Radiohead – In Rainbows

Genre rock Publisher Self Released External Links Official Radiohead Website Official In Rainbows Website

Now that the hype over Radiohead's act of releasing their latest recording In Rainbows as a name-your-own price download that spits in the face of record companies has died down, it is time to focus on what is most important - the music on the celebrated band's seventh album in its ground-breaking career.

So is In Rainbows a welcome addition to the canon of the English group or is all the hoopla surrounding the recording just a brilliant public relations gimmick? Well, there is excellent news to report as Radiohead's latest is arguably its best collection of songs since 1997's masterpiece OK Computer.

Best of all, the 10 songs on In Rainbows fit together perfectly together as if a puzzle, with each track as important as the one before. Also, the recording shows the band can still pull off a surprise or two musically and continue to grow along the way.

Much of that second aspect is due to the assumption that most of the songs contained on the release would be guitar-based rock numbers. (Many of the tracks have been worked out in concert over the past couple of years). However, Thom Yorke and company have, for the most part, reworked the songs into gentle yet sonically-impressive works of art that reward with each listen.

Truth be told, Radiohead have not 100 percent completely abandoned their past as the early part of the opening number "15 Steps" shows. The track opens with an electronic drum loop that sounds like it would fit well on the band's more experimental releases such as Kid A. However, less than halfway through, the entire band kicks in and turns the song into a stunner, showing why Radiohead is a great live band. The same is true of the next track, "Bodysnatchers," which is the album's loudest number. Of special note is the great lead guitar by Jonny Greenwood and the fantastic work by drummer Phil Selway and bassist Colin Greenwood on the song.

The band then throws the listener for a loop as some of its most accessible, beautiful songs are next. "Nude" features some of Yorke's finest singing in ages as strings and subtle guitars create a dream-like, cinematic soundscape. Two songs later, the eerie "All I Need" starts off with a simple drum beat backed up with some of Yorke's most honest lyrics such "I'm an animal who wants to share your life" but it builds up to an exciting finish where pianos, synthesizers, and guitars crash marvelously.

In Rainbows' other softer numbers of note are "Reckoner" and "House of Cards." While the latter track may be the simplest song on the release, its use of feedback and Yorke's surprising soulful singing still make it memorable. "Reckoner" is the more experimental of the two as Yorke uses a falsetto voice and the music features unique percussion along with swirling strings.

There are some up tempo numbers sprinkled in the rest of the recording as "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" see the band working well together and they actually sound like they are having fun playing music. That makes the closing number "Videotape" all the more striking as it is a slow, piano-based number with mostly just a shuffling beat throw in for good measure.

This sparseness puts the emphasis on Yorke's cryptic lyrics where he talks about heaven, the devil, and videotape among other things. Heady stuff for sure, but something definitely not atypical for a band that many consider one of the smartest around.

If there is any complaint against In Rainbows, it would have to be the fact that it is a download. Because of that, the music is only mp3 quality which is not as good as CD-quality. (Note: A good pair of headphones remedies this situation.)

Also, Radiohead is one of the few bands today that put a lot of thought into its CD packaging. Seeing what the group would have done with In Rainbows' layout and artwork would have been interesting. One could have only hoped that it was half as good as the great music on the recording. (In Rainbows is available in a deluxe "box set" for roughly $80 that gets you the download, the album on CD, a bonus CD of extra tracks and the album on vinyl in a double gate fold cover. The album will also see release in the new year through the SonyBMG imprint ATO run by Dave Matthews and his manager in the states and on XL Recordings in the rest of the world.)

Still despite those criticisms, one cannot deny that Radiohead have made one of their best albums ever and it is, without a doubt, one of the best of 2007.