Somewhere Over The In Rainbows
Exceptional music for a low price. Thank you, Radiohead.
Radiohead
In Rainbows
Released on Nov 30, -0001
A measure of the degree to which Radiohead has become an institution unto itself more than a group of five musicians can be found in the endless reviews proclaiming the many ways that the band has sampled itself. When 2003’s Hail to the Thief was released, critics fell over themselves in a mad dash to describe the album as a giant stew of everything that had come before – a little bit of Brit rock, a dash of electronica, some prog / kraut rock and sparse instrumentalism for flavor – all blended to perfection. Such reviews always are always contrived, because they fall far short of noticing the subtle differences and growths from album to album that continue to make Radiohead the world’s foremost band. Each subsequent disc doesn’t just borrow from the last; instead, each album functions more as a response to the last, a second look at an idea or the backwards reflection in a mirror.
The dreary romanticism of The Bends is offset by the technological isolation of OK Computer, while the images of a world falling apart in Kid A are coupled with scenes of a family falling apart in Amnesiac. Then there’s Hail to the Thief, rife with political anger - lonely and needing a bookend. That companion piece comes in the form of In Rainbows. Throughout much of the album, Thom Yorke forgoes the social concern, and turns his lyrical eye inward, to problems with the body. “15 Steps? opens with electronic beats, a drum machine, and an almost imperceptible blues bass line. The track sets the tone for the rest of the disc, as cold, mechanized music is coupled with the warmth of bass, guitar, piano and falsetto.
This makes for some interesting arrangements. “Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi? is uninvolving at first, but grabs the listener by the end, as a swirl of string and noise compete with Yorke as he sings “I’ll hit the bottom, hit the bottom and escape, escape.? “Reckoner,? similarly, switches gear after two minutes, and ends with little more than Yorke’s strained vocals, softly competing with a section of strings and synthesizers.
The best moments on the album, however, come when the band puts aside whatever ambience they are striving for, and instead focus on simple melodies. “Nude? and “Videotape? both a highlight the piano, that forgotten instrument of Radiohead’s past, and makes use of the full, textured sound it can create. “Videotape? finds Yorke reflecting on a trip to the afterlife for the MySpace world, where everything is documented, where YouTube has made everyone the star of their own reality show. With hell beneath him, he sings, “No matter what happens now, you shouldn’t be afraid, because I know today has been the most perfect day I have ever seen.?
To my ears, “All I Need,? is the disc’s high mark. It begins as little more than an electronic beat that would not be out of place on Yorke’s solo disc, The Eraser, before blossoming into a climax of piano and distortion. “In Rainbows? could use more moments like these, as the minimalism of the set constantly threatens to render it boring. It never quite reaches that point, but “All I Need? reminds the listener that at one point, the band was just as comfortable with the chaos of noise as it is now with the space of silence.
That is a minor criticism, though, for an album that delivers on the promise of a band that is always already ahead of its own legacy.
High Point
Low Point
Posted by Ryan Peters on Oct 11, 2007 @ 12:00 am