Experimenting in the studio, including a three-week stint at Drew Barrymore’s house, they came up with an album about, in Yorke’s words, “wildness” and “mutating.” As their in-house artist Stanley Donwood explained to Pitchfork, “The whole idea of this album was to have something that was almost not existing.” In contrast to the “big, heavy, substantial” In Rainbows, The King Of Limbs was to sound “transitory” - here today, gone tomorrow, like a newspaper - hence the newsprint that was included with some limited edition vinyl editions of the album. It’s easy to imagine a version of The King Of Limbs with some or all of these songs becoming a fan favorite.Ĭlearly, Radiohead had other intentions. And the seven-minute slow-build “Supercollider” is the kind of epic that can work as an album’s centerpiece and spine. The breathless smeared-lens freakout “Staircase” is like a Hot Chip song descending into purgatory (in the best way). “The Daily Mail” deserves a place among Yorke’s most powerful piano rockers - I gasped at that impeccable needle drop in Ozark last season - while “The Butcher” combines dance beats with Radiohead’s most dirge-like tendencies in fascinating ways. Compounding the confusion over the tracklist were four songs released separately on a pair of double A-side singles, which represent some of the most thrilling and dynamic music of the TKOL era. Radiohead did release more music later that year, though nothing resembling an album. It’s no wonder fan conspiracies about a sister album soon emerged, inspired by alleged clues such as Yorke singing, “If you think this is over, then you’re wrong,” on closing track “Separator.” I have to wonder how many listeners gave up trying to persevere through the first half’s skittering tundra before they even made it to the second half’s tender finale. Limbs is largely backloaded, piling up its most cerebral material at the start and saving its most accessible songs for the end. It’s hard to say whether this instant meme fodder undermined The King Of Limbs for some listeners, but it definitely didn’t counteract the notion that Radiohead were finally as far up their own asses as their haters had always believed. On release day, Radiohead promoted The King Of Limbs with a music video for “Lotus Flower” featuring Thom Yorke doing some of his then-bizarre-now-trademark zany dancing in a buttondown shirt and a bowler hat, seemingly dead serious despite the hilarity of it all. Certainly none of them smacked like they eventually would on stage, leading some fans to embrace the album later on and others to think of Radiohead’s Live From The Basement performances as the definitive versions of these songs. Many of them prioritized rhythm and texture over melody - “Rhythm is the king of limbs!” Ed O’Brien once explained, although the album is allegedly named for an ancient oak tree - yet they were too muted to be described as bangers. By comparison, these songs were frigid and elusive. In 2007, after more than four years, the band had rewarded the public’s patience with the warm, approachable In Rainbows, the closest thing to fan service they’ve ever released. The brevity might have been overlooked if TKOL had not contained the fussiest, most greyscale music of the band’s career. For one thing, after making fans wait three and a half years between albums, Radiohead had returned with just eight tracks totaling 37 minutes - not exactly a generous bounty. The King Of Limbs had a lot of factors working against it. Even among the faithful, some dismiss Radiohead’s eighth album as a massive disappointment, while others call it a misunderstood masterpiece. Meanwhile the conflict surrounding The King Of Limbs is still going strong a decade later. It’s just not that controversial anymore. But by now most people have either recognized Kid A‘s genius or weeded themselves out of the fan base. At one point that title might have gone to Kid A, which was extremely polarizing when it dropped back in 2000. NTSC DVD HOWEVER WILL BE PLAYABLE UNIVERSALLY.Radiohead’s most divisive album came out 10 years ago today. PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE THAT THE FOLLOWING TERRITORIES MAY EXPERIENCE PLAYBACK ISSUES: NORTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, JAPAN, KOREA, SOUTHEAST ASIA. FROM THE BASEMENT IS A LIVE STUDIO PERFORMANCE OF THE KING OF LIMBS.īOTH DVD & BLURAY OPTIONS COME WITH AN EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOADABLE VERSION (ENTIRE PERFORMANCE AVAILABLE ON 19TH DECEMBER) AND A 32 PAGE HARDBACK BOOK OF PHOTOS FROM THE RECORDING SESSION.ĭUE TO THE STANDARDS TYPE OF THE VIDEO CONTENT BEING PRESENTED IN ITS ORIGINAL NATIVE FORMAT FOR THE BLU-RAY DISC (PAL) TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHEST PICTURE QUALITY, PLAYABILITY ON SOME BLU-RAY DISC PLAYERS OUTSIDE THIS TERRITORY MAY BE LIMITED. RADIOHEAD'S FROM THE BASEMENT PERFORMANCE OF THE KING OF LIMBS IS NOW AVAILABLE TO ORDER ON DVD AND BLURAY.
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