Radiohead - In Rainbows

Let’s cut to the chase - all Radiohead fans have already downloaded this album and have listened to it non-stop since it was made available in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007. And by now, there’s very little that can be said that will sway any of those folks from the opinion(s) that they’ve crafted for themselves as they gorge on its ten tracks. More press has been given to how In Rainbows has been released, as well as how secretive Radiohead has been for the past year regarding if or when they would ever release their seventh full-length album. For you see, when the band put out Hail To The Thief in 2004, they fulfilled the details of their contract with Columbia, thus allowing the band to sever ties with their former record company and be independent.

So, after nine months of mysterious press released from deep inside the Radiohead camp regarding what the album would sound like (the inclusion of a children’s choir on certain songs was alluded to at one point) and if it would even drop in 2007, on the night of Sunday, September 30th, guitarist Jonny Greenwood informed the world that their new album, In Rainbows, would be arriving in 10 days’ time. And the music world was both freaked out and astounded by such audacity. Not only was the band not signed to any record label of any kind, they would be releasing the album are a pure independent and in two distinct formats: 1) a two-disc box set, both CD and vinyl formats; and 2) a download-only version of the core album for (literally) whatever price the consumer would want to set. In Rainbows instantly became the most anticipated release of 2007, surpassing Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky and The Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible amongst others.

As exciting an occurrence as this should be, more analysis has gone into how the album was released and not into what actually was released. In Rainbows simply cannot be forcibly removed from its context, especially its position in the Radiohead canon. The band has made its mark over its career in how they constantly find new ways to express themselves, perpetually breaking down old ideas and building something else from the pieces. OK Computer saw the band tear apart the rock ideas of Pablo Honey and The Bends, Kid A and Amnesiac had the band discarding the traditional rock ethos all together, and Hail To The Thief was a confusing album because it had great elements of nearly all of Radiohead’s earlier records, but didn’t really stand up on its own. So, when approaching In Rainbows, listeners really have to wonder just which version or permutation of Radiohead will be showing up to play. Will we be hearing a) a rock record with some spacey tendencies, b) a record full of quirky soundscapes with occasional pop sensibilities, or c) something else entirely?

And the answer is

D - None of the above. As never before, Radiohead has deconstructed, dissected, and disassembled its various sonic personalities in order to achieve a fresh perspective on how this band writes, records, and performs their songs. The album is full to overflowing with elements from their entire catalog, even to the point of including some American R&B/soul flavor, even to the point of having more live drums present on more songs than in past recordings (including a four-count click-off of the drumsticks to begin “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”). Moreover, In Rainbows contains more moments where the band sounds actually happy (or as happy as these five notoriously gloomy men can be) - there are entire tracks that are actual four-on-the-floor rock songs, a rare occurrence in recent Radiohead history. Songs like “Bodysnatchers” and “Nude” find the band at the peak of their songwriting prowess, bringing new life to their music.

Nevertheless, this album drags unnecessarily on the back half, making one wonder how many people will play only the A-side of the vinyl format, disregarding the sleepier B-side. With the exception of “Jigsaw Falling Into Place,” a steady-flowing track with elements reminiscent of parts of OK Computer, the second half of the album lacks the intensity, urgency, and presence of the first. It’s as if the band intentionally placed all of their darker, more introspective songs on the second half, eschewing their typical pursuit of balanced flow from song to song and movement to movement. Furthermore, songs like “Reckoner” and “Videotape” sound as if they were cast-offs from Yorke’s The Eraser, complete with borrowed beats and curious lyrical content (come on Thom - Mephistopheles?). The songs sound too comfortable and staid, as if the band had stretched itself far enough with the first four or five songs and became overly content with where they had directed their sound.

Overall, In Rainbows comes across as a solid, well-conceived album, one in which Radiohead intentionally set out to harness the divergent strains of their earlier work and achieve a fresh focus for their future as an unsigned, independent band. The band’s unparalleled ambition with the self-released, two-disc/record effort has set the “Big-Name Artist/Band Who’s Now Free From A Record Contract” bar fairly high for any who come after them (one Mr. Trent Reznor comes to mind). What remains the most tantalizing aspect of the album is the band’s willingness to perpetually rend themselves and their catalog in order to see what they can do with their sound and the insanely high level of talent. Even as unrealized as certain aspects of this album is, it’s clear with In Rainbows that Radiohead has big, new plans for the band’s present and future. Is this a good record? Yes. Is it great? No. Am I really curious to see where this all could go? Abso-f***ing-lutley!