A Moon Shaped Pool
by Radiohead
  • Record Label: XL
  • Release Date: May 8, 2016
User Score
8.9

Universal acclaim- based on 1525 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,393 out of 1525
  2. Mixed: 41 out of 1525
  3. Negative: 91 out of 1525
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  1. SuperMax156
    May 23, 2016
    1
    Geez, what has happened to radiohead? This album is dull and lifeless. Its the most boring recording they have ever made. I guess we have just seen them jump the shark. Cannot believe the good reviews this is getting. King of Limbs was head and shoulders above this. I will be generous and give it a 1 because burn the witch is ok, it raised my hopes, but I have been listening to this sinceGeez, what has happened to radiohead? This album is dull and lifeless. Its the most boring recording they have ever made. I guess we have just seen them jump the shark. Cannot believe the good reviews this is getting. King of Limbs was head and shoulders above this. I will be generous and give it a 1 because burn the witch is ok, it raised my hopes, but I have been listening to this since it came out thinking it will start to sound better but no, its just a terrible and boring album.… Expand
  2. StophJS
    May 14, 2016
    3
    Burn the Witch sits at the front of this album like a siren luring you into another 50ish minutes of complete and utter boredom. I cannot believe the rave reviews this is getting from fans. Strong, energetic tracks that were abundant as recently as In Rainbows are nowhere to be found. This is not a rock album - the only exception being the opening track. Apart from a few moments, thisBurn the Witch sits at the front of this album like a siren luring you into another 50ish minutes of complete and utter boredom. I cannot believe the rave reviews this is getting from fans. Strong, energetic tracks that were abundant as recently as In Rainbows are nowhere to be found. This is not a rock album - the only exception being the opening track. Apart from a few moments, this album drifts by in a manner that offers nothing to keep your attention, eventually coming to an abrupt end with yet another song that was not even written in the past few years, only to leave you shrugging your shoulders. Massively disappointed to find out that the band didn't seem to come to terms with the issues that made The King of Limbs such a let down.… Expand
  3. dr_heartless
    May 10, 2016
    1
    This is a band on auto pilot. It's a mess of boring noise with nothing to offer unless your looking looking to impress other Radiohead fans with how much you can put up with this lack luster lump of junk. I've been with them from the start but after this and king of limbs I'm out!
  4. itsover
    May 19, 2016
    0
    Those waiting since In Rainbows for another good Radiohead/Thom Yorke record will have to keep waiting.

    Or if you want it bad enough you can say this is as good as Kid A. Wait a year to see if you still think that or are brave enough to say so in public. When the first single dropped I thought ‘yes they’re back.’ I had that song on repeat for hours on end. Then when the    Those waiting since In Rainbows for another good Radiohead/Thom Yorke record will have to keep waiting.

    Or if you want it bad enough you can say this is as good as Kid A. Wait a year to see if you still think that or are brave enough to say so in public.

    When the first single dropped I thought ‘yes they’re back.’ I had that song on repeat for hours on end.

    Then when the ‘Daydreaming’ vid was released I was worried. Not only is the video some of PTA’s lamest work, it featured an especially greasy Yorke wandered though a multitude of doors without finding whatever it is that he has long lost.

    Do a search for A Moon Shaped Pool and the adjective ‘lush’ and your browser might crash. Apparently you must listen to this record with headphones to appreciate the ‘lush’ production.

    Ultimately the best production techniques cannot deliver the best tunes. And this record is a collection of formally rejected songs given the full film score treatment. A one-note, often out of tune Yorke doesn’t help. Nor do his nauseatingly bad 60’s protest song lyrics: We are of the Earth / To her we do return / The future is inside us.

    And what about the choirs on the record - was Guy Garvey credited for those?

