Radiohead - The King of Limbs

They're baaaaaaaaaack...renowned English quintet Radiohead dropped their eighth studio album last week, almost completely by surprise. Sure, there had been talk of the band being in the studio, various random singles released between In Rainbows and now, but Thom Yorke and Co. still managed to catch everyone off-guard by announcing The King of Limbs less than a week before its release.

I suppose it would be wrong of me not to fully disclose my love for Radiohead before writing this review. After all, being my favorite band, there is obviously going to be some bias here. If I give it a good score, it's going to be taken as fanboyism, and if I give it a bad score, you might just say it simply didn't reach my lofty expectations. (Side note: If you haven't put on a good pair of headphones, lain in bed, and given Kid A an attentive, zero interruption listen, stop reading this and do that right now.) That being said, I will try to review this record as neutrally as possible, but I'll let you know now, it is damn good.

The King of Limbs is pretty much an amalgamation of everything Radiohead has done since the Kid A days, yet it is unique in its own right. The band has continued to craft its unique blend of haunting electronics and driving rock, but the difference here is that this record is groovy in places, something that we don't see from them often ("I Might Be Wrong" and "Where I End and You Begin" are the only examples that come to mind immediately). But while those moments were just changes of pace on their respective albums, groove is a real theme on this latest record. The driving drums and great guitar/bass lines in "Little by Little," "Lotus Flower," and the awesome "Separator" really showcase the band's ability to make you get up and dance a little. (And don't we all wish we could dance like Thom Yorke in the Lotus Flower video?) "Separator" in particular continues a trend of incredible album closers for Radiohead; they seem to have this knack for ending their records on exactly the right note. The Jonny Greenwood guitar riff that jumps in about halfway through the song is just glorious. I have a feeling that Separator will end up being one of my very favorite RH songs.

Not that the album is without its abstract moments and its pretty ones. "Codex" really invokes memories of "Pyramid Song," while "Give Up The Ghost" might be the most starkly pretty song the band has ever written. Opener "Bloom" is the most Kid A-esque, with a jumpy beat and processed Yorke vocals soaring above the whole affair. Oh yeah, Thom Yorke has still got it folks. His vocals carry the entire album, but especially shine on "Give Up The Ghost."

Really I only have two complaints, and one is just a mark of the strength of this record. Midpoint "Feral" is a little weak, it feels like it was supposed to be an instrumental break in the vein of "Treefingers" but it doesn't have the same effect. Also, the album feels too short, like the ideas explored weren't fleshed out as fully as they could have been. I have hope that this isn't the last we'll hear from Radiohead this year, though. As Yorke so sweetly croons on "Separator," "If you think this is over, you're wrong." 4.7/5.