Radiohead - In Rainbows Album Review

In Rainbows by Radiohead, Album Review

In Rainbows is the seventh album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which customers chose their own price, followed by a “discbox” with a second CD, two vinyl records, artwork and lyric booklets on 3 December 2007.
The album will be released as a standard CD and vinyl in Japan on 26 December 2007, in Australia on 29 December 2007 and in North America on 1 January 2008. Elsewhere around the world, it will be released on 31 December 2007.
The first single, “Jigsaw Falling into Place”, will follow on 14 January 2008 in the United Kingdom.

Radiohead - In Rainbows Track Listing

All tracks written by Radiohead.

1. “15 Step” - 3:57
2. “Bodysnatchers” - 4:02
3. “Nude” - 4:15
4