Radiohead - The King of Limbs

Either way we should make one with the 4 b-sides included.

i never really got into this i guess

good album. it feels quite a minor entry in their catalog though and I think that's because of its relatively short length. If they'd put The Daily Mail, Supercollider, etc. on it then I think it'd be seen as heftier.

Heft is what i go to Beethoven for - I actually rank TKOL just below Kid A, my favorite. Many of their albs are bloated where TKOL does what it sets out to, does it well and moves on not a minute too late.

I don't understand the hate for TKOL, the grooves that they achieve in here are excellent, they've been trying to hit this plateau for almost two decades. This is the first album where the band feel in full control of what they wanted to do, the interviews with the band sort of confirm it, they feel relaxed and happy. This might be the first RH record where Thom's interviews aren't unnecessarily cryptic.

have i said this? live from the basement tkol > tkol

Serious lol at the idea of any album being improved by adding The Daily Mail to it.

why not, Matt?

Xxpost yeah the LFTB version is loads better

i'm not crazy about TKOL, i feel like "in rainbows" is the best thing they've done. when i feel like listening to radiohead i put on in rainbows. it just exudes more of warmth and accessibility that a lot of the others. despite being a radiohead stan in my college years, nowadays i feel like i almost flat out don't like ok computer, the bends, HTTT, or TKOL.

Xxpost yeah the LFTB version is loads better

Agreed. It's the version of these songs that I still reach for.

this is still a very good, very interesting album (which has a much stronger second-half).

It's interesting and good but I still can't particularly get into it.

i went through the typical arc. loved it; began recognizing its flaws (lack of hooks, some meandering, interesting ideas that don't always yield interesting songs); returned to it a few years later and realize, again, it's damn good.

I don't remember where I read/heard this but someone somewhere said something about the title being a double reference: the obvious reference is the tree, but the secondary reference is the influence of dubstep. Considering the sound of a couple of the album's tracks ('Feral' most prominently and obviously) and the remix project that followed, this seems more than a little plausible.

I didn't read this whole topic, so sorry if someone's already mentioned this upthread.

But yes, King of Limbs is very high in my favorite Radiohead albums list. Arguably #2.

it's one of the most interesting radiohead discs. a big, interesting left-turn.

it's been three years! when's the next disc coming out? overdue.

Definitely a grower this one, the only track I'm not into at all now is Feral.

Three years to creep up on you is a hell of a slow-burner though.

And it's not like I didn't listen to it for two years, stuck it on one day and was like 'actually this is quite good'. They are one of my favourite bands and I have been actively trying to crack it since it came out.

i put it on this week for the first time in quite awhile and had the same reaction. it comes off much better without the weight of 'new radiohead album!' expectations. the second half is really lovely (codex!).

the only part i'm not into (still) is the offbeat guitars on 'little by little', it just seems unnecessarily awkward.

Wow. I thought 22 listens was a long time to persist with something one didn't really like. Three years is... wow.

Well it's not like I hated it or anything, always thought there were nice and interesting moments. And I'd maybe listen to it once every two weeks or something.

That wasn't a sarcastic "wow" - I'm actually quite impressed with that as a listening exercise, and an example of how music can grow on you.

If it was pretty much any other band I probably wouldn't have bothered.

Yeah, I completely understand that sentiment. That if you love everything else by an artist, except that *one* work, you would be more prepared to delve into it and figure out what made it tick.

(I still feel a bit bad about choosing not to make that effort with AMOK when it didn't click. But I also felt like that was an album I could force myself through repetition to like, but never really love.)

Sorry about the username synergy. Anyway...

The 4-song finale of LotusFlower-Codex-GiveUpTheGhost-Separator is on par with the best of their post-Kid A albums. In contrast, it's the first four songs of the album that sound like tossed-off B-sides. "Hail to the Thief" B-sides specifically.

There was a live guitar rendition of "Good Morning Mr. Magpie" floating around for years that was much better than the version that ended up on "King of Limbs." And several stand-alone tracks were released just before and after "King of Limbs" -- "These Are My Twisted Words," "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)," "Supercollider," "The Butcher." Should've added at least some of these to make it a complete 10- or 12-song album.

/Rant over (from a fan)

I agree. Second side is great. First side is weak but wouldn't matter so much if there were 12 songs instead of eight. I wouldn't mind Feral at all on Hail to the Thief but here I was like, Really? You're devoting one-eighth of your first album in four years to this?! KoL doesn't sound bad to me, just insubstantial, incomplete. It needed one of those annoying (but ultimately correct) A&R men who says go away and write some more songs, it's not done yet.

still waiting for this to creep up on me, probably doesn't help that I skip most of the tracks when they come up

was that guy from Friendly Furnaces actually kidding re 'Harry Patch'? i can't believe he was tbh.

