Artist – Album: Radiohead – The King of Limbs
Released: 18th
February 2011
Sounds Like: It could slip your attention
Whisper it, but I get the feeling that Radiohead aren’t
really bothered any more. I can’t say that I blame them; after all, over the
last 20 years they’ve released consistently brilliant records, including a
smattering that can be listed amongst the greatest of all time. They’ve had
immensely successful singles without ever compromising their artful direction,
and in doing so they’ve become worldwide superstars.
But listening to this, their eighth album, you don’t really
get of any of that. You get more of the sense that Thom Yorke and co had been kicking
around for a while, watching Friends repeats and drinking peppermint tea in
their mansions, when they suddenly call from their record company demanding
that they pull together a new album, like, now. Even the actual release was a
bit slapdash, being that its arrival was only announced five days before it
actually came out.
I mean, they’re still a great band and there’s plenty here
to enjoy. They continue to craft wonderfully textured, electronic pieces and I
was impressed with the beautiful melancholy of the final three tracks,
particularly the haunting ‘Give Up the
Ghost’. But too often it felt like they were just retreading old ground.
Put together a few robotic bubble and squeaks, add a sparse backbeat and get Mr
Yorke to warble over it indecipherably for four minutes. Repeat x 8. There’s not a lot more to it is there?
This one’s for the fans (Radiohead-heads?) and not the must-have
record that pretty much everything else they’ve produced is.
Albumaday... rating:
6/10
1. Bloom
– 5:15
2. Morning
Mr Magpie – 4:41
3. Little
by Little – 4:27
4. Feral
– 3:13
5. Lotus
Flower – 5:01
6. Codex
– 4:47
7. Give
Up the Ghost – 4:50
8. Separator
– 5:20
Listen to ‘Give Up the
Ghost’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Yz5JtnNwM
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