    Then there’s the closer in ‘True Love Waits’. We are supposed to feel the poignancy of Yorke’s divorce. I think the greater tragedy is that the truer version of this track is found where it belongs, when Radiohead were at their peak, on 2001’s I Might Be Wrong.    … Expand
  5. brettrosey
    May 12, 2016
    3
    I love Radiohead, but I'm not going to blindly fall in line like so many others for an album that is underwhelming, at best. They completely botched what was a great song in True Love Waits, and the rest of the record makes it clear that the majority of these tracks were just previously demoed songs that they decided to throw together into an album. If you actually think there is any kindI love Radiohead, but I'm not going to blindly fall in line like so many others for an album that is underwhelming, at best. They completely botched what was a great song in True Love Waits, and the rest of the record makes it clear that the majority of these tracks were just previously demoed songs that they decided to throw together into an album. If you actually think there is any kind of concept behind this record, you're fooling yourself. But regardless of that, I'm strictly looking at this record from a melodic perspective -- and the bottom line is it's lacking. It doesn't grip you like (some) of the tracks on King of Limbs, and is nowhere close to reaching masterpiece status like In Rainbows ultimately achieved. I would have rather waited another 5 years than be given this half effort record full of b-sides. And in regards to the reviews, Radiohead could have put out a record of 10 white noise tracks, and Radiohead fans would be calling it a revolutionary record. So take them with a strong grain of salt.… Expand
  6. finfrosk
    May 13, 2016
    2
    Oh my god what a fantastically boring album. Every song sounds the same. Alright, so I'm no Radiohead fan per se, but just thought I'd give it a go. Doubt I will ever listen to another one of these songs ever again. I probably don't get it or something, but hey. Reviews are subjective, yeah?
  7. SumitSumbria
    May 21, 2016
    3
    The album is a masterpiece but musically incorrect. It takes you to a different world that is peaceful. But the meaningless notes disturb the whole atmosphere of relaxation. I don't understand why artists go against the rules of music and do such weired things which have no meaning. I cannot accept incorrect music from a music album.
  8. boulez
    May 9, 2016
    0
    It seems there's a time in every white, male, middle class, suburban millennial's life where we, usually around the age of 13, fall in love with Radiohead. It's a perfectly natural reaction. Their melodramatic, angst-ridden screeds against vague ideas of corporate evil and heads of state fit perfectly into our newly minted interests in things we can hardly begin to understand. But youIt seems there's a time in every white, male, middle class, suburban millennial's life where we, usually around the age of 13, fall in love with Radiohead. It's a perfectly natural reaction. Their melodramatic, angst-ridden screeds against vague ideas of corporate evil and heads of state fit perfectly into our newly minted interests in things we can hardly begin to understand. But you don't need to understand much to fully appreciate being holed up in your bedroom listening to Let Down on blast on our iPod alarm clock radio while thinking about your crush in Algebra who looked at you for a full 2 seconds that day. For their part, Radiohead has done well in transitioning these 13 y/os with burgeoning interests in music to transition to less juvenile acts. They've aped Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, Can, etc and thusly led their teenage fans down that road. Fast forward to their latest, 'A Moon Shaped Pool'. Radiohead seem to have given up on appropriating genuinely interesting music in favor of rehashing what sounds like a mishmash of Coldplay's greatest hits. For any well-learned, well-listened educated person the fact that the album is bad is not surprising. Radiohead have never produced a genuinely good album in their careers. But, still, they served a valuable purpose in the lives of music fans by leading them to greener pastures. With their ninth record instead they give them the finger and point to A.M.-radio-Superbowl-halftime-life-insurance-commercial ""rock"" music. Rock in scare quotes because as much as they still retain their love for guitars and drums and bass this is the most flaccid sound ever produced from an ostensibly uproarious art form. I mean, Steely Dan managed to make tepid rock music sound nice by combining it with white-people-jazz and a supreme ear for melody but I can't say anything as redeeming for this heap Radiohead has put out. It's mid-tempo background music for 50 minutes. I almost don't want to call this music. 'Music' has the import of art. This sounds like computer-generated sound for playing in department stores meant to keep young shoplifters out of the store by boring them to tears.… Expand
  9. getwiththetimes
    May 8, 2016
    0
    Does Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood even know what they're doing anymore? This Album is degrading towards its fans and to those who'll accidentally have it shuffled and disjointed way deep into the full discography of Radiohead. Zero stars. Zero points. Two thumbs down. Rotten score. Rotten album.
  10. TheReviewGuyx
    May 9, 2016
    3
    It's okay, I guess. They've created better albums. Obviously, you should check it out, but subjectively speaking, I couldn't help feeling a little underwhelmed after just listening to the masterpiece that is 'Lemonade'.
  11. nikiwoodz
    May 12, 2016
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. "I do not hate them. I do not wish them harm. I just think that their fans - boring, disgusting, and not look like a good time "(Liam Gallagher of Radiohead).
    And it's not an album just awful music is not text.
    Simply music to sit at home and complain.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best Album of 2016
8
#8 Most Discussed Album of 2016
11
#11 Most Shared Album of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 43 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 43
  3. Negative: 0 out of 43
  1. Austin Chronicle
    Aug 11, 2016
    89
    Gone are any remnants of yesteryear's "rock music" ideology, thrusting Radiohead into a mature state of potentially their best work still to come.
    Read full review
  2. Magnet
    Aug 9, 2016
    90
    This is Radiohead's deepest, darkest pool of devotion and doubt in a career marked by almost nothing but. [No. 133, p.51]
  3. Uncut
    Jun 21, 2016
    90
    There's a lighter, more hopeful bent to the musical settings, which perfectly balance the more dissonant leanings of The King Of Limbs with a sumptuousness and gentleness they've rarely sought since OK Computer. [Aug 2016, p.81]
See all critic reviews »