Radiohead’s announcement on October 1, 2007 that they would be releasing their highly anticipated 7th studio album in 10 days was stunning enough. That they were going to be self releasing it as a download without the help of a record label was even more incredible. That they were going to allow fans to set their own price (including the option of paying nothing at all) was absolutely amazing.

Radiohead managed to bring all of the excitement back to a new album release. This new album release excitement had been missing since the days of internet leaks began. With the release of In Rainbows, everyone was going to be able to hear the first album in four years by Radiohead on the same day. It brought back the feeling of waiting in line at midnight at a music store. In fact in many ways it surpassed the excitement of past record releases because of this release being instantaneous all over the world instead of being released in one country one day and another the next. This was a world wide music event.

One of the coolest things about the way In Rainbows was released is the fact that no record reviewers got their hands on it first. Everyone got to hear In Rainbows with virgin ears without it being filtered through the opinions of anyone else. In this way the “first listening” experience of In Rainbows was unlike that of any other album that came before it.

The way In Rainbows was released was most likely revolutionary (it’s already influencing others) and if not that it was at the least a remarkable experiment. But all of this begs the question, what about the music itself? Is it as noteworthy as the way the album was released?

Yes.

In Rainbows somehow managed to surpass my expectations which is most impressive because they were extremely high. It managed to surprise me in it’s feeling and mood despite sounding absolutely comfortable and exactly like Radiohead. In many ways it’s their most accessible album since The Bends but it’s not a step back or a retread in any way.

It retains the studio experimentation of their past albums with long time producer Nigel Godrich back again. In fact it’s pushing what can be done with texture in “pop” music even further forward or perhaps a better word for it is outward. These are beautiful songs that would sound lovely with a straight ahead approach but they would not be fully realized if they were done a simple manner. They wouldn’t have the multiple layers. The subtleties. They they would not have the transcendence that these recordings have. Radiohead recordings are not merely a song recorded, they are meant to be an experience. Strap on the headphones, close your eyes and slip inside the sound.

The album somehow sounds like all of Radiohead’s previous albums (”The Bends songs with Kid A’s production”) and like none of them at the same time. In Rainbows has it’s own feel.

One of the album’s strong points is it’s pacing. When In Rainbows finishes it leaves me wanting to hear it again, unlike their last album, 2003’s Hail to the Thief, which while it contains many excellent songs just seems a bit too long. Hail to the Thief is 4 songs and 14 minutes longer than In Rainbows.

This is an album that begs to be played as a unit and I usually do but there are a few stand out tracks that have been getting a few extra plays by me including “15 Steps,” “Bodysnatchers,” “Nude,” “All I Need,” “House of Cards,” and “Videotape.” I’ve just named six of the ten tracks as standouts and I feel guilty about not including the rest.

That’s how consistant this album is. There are no weak tracks. Although perhaps “Faust Arp” is slightly less great than the others it does offer a sound unlike anything Radiohead has done before. The recording is without the studio trickery that Radiohead usually makes use of. I love their studio trickery and perhaps that’s part of the reason the song doesn’t appeal to me as much as most of their others? Regardless, the song’s mix of acoustic guitars with a classical string arrangement makes it sound charmingly unlike anything else they’ve recorded.

“15 Steps” starts the album off with a glitchy techno beat. As the first thing thing you hear as the album starts I’m sure many were fearing “Kid B.” As a huge fan of Kid A I was fine with that prospect myself. But the rest of the album sounds little like Kid A in this way. Jazzy guitar chords enter after the first verse of “15 Steps” and the rest of the songs except “All I Need” and “Videotape” are guitar based. With the notable exception of “Bodysnatchers” most of the guitars heard in this album are remarkably clean sounding.

Surely many would love to hear a full album by Radiohead of songs like “Bodysnatchers.” This song is the only track on the album that RAWKS in that “Electioneering” sort of way. “Bodysnatchers” showcases that nobody has caught up with Jonny Greenwood when it comes to strangling a guitar get absolutely face melting sounds that give the impression that they are coming from another world yet still rock hard here on earth.

“Nude” has been known as “Big Ideas” in the past and the song has actually been around for about 10 years. It was premiered live on the OK Computer tour and can be heard in the Meeting People is Easy documentary which was released in 1998.

“Nude” may be the most beautiful song Radiohead as ever recorded, which is saying quite a bit. Everything about it from Thom Yorke’s voice to the amazing arrangement seem absolutely perfect. The music responds in sound to what the lyrics are saying in words in a thoughtfully heartbreaking way. As an aside, an example of the kind of “studio as an instrument” touches the band puts into their recordings can be heard in the song’s intro which is actually a section of the song towards the end played in reverse.

“All I Want” contains one of Yorke’s most mesmerizing melodies and vocal performances. It also contains some of his most intriguing lyrics such as “I’m an animal trapped in your hot car, I am all the days you choose to ignore.” The song may also represent the apex of the album’s textural experiments. I do not only mean the gloriously noisy ending but the shifting textures throughout the song.

“House of Cards” begins with one of my favorite moments on the album, Yorke’s wordless delayed voice singing a lovely bit of melody that always puts me in some other world as soon as it catches my ears. When the lyrics do come in they are some of the most unRadioheadesque lyrics Yorke’s ever sung: “I don’t want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover.” This may be the song on this album that I most appreciate the production on. It’s like swimming in sound. And what a gorgeous sound it is.

The album ends with the dark minimalistic piano driven song “Videotape.” The lyrics are the most interesting of the album. They appear, to me, to be about someone dying but still communicating through a “videotape” to those he left behind and perhaps also to those far in the future. This is the most simplistic way I can put what I get out of it, although it’s really a lot more than that. The great thing about these lyrics is that they can be taken many different ways but regardless of how you take them they have their impact.

One of the more mysterious things about the album is the fact that in the song “Reckoner” (track #7) the album’s title “In Rainbows” is sung for the first time at 61.8% into the album’s total playing time. What’s relevant about 61.8%? See the Golden Ratio. Is it on purpose or just a coincidence?

97/100

2007, Radiohead

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