Radiohead "The King of Limbs"

I thought I would give them one more chance so I purchased the new Radiohead album. I love "The Bends" and "O.K. Computer" but the last two albums they have completely forgot that they used to play guitars. The new album sounds like background music for "Battlestar Galactica". To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. I'm all for changing things up and trying different directions, but this album is dreadful. You can't understand half of Thom Yorke's lyrics and as for singing I would describe it more as moaning. I know that every music magazine will say this is their best album to date and they keep getting better and give it 5/5 stars, but they have lost me. I love music everything from Phish, to Fogerty, to even The Chemical Brothers, but the new Radiohead album should have been named "inaudible noises from another planet". Had to rant about this.

I somewhat agree with your disappointment, but I'm still really liking this album.

Their last album, In Rainbows, was one of their best albums. I thought they made more of an effort to bring back the guitars for sure, obviously in songs like that awesome riff in Bodysnatchers or with those incredible waves of guitars in Weird Fishes. I also loved how it really wasn't as "weird" in terms of lyrics and such as previous albums like Kid A and Amnesiac. The lyrics were more personal and human, and they were relatable.

Which is why I was somewhat disappointed with this new record. The content on The King of Limbs is in the complete opposite direction from that of In Rainbows. It kind of returns to the sound they were creating back in 2000/2002...very abstract and strange. And Thom's vocals are very choppy and clipped. It is a bit disappointing because he has such an incredibly great voice, that I wish he would show it off more with some great melodies (Lotus Flower is a huge exception, he sounds great on that one). It really isn't a bad thing, but I was hoping they would work with the styles that they've been exploring recently.

With that said, this is still an incredible piece of work. It is so intricate and complex. And even though I can't pinpoint Ed Obrien or Jonny Greenwood's work, and the guitars don't really stand out, I think their rhythms are very strong and Phil Selway's skills really shine. Another thing of note, which I guess could be somewhat negative, is that (in my opinion) no songs really stand out on their own. Perhaps maybe Lotus Flower or Codex. I think this album was really designed to be heard from start to finish, which really isn't hard considering it clocks in at under 40 minutes.

I've only listened to this album three times so I can't go any further in depth than I've just done. I think it's a challenging record to listen to. As we know, Radiohead is continuously exploring styles and breaking new ground. They definitely don't spoon-feed audiences their music. I am disappointed in the above mentioned respects but I still think this is a fantastic piece of music.

Whoops, I wrote a lot. I just really love this band Probably should have reserved my opinions for the Radiohead forum!

I liked In Rainbows quite a bit. Didn't really mind King of Limbs one way or the other. It was just kind of there for me.