Radiohead - The King of Limbs 83/100

Beginning with the release of their landmark album Kid A in 2000, it has become increasingly difficult to separate the circumstances surrounding a new Radiohead record with the actual music. From the unexepected Kid A twin of Amnesiac to the "name your price" business model introduced with In Rainbows, Thom Yorke and company create larger themes forever attached to their output. Remaining in that vain, the band announced The King of Limbs via their website on Valentine's day as the world's first "newspaper album," available for download now with 650 pieces of artwork similar to the advertisements stuffed in a Sunday edition of The London Times arriving with the physical copy in May.

Unlike those past albums however, the new batch of tunes does not parallel the innovation related to its release. The King of Limbs mostly resembles the glitchy laptop pop found on Yorke's solo outing The Eraser coupled with the swirling atmospherics used on Amnesiac. Although Radiohead goes to familiar places for perhaps the first time in their career, they still deliver the goods.

Nearly every song reveals the importance of rhythm, most specifically drummer Phil Selway. The skittering "Morning Mr. Magpie" showcases his ability to provide a necessary backbone for Yorke to hold notes without sounding isolated from the music. The short fills that form most of the variations in "Bloom" rank among Selway's best performances at carrying along a song while simultaneously allowing Yorke the necessary space for his unique vocal patterns. His place in Radiohead seems comparable to a navigator on an airliner, completely content to chart the schematics for flight while someone else pilots. If every dalliance into becoming a singer/songwriter results in performances like these, Phil needs to release a solo album every year.

Continuing a recent trend, Yorke mutters and croons lyrics centered almost entirely on the self and the personal experience in lieu of third person storytelling associated with songs like "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Karma Police." More than ever he repeats phrases such as "don't hurt me" and "into your heart" from "Giving Up the Ghost" and "Lotus Flower," respectively. The past few additions to the Yorke songbook focused on his views and observations of individual relationships as opposed to societal complexity and stigmas. Perhaps this indicates a self-aware sea change, but more likely it comes from an artistic maturation. When viewed with the topically similar In Rainbows and The Eraser, it feels as though Thom has finally arrived at a place where he accepts life as is and not as he desires. Songs like the aforementioned comment more on processing events rather than shaping them into something else. "I'm a fish now/Out of water" from "Separator" typifies his thought process; he finally seems reconciled to discover he will always view life detached from its happenings.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect (musically) of The King of Limbs comes from the diminished presence of guitarists Johnny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien. Although each contribute a few highlights, most notable the sprinkling figures in "Separator" and the rolling "Little by Little," their absence leads to a reliance on electronics that feels slightly hollow at times. Most bands blessed with such firepower overuse it, but these guys purposely avoid it. "Feral" could have benefited from more Greenwood, though the basslines provided by brother Colin save the song from total disaster. O'Brien's distinct rhythm playing takes a backseat to the cascading piano and blips in "Bloom" which leaves it feeling incomplete after five minutes.

Radiohead created such a monolith of expectations over the last decade that the fact that they still have not released even an average album speaks to their resilience. Releasing seven albums before revisiting them for ideas would leave 99% of all artists with a catalog plagued with duds. Those who expect a once in a lifetime masterpiece like Ok Computer will no doubt feel disappointed. However, an objective listen to The King of Limbs shows a band fully capable of synthesizing their sound without sacrificing quality.