The King of Limbs wasn't bad in the end was it

Music Radiohead
#1

It doesn’t stand out compared to everything else but it’s still a fine album. I was listening to In Rainbows followed by The King of Limbs then A Moon Shaped Pool yesterday. Even though I was half paying attention (I was working at the same time), I didn’t find The King of Limbs that much less enjoyable than the other two. In fact I found it more intriguing - it now feels like the “misunderstood” album that no one likes despite it being quite a nice listen.

It’s a fine album if you lower your expectations a bit and think of it as “another Radiohead album”, rather than the magnificent follow-up to In Rainbows it isn’t that everyone hoped for.

1 Like
#2

quite like it. i do like short albums as a rule but i guess it does feel a bit like it ends just as it’s hit its stride.

#3

it’s good

#4

It’s too short but it’s got some great stuff on there. Throw in the songs they released around it and you can make a really decent playlist.

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#5

all clicked into place for me when i watched this

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#6

Fuck me it wasn’t worth the 4 year wait though.

#7

I don’t think it was hated on anywhere near as much as its supporter make it out to be.

It’s alright. I feel like it has a fairly strong first half that just suddenly stops and goes into a somber mood that’s a bit less interesting than what came before it. It’s not bad, but it kind of felt like the band didn’t really know what they were doing with it all. Anything more than 7/10 is pushing it.

#8

prefer the second half myself - the first half is very interesting and sort of defines the record, but it’s not quite as satisfying.

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#9

It’s more that the second half just doesn’t feel like it follows the first half at all. So the feeling is like two very different EPs stuck together for some reason or that a chunk of tracks missing that would tie the two halves together (with none of the related singles help with the latter.)

#10

You have The King of Limbs Part 2?!

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#11

I love this album. A million times better than a moon shaped pool.

#12

Still feels like a missed opportunity/a half developed idea. There’s potential in the sound, you can see that from Bloom and Lotus Flower, but the songs really aren’t very good. Plus there’s only 35 minutes of material. An album so lean should all be killer. So yeah, not bad, per se, but only really stands out for being the first time they tried something new since Kid A.

2 Likes
#13

Yeah this.

I used to think it was inferior compared to Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief but I’m beginning to think it’s in the same league as them, flawed-but-good territory.

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#14

They’ve been struggling with songwriting from after In Rainbows… inconsistent output, songs with promise.

Thom now writes songs under 3 different monikers, and he’s got to divide ideas up amongst them. The Eraser (the song) is one of the best things he’s done but its not in the Radiohead spotlight. Add age and how that declines songwriting output…still the last two albums have lovely moments and the flaws on those albums are why you need to see them in the live context.

#15

It’s great. Brought into a bit more focus by its successor but really comes into its own on stage. Absolutely superb live. The O2 show was unreal.