In Rainbows

Hail to the Thief, Radiohead's last offering was, if anything, a slightly bloated record. Although it satiated the pro-guitar lobby, it felt too long and lacked the eccentricity and creativity of Kid A and Amnesiac. The comparatively short In Rainbows, while certainly not an exercise in regression, recalls the eerie, otherworldly atmosphere that so characterised those two triumphs of experimentation and abandonment. However, never has Radiohead's experimentation been so accessible, so tender and so achingly beautiful.

The album opens as expected. 15 Step could have been a track on Thom Yorke's recent Eraser project. It utilises Yorke's obvious appetite for creepy, disjointed, discombobulated electronica hinged by Johnny Greenwood's fretwork and Yorke's melodious sarcasm and wit. Yet amid the computerised confusion, In Rainbows radiates with longing, regret and a deep sadness. These are emotions not approached with much regularity by Radiohead.

Unlike The Bends or OK Computer, In Rainbows exposes, until now well-hidden, personal fears and secret emotions. Radiohead's brilliance is that they are able to translate these feelings through subtle yet shimmering and resonant melodies. This is Radiohead at their absolute finest. Nude (Big Ideas) is a perfect illustration of Radiohead as they are today. The song is about infidelity and is racked with guilt: "So don't get any big ideas / They're not gonna happen / You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking". Similarly, House of Cards touches on the same subject matter. Infidelity? This is Radiohead. Radiohead make songs (if one will allow me to criminally paraphrase) about escaping death, inadequacy, paranoia and corrupt governments. Not this time. Radiohead have approached their vulnerabilities and by looking within inner frailties, they have managed to create frighteningly personal musical expositions.

Reckoner, perhaps the highlight amid an album of highlights, starts with cycles of simple guitar riffs over a soft tambourine rhythm. Soon the guitar pattern swells into a mellifluous melody that circles, butterfly-like, into a hypnotising and then rousing string-laden ascension.

Contrast this with the opening eeriness of All I Need. Yorke mumbles: "I'm an animal trapped in your hot car / I'm all the days that you choose to ignore" while a lazy marching baseline plods drunkenly along. However, this saturnine mood soon transforms and escalates into a thickly layered and sweeping crescendo which overlays jolting piano chords with crashing cymbals and the breathtaking, unnerving screeches of Yorke at his majestic pinnacle. This is a song truly intimidating in its beauty, and while many still feel Radiohead to be too challenging and too abstract it is always worth scratching away at that indurate surface.

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi exhibits a sincerity and longing that we have seldom witnessed before: "In the deepest ocean / The bottom of the sea / Your eyes / They turn me." Never before has Thom Yorke sung of such longing and blind love and affection. Johnny Greenwood's unusual use of special effects allows his riffs and melodies to shine as always.

Videotape, the album's climax, is so tender in its sentiment as to be almost unapproachable. The tape in question is a posthumous memento for children left behind. Yorke reflects this achingly sad sentiment with some of his innermost outpourings: "This is my way of saying goodbye / Because I can't do it face to face." The song fades out as chiming piano chords soften the overhanging electronic death march.

In Rainbows is flush with subtle melody, truncated crescendos and abrupt endings. It is the better for it but make no mistake, this is still Radiohead alright.

Radiohead are for me, the best band in the world ever. There music is so hard to describe, but in the hope that some good reviews may open this masterpiece up to some new ears, I'm going to do my best to put this beauty into words:

1. 15 STEP - Nothing surprisingly different here, but excellent nonetheless. The album opener starts with the kind of up tempo bassy beat you associate with the band nowadays. A good start! 9.5 / 10

2. BODYSNATCHERS - Enter growling guitar, typical Radiohead rock done in a way only they know how. Gathers pace throughout. Rock Out!! 9.0 / 10

3. NUDE - This track has been knocking around for years under various working titles. A fan favorite. This is sublime and beautiful. Thoms vocal talents displayed at there best. Mellow and uplifting at the same time. A real highlight. Disney on tranquillizers!! 10 / 10

4. WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI - This is a grower! Another one that builds and builds from beginning to end before breaking out into an up-tempo beaty end after some lovely strings and awesome vocals! 9.5 / 10

5. ALL I NEED - Haunting and beautiful. A heavy, but slow electro bassline leads this track. 8 / 10

6. FAUST ARP - A simple, but lovely track. A nifty string arrangement behind Thoms gentle vocals. A welcome lightener breaks up the intensity well. Nice 7.5 / 10

7. RECKONER - Without doubt the stand out track. Radiohead at there finest. Hard to put into words, you just have to listen, but believe me when I say, it will blow you away. A light, mellow beat coupled with one of Thoms most amazing mellow and spine tingling vocal perfomances ever. 10 / 10

8. HOUSE OF CARDS - I seem to be using this word alot, but...Beautiful, light slow mover. Another simple, yet perfect offering. This is what heaven would sound like. 10 / 10

9. JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE - The first single release from the album. Along with 'Bodysnatchers' this is the only other slightly 'Rocky' radiohead number. Doesn't leap out at you with its brillance, but still good. 8 / 10

10. VIDEOTAPE - An awesome end to an awesome album. Thom on the piano with an interfering light beat over the top which sounds (possibly) like a empty videotape reel continuously turning?? Again vocally floorless and soft. Shivers down the spine just thinking about it! 10 / 10

My Conclusion: In Rainbows
All in all this is Radiohead's finest work to date, which when you consider the body of work they have come up with previously, I don't take that statement very lightly. On the whole the album feels alot more simple than previous offerings. I'm sure putting a masterpiece like this together is far from simple and something only the genius of radiohead and very few others could achieve, but the album feels light and mellow and leaves you feeling warm inside and wonderfully relaxed after every listen. Its radiohead stripped to the bear bones and its because of this that the talent shines through greater than ever. A bold statement, but this is by far the best album I have ever had the pleasure of listening too. Radiohead, be proud, be very proud indeed!

I only review an album when i adore it.. and from the opener "15 Step" you know your in a right treat, all the through to "Videotape" your taken on a journey.
Whether its the Out of this world sounds trickling through you ears on "Weird Fishes/Arpreggi" or the emotional heights reached on "All I Need"
You just feel every track has its place, and if i ever lost my copy which i bought for about £12
I'd happily cough up over a hundred just to hear this album once more.
I wont lie, although i'm in love with this record, it did take a few plays to really appreciate.
A great album is much a fine wine, it only gets better with time.
Buy it and tell me i'm wrong.

Radiohead do it again, another great album from a superb band. As for the depressing argument, personally I find half the music in the charts 10 times more depressing as its so contrived and thoughtless (it's all about the money baby!). Go on the Radiohead!

I never write reviews but after listening to this album i felt compelled to, this is without doubt 'one' of the best albums ive heard in quite a few years, its not often i find an album that i like every song on, some beautiful & haunting songs, its got everything, for me this Definatley rates among Radioheads best work i can't recommend this album highly enough, BUY IT!