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Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool |OT| A Moon Shaped Poo

C

chicko1983

Member
SecretDan said:
I think you have now put more thought into it than Radiohead have.
Click to expand...

The fact that there are vocals and sounds played in reverse and the structure of the video clip that can be played backwards (otherwise it's a pretty bland clip by a very good director) makes me believe it's deliberate.
 
S

Steamlord

Member
chicko1983 said:
The fact that there are vocals and sounds played in reverse and the structure of the video clip that can be played backwards (otherwise it's a pretty bland clip by a very good director) makes me believe it's deliberate.
Click to expand...

It's called backmasking and musicians have been doing it for decades. So yes, it makes sense to play it backwards if you're curious about those sounds and lyrics. I have no clue where you're getting the idea that it's intended to be played forward and backward ad infinitum though. It's the second track on an album. Are you just not supposed to play the rest of the album and play Daydreaming forever instead?
 
P

Pavaloo

Member
chicko1983 said:
I posted this back a few pages, so if anyone has missed it:

So I'm pretty certain now after a couple of listens that daydreaming is supposed to be played in the normal direction and then followed immediately in the reverse direction and in an infinite loop.

It's too much of a coincidence that it can be played backwards (with the track jump sound matching perfectly in forwards and reverse and the background vocals being backwards in the normal direction).

I'm sure he says something like "half of my life, half of my love" when he wakes up at the fire at the beginning of playing the song in reverse, which is actually also about halfway in the song if you play them back to back.

What do you think?

Normal
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TTAU7lLDZYU
Reverse
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WjhZYkKvyRg
Click to expand...

thanks for this

really enjoying the song backwards

i was already super impressed on a normal playthrough when they had strings play what was essentially a melody sung by thom played backwards - but now listening to the song in reverse you can hear a lot of the backwards vocals by thom clearly as he sung them.

it's dope is what i'm saying


edit: there was a cool theory on reddit about the video for daydreaming
 
C

chicko1983

Member
Steamlord said:
It's called backmasking and musicians have been doing it for decades. So yes, it makes sense to play it backwards if you're curious about those sounds and lyrics. I have no clue where you're getting the idea that it's intended to be played forward and backward ad infinitum though. It's the second track on an album. Are you just not supposed to play the rest of the album and play Daydreaming forever instead?
Click to expand...

nah, its not meant to stop you listening to the rest of the album, but its something cool that can be done with Daydreaming itself, especially when you watch the film clips (as that was recorded with the intention of playing it backwards, if I am correct).

And I mean, it can be played in an infinite loop, but its not necessary, haha.

The start of the song has a sound like a tape is speeding up or slowing down (or even flipping into reverese!), if you play the song in reverse, the tape sound effect is exactly the same. if you play them in a loop, that sound is where you join the songs up at one end then him going to sleep by the fire (talking backwards and then talking normally) at the other end.
 
F

Fluffhead14

Member
Dangerblade said:
Just out of interest, would anybody here who has listened to every Radiohead album rank King of Limbs as their best? If so, at what point did you first get into Radiohead?
Click to expand...

No, as a concise, focused effort I'd certainly rank it over Pablo Honey and Hail to the Thief though. No Radiohead album other than Kid A was more of a curve ball to the fan base. That, coupled with its length, is a big reason why it was viewed how it was. It's an album ALL about rhythm, which also doesn't help its case when you have Johnny in the band. I love it. Then again, my 3 favorite Radiohead albums are Kid A, Amnesiac, and The King of Limbs.

I kinda feel like In Rainbows was a great collection of songs but the production is uninteresting and it didn't feel like the band was pushing itself in any new direction.

Hail to the Thief... needed an editor. Bit too long for my liking and could have been stronger save a few tracks.

This new album is beautiful but thus far I have found the melodies lacking a bit. It's certainly well produced- there's a lot going on- and it deserves more listens before I could try and rank it. It seems both a natural succession to their sound while pushing new territory, which I can definitely appreciate.

