THE KING OF LIMBS

First off, I would like to say that I do not believe that what has been released so far is the entire KING OF LIMBS album. I'll go into greater detail about that at the end of my review. However, as no one had yet written a review for Radiohead's new album, and I knew how helpful a written review on this site is, I'll give the lowdown on this seemingly unfinished work.

THE KING OF LIMBS is: - Accessible (An evil word on this site :P) - Short - A very typical Radiohead sound - Moody and low-key, with an major emphasis on drums and bass. -Slowly appealing

It is not: - A masterpiece - Aggressive, or even emotional. - The Radiohead album that was expected

THE KING OF LIMBS contains eight tracks that focus mostly on Phil Selway's electro drumming and Colin Greenwood's jagged bass lines. The electronic influences of Radiohead are once again apparent, especially on 'Feral' and the opening track 'Bloom'.

'Morning Mr. Magpie', 'Little by Little' and 'Separator' show the more downbeat funky sound of IN RAINBOWS tracks like 'Reckoner', but don't actually build to anything. In fact, the entire album never seems to get above a sort of soft drone.

'Lotus Flower' and 'Codex' stand out the most on the album, the former being a great example of this album's abilty to get in your head.

In sum, TKOL seems like a rehash of the softer songs on IN RAINBOWS. A friend told me it sounded like 'an album of Weird Fishes'. And though more of the same Radiohead is still far greater than many could imagine, it seems like a blip compared to their other mammoth albums of similar length. And this is why many people are becoming suspcious of TKOL's short length and tame sound... with the release of the physical copy still looming, is there more to this album than meets the eye?

It's true that in the PA schism around Radiohead, I'm firmly in the fanboy camp. It's because Radiohead never sits still, and their music - which can sound very dreary and simple to newcomers - hides a frenetic passion. The 'Head's previous album IN RAINBOWS is a good demonstration of this, and I think strikes the best balance between the band's many established sounds.

The other reason I believe Radiohead to be progressive is that they are not afraid to play with their fanbase, and, to an extent, troll them. I am beginning to think that what the world has recieved of TKOL only makes up one disc of a multiple disc album.

However, I can't let a theory affect my review, so I rate TKOL 3 stars for being chill and groovy but ultimately coming up too short and too generic.