CD Review (Homage): Radiohead - In Rainbows

Yes, yes, I know I am very late on this review. The online release date was in October, but I only finally picked up a solid copy of it a few weeks ago. Unfortunately there were no stickers with my vinyl, but that's about the only thing wrong with the album.

Radiohead's latest endeavour, In Rainbows, has made me fall back in love with the band that is very responsible for my soiree into alternative music. I recently purchased a copy of MOJO magazine for a staggering $13.50 for the soul purpose of reading their cover story on Radiohead's new album and I was quite amazed with what I learned. This masterpiece was four years in the making which probably explains why Radiohead more or less fell off the radar for me. I discovered them during the In Rainbows gestation period and was not privy to wonderful internet music resources like Pitchfork and, well...Google... The four years have definitely paid off.

I believe the most amazing aspect of this album would be its holistic nature. It is literally impossible for me to listen to a single track on this album without wanting to hear the album in its entirity. Where previous Radiohead albums, Kid A for example, demanded a full listen to really appreciate the music, In Rainbows makes me demand a whole album. I need to listen to it, and it is never a chore. The tracks flow seamlessly between one another and even the disc box bonus disc flows right from the last track of In Rainbows.

I constantly find myself wondering whether or not I would be as love with this album if it did not have this ground breaking release format. For anyone who does not know, Radiohead released this album online with the option to "pay what you want" as in, you can download it without paying anything. I was one of the approximate 62% who paid $0.00 and am a little ashamed of it, but I did purchase the vinyl so I feel like I've been redeemed. I know free .mp3s on band websites is nothing new, but the fact that this whole album was released online, without the interference of a record label, by one of the biggest names in alternative rock is really exciting. I can only hope more bands follow this model. I am entirely of the opinion that music needs to be sampled before purchased. There's no synopsis on the back of a CD, there's no teaser trailer, especially in the world of alternative music. Sure there are MySpace pages, but the advertisement money MySpace rings in from repeated visits to band pages does nothing for the bands themselves. It's this kind of guilt free downloading that makes me want to buy the album. I wanted to pay Radiohead back for what they've done for the music industry.

In the MOJO magazine interview Colin Greenwood speaks about music as art and price relativity. He says they "weren't giving the record away." Instead, they were asking "What is it worth? Music is one of the only commodified art forms where when you walk into a store and records by Dylan, Roxette, Klaxons or The Hives are the same price. Does that mean they're all as good as each other? Is there a way to say, by how much you pay, how good or bad something is? It's good that the whole experience has got people asking those kind of questions." How goddamn true it is and I'm dissapointed I've never thought of this. To compare music releases to paintings, photographs, etc. is brilliant. Imagine all the reproduced photographs done by someone like Ansel Adams and then compare those to photos done by your local paper's photojournalist. You aren't going to pay the same for each images, not by a mile. Everytime I listen to In Rainbows I can't help but think about the way this album has changed the music industry, and how much more it can change, and I hope it does.

As an album, In Rainbows is flawless. Every single track is a showcase of Thom Yorke's amazing vocals and his range. Take for example, the track Reckoner where he sings such a high range and falsetto that he's nearly indiscernible. His voice is closer to a violin than words. This is followed up by House of Cards, which has a simple guitar riff surrounded by epic electronic configurations and Yorke once again using his voice as an instrument, but this time resembling a brass section. Instead of being cheesy, the electronic transformation of Yorke's voice makes House of Cards sound like it's played over the grand canyon. The track Bodysnatchers was recorded ensemble in Radiohead's studio. The gritty distortion reflects this and it works beautifully. The tracks on In Rainbows are all amazing on their own, and together they make the greatest Radiohead album to date.

In Rainbows has quickly become one of my favourite albums of all time and I can't wait for a chance to see the live act performance or even the next project. Now I can only hope that my other favourite bands will pour their whole selves into their next album the way Radiohead has with In Rainbows.


And for your viewing/listening pleasure here is a video of Radiohead playing Bodysnatchers live at BBC2's Later... with Jool's Holland.