Radiohead - In Rainbows

[bluebottle]

there's no cover art...

i was surprised there was nothing other than the mp3's in the zip file... i don't know why, i expected cover art, maybe a little note or something...

[tapehead]

I'd be surprised if the cover art is anything other than the website page image and text.

[Leckomaniac]

well based on this picure:



I would say it is possible that this is the artwork:



Or at least it is the artwork for the vinyl.

[doglips]

5 listens in and I'm loving Colin Greenwood's bass on this record, some great melodies laying deep down in these tracks.

[doglips]

Here's........ Jonny!

[The Vicar]

Just heard me some Radiohead on NPR, yes, NPR fer cromssake ( National Public Radio, to our out of country friends ).
I'm interested.
Always ready for more good music.

[Worst Part's Almost Over]

With the release of a new Radiohead album, there always seems to be the desire for them to return to the sound of OK Computer, something I’ve never particularly understood. The very best bands are often the ones that evolve their sound with each new record and I think it’s safe to say Radiohead have done it once again with new album In Rainbows.

The first thing to point out is that this is probably the most relaxed sounding batch of songs Radiohead have ever recorded. The melodies are often soft and warm, the arrangements very sonically beautiful. With the exception of ‘Bodysnatchers’, which is a fast paced trashy guitar number reminiscent of ‘2+2=5’, In Rainbows is an atmospheric album that highlights the softer side of Radiohead. Secondly, it is a very ‘stripped back’ sound (as the band have described it) but it is nicely bulked up with additional orchestral instruments.

Kicking off the album is the Kid A style number ’15 Step’. Tribal beats backed with quietly plucked electric guitar support a very good Yorke vocal. It’s similarity to the sound of Kid A means it’s won me over quite quickly (Kid A is my favourite Radiohead album) and is a great album opener in the same way that ‘Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box’ is on Amnesiac. ‘Bodysnatchers’ picks the pace up next and is just such an excellent little rock number. It’s got that edgy, unnatural quality that was showcased on the band’s last album in tracks like ‘Myxamatosis’. Love the way it rushes along towards the end. This is followed by a track familiar to most Radiohead fans, as it’s been a staple of the band's live shows for a few years now. ‘Nude’ has never been studio recorded, but the rendition they’ve produced here is something startling. While I still love the beautiful piano version of the live shows, this stripped down bass-led version is just gorgeous. Bringing the eerie choral voices and strings in for the chorus, the track just builds into a lush display of how sweet (yes, sweet) Radiohead can be. ‘Weird Fishes/Arpeggi’ follows and it’s another very sweet vocal melody over very simple drum/bass/guitar backing. It moves at a good pace so as not to become dull (unlike later track ‘Reckoner’), with some well worked backing vocals from Yorke. This track highlights what I said earlier about the album being atmospheric – musically it’s almost dreamlike. Closing the first half of the album is ‘All I Need’. This opens with synth pad chords that sound exactly like the opening of ‘Where I End And You Begin’ from Hail To The Thief. But this is sort of a red herring, because then a fuzzy bass line kicks in and Yorke’s voice quietly filter’s through, the song building up slowly with a really unsettling edge to it. The second verse brings in more instruments and broadens the sound. Overall, the track is just so subtle with everything it does and the closing section is a gorgeous ‘wall of sound’ type play out. This is my favourite song on the album and I think most fans will consider it a classic.

Side two begins with 'Faust Arp', just Yorke’s soft singing and Elliott Smith style finger picked guitar, but backed with almost Beatles like strings. Very delicate and quiet and a really relaxing song too. Another of my favourites. Sadly, we now get ‘Reckoner’, a track that for me is just plain dull. It doesn’t really go anywhere, Yorke’s vocal stays in the higher range for most of the track (which starts to grate after a while) and the actual melody sounds like something U2 might come up with. Even after a few listens, I just can’t enjoy this song. ‘House Of Cards’ stands out on the record as not only Yorke’s most simplistically sweet lyric (possibly ever) but also the most chilled out melody Radiohead have done for a long time. It’s almost (but not quite) reggae in terms of the beat, a really gorgeous little pop song with some wonderfully weird synth strings and relaxed vocal harmonies. Penultimate track ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’ is the second best track on the album in my opinion. Kicking off almost like ‘Paranoid Android’, it’s a quick paced number that goes all over the place melody wise, in that way that Radiohead seem to be able to pull off well. There’s quite a similar feel musically to the last album single ‘There There’ and the strings coming in near the end really give it a good lift.