Just my 2 cents.
 
T

Tragicomedy

Member
MrOogieBoogie said:
The hate for Pablo Honey is annoying sometimes because there are some great songs on that album.

Creep
Stop Whispering
Thinking About You
Anyone Can Play Guitar
Ripcord
Lurgee
Blow Out

Obviously their sound was less experimental then, but that's a fucking badass collection of songs that for any other band would be noteworthy.
Click to expand...

I mean, yeah. Pablo Honey is exceptional. I have a hunch that the people who don't like it are younger and didn't come into Radiohead until the Kid A/Amnesiac era. So they have different expectations of what makes a Radiohead album. Creep and Thinking About You alone elevate that album to top tier, and there are lots of other great tracks.

My ranking is:

The Bends > OK Computer > Pablo Honey > In Rainbows > everything else.
 
M

megalowho

Member
I don't know about my rankings but it feels like Radiohead has 5 classic albums now in The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, In Rainbows and A Moon Shaped Pool.

Hail to the Thief, The King of Limbs and even Pablo Honey to an extent sound like a band in transition while still putting out good to great material. Amnesiac + other tracks recorded during the Kid A sessions are essential to get the full picture of that era, arguably their creative peak. Plus the live album and basement shows, if those count. Pretty incredible track record for a career to date.
 
C

chicko1983

Member
Pavaloo said:
thanks for this

really enjoying the song backwards

i was already super impressed on a normal playthrough when they had strings play what was essentially a melody sung by thom played backwards - but now listening to the song in reverse you can hear a lot of the backwards vocals by thom clearly as he sung them.

it's dope is what i'm saying


edit: there was a cool theory on reddit about the video for daydreaming
Click to expand...

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

awesome find about the film clip and how he is walking through the past. Radiohead has been around for about 24 years. Thom Yorke is almost 48 years.

"Half my life" is what he says at the end of the clip, in reverse.

So my understanding now is the film clip is about how the band has taken up half his lifetime.
 
P

Pavaloo

Member
from what i hear thom recently split with his partner of 20+ years

the half of my life/love could totally be a reference to that

also ties in with the speculation on here that he simply doesn't have it in him to sing TLW with the optimism he had 20 years ago.
 
S

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
kingocfs said:
Decks Dark fucking rocks.
Click to expand...

Took me a couple of listens but I really like it now. The low key funky durge at the end is cracking. What held me off at first was the initial vocal hook; it's very similar to something off of TMB. Maybe Guess Again (which I adore)...? I got over it fairly quickly. :D
 
S

Sadsic

Member
i can seriously picture an alternate universe where decks dark was recorded in the ok computer era and is one of the better tracks on that album
 
B

Blader

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
It sounds like the version by a Thom Yorke who's watched the love that inspired him to write it disappear. He couldn't record "that" version in 2016 if he tried.

It's perfect.
Click to expand...

Yep. It took three listens for the song to hit me like a brick. Thinking about how he must have written it around the time he and Rachel got together, holding onto that song for 20+ years, and then finally releasing it, this way, after they had split... there's a whole relationship baked into the history of that song that you can't help but feel in the final version. Even the recontextualization of some silly but demonstrably young Bends era lyrics adds to the sad, quiet acceptance of that song.
 
D

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
So it's on Google Play Music now. I'm so goddamn tempted to give it a first listen but I want to listen to it all the way through with no distractions on my good headphones and I'm so busy studying for finals. arrghhh...
 
A

Altazor

Member
I still can't fucking get over True Love Waits.

The way Thom's voice cracks when saying "your tiny hands". How weak he sounds with the final "don't leave". How the last chord sounds unresolved.

My heart.
 
Psychotic_Mantis

Psychotic_Mantis

Member
MrOogieBoogie said:
The hate for Pablo Honey is annoying sometimes because there are some great songs on that album.

