The Observer, October 19, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 8
Radiohead shakes it up with In Rainbows
It feels like it's been a long time since a musical artist has turned the record industry and musical world on their ears. Sure, there are some small incidents like the Kanye West vs. 50 Cent debacle (which never amounted to anything) and a few movements, like the garage rock and post-punk revivals (which both sound more tired and uninteresting each day). Perhaps the last truly significant event in popular music goes all the way back to Radiohead's 2000 release Kid A, or even further to their 1997 magnum opus OK Computer.
The fact of the matter is that they've done it again. For over two years, Radiohead had toiled away in the studio without a record contract, leaving fans to wonder if they'll ever hear any sort of final product. The only reassurance that fans ever received in those two years were sparse, cryptic messages the band left on their blog and a few pictures of the band recording young children clapping in the studio. On Oct. 1, however, out of absolutely nowhere, the band wrote in their blog that their new album, titled In Rainbows, would be released on Oct. 10, exclusively online. As if this wasn't shocking enough, the band also decided that the independently-released album could be purchased for a price determined by the buyer.
This news shocked and excited Radiohead fans and others; everyone from college professors to the White House started talking about the album. The decision paid off for the band too. Approximations reveal that 1.2 million copies of the album were downloaded (topping the entire first-week sales of Kanye West's Graduation), with different reports showing the average price being between one and four English pounds. The decision to release the album in such a fashion, especially in comparison to the massive advertising that their previous albums received, might not have been the most profitable, but it certainly got the public talking. And when a band is as popular and critically lauded as Radiohead is, it has nothing to lose – nothing besides disappointing its fans after an immense amount of hype. Such disappointment could topple the highest towers.
Fortunately for Radiohead and all its fans, this tower stands tall and firm as ever, as "In Rainbows" builds off the band's strengths to make for another excellent release. Having shaken off all of his electronica desires on his 2006 solo release, The Eraser, lead singer Thom Yorke returns, with his bandmates taking just as much spotlight on this album as he does, allowing the band to rock harder and play off each other more than they have done in years.
"15 Step" kicks the record off with a teasing and choppy electronic beat before a bluesy vocal line from Yorke and jazzy guitar lines from Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien take the song away. Elsewhere, the tight rhythm section of bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Phil Selway provide the backbone for some of Radiohead's heaviest material since the 1990s. Fast, pulsating rockers like "Bodysnatchers" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" would almost be danceable if it weren't for the brooding guitar lines and paranoid vocals that threaten to unhinge these songs at any given moment.
In the remaining tracks, Radiohead tones things down with unique balladry that gives In Rainbows a whole new dimension. The slow-burning "Nude" contains one of the group's most beautiful melodies and some of Yorke's most impassioned vocals. "Faust ARP" is a gorgeous acoustic number and manages to make a lasting impression even after clocking in at a mere two minutes and 10 seconds (the album's shortest song). Continuing on the soft streak, the next two songs, "Reckoner" and "House of Cards," are some of the lightest pieces the band has recorded, the former featuring an impressive vocal breakdown and the latter hosting a simple and jazzy guitar riff. The record's final song continues the tradition of ending Radiohead albums on a pessimistic note with "Videotape," which could read as a sort of suicide note. The lilting piano lines, ghostly vocal overdubs, and drum hits that threaten to shake the song from its rhythm all add up to one of the most sublimely beautiful works in the entire Radiohead discography.
Drenched in reverb, laden in strings, and constantly shifting in dynamics with an ever-present build, In Rainbows might just be the album most representative of the Radiohead sound. And while it isn't the band's best album, nor does it even represent as great a progression like some of their previous works, In Rainbows is extremely important as both a historical document that initially perplexed music fans everywhere, and perhaps as the album to finally cement Radiohead's status as one of the best bands in rock history. And yes, it was undoubtedly worth all the hype.
