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In Rainbows
Radiohead
Category: Music Profiles
Contributed by Lezah Williamson on January 25, 2008
A colleague gave me Radiohead's latest, In Rainbow. She was raving about it.
Now, I neither like nor dislike Radiohead; they have a few songs that appeal to me, but they've never been on my list of 'must buys'. I have even seen Radiohead live, but that was only because The Beta Band was opening for them. Again, my impression of them live was pretty much the same I felt about their recordings; some songs were good, some okay, while some others...
Anyway, when I listened to In Rainbows, the only song that really jumped out at me was #2, Bodysnatchers. As it turns out, many others felt the same as me, as this is the song that has been the highest ranked in the US (reaching # 24 on the charts).
While the album itself has largely received positive reviews (Metacritic gave it 88/100, and it was top album for Mojo, and in the top ten for Pitchfork and Q), some critics have pointed out that the album has no strong, stand-out songs and also a weak climax. I would agree. In many ways it's typical Radiohead: lots of textured guitar accompanied by Thom Yorke's falsetto. Some critics have complained that the album has too much of a 'jam' sound to it, but I don't agree.
One interesting thing about this album is that it was released first as a digital download and has, in that format, had stronger sales than any other Radiohead album. Lead singer Thom Yorke has stated that, while he liked Radiohead's long-time label, EMI, it was time to ditch that 'decaying business model' and try something fresher; hence the digital download idea.
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