Closing the album is ‘Videotape’. Now, I’ve had instances before where Radiohead have done something ‘experimental’ and it’s ruined the song for me. They did it with ‘Like Spinning Plates’ on Amnesiac, which is a beautiful song ruined by Radiohead trying too hard to be different and recording the whole bloody thing backwards. The amount of sonic strangeness in ‘The Gloaming’ on Hail To The Thief would be another example. So here we have what would be a really quiet and moody album closer that is spoiled by strange percussion sounds seemingly dumped randomly throughout the song. It doesn’t work, it just ruins the track for me.

In Rainbows left me feeling a bit disappointed on first listen because it didn't grab me. But this is because it really is a grower. It’s not an album aiming to kick your ear drums down but to lull them into submission. It’s sweet, almost romantic in it’s melodies and is something (once again) very different from Radiohead. There are some missteps and moments that don’t work for me as a fan but, in spite of this, In Rainbows manages to be their best album since Kid A.

8/10

[tapehead]

It's only going to be nutty audiophiles who complain.

Tinny and muddy at times - it's compressed - there's also a couple of points on the album - one, particularly, in the Reckoning, that makes my old stereo speakers crackle - signal peaking. Or else the mix is pretty fucking bad at times, which I refuse to believe. These are also things you're less likely to notice through small stereos or ipod headphones until you've listened a few times.

Reall looking forward to the chance to hear it on vinyl, but as a free preview, it's great.

[stereosforgeeks]

Tapes did you order the the set?

[tapehead]

Too expensive for me - I have friends who are expecting it and will have us around for a listen. I might get it eventually.

[Leckomaniac]

I downloaded it as well. I enjoyed it. Quite a nice listen. I would say it is from good-very good.

160 bitrate didnt bug me on my iPod, but it bugged me when I listened to it on the stereo.

[tapehead]

I had the same experience - it was just fine when I played it on my mp3 player ( which is actually my nokia phone) but when I burnt it to cd, or played it directly out of my pc to and amp and speakers - it's lacking bottom end (and there are some great bass lines buried in there, as I think doglips mentioned). Try listening to this album in it's current form and then OK Computer for an A/B comparison.

[Leckomaniac]

What do the (awful) reviewers at Rolling Stone think?

4 1/2 stars out of 5

These wily boys may have a secret album-title exchange program with Kelly Clarkson, but everything else about In Rainbows is typically hard-rocking Radiohead. Like every other Radiohead album except Kid A — still their most famous album, but they only made it once — In Rainbows has uptempo guitar songs and moody acoustic ballads, full of headphone-tweaking sound effects. All of it rocks; none of it sounds like any other band on earth; it delivers an emotional punch that proves all other rock stars owe us an apology.

In a brilliant move, Radiohead released In Rainbows via optional-pay download; I paid $5.27, in honor of my mom's birthday. Almost all the songs are already familiar to fans from live versions, but here they become expansive new creations. "Arpeggi" and "Bodysnatchers" ride on white-heat rhythm-guitar overdrive, while "House of Cards" is a fragile lovers-rock ballad closely resembling Dusty Springfield's (and the Byrds') "Going Back." "All I Need" has erotic pleading ("I'm an animal trapped in your hot car"), sad chimes in the "No Surprises" mode, and an ominoso synth-piano rumble.

On 2003's Hail to the Thief, Yorke's vocals were all punk rage, but here his voice has an R&B lilt that suits the songs' romantic directness. The end of "Videotape" is the only time the band dips back into dated glitch-blip electronics. Otherwise, the music is full of vividly collaborative sonic touches, from the Gary Numan synth-nightmare drones of "All I Need" and "House of Cards" to drummer Phil Selway's surprisingly deft way with his brushes and woodblocks. No wasted moments, no weak tracks: just primo Radiohead. Hell, I'm going back and tipping them another quarter just for the finger-cymbal solo on "Reckoner."

I really hope they had the album early because writing a review based on 24 hours is kind of, you know, silly. It takes a few day to let it all sink in. But that is Rolling Stone for you.

[stereosforgeeks]

What do the (awful) reviewers at Rolling Stone think?

