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First Impressions thread


pennyroyalty

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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)

 

Yeah, great post. My ranking of those top 5 songs might be slightly different to yours (I'm still not quite sure myself) but you nailed it with the scores.

 

And I absolutely agree that Codex should be towards the bottom of the list. It's a lovely song and all (and incidentally is also just about the first time I think a Coldplay comparison is apt - and that's not damning with faint praise), but it's really all about that great orchestral arrangement. To me, it's not a patch on Videotape.

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okay, seriously, don't the chords in Codex really remind you guys of "Lost?" by Coldplay?

 

You just beat me to it. I get that comparison, and it's the first time. Before now I've always thought comparing every Radiohead piano ballad to Coldplay was just being lazy. But the chords and vocal melody are very Coldplay-esque, though obviously the arrangement isn't anything like Coldplay.

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Good god where are we going now? Codex:Coldplay? :lol:

 

Dudes, I just played Pyramid Song followed immediately by Codex. Try it!

 

Codex is hauntingly beautiful....I fuckin love that sudden stop after the last vocal refrain, then the song goes off on a slight left turn, as if to say "it's over now, walk this way to the next part". Yeah I know, that sounds gay.

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I gave this several more spins today.

 

Forgive me for this, but I always thought RH had a pathological inability to properly sequence an album. (Please don't crucify me for this.) Until now, that is.

 

I've been going on about how TKOL sequence should imho (very humble) be 12374586, but today I realized that it is PERFECT the way it is. Seperator is the perfect way to end this motherfucker. It is the sound of the sun setting, innit? Previously I didn't think Codex and GUTG belonged together, but they perfectly compliment each other. In Codex I see ghosts! After Codex, well, he should give them up. :lol:

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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'.

After 3.5 days of listening, Codex is settling down as my favourite (among a very good bunch). Interesting to compare the chords this way, and it's probably true. Hauntingly beautiful. I was unconvinced of some of Thom's vocals on the albul generally the first few times I've listened, but now I actually think he's in fine form. Even the blurred vocals on Separator (which I like a lot more once I've listened to them a couple times with the lyrics printed out in front of me).

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musically it sounds kind of resigned, and as a result relaxed. sounds like someone who went through fucking hell to earn their happiness.

 

Yeah that's the mood I get from it too (especially a track like Codex). A sense of transcendence, sublimation - difficult to express. It takes a little getting used to, because it's very different from In Rainbows, and I think you need to flow with that sentiment to get into the album.

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I want to swim listening to this.

Is is technically possible? Are there waterproof headphones? Am I weird?

Bloom on the first listen conjured up an image of the ocean in my head. Down to the deep-sea, especially the line 'and when the ocean blooms..'. When the horns come in, it feels very.. aquatic. Feels like you're a sea child, floating, free. I thought of how things are in the deep sea, everything is just so weird, so extraterrestrial, so out of this world and yet its in this world. And so very beautiful (haha wtf am i going on abt here)

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musically it sounds kind of resigned, and as a result relaxed. sounds like someone who went through fucking hell to earn their happiness.

 

I couldn't agree more with this. And please allow me to quote you when I write my thoughts on the album on my blog. I'm just saying it so that you won't be surprised when you see your post on the ELbows feed followed by long paragraphs written in greek. :-D

 

But yes, it's so damn true. I've been following this band since 1996 and I really want them to be happy and content with life. I'm sensing that an awful lot of people that can't warm up to TKoL are missing the intensity. But history has taught us that RH's albums have always reflected precisely where they're at when they make them. If their songs being 'oooh so intense' mean that they will be depressed or chased by demons for all eternity, I genuinely don't want that. Life is short, and you realise that after a certain age. I'm 34 and I have realised it. Everything Thom's done since IR and, more to the point, TKoL pretty much confirm to me that he's finally reached that realisation too. We're all fucking human, and thus fallible.

 

And that's what makes the final run of tracks all the more touching to me. That line, 'Finally i'm free from all the weight i've been carrying', is the focal point of the entire album and period. It makes me smile every time I hear it.

 

Sentimental rant over. :)

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