Official RADIOHEAD thread

I Love a Magician · February 20, 2011, 02:18:22 PM

on the fourth listen through i like it a lot. still not big on "ferral" or "bloom" but "magpie" and "little by little" are my Jams after only digging the last four tracks on first listen.

tpfkabi · February 20, 2011, 04:13:56 PM

does anyone else think of the Blade Runner score on LBL?

there is some sound that reminds me the first time you see the city (i think?).

brockly · February 20, 2011, 07:29:12 PM

i've been listening to this album obsessively all weekend. it's monday, i've got time to kill at work, now seems a good time to get some of my thoughts down.

bloom is the most ambitious song on the album, and it's astonishingly good. it sounds like every instrument used to record the album makes an appearance on this song. following this we're in more familiar radiohead territory with mr.magpie. i love the glitchy guitar rif, and the way it drifts in and out of the song amidst thom's eerily effective humming. his vocals on this one are so prevailing. it's a much more accessible song than the opener, as is little by little, which might be the most greenwoodesque song, recalling the atmosphere of bodysongs. it's also probably the album's catchiest song, next single maybe?

feral is probably the weakest track of the bunch, though i think it flows nicely with the rest of the album. it's a very nice lead in to lotus flower/codex, the heart of the album, much like the gloaming on HTTT. it seems a little premature, but that's what we've got. it's also a palette-cleanser, as JB pointed out, shifting the album into a new, more ethereal territory. the electric guitars, which were so prominent on the last two song, are from here on non-existent.

lotus flower is currently my favourite track. i'm in love with the lyrics, it's so poetic and beautiful. the dancey beat is kinda conflicting, but it really works in the song's favour in a strange, wonderful way. codex is another fantastic song, but it's impossible for me to listen to it without comparing it to other radiohead piano driven ballads (pyramid song, videotape, last flowers, fog). it doesn't have the punch that any of those songs have. might have something to do with the vagueness of the lyrics. but it's still wonderful.

give up the ghost is the only song i had heard live before hearing the album, performed only by thom, and this version isn't a lot different. but that's more than ok. it's simple, haunting, beautiful song writing. the soft flapping that can be heard at the end of the song gorgeously brings everything to a hault right before the epilogue, just like earl partridge's last breathes. separator is a great closer. it's not as hard hitting as videotape, but it's more fitting for such surreal album.

if i had to rank the album, it would go something like...

1. Lotus Flower
2. Bloom
3. Give Up The Ghost
4. Little By Little
5. Seperator
6. Codex
7. Morning Mr. Magpie
8. Feral

i agree that radiohead have peaked, and have since been on more or less a sideward path, creating consistently amazing albums. and while i couldn't really argue with anyone who says that this is their least progressive album since TB, i still feel that they're going places, and i think that this album, along with IR, is a stepping stone towards something groundbreaking, but not necessarily better than what we already have here. TKOL is a really, really solid album, in my opinion, if not a little too short. and it doesn't sound like the eraser part 2, so people really need to stop saying so.

Jeremy Blackman · February 20, 2011, 08:01:52 PM

Agree with your thoughts on Bloom, and I'm surprised I haven't heard more praise for it. It's brilliant.

Your comparison of Little By Little to Bodysong is spot on! It's a lot like "Nvdnik Headache" and parts of "26 Hour." I hadn't even thought of that. Also, I forgot how much I like Bodysong.

While we're on the topic, The Eraser is not necessarily a bad album. The production gets annoying (sometimes very annoying), but mostly there are very good songs underneath... except for "Black Swan" & "And It Rained All Night."

Also, the only thing on The King of Limbs that sounds remotely like The Eraser is "Morning Mr. Magpie."

I still can't get into "Little By Little" at all. It's more pain than pleasure, and I don't find it interesting in the way I found Bodysong interesting. Maybe I'll come back to it in a while.

brockly · February 20, 2011, 08:14:45 PM

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on February 20, 2011, 08:01:52 PM
While we're on the topic, The Eraser is not necessarily a bad album. The production gets annoying (sometimes very annoying), but mostly there are very good songs underneath... except for "Black Swan" & "And It Rained All Night."

oh, i really like the eraser. i'm not saying it's a bad album by any means. but i hate that people are accusing thom of being the only one in the driver's seat here, because TKOL really sounds more like experimental radiohead than yorke's solo work. on the topic of the eraser, i'd put cymbal rush up there with my favourite radiohead songs.

Jeremy Blackman · February 20, 2011, 08:43:20 PM

Yeah, you have to give them credit for trying some interesting (experimental) stuff on this album. The only problem is, it's not really new. (Except "Bloom" and "Give Up The Ghost"... those do feel like new territory, at least structurally.) Even some parts of the album that I really like sound a little too much like riffs on Amnesiac.

Maybe they're trying to figure out where to go next. Considering some of the stuff they're doing, and rumors of an orchestral direction, I actually do have hope they can get off this plateau.

Stefen · February 20, 2011, 09:56:49 PM

Music is subjective. Even moreso than film.

I think it's a weak effort. It's Michael Jordan on the Wizards. It's Eyes Wide Shut. It has it's moments, but overall, it's a letdown compared to what came before.