4 1/2 stars out of 5

These wily boys may have a secret album-title exchange program with Kelly Clarkson, but everything else about In Rainbows is typically hard-rocking Radiohead. Like every other Radiohead album except Kid A — still their most famous album, but they only made it once — In Rainbows has uptempo guitar songs and moody acoustic ballads, full of headphone-tweaking sound effects. All of it rocks; none of it sounds like any other band on earth; it delivers an emotional punch that proves all other rock stars owe us an apology.

In a brilliant move, Radiohead released In Rainbows via optional-pay download; I paid $5.27, in honor of my mom's birthday. Almost all the songs are already familiar to fans from live versions, but here they become expansive new creations. "Arpeggi" and "Bodysnatchers" ride on white-heat rhythm-guitar overdrive, while "House of Cards" is a fragile lovers-rock ballad closely resembling Dusty Springfield's (and the Byrds') "Going Back." "All I Need" has erotic pleading ("I'm an animal trapped in your hot car"), sad chimes in the "No Surprises" mode, and an ominoso synth-piano rumble.

On 2003's Hail to the Thief, Yorke's vocals were all punk rage, but here his voice has an R&B lilt that suits the songs' romantic directness. The end of "Videotape" is the only time the band dips back into dated glitch-blip electronics. Otherwise, the music is full of vividly collaborative sonic touches, from the Gary Numan synth-nightmare drones of "All I Need" and "House of Cards" to drummer Phil Selway's surprisingly deft way with his brushes and woodblocks. No wasted moments, no weak tracks: just primo Radiohead. Hell, I'm going back and tipping them another quarter just for the finger-cymbal solo on "Reckoner."

I really hope they had the album early because writing a review based on 24 hours is kind of, you know, silly. It takes a few day to let it all sink in. But that is Rolling Stone for you.

It says he paid. So he had to get it with the masses.

[Leckomaniac]

So he wrote a review after having the thing for what? 12 hours give or take?

I am sorry but if you are writing a review for a publication like Rolling Stone you should at least give it a few days before reviewing. Instead they want to publish a review as fast as they can so we get this shitty review.

[vicious_bastard]

In Rainbows is typically hard-rocking Radiohead

Huh?!? Like it or not, it is far from "hard rocking" barring Bodysnatchers (which reminds me a bit of a sped up Humpin' Hobo Slobo Babe in places).

No advance press copies were issued btw.

[Leckomaniac]

I had a feeling that no press copies were issues, but I wasnt 100 percent sure.

And I would not categorize this album as "hard rocking" at all. Not in the least. Just another gem by the crack review staff at Rolling Stone.

[vicious_bastard]

Crack smoking more like. Kelly Clarkson's album probably "rocks" harder, ironically. Not that I own it or anything. Honest.

[stereosforgeeks]

Crack smoking more like. Kelly Clarkson's album probably "rocks" harder, ironically. Not that I own it or anything. Honest.

Not only are we bashing Rolling Stone but Clarkson as well!?!?!?!

[vicious_bastard]

Sorry. This'll cheer you up.

[stereosforgeeks]

Sorry. This'll cheer you up.

I worry that your going to start bashing Vanessa Carlton next.

I saw that on Pitchfork this morning and it's pretty great. Reminds me of this.

[TheBaxter]

Here's........ Jonny!

my favourite quote:

Maybe people writing lighter music are very angry, violent people. I don’t know, that’s interesting. Maybe Burt Bacharach writes stuff and then fights.

[vicious_bastard]

Is that Har Mar Superstar doing the tune at the beginning? I'm surprised Pitchfork are yet to review the album - most of the UK papers have chimed in and are annoyingly positive. I bet they savage it.

As for me, I tried to listen it again today but got bored, again. I think I will bury it and dig it up in a few months. Being 100% narcotic free doesn't help - I'll give it a blast with a joint on the beach in Thailand, when I escape the bitterly cold Chinese winter at the end of December.

[stereosforgeeks]

Is that Har Mar Superstar doing the tune at the beginning? I'm surprised Pitchfork are yet to review the album - most of the UK papers have chimed in and are annoyingly positive. I bet they savage it.

As for me, I tried to listen it again today but got bored, again. I think I will bury it and dig it up in a few months. Being 100% narcotic free doesn't help - I'll give it a blast with a joint on the beach in Thailand, when I escape the bitterly cold Chinese winter at the end of December.

I bet they do tommorow.

You know I actually like Yorke's solo album more than this one I think. A joint and that record was bliss. I don't know what this one would sound like in that state of mind.

