Radiohead: Band not in Crisis

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I actually had no problem with it following In Rainbows, which was a surprise to me given its in my all-time top ten. I think when they announced it I pretty much immediately accepted it wouldn't be as good, so as to not set myself up for disappointment. I still think it's a slight album though.
 
I prefer it to IR, there is such a beautifully uplifting and melancholy texture about TKOL songs (most of the best ones are not on the album, IMO) that is just so great for me.

And Harry Patch is not an unfortunate name for a song it was written as a memorial. The full title is 'Harry Patch (In Memory of).' and its a great song in my opinion!
 
I would echo LM in saying that comparing KoL to previous Radiohead works is not really a valuable means of appraising it. Each Radiohead album has a completely different goal. I personally would not call KoL slight for the simple reason that it has a tremendous amount of nuance and stylistic variety. The Lotus Flower-Codex-Give up the Ghost sequence alone displays more musical diversity than most bands do in an entire career. That such diversity merges into a seamless whole is a testament to the tremendous songwriting and arrangement skill of Thom and co.
 
I agree (though I don't love Lotus Flower nearly as much as some here do), but in my opinion it's slight compared to their other work. But again, I was really not let down because I didn't set myself up thinking we were getting another "I'd never seen a shooting star before" type album.
 
I like the album, and it will likely end up in my top 20 of the year, but it will also likely end up being my "most disappointing album of the year". It's probably my least favorite Radiohead album (yes, I even like Pablo Honey more). None of the songs have really stuck with me, despite having listened to it numerous times, and as Fitz said, most of the tracks feel like rehashed lesser versions of better songs. Honestly, there are NUMEROUS Radiohead b-sides and rarities I like much more than what's on this album.
 
I can agree with pretty much everything you have said here except Pablo Honey being better cus that is just... Wrong.

But yeah, the whole album has the feeling of a collection of b-sides to me, there are some really nice ones but still b-sides...
 
As much as I respect your opinions, Mofo and Elfa, I just cannot agree that these songs sound like lesser versions of other RH tracks. I do not see an equivalent for Bloom, Codex, or Give up the Ghost anywhere in their catalogue. Bloom recalls The Gloaming slightly in its layers, but the major difference there to me is that the former weaves all of its textures together so deftly that you hardly realize that elements are being added to the mix. I could imagine one likening Codex to Pyramid Song and Ghost to Gagging Order, but the KoL tracks surpass those to me in the sense that they achieve the somber, almost detached aura for which Radiohead is infamous without succumbing to that same feeling in the arrangements. Codex, for example, weaves between resignation and euphoria in the lyrics, and the chords match that perfectly. Whereas Pyramid Song is essentially a dirge - a brilliant dirge that I love greatly, but a dirge nonetheless - Codex is much more complex in its emotional and musical impact, I think. I really believe that this is their most musically accomplished album. The only change that I would make to the tracklisting is replacing Feral with The Butcher.
 
PhilsFan said:
There was enough good material to make a longer, better, fuller album. That is my biggest disappointment with TKOL.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It's very strong as it is, very obvious that they had a sound in mind for the album and the material to flesh it out, but the product isn't quite finished. A couple extra tracks would have done it, and there are some good ones out there.

I like to think of it as a conservative move by the band, rather than a lazy one; a short collection of songs tightly edited for brevity and quality. Unfortunately, Feral survived somehow. And In Rainbows was somewhat conservative also, which makes you wonder where the band that mined the darkest depths of their psyches and record collections to make Kid A went off to.
 
agreed with the 2 posts above. the way i look at it, while it left some more to desire, i'm glad we're not talking about a "middle 3" that weakened the overall product. sorry for the U2 reference.
 
gimli_medium.jpg


Though in response to Mikal, while TKOL doesn't have radio tripe like Cock Crazy or generic RAWK like Stand-Up Referee, it does have an absolutely pointless b-side in Feral masquerading as an album track. And to what ElMel said, however wrong-footed Shuttlecock may be at times, those songs aren't results of laziness either. Just fear.

The song selection (and length) of TKOL seems to me like Radiohead just being contrary to the way things are done. They already tried the pay-what-you-want thing, so this time around they see if people will swallow a mini-album. And I think this was a wrong move.

I don't know how much I want to throw the word "conservative" around with these guys. In Rainbows didn't rewrite the playbook or anything, but it was a beautiful record, and it didn't sound like a step backwards. They did a rawer, "band" sound on HTTT and wanted to do something different next. So in that sense it wasn't just running in place.
 
Radiohead's musical conservatism is akin to European political conservatism: it is still quite liberal compared to the things around it. In terms of Rainbows, I have not heard anyone else produce a song like Nude or Reckoner.
 
joyfulgirl said:
Did I miss ticket sales for NYC while I was away?
Click to expand...

UPDATE: Radiohead have just announced that they will also perform at Roseland Ballroom in New York City on September 28 and 29. And now, Four Tet has announced that he will open both shows, along with FaltyDL, Pearson Sound, and RocketNumberNine.
 
So they'll be on SNL this Saturday, Colbert Report Monday, and legitimate shows in NYC Wednesday and Thursday.
 
I was just spinning There Is Love in You while reading these last few posts. "Angel Echoes" was one of the finest tracks of 2010.
 
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