Review Summary: IMpossbutnotwithexceptionNEW ER4
RECOLLECTION
You know Bandcamp？ The basic tent pole for a lot of indie artists nowadays. It is here artists can utilize a popular form of monetary compensation for their work called "Pay-what-you-want". Through this idea, people pay whatever they feel the product is worth. In 2007, this wasn't a very popular idea. When Radiohead unleashed
In Rainbows, the music world was flipped straight on its head. One of the biggest bands at the time was now asking fans to pay whatever they felt their new album was worth. Is it possible that a lot of the critical acclaim this album got came from that decision and not the actual merits of the album itself？ Possibly, but that is neither here, nor there.
What can be definitively said is that
In Rainbows represents Radiohead's most accessible and most articulate work in their career at the time. A combination of Art Pop/Rock and Avant Garde Rock,
In Rainbows is basic in the structure of its instruments and is less elaborate when compared to predecessors. One of their more "minimalist" tracks can be found in
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi which has a continuous percussion and guitar section throughout its five minute run time. That does not mean that they don't work at all in the grandiose, as
All I Need features a full string section along with rough synthesizers and a multitude of other instruments. The key to this track is definitely in its string section, with the "White Noise" effect becoming an enthralling addition to the somber emotion of the track.
15 Step remains my favorite song on the record, with its tense percussion and style reminiscent of tribal-club music before Dubstep and Rave took over the club landscape. The vocals of Thom Yorke have never been clearer, as his trance-like vocals mixed with children cheering creates a beautiful, yet unsettling experience. The escalation of the song itself is also something of note. As the song goes on, the amount of instruments used in it increase until it explodes at the end in a symphonic aneurysm of instruments all playing against each other.
Reckoner features a great cymbal sequence alongside a small guitar tap-sequence that repeats itself as Thom goes ham on vocals.
Fans of
The Bends would also appreciate
Bodysnatchers, a return to their heavy, distorted guitar playing, and lackadaisical vocal with some yelling. Thom Yorke described the song as "a little bit like Neu! meets dodgy hippy rock. It sounds like that new Australian band Wolfmother." One could say
In Rainbows has a little bit of everything from Radiohead's history.
House of Cards reminds me of their soft-experimental
OK Computer days, with crazy echoes and technical nuances that give the song an otherworldly atmosphere of peace and mystery.
In Rainbows made waves across the music landscape in 2007, with many critics calling its consumer-based pay system a revolution in the music industry. Hell, some commentators called it the downfall of record companies. They were completely wrong, but at the time, this was unlike anything bands had done before. Not to mention that
In Rainbows became one of Radiohead's finest albums, a collection of ideas that looked above the horizon to find new avenues and took fans along for the ride.