[vicious_bastard]

You know I actually like Yorke's solo album more than this one I think.

I agree - I loved the unusual time-signatures which are missing on the new one.

[stereosforgeeks]

You know I actually like Yorke's solo album more than this one I think.

I agree - I loved the unusual time-signatures which are missing on the new one.

Ohh yeah. I also liked how there were so many patterns hidden in the layers of music.

[Wolfpack]

Someone made a really cool video for "Analyse" and posted it on youtube. Really decent art style. I've posted the link before....let me see if I can find it again.

[Wolfpack]

Ah, yes! Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwSxzdqrxlI

[TonyWilson]

After 15 listens and a couple of days to digest it all I though I should post a review.


It's warm, relaxing at times. It's a relatively fun record. Traditional song structures (I too, miss the crazy time signatures), lush instrumentation - Nude is the "good universe" version of How To Disappear Completely. If The Gloaming* was Radiohead making an obvious howl of protest then this is Radiohead making a record to take comfort it in, some hope against the bleakness.
What's so wonderful about that is that they've taken elements from all their previous work, b-sides in particular actually, and crafted a set of songs that showcase the awe inspiring side of the band, it's here that the 160kbps sucks because most of these songs are meant to be played LOUD.
Bodysnatchers is Pearly* filtered through Kid A, Faust Arp is Wolf At The Door mixed with The Bends.
As ever it’s an album you can get lost in but it won’t be as unsettling as anything you felt when you listened to the rest of RH’s post The Bends work.
Phil Selway’s drumming, all precision beats and breaks give the songs the beginnings of their happier moods and coupled with Colin Greenwood’s bass (as brilliant as everyone has being saying) the most traditional elements are the best parts of the album. It’s a potent reminder that these guys are a brilliant rock band and no matter how much laptop production they use they still know how to make a beautiful bare bones indie/rock song. I can confidently predict that when they next tour much of these tracks will be absolutely stomping epic rockers like Palo Alto or Maquiladora.
So they’ve reaffirmed they can still make deep, rich and accessible songs the only thing left to do is end the album with a jaw droppingly beautiful song like Wolf At The Door, Life In A Glasshouse, Motion Picture Soundtrack and Street Spirit (Fade Out) – Videotape can easily be placed amongst these songs, it’s not got the apocalyptic brilliance of Life In A Glasshouse (amongst my very favourite Radiohead songs) but it’s spare atmosphere and the rolling drums make a perfect epilogue for the previous 9 songs.
They’ll probably never make anything as genius as OK Computer of Kid A ever again, but so what? They are a band of great integrity who make intelligent meaningful music that’s truly moving and they’ve made something they hope will helps us get through all the shit that’s happening in the world right today. Bravo.


8.9/10

[Leckomaniac]

Excellent review Tony. I would probably give the album and 8-8.5/10. I am not a large Radiohead fan, but I am having a good experience with this album thus far.

[Leckomaniac]

Reports say that the album was downloaded 1.2 million time

Wow.

[stereosforgeeks]

Reports say that the album was downloaded 1.2 million time

Wow.

I'm sure it's around there but I think the number is inflated with people who wouldnt have got the album had it not been "pay what you want"

[Leckomaniac]

Reports say that the album was downloaded 1.2 million time

Wow.

I'm sure it's around there but I think the number is inflated with people who wouldnt have got the album had it not been "pay what you want"

But still...it increases the fanbase...maybe brings new people to shows.

[vicious_bastard]

I'm more interested to see how many 40 quid box-sets they sell. As will most of the bands in the world - pretty much all the money will go directly into Radiohead's pockets. It will easily sell a million I reckon. Without sounding too dramatic, I genuinely think that things will never be the same again as far as music marketing goes. A perfect antidote for the money lost to filesharing - musicians get what they deserve (I haven't bought a CD in years so am being slightly hypocritical, but anyway) and the record company/distribution fat-cats who charge silly money for a piece of plastic go bust. It's perfect, I tells ya.

[magicmonkey]

I've heard it 1.743 times, and award it in this 1/10 of a second 10.9999999999999 out of ten.

Most pleasant.

[magicmonkey]

Ah fuck it, I give it a Claire Raynor out of 5.

[TonyWilson]

"Haha, the entire record industry is so fucked!"

[TonyWilson]

Yeh, er scratch my orignal review.





Just listened to it stoned.







FUCKING MASTERPIECE.