It's boring to me. There just isn't much going on. It's a lazy Sunday afternoon album, which is fine, but compared to the rest of Radioheads output, you expect more. I don't know if that's my fault for setting expectations so high or Radioheads for making such exciting music all these years. I don't even find it that experimental. It sounds pretty straight forward to me. Just a collection of 8 easy going songs. I don't hate it. I think it's good, but not great. Codex is probably my favorite. It's a nice collection of songs. They're good songs.

Myxo · February 21, 2011, 02:44:12 AM

Radiohead have been my favorite band since high school. I graduated in 1995, to give you some perspective on how long I've been listening.

After ten solid track 1-8 listens of KOL, my updated album ranking:

1. Ok Computer:
I'm not sure they will ever top this album. It is their "Abbey Road."

2. In Rainbows:
I still get chills listening to "Videotape". Even the bonus disc was phenomenal.

3. Kid A:
Regrettably this was the first Radiohead album I ever saw them tour to support. An amazing effort which started them on a new direction..

4. The Bends:
I remember very clearly hearing a song called "Ripcord" off of Pablo Honey when I first got into Radiohead and thought, "These guys are fucking awesome. I can't wait to hear what their next record will be like." Then I heard this album and my mind was completely blown. The leap they took from debut to this was just staggering. So many classics.

5. King of Limbs:
I don't "dislike" any tracks on KOL, as opposed to say "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors", "You and Whose Army" and "Morning Bell v2.0, aka WTF?" off of Amnesiac. Someone mentioned here that KOL is a perfect way to spend 37 minutes on a rainy day inside or something. I couldn't agree more. It is an album which really requires that you are able to enjoy it from track 1-8 with relatively few interruptions. It also grows and grows on you, the more you are able to listen without distractions. Feral is the only so-so track on KOL in my opinion. The rest of them are, at the very least, "good" and some ("Bloom", "Lotus Flower", "Codex", "Give up the Ghost") are great.

6. Pablo Honey:
Short and sweet. Tracks 4-8 are still great to this day. Never been a big "Creep" fan however. Great first effort but obviously not better than the albums above.

7. Amnesiac:
Never could get into this album. Amnesiac should have been a bonus disc included with Kid A. They were released around the same time anyway. Never understood the decision to create two complete separately albums with virutally the same artistic direction. Out of 11 total tracks, I really only loved 4 of them.

8. Hail to the Thief:
This album is a mess. There are some great individual tracks to be found here ("2+2 =5", "Where I End and you Begin", "There There", "Scatterbrain") but some of them are just downright odd. "We Suck Young Blood", "Wolf at the Door" and "I Will" are three of the worst Radiohead tracks off of their albums of all time in my opinion.

Gold Trumpet · February 21, 2011, 03:20:30 AM

Quote from: Stefen on February 20, 2011, 09:56:49 PM
Music is subjective. Even moreso than film.

I agree. I listen to music more than anything, but I can't have discussions with other people. It goes nowhere. Years ago, I loved Radiohead, but now OK Computer come off as sonically masterful but stupid and pretentious lyric wise, so I feel I have to move on from the band. Haven't listened to their last few albums.

Myxo · February 21, 2011, 03:23:19 AM

Quote from: Gold Trumpet on February 21, 2011, 03:20:30 AM
Quote from: Stefen on February 20, 2011, 09:56:49 PM
Music is subjective. Even moreso than film.

I agree. I listen to music more than anything, but I can't have discussions with other people. It goes nowhere. Years ago, I loved Radiohead, but now OK Computer come off as sonically masterful but stupid and pretentious lyric wise, so I feel I have to move on from the band. Haven't listened to their last few albums.

Don't take too much offense to this GT, but you take yourself far too seriously man.

Gold Trumpet · February 21, 2011, 04:05:31 AM

Hah, I'll take that to non meaning it has.

Jeremy Blackman · February 21, 2011, 10:43:10 AM

Quote from: Myxo on February 21, 2011, 02:44:12 AMmy updated album ranking:

I might as well join in...

Amnesiac
OK Computer
Kid A
In Rainbows
Hail to the Thief
The King of Limbs
The Bends
Pablo Honey

RegularKarate · February 21, 2011, 01:55:04 PM

I'm on board with this album. It's definitely not the best, but I really like it. I see it as the update to Amnesiac. Super mellow, makes me feel good, but I won't be dying to hear many of these songs live.

I guess I'll pointlessly update my list:

Kid A
OK Computer
In Rainbows
The Bends
Amnesiac
King of Limbs
Hail to the Thief
Pablo Honey

mogwai · February 21, 2011, 02:13:33 PM

Kid A
The Bends
In Rainbows
OK Computer
Hail To The Thief
Pablo Honey
Amnesiac

Haven't heard the new album yet.

modage · February 21, 2011, 02:28:53 PM

Just noticed something. The melody at 2:30 on Little By Little sounds really similar to the one at 2:30 on Reckoner.

My list:

OK Computer
The Bends
Kid A/Amnesiac (combined/abbreviated)
In Rainbows
Hail To The Thief (abbreviated version)
The King Of Limbs
Pablo Honey

It's crazy to me that anyone could have anything other than OK Computer at the top.

I keep listening to The King Of Limbs but man, it's just not a real LP. It's an EP. 7 real songs and an instrumental and that's the only way it makes sense in their discography, with Com Lag and other forgotten non-essentials. Lotus Flower, Codex and Little By Little are faves with Give Up The Ghost the only song I really actively dislike. (The backing vocal line really grates on me.)