2008 Woodie Awards
"In Rainbows:"Radiohead displays full spectrum of creativity; album released online
Daniel Wisniewski '08
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Entertainment
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Radiohead writes albums.
Its refusal to sell records in piecemeal is what keeps the band off of iTunes, and modern day comparisons to Pink Floyd stem not so much from musical likeness but from each band's penchant for making albums with conceptual and musical weight. 2003's "Hail To The Thief" then came as a surprise for fans, not for what it was but for what it wasn't: a coherent album. "HTTT" seemed to find Radiohead at a crossroads, unsure as to whether to continue moving in the direction of their electronic-based works "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" or back to their more "rock" albums "The Bends" and "OK Computer." And while it remains an excellent addition to Radiohead's catalogue, "HTTT" was spastic and jumpy, and few would disagree that it seemed more a collection of songs, a portrayal of a stalled band unsure which genre-bending turn to take next. Questions of Radiohead's desire to make albums anymore came to a head as well, especially after reports of the extreme difficulties the band had in making "Kid A" and "OK Computer."
Fans will be pleased to note then that "In Rainbows," Radiohead first album in four years, brings the band back to musical coherence. The most recognizable difference is the lack of electronics, the bleeps and bloops that have characterized much of the band's music for the last seven years. This most certainly stems from the 2006 release of main songwriter Thom Yorke's solo album "The Eraser," which concentrated heavily on computer and loop-based songs and allowed him to siphon off some of his more beat-driven material. Minus the excellent opener "15 Step" and the final minutes of the surprisingly tender closer "Videotape," computerized drum beats and the like are almost nonexistent. Bookended between these electronic bursts is Radiohead's return to conventional instrumentation, itself a radical change from the band's previous three albums. "In Rainbows" finds the band sounding younger than it has since 1997's "OK Computer."
The album also finds Yorke, Radiohead's lazy-eyed frontman, crooning much differently than before. Lines like "I don't wanna be your friend / I just wanna be your lover" are a far cry from previous Radiohead lyrics (which have included but are not limited to, "Cut the kids in half," "Catch the mouse / Shove it in your mouth," and the blunt "The vomit"). This venture into more soulful lyrics taken out of context appears, for lack of a better word, lame, and they would be if they didn't fit so well with the music they've been attached to. The middle section of "In Rainbows" relinquishes the heavier opening of the album in exchange for a purposefully soft sound, with the gentle "All I Need" flowing into the acoustic, Lennon-esque "Faust ARP," through to the falsetto-laden "Reckoner" and resting on the reverb-heavy "House of Cards." This section of "In Rainbows" is unlike anything Radiohead has strung together before, and it re-displays the band's seldom-shown talent for minimalism and-gasp-frailty.
Its refusal to sell records in piecemeal is what keeps the band off of iTunes, and modern day comparisons to Pink Floyd stem not so much from musical likeness but from each band's penchant for making albums with conceptual and musical weight. 2003's "Hail To The Thief" then came as a surprise for fans, not for what it was but for what it wasn't: a coherent album. "HTTT" seemed to find Radiohead at a crossroads, unsure as to whether to continue moving in the direction of their electronic-based works "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" or back to their more "rock" albums "The Bends" and "OK Computer." And while it remains an excellent addition to Radiohead's catalogue, "HTTT" was spastic and jumpy, and few would disagree that it seemed more a collection of songs, a portrayal of a stalled band unsure which genre-bending turn to take next. Questions of Radiohead's desire to make albums anymore came to a head as well, especially after reports of the extreme difficulties the band had in making "Kid A" and "OK Computer."
Fans will be pleased to note then that "In Rainbows," Radiohead first album in four years, brings the band back to musical coherence. The most recognizable difference is the lack of electronics, the bleeps and bloops that have characterized much of the band's music for the last seven years. This most certainly stems from the 2006 release of main songwriter Thom Yorke's solo album "The Eraser," which concentrated heavily on computer and loop-based songs and allowed him to siphon off some of his more beat-driven material. Minus the excellent opener "15 Step" and the final minutes of the surprisingly tender closer "Videotape," computerized drum beats and the like are almost nonexistent. Bookended between these electronic bursts is Radiohead's return to conventional instrumentation, itself a radical change from the band's previous three albums. "In Rainbows" finds the band sounding younger than it has since 1997's "OK Computer."
The album also finds Yorke, Radiohead's lazy-eyed frontman, crooning much differently than before. Lines like "I don't wanna be your friend / I just wanna be your lover" are a far cry from previous Radiohead lyrics (which have included but are not limited to, "Cut the kids in half," "Catch the mouse / Shove it in your mouth," and the blunt "The vomit"). This venture into more soulful lyrics taken out of context appears, for lack of a better word, lame, and they would be if they didn't fit so well with the music they've been attached to. The middle section of "In Rainbows" relinquishes the heavier opening of the album in exchange for a purposefully soft sound, with the gentle "All I Need" flowing into the acoustic, Lennon-esque "Faust ARP," through to the falsetto-laden "Reckoner" and resting on the reverb-heavy "House of Cards." This section of "In Rainbows" is unlike anything Radiohead has strung together before, and it re-displays the band's seldom-shown talent for minimalism and-gasp-frailty.
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