[doglips]

Haha, well I didn't get stoned to further my appreciation of In Rainbows, but I did sit down for the first time and listen to it with no other distractions. I've gotta say, it is a fucking brilliant record - the first few listens impressed me no end but sitting back and letting it wash over me last night really brought forward the emotive qualities this record contains - so many beautiful moments and melodies. 'All I Need' really is a classic Radiohead song - the perfect link into the record if you are pining for OK Computer era 'head. I'm addicted to House of Cards.

[Pacino86845]

I downloaded the album on the weekend, but I haven't given it a listen yet... Monday at work, I'll probably post something about the record later.

[doglips]

The Pitchfork review is up and you ( haha, very nice ) get to grade it yourself.....

( They actually give it 9.3! )

[Nordling]

Stunning work. "All I Need" jumps up to the top 5 of my favorite Radiohead songs ever.

[Pacino86845]

So I've listened to the album a few times already... I'll definitely co-sign the "grows on you" sentiments. Nothing really sticks out as a badass track per se, In Rainbows hits its highs during the quieter, minimalistic tunes (All I Need, Videotape, which is my favorite track of the whole record).

The first couple of tracks don't really fit IMO, and when I'd first heard them I had a poor first impression of the album. Overall I'd say it's very good. I'd still rate OK Computer, Kid A, and The Bends higher, but In Rainbows is a cut above Hail to the Thief and Amnesiac, which is saying a lot nonetheless.

[tapehead]

Nothing really sticks out as a badass track per se,

I notice 'Bodysnatchers' is the one I've heard on the radio (at work) most since the songs arrived to us all. It's mellow breakdown and re-build from about two and a half minutes in actually makes me think of Supergrass or 'The Bends' era-Radiohead guitar riffing. I would have guessed it might have been a single if they released this album through a label in the conventional fashion.

[magicmonkey]

Coincidentally I was listening to "Bodysnatcher" whilst reading this thread, it's a great Bend's crossover with OK Computer, plus 1% sex pistols (right at the end), its a stonker and wholeheartedly badass.

[tapehead]

I suggested this to a dj friend of mine and he recently played an indie club set where he mixed a portion of 'Reckoner' and it's most 'hip hop' of all Radiohead drumbeats seamlessly from Stone Roses' 'Fool's Gold' and then into Massive Attack's 'Unifinished Sympathy' - oddly appropriate, I thought (if a little late 20th C)

[The Ginger Man]

Gotta say, In Rainbows is growing on me. First few listens, it was like background music...but now, I'm pretty sold. Solid album. Really, really like it.

[Pacino86845]

I'm pretty much settled on Videotape as my favorite track of the album, with All I Need and Reckoner as very honorable mentions... does anyone else feel that for their last few albums especially, Radiohead's end tracks kick unholy amounts of arse?

Kid A - Motion Picture Soundtrack
Amnesiac - Life in a Glass House
Hail to the Thief - A Wolf at the Door
In Rainbows - Videotape

I don't like Tourist off of OK Computer, but The Bends' Street Spirit is awesome as well.

[TonyWilson]

I'm pretty much settled on Videotape as my favorite track of the album, with All I Need and Reckoner as very honorable mentions... does anyone else feel that for their last few albums especially, Radiohead's end tracks kick unholy amounts of arse?

Kid A - Motion Picture Soundtrack
Amnesiac - Life in a Glass House
Hail to the Thief - A Wolf at the Door
In Rainbows - Videotape

I don't like Tourist off of OK Computer, but The Bends' Street Spirit is awesome as well.

My review does mention that, Pacino (I give props to The Tourist tho')

Here's an interesting question, anyone noticed the sort of clattering drum fill that plays all the way through Videotape? It's very faint, almost like an whisper but it's constantly there.



EDIT: apparently I don't give props to The Tourist in my review.

[Pacino86845]

And so you have...

the only thing left to do is end the album with a jaw droppingly beautiful song like Wolf At The Door, Life In A Glasshouse, Motion Picture Soundtrack and Street Spirit (Fade Out) – Videotape can easily be placed amongst these songs, it’s not got the apocalyptic brilliance of Life In A Glasshouse (amongst my very favourite Radiohead songs) but it’s spare atmosphere and the rolling drums make a perfect epilogue for the previous 9 songs.

Tourist is ok, but compared to the rest of the album it's one of the weakest tracks... unlike what happens on their other records where the last song is among the best.