Radiohead: In Rainbows

In Rainbows

Best song: Videotape

Worst song: House of Cards

Overall grade: 6

The year is 2007 and the music industry sucks, which is really nothing new, and Radiohead are the band who decide to do something about it, eliminating anyone who comes between artist and listener and offering this album direct, for a price of whatever the listener thinks it’s worth. The only flaw I see in this system is that, as far as I’m aware, you couldn’t hear the album before pledging your price – so how do you know what it’s worth? Still, it’s a novel idea, if a slightly ironic one, as in contrast to the unconventional method of release, this is actually their most mainstream-oriented release since ‘The Bends’.

It’s true, for a lot of bands I’d mean that as an insult, but here I think it’s more than justified. It’s like they’re no longer trying to push any boundaries, which they were consciously trying to do before, and instead just writing whatever they feel like. It works so, so well. This is not just the sound of a band who think they’ve written a really good set of songs, this is a band who genuinely love playing the songs they’ve got, and it shows. It uses a lot of tricks and effects which are pretty recognisable Radiohead, like Thom Yorke’s ascending vocals, disjointed rhythms, wobbliness, random moments of stark emotion, and other little trademarks. They’re just used a little differently – these songs are more immediately listenable, more comfortable in their own skin, and to everyone’s surprise, a lot warmer. Who knew that this band would turn out to be just as good at creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere as they are a cold, uninviting one.  

’15 Step’ is jolty and awkward; a dance that’s not quite in time. Right from the beginning it sounds tight and motivated, showing a group that’s really committed and has more than gotten over the confusion that characterised ‘Hail to the Thief’. Of course, they’ve had albums with this strong sense of purpose before, but those have been concept albums – this is a set of jigsaw puzzle pieces, none of which are part of the same picture, but which fit together perfectly regardless.

That and ‘Bodysnatchers’ are both in the jumpy stop-start-stop-start vein as the last album, but ‘Nude’ marks the first big change. Things quieten down and take a turn for the far more personal, Thom’s soothing vocals right at the top of the mix, and it calms me, almost creating a dreamlike state.

As well as looking to the past, the album nods to the future. ‘Weird Fishes/Arpeggi’ is basically just a lot of really cool messing about on a guitar, and looking back with the perspective of ‘The King of Limbs’, it seems to be something of a blueprint for that album.

Those who are stoically opposed to the band’s previous efforts will probably feel the same way about this one, but anyone who’s always found them just a little too experimental and out there might find something to love. A case in point would be ‘All I Need’, which is basically your standard, day-to-day love song. When did Radiohead start doing them?! Wait, no, it’s alright – the lyrics do get pretty dark near the end. ‘I only stick with you because there are no others…’ kind of ruins the sweetness of the ‘you are all I need’ chorus, and that’s definitely the whole point.

‘House of Cards’ was a really successful song that picked up a whole bunch of Grammys, but I don’t like it as much as the others. It’s not bad by any means – this whole album is on a fairly consistent level – but it’s a bit fixed in one place and doesn’t get much of an emotional reaction from me, although the atmospheric backing is quite lovely.

As is customary for Radiohead, the closer just blows me away, leaving me feeling thoughtful and a little lost after the album’s finished. It’s a real tearjerker, its stripped back piano and vocals arrangement almost uncomfortably close, especially coming after the busy, groovy ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’. ‘Videotape’ is just such a great example of creating everything from nothing, though, because that piano melody is so simple, but the song doesn’t feel like it’s missing a thing.

I don’t know if anyone can confirm this, but I seem to recall reading something about a lyric sheet for this album being ‘hidden’ somewhere inside the box of the original pressing of… I think it was ‘OK Computer’? If so, that’s fascinating, that they had the lyrics written so many years ago (although not the music I’d guess, as it seems to fit more into this part of their career) and always knew they were going to make this album.

Overall, this is nothing more than a set of really beautiful and sad songs that worm their way into my heart and just refuse to leave. Dissecting these songs, their individual components rarely stand out, but the overall effect is magnificent. In fact, this album has come to form a kind of triumvirate with ‘OK Computer’ and ‘Kid A’ of Radiohead albums I’ll probably never get tired of. If the ‘pay what you want’ idea was still going right now, I think it would be worth a whole lot.