traditional” Radiohead rock song on the album, complimented with clanky percussion and guitars. It’s a good song, but nothing spectacular to me. Feral is a hasty electronic track much in the vein of The Gloaming. Yorke’s near indistinguishable, auto-tuned vocals scatter throughout the landscape, eventually contributing to song’s beat.

 

Lotus Flower combines Phil’s snappy drumming and Thom’s strong falsetto to create a groovy, catchy song. This is followed with Codex, one of the most haunting and beautiful Radiohead recordings. The mournful vocals and piano part are joined by muted horns and strings to create a truly emotional sound. The lyrics “Slide your hand/Jump off the end/The water's clear/and innocent” give me goose bumps every time.

 

Things start to wind down with Give Up the Ghost. With gentle guitar plucking and repeated vocal loops, the song also has a beautiful/unnerving feel to it. Separator picks up the tempo as the final track. The curious beat makes the song seem like it’s yearning for something more. Even Thom admits “If you think this is over then you’re wrong.” Could LP9 be secretly around the corner?

 

The King of Limbs is a fairly experimental piece, cut from similar cloth left over from the Kid A/Amnesiac sessions. If you’re looking for another The Bends or Ok Computer, you will probably be disappointed. However, despite its short length, I have enjoyed TKOL over the past few days. It further cements Radiohead as one of the best bands to walk this Earth.

 

9/10 RECOMMENED TRACKS: Bloom, Lotus Flower, Codex

[Drake]

After several days for it to sink in, I think it could be better but am still pleased with it overall. Doesnt even begin to the quality of Kid A though.

 

This review sums up pretty much exactly how I feel about it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnfNcqX5AAA

 

is this guy retarded or something

[babydoctor]

yeah i'm not really sure what the overarching theme is, if any. but nevertheless it feels like it flows really well

 

musically it sounds kind of resigned, and as a result relaxed. sounds like someone who went through fucking hell to earn their happiness. the length even contributes to that cos it's like the band/thom said what they had to say and then didn't stick around to shoot the shit. talk is cheap and all that.

 

if the lyrics in the rhm forum are correct the theme is probably pretty similar. they sound less confused and frustrated to me. still pretty cynical but i dunno, it sounds kinda like thom is starting to realize he's as culpable as any of the things that have confused/frustrated him over the years, or at least he's expressing it better.

 

 

 

on a slightly different note i kinda get why people were comparing this to the eraser at first, simply because lotus flower actually DOES stylistically sound like the eraser to me now, but way more thought-out/immaculate. i'm not hearing it as being glaringly obvious on any of the other tracks though, for reasons i've already posted enough.

[Noiretirc]

btw, where in the holy fuck is this pyramid song/codex comparison coming from?

 

Well, they are both very similar to my ears. Broken piano playing, water, an interlude that sounds like mellotron, ....they are brothers, Man. But it is not a complaint.

[babydoctor]

i mean not to call anyone out specifically, just it sounds absolutely nothing whatsoever like pyramid song to me, the chords are totally different, melody is closer to reckoner or something like that, it's not jazzy at all... i guess the lyrics are about water or whatever but that water/fish/lake thing pops up in almost every song on this album. ionno. i just have my suspicions that people heard it the first time already trying to put it in a category of radiohead songs and were like 'herpderp! piano! that goes in the pyramid song column!'

[Radioshred]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM-56sYedBw

[emm]

By the way, I'm finding that I can only really listen to it on headphones - my first couple of listens were through (very good) speakers, but I could immediately see I was missing too much. It's very dense music. And very challenging at the moment.

 

I haven't tried with headphones (don't have any good ones), but I have on my computer speakers and in my car. My car has wicked bass which is very apparent on this record, whereas the first couple of listens on my computer I didn't even notice any wicked bass. It's almost like listening to 2 different records between my computer and my car.

[emm]

theres a piano and a slow tempo lol

 

Similar off-kilter rhythm?

[biggie p]

musically it sounds kind of resigned, and as a result relaxed. sounds like someone who went through fucking hell to earn their happiness. the length even contributes to that cos it's like the band/thom said what they had to say and then didn't stick around to shoot the shit. talk is cheap and all that.

