Radiohead: The King of Limbs LP

Known for their explorative and restless sound, taking influence from old style rock like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Pink Floyd as well as from electronica and hip hop, each of Radiohead's albums marks a cornerstone in their musical evolution. The artistic provocateurs followed up their 7x Grammy nominated 2007 release In Rainbows with the groove-oriented The King of Limbs four years later. Produced by longtime collaborator Nigel Godrich, frontman Thom Yorke described the album as an expression of "wildness" and "mutation" and it finds his emotive falsetto soaring over syncopated beats looped together with real instruments. Anchored by standout cut "Lotus Flower," the album yielded five more Grammy nominations and was listed as one of the best albums of 2011 by publications far and wide. "It is an album of spaciousness and claustrophobia, possibility and inhibition... Radiohead treats the tracks like cavernous canvasses, careful not to fill in too much: percussion skitters and darts, voices reverberate in vast empty spaces, keyboards hover, bass and guitars play abstract patterns against one another, Yorke's voice stretches delicate melodies." -Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune, February 19, 2011