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

worst part of this album is def the vocal melodies--very weak compared to past efforts. certainly feels like jonny was in the driver seat given the strength of the record being the arrangements
 

RoKKeR

Member
Glass Eyes -> Identikit -> The Numbers

Fuck me, incredible string of songs.

The only song that I am not feeling at all is Ful Stop. I'm not the biggest fan of Kid A, but I hear some of it in this song and it doesn't really grab me.

Also Decks Dark is incredibly underrated it seems, absolutely love the groove on that song.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
worst part of this album is def the vocal melodies--very weak compared to past efforts. certainly feels like jonny was in the driver seat given the strength of the record being the arrangements

I think there are a lot of strong vocal melodies, but some of them only unraveled for me after multiple listens (Darks Deck, BTW).

You're right, he's definitely at the forefront. The unsung hero of the album though is the piano. It's presence is everywhere and it seems to drive (nearly) all the songs. I guess this is their Piano Concerto album :D

The only song that I am not feeling at all is Ful Stop. I'm not the biggest fan of Kid A, but I hear some of it in this song and it doesn't really grab me.

Also Decks Dark is incredibly underrated it seems, absolutely love the groove on that song.

I can't get Ful Stop out of my head. There's something of a subdued Sit Down, Stand Up build up in there, along with Can and Vangelis.

Decks Dark's ending strut is awesome.
 
I love how everytime I listen to the album that another song sticks out for me. I'm really digging Present Tense now. Also, the album version of Identikit is so damned good that I no longer think about the live version when listening. I was hoping that was going to happen.
 

InfernoNR

Member
I'm waiting until Friday to listen with two of my friends and my wife (who are also holding out) for a listening party, since we're all huge fans we want to make it special. The wait is EXCRUCIATING.
 

Servbot24

Banned
worst part of this album is def the vocal melodies--very weak compared to past efforts. certainly feels like jonny was in the driver seat given the strength of the record being the arrangements

I agree, the core song-writing is not very memorable. Production is insane though.
 
Also Decks Dark is incredibly underrated it seems, absolutely love the groove on that song.

For sure, it's one of my favorites.

Meh, I usually skip Paranoid Android when I'm listening to OKC. Too long and I really wanna get into Subterranean Homesick Alien already.

I love SHA, probably my number 1 fav Radiohead song, so I'm with you there, 100%. But skipping Paranoid Android? Why would you do that? I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of its bridge part (or the noisy ending), but the rest of it is brilliant. And the noisy ending does make for a nice contrast with SHA's blissful opening.
 

KidB

Member
Wow, I was not expecting this to be so good. Top 3 for me easily, Daydreaming, Ful Stop and Identikit are orgasmic and this version of True Love Waits is so wonderfully emotional. The album flows really well, second only to Kid A.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
I can see this version of Ful Stop being an absolute monster live song.

Full Stop was a monster live when they played it on their last tour ;)

I wouldn't be surprised if Thom doesn't play that at all anymore tbh.

This version was played at nearly every show on their last tour just before Everything in its Right Place, though.
 

Esiquio

Member
Since no one answered this before, I'll ask again:

I bought the 24-BIT WAV version. Anyone else? Notice a difference? What program do you recommend to listen to this on a PC? I have Sennheiser HD598's and an Astro MixAmp.
 
Randomly listening to KOL after days of AMSP on loop, it's pretty fucking good. Bloom and Lotus Flower are still stellar.

Don't get me wrong KOL is not the better album, but man it feels REALLY good after listening to the slower paced AMSP for a while. At least it did for me.
 

Blader

Member
Did anyone else see the thread title before they listened to the album and had a quick moment where they thought it meant the album was actually terrible? :lol
 

Steamlord

Member
Did anyone else see the thread title before they listened to the album and had a quick moment where they thought it meant the album was actually terrible? :lol

I saw it after I listened to the album and was confused because I thought it meant everybody except me hated it.
 
I'm waiting until Friday to listen with two of my friends and my wife (who are also holding out) for a listening party, since we're all huge fans we want to make it special. The wait is EXCRUCIATING.

Oof not a chance I'd listen to this for the first time with other people.

Get in your car and take a drive.
 

Servbot #42

Unconfirmed Member
i've been listening the album on google play and it's so beautiful, wow. My favorite track has to be Present Tense, specially the second half, it's godly.
 

Skeletron

Member
worst part of this album is def the vocal melodies--very weak compared to past efforts. certainly feels like jonny was in the driver seat given the strength of the record being the arrangements
I completely disagree. Even on the shorter tracks I'm blown away by the subtle mastery of the vocals. Thom uses his voice like an instrument. So much with so little. Take Desert Island Disk. The pitch of the vocal melody rises as the song develops and that moment at "waking up from shutdown" when he starts shifting smoothly between major and minor...playing with the 3rd and 6th tones of the scale. So gorgeous.
 

Helmholtz

Member
Since no one answered this before, I'll ask again:

I bought the 24-BIT WAV version. Anyone else? Notice a difference? What program do you recommend to listen to this on a PC? I have Sennheiser HD598's and an Astro MixAmp.
Probably hard to notice a difference. But I've always used Foobar2000 for music. It supports that stuff.
 