Creep
Stop Whispering
Thinking About You
Anyone Can Play Guitar
Ripcord
Lurgee
Blow Out

Obviously their sound was less experimental then, but that's a fucking badass collection of songs that for any other band would be noteworthy.
Click to expand...

I would also include Vegetable. Pablo is super underrated. It's nowhere near the other albums but it's still a quality record. Shame people just shit all over it and only listen to Creep.
 
C

Citizen_Insane

Member
Blader said:
Yep. It took three listens for the song to hit me like a brick. Thinking about how he must have written it around the time he and Rachel got together, holding onto that song for 20+ years, and then finally releasing it, this way, after they had split... there's a whole relationship baked into the history of that song that you can't help but feel in the final version. Even the recontextualization of some silly but demonstrably young Bends era lyrics adds to the sad, quiet acceptance of that song.
Click to expand...
Breakin my damn heart here.

ElectricBlanketFire said:
What would be considered their most divisive song?

Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors (which I love)?
Click to expand...
Pulk/Pull is so dope
 
3

345triangle

Member
JehutyRunner said:
I wouldn't rank it as their best. To be frankly honest, besides Pablo Honey, it's their worst album. That being said, King of Limbs isn't a bad album as such (though I'm reluctant to call it an album - I don't consider anything below ten songs an album, which sounds snobby admittedly but still), it's good. It's just that their albums from The Bends onwards through to now with AMSP that are so far and above superior to what King of Limbs did.

Like I got into Radiohead two years either side of Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows. I was fourteen and this was 2005 and I started listening to one or two songs of theirs before breaking into the album stuff and thus the less known stuff like In Limbo, Disappear and all that. I bought Kid A for myself just before Christmas that year and I knew in my heart of hearts it was mindblowingly special to me in a family and life where I'd surrounded myself my electronica and dance music (but less into the latter) that it was my favourite album ever.

But AMSP speaks to me just as much as any other album because I love all of the Radiohead albums (besides Pablo) in their own way. However, ASMP has a mix of Kid A, In Rainbows, OK Computer - my three most loved Radiohead albums in that order - as well as that heavy usage of an orchestra in this one which just makes so much sense thanks to Jonny's incredible work.

So yeah.

TL;DR - King of Limbs is their worst album, if you don't count Pablo Honey, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad.
Click to expand...

well, i've been listening to radiohead since ok computer and i like king of limbs way more than amnesiac, the bends, and hail to the thief.

it's not like they just forgot to put stuff into it. i get that it's not as grandiose a work as some of their other albums, but i feel like they achieved what they set out to. it's just not for you, and that's fine.
 
J

jambo

Member
demon said:
So it's on Google Play Music now. I'm so goddamn tempted to give it a first listen but I want to listen to it all the way through with no distractions on my good headphones and I'm so busy studying for finals. arrghhh...
Click to expand...

Still not up in Australia =[
 
I

I Big JG I

Banned
jambo said:
I think I got to about 8 before I switched to another new album

http://www.last.fm/user/jambowned/library

Only getting better and better, especially listening with headphones.
Click to expand...

One of the coolest thing i caught today in Identikit is toms singing is subtle and un-clear, kind of like a sub-conscious talking to him. At 0:44 Tom comes in on the left channel ohlalala "like i'm here" then the next bar he gets singing, Pretty simple but just something I thought was cool.
 
M

MetalGearOnlineK

Member
I love the album. I'd put it in second place after In Rainbows personally. I kinda wish there was one high energy song just to add some more variety but overall I'm very happy with the album and don't think there are any weak tracks. Daydreaming, Decks Dark, and Dark Island Disk are my favourite tracks.
 
R

Released

Member
I don't know that people hate Electioneering, it's just usually viewed as the weakest track on OKC, a view I share.

Edit: Well neglecting Fitter Happier I guess, which is more an interlude than a full-fledged track.
 
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