 

if the lyrics in the rhm forum are correct the theme is probably pretty similar. they sound less confused and frustrated to me. still pretty cynical but i dunno, it sounds kinda like thom is starting to realize he's as culpable as any of the things that have confused/frustrated him over the years, or at least he's expressing it better.

 

that's probably a pretty good analysis. i haven't paid much attention to the lyrics yet, i'll get to it after i absorb the music a little more. but what a great album

[Wil]

 

is this guy retarded or something

 

i find needledrop to be pretty pretentious but he definitely likes his music, he makes fair points i think

 

 

i disagree with him though

 

& i thought that /mu/ bit was pretty funny

[Wil]

Similar off-kilter rhythm?

 

 

rhythm is straight man

[josieknows]

After several days for it to sink in, I think it could be better but am still pleased with it overall. Doesnt even begin to the quality of Kid A though.

 

This review sums up pretty much exactly how I feel about it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnfNcqX5AAA

 

Yeah I like this review, it says some of things I've thought about TKOL.

[babydoctor]

i think tkol may have broken my subwoofer

[sleepy jack]

i think tkol may have broken my subwoofer

 

 

yeah i hate when that happens.

the song kid_a can do that too.

and myxomatosis if you play it too loud..

[babydoctor]

ok i'm gonna attempt this now. totally provisional though.

 

 

1. lotus flower (just way too badass not to give it this slot, would be like giving there there a low ranking on httt, 10/10)

2. give up the ghost (gorgeous, the part with the title lyric is 11/10, overall effect 10/10)

3. morning mr. magpie (love it, so strangely sinister, i'll never get tired of that melody, 10/10)

4. separator (so shocked what they did with this, the more the old one goes out of my head the more this one grows on me and i realize how amazing its flow from beginning to end is, 10/10)

5. little by little (scary tune, nice to have that creepy guitar style thom's been doing lately up front for at least one track, 10/10)

6. bloom (epic little piece of sex, most 'different' thing on the album, a lot to digest and i know i'll be hearing it differently a year from now, 9/10)

7. codex (very pretty and sad, if i'm honest i'm more sold on the amazing orchestral arrangement than the tune itself but i don't think there's anything wrong with that, 9/10)

8. feral (feel like this is underrated, but maybe that's cos i love cosmogramma so much, underwhelming at first crammed inbetween two such emotional songs but i'm coming to really appreciate it for what it is, 8/10)

 

 

so yeah. pretty good album. 10/10 overall. my rym profile makes me look like such a fanboy.

[Scrumch]

ok i'm gonna attempt this now. totally provisional though.

 

 

1. lotus flower (just way too badass not to give it this slot, would be like giving there there a low ranking on httt, 10/10)

2. give up the ghost (gorgeous, the part with the title lyric is 11/10, overall effect 10/10)

3. morning mr. magpie (love it, so strangely sinister, i'll never get tired of that melody, 10/10)

4. separator (so shocked what they did with this, the more the old one goes out of my head the more this one grows on me and i realize how amazing its flow from beginning to end is, 10/10)

5. little by little (scary tune, nice to have that creepy guitar style thom's been doing lately up front for at least one track, 10/10)

6. bloom (epic little piece of sex, most 'different' thing on the album, a lot to digest and i know i'll be hearing it differently a year from now, 9/10)

7. codex (very pretty and sad, if i'm honest i'm more sold on the amazing orchestral arrangement than the tune itself but i don't think there's anything wrong with that, 9/10)

8. feral (feel like this is underrated, but maybe that's cos i love cosmogramma so much, underwhelming at first crammed inbetween two such emotional songs but i'm coming to really appreciate it for what it is, 8/10)

 

 

 

 

so yeah. pretty good album. 10/10 overall. my rym profile makes me look like such a fanboy.

 

I agree with almost all of this. I think Little by Little will eventually be my least favorite song on the album, however, just because it is the only one I can live without already. I don't really know why. The same thing happened to me with Jigsaw. It was my favorite song at first and then it slowly became one of my least favs.