Steamlord

Member
Since no one answered this before, I'll ask again:

I bought the 24-BIT WAV version. Anyone else? Notice a difference? What program do you recommend to listen to this on a PC? I have Sennheiser HD598's and an Astro MixAmp.

I've never really used Foobar2000 extensively, but MusicBee is my personal jam. It can handle pretty much anything you throw at it.
 

Griss

Member
The album is starting to sink in a bit more now. Must be up to 12-15 playthroughs at this stuff. I've been mainlining The Present Tense recently. Starting to feel set in how I feel about the songs:

Incredible:
Identikit; The Present Tense; Ful Stop; Daydreaming

Great:
Decks Dark; True Love Waits; Tinker Tailor

Really could have been b-sides, but good ones:
Desert Island Disk; Glass Eyes; The Numbers

Don't like it:
Burn the Witch

There's really not much between the Incredible and Great songs there. That's 7/11 fantastic songs right off the bat; not one bad song, and only one I don't really like. What a result after 5 years of waiting. What an album.

worst part of this album is def the vocal melodies--very weak compared to past efforts. certainly feels like jonny was in the driver seat given the strength of the record being the arrangements

It does feel like that but only very sporadically. Jonny's stuff on this record is spectacular, but it feels like it dulled Thom's talents just a bit here or there. Burn the Witch is a good example for me. Not a great performance by Thom there, not a great vocal melody.

But I mean then you've got stuff like The Present Tense, which is Thom at his very best, so it's a give-take.
 

SD-Ness

Member
The Numbers is like a hybrid of so many different sounds and genres. Love it. The piano—jazz, etc. The guitar riffs—Led Zeppelin, Neil Young-ish vibes. The strings. Amazing.

I completely disagree. Even on the shorter tracks I'm blown away by the subtle mastery of the vocals. Thom uses his voice like an instrument. So much with so little. Take Desert Island Disk. The pitch of the vocal melody rises as the song develops and that moment at "waking up from shutdown" when he starts shifting smoothly between major and minor...playing with the 3rd and 6th tones of the scale. So gorgeous.
I'd agree with both of you. The vocals are beautiful and amazing. But they're different than what we're used to. As you said, on this album, Thom's vocals are another instrument. The lyrics are harder to hear than usual, but regardless they go so well with the instrumentals. However, on previous albums they vocals were less of an instrument and more traditional lyrical vocals with more decipherable phrases here and there.
 

Get'sMad

Member
so after like 5 listens I really really like this record while it's playing but I remember hardly anything about it once it's over.
 

Griss

Member
so after like 5 listens I really really like this record while it's playing but I remember hardly anything about it once it's over.

Huh, I said a similar thing to a friend yesterday.

Most Radiohead albums, when I see the song title I can instantly 'hear' the entire song in my head, even after just a listen or two. But on this one, when I see the following names: Decks Dark; Desert Island Disk, Glass Eyes; Present Tense - I can't put a melody or song to the name right away. Which is really, really weird. And on my first two listens, I feel like all of those songs blended together (with Daydreaming, but I remember that one easily as I listened to the single so many times before the album came out.)

I really wish I liked Present Tense. It's one of my least favorite Radiohead songs at the moment.

Wow, other than the vocal echo, (and maybe the slightly strange melody of the choir near the end) it's fast becoming my favourite. Wouldn't be Radiohead if someone's favourite wasn't someone else's least fav and vice versa.
 

InfernoNR

Member
Actually this is a cool idea. I would love to experience an unknown album with a group of people. It is worth the facial expressions alone.

Exactly. We're all huge fans, and wouldn't want to ruin the first run through by talking through it. We did the same thing for The King of Limbs and it was really exciting to hear it, then talk about about it, then listen twice more together.

Gonna break out the Whistlepig bourbon on Friday night and sip away as we have a first listen. Can't stop thinking about it
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Yesterday I said Decks Dark didn't click for me yet, but it absolutely does now. I was on my way to work this morning, stuck in traffic, it was pouring rain and it all kinda clicked.
 

burnfout

Member
Is anyone else really impressed by the sound quality of Tidal?

I just signed up for another Free trial after TLOP. Currently streaming Tidal on my Hifi at home, and it's really nice.


Album sounds way different on good speakers.
 

Pavaloo

Member
Is anyone else really impressed by the sound quality of Tidal?

I just signed up for another Free trial after TLOP. Currently streaming Tidal on my Hifi at home, and it's really nice.


Album sounds way different on good speakers.

totally

i've been using my tidal trial over the 320kb MP3s that came with my purchase
 

dmshaposv

Member
so after like 5 listens I really really like this record while it's playing but I remember hardly anything about it once it's over.

Well both singles (burn the witch and daydreaming) have that power to be etched in the head.

The only other song that stays in the head is true love waits - which could also be a third single.

The other songs flow better as an album, so I jusy enjoy them in the moment rather than remember them afterwards.
 
so after like 5 listens I really really like this record while it's playing but I remember hardly anything about it once it's over.

thats the way in rainbows was for me .. and hail to the thief to an extent as well

i feel like i appreciate the songs more if they come up on shuffle or whatever rather than listening thru straight
 
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