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Had I written this review ten years ago, 2011’s The King of Limbs would’ve inspired some less-than complementary thoughts. So, yeah, it took a while for the album to grow on me, but grow on me it has. Initially, the album’s opening tracks felt like an impenetrable barrage of Thom Yorke crooning indecipherable musings over a bed of minimalistic drum-heavy vamps.
But with the benefit of repeated listens, I slowly began to recognize the genius of this album. You see, The King of Limbs is less a collection of songs and more a summation of mood. Not unlike Miles Davis’ early ‘70s work (Big Fun for the win!) tracks like “Bloom” and “Little by Little” seep into one another not unlike movements in a larger piece.
In fact, the sonic palette remains defiantly monochromatic until the album reaches its de-facto climax, “Codex,” a haunting ballad that ranks among the band’s best. From there, the album closes with the incredibly effective one-two punch of “Give Up the Ghost” and “Separator.”
One of the many criticisms waged against The King of Limbs is the album’s thirty-seven minute run-time. And while ‘epic’ or ‘grand’ are hardly a fitting description of the band’s most concise work to date, I routinely revisit The King of Limbs as it’s the only Radiohead release that fits squarely within my morning commute.
It's far from their best work, but even a 'middle of the road' album is pretty fantastic when it comes from a band like Radiohead.
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