[indiablubber]

ok i'm gonna attempt this now. totally provisional though.

 

 

1. lotus flower (just way too badass not to give it this slot, would be like giving there there a low ranking on httt, 10/10)

2. give up the ghost (gorgeous, the part with the title lyric is 11/10, overall effect 10/10)

3. morning mr. magpie (love it, so strangely sinister, i'll never get tired of that melody, 10/10)

4. separator (so shocked what they did with this, the more the old one goes out of my head the more this one grows on me and i realize how amazing its flow from beginning to end is, 10/10)

5. little by little (scary tune, nice to have that creepy guitar style thom's been doing lately up front for at least one track, 10/10)

6. bloom (epic little piece of sex, most 'different' thing on the album, a lot to digest and i know i'll be hearing it differently a year from now, 9/10)

7. codex (very pretty and sad, if i'm honest i'm more sold on the amazing orchestral arrangement than the tune itself but i don't think there's anything wrong with that, 9/10)

8. feral (feel like this is underrated, but maybe that's cos i love cosmogramma so much, underwhelming at first crammed inbetween two such emotional songs but i'm coming to really appreciate it for what it is, 8/10)

 

 

so yeah. pretty good album. 10/10 overall. my rym profile makes me look like such a fanboy.

all your posts have been fairly spot on in terms of how i've felt this weekend, glad you're around doc

[PanicOffice]

best review I've read so far.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/02/radioheads_king_of_limbs_revie.html

 

pretty accurately describes how I feel.

[Ptolemy]

Here's what I think

 

1. Bloom - 10/10

The beat is unique the bass is smooth and thom's drawn out vocals fit in perfectly

2. Morning Mr. Magpie - 8/10

It's refreshing to hear an electric guitar, although not much is done with it

3. Little by Little - 9/10

The guitar riff sounds like a more interesting version of I might be wrong

4. Feral - 7/10

Sounds very similar to Flylo especially Comet Course (the beginning) its weak though

5. Lotus Flower- 10/10

The intro is just about the most badass thing on the album and the the vocals in the chorus are just about the most beautiful thing

6. Codex - 8/10

This is a pretty piano ballad but falls short of videotape and pyramid song in my opinion

7. Give up the Ghost - 8/10

The song shines towards the end when multiple thoms are singing at once and a backing electric guitar joins in

8. Separator - 10/10

An excellent base line. When Jonny or whoever comes with a subtle guitar part it is possibly the best moment of the album.

 

8.8/10

 

Edit: I must say that I think the bass lines make this album

[pennyroyalty]

i'm starting to think that Codex might be the most beautiful chord sequence in Radiohead's entire discography. i understand why it gets compared to Pyramid Song, but it does seem like people are comparing it on a superficial level given the very obvious differences in what is actually being played/expressed. it's not really anymore in debt to Pyramid Song than Sail To The Moon or Videotape are- obviously Thom is reusing a certain way of achieving a commanding melancholy when he doles out the piano chords on these songs, but you have to put it in perspective- a lot of good bands don't even have more than one or two tricks. we now have one of this little family on every album since Amnesiac and they're all brilliant. i almost think that Thom uses that style as an offhand way of saying 'yeah you're going to fucking love this one'.

[Ptolemy]

i'm starting to think that Codex might be the most beautiful chord sequence in Radiohead's entire discography. i understand why it gets compared to Pyramid Song, but it does seem like people are comparing it on a superficial level given the very obvious differences in what is actually being played/expressed. it's not really anymore in debt to Pyramid Song than Sail To The Moon or Videotape are- obviously Thom is reusing a certain way of achieving a commanding melancholy when he doles out the piano chords on these songs, but you have to put it in perspective- a lot of good bands don't even have more than one or two tricks. we now have one of this little family on every album since Amnesiac and they're all brilliant. i almost think that Thom uses that style as an offhand way of saying 'yeah you're going to fucking love this one'.

 

chord progression would be a good thread

for me the bests gotta be weird fishes