In an interview with AOL's Spinner.com, Matthew Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces criticized the song's release, saying of Radiohead: "Fuck you! You brand yourself by brazenly and arbitrarily associating yourself with things that you know people consider cool. That is bogus. That's a put-on. That's a branding technique, and Radiohead have their brand that they're popular and intelligent, so they have a song about Harry Patch." The Fiery Furnace's publicist said that Friedberger confused Harry Patch, the veteran, with Harry Partch, the microtonal composer. Indeed, in the interview Friedberger mockingly asks "Is it 48 notes to the octave?" in reference to Partch's just intonation 43-tone scale. Friedberger defended his reference to the composer as deliberate "fooling around" rather than genuine confusion. In the same statement, Friedberger says he "would have much preferred to insult Beck but he is too afraid of Scientologists"; shortly thereafter, Beck released a song about Harry Partch, which Pitchfork referred to as either "directly related to Friedberger's remarks, or just one hell of a coincidence". Radiohead did not respond to Friedberger's criticisms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Patch_(In_Memory_Of)

separator is a really lovely, appropriate way to close this disc. yes, very strong side-two on this album.

In contrast, it's the first four songs of the album that sound like tossed-off B-sides. "Hail to the Thief" B-sides specifically.

kind of agree with this but 'Bloom' is mysterious and great. i'm fine with 'Feral' as a cool electronic instrumental/interlude, even on a short album.

i think my main problem with the first third of the album is the way the live drums were recorded/mixed.

It needed one of those annoying (but ultimately correct) A&R men who says go away and write some more songs, it's not done yet.

"Where's the single?!" But yes, agree with this.

"Where's the single?" made Springsteen write Blinded by the Light, Blur write For Tomorrow and Bat for Lashes write Laura. A&R men can be dunderheads but sometimes they're like great editors, saying "This is good but it could be great. Try harder."

Imagining the look on Thom Yorke's face as I tell him this, obviously.

'give up the ghost' and 'lotus flower' totally work as singles, maybe 'codex' too.

In an interview with AOL's Spinner.com, Matthew Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces criticized the song's release, saying of Radiohead: "Fuck you! You brand yourself by brazenly and arbitrarily associating yourself with things that you know people consider cool. That is bogus. That's a put-on. That's a branding technique, and Radiohead have their brand that they're popular and intelligent, so they have a song about Harry Patch." The Fiery Furnace's publicist said that Friedberger confused Harry Patch, the veteran, with Harry Partch, the microtonal composer. Indeed, in the interview Friedberger mockingly asks "Is it 48 notes to the octave?" in reference to Partch's just intonation 43-tone scale. Friedberger defended his reference to the composer as deliberate "fooling around" rather than genuine confusion. In the same statement, Friedberger says he "would have much preferred to insult Beck but he is too afraid of Scientologists"; shortly thereafter, Beck released a song about Harry Partch, which Pitchfork referred to as either "directly related to Friedberger's remarks, or just one hell of a coincidence". Radiohead did not respond to Friedberger's criticisms.

radiohead should have responded with "...what?"

Henry John "Harry" Patch (17 June 1898 – 25 July 2009), dubbed in his latter years "the Last Fighting Tommy," was a British supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe and the last surviving soldier known to have fought in the trenches of the First World War. Patch was, with Claude Choules and Florence Green, one of the last three surviving British veterans of the First World War and, along with Frank Buckles and John Babcock, one of the last known five veterans worldwide. At the time of his death, aged 111 years, 1 month, 1 week and 1 day, Patch was the verified third-oldest man in the world, the oldest man in Europe and the 73rd oldest man ever.

And for those who haven't heard it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ2ELVsz2Yk

'Bloom' is mysterious and great.

The magnificent From the Basement version is mysteriouser and greater - that's what made the song click for me.

i'm fine with 'Feral' as a cool electronic instrumental/interlude

Nothing wrong with this in theory, I just think it's a pretty weak track. If I want to listen to angular disjointed post-dubstep nonsense I'll put on Forest Swords or something.

Always felt like Little By Little was the highlight, along with Give Up The Ghost, but yeah this album is B-sides, not that that's a bad thing cos R'Head b-sides are generally good, but it's B-sides.

I'm looking forward to the inevitable rarities and b-sides comp. There's shit loads to choose from.

that's fair, although Forest Swords is like the least angular and disjointed (or post-dubsteppy) example i can think of.

xp

Fits the bill more than The Lighthouse Family or Aerosmith.

That was me being factious, sorry.

The first four songs made more sense live particularly Bloom and Feral.

Staircase has always been the b-side highlight in here for me, should have been added in the album.

Bloom is really great, I think, just texturally gorgeous. It's Morning Mr Magpie and Little By Little that feel really incomplete to me, scrawny and half-finished when they should be full of dynamics and momentum.

KoL doesn't sound bad to me, just insubstantial, incomplete. It needed one of those annoying (but ultimately correct) A&R men who says go away and write some more songs, it's not done yet.

^^^ This.

That guy from Fiery Furnaces is extremely douchey.

yeah, if mistakenly thinking there's an extra letter in a song title sets you off on a crazy tirade you have to reassess

Bloom is awesome, and i agree that the from the basement version kind of opened it up to me. the basement version's mix and organic build makes the song title make sense.

i really wish they'd try recording with a different producer, just for kicks

They could definitely try teaming with a different producer at least for a b-side to see how it works out but Nigel is sort of like a 6th member. I don't see how they could do it without him feeling butthurt. At this point it would be like doing a Radiohead album and sending Phil home for a couple of tracks and having the Portishead drummer fill in for him instead.

^would enjoy that

(nothing against phil but clive deamer is great)

Really, Staircase and Supercollider should have both been on the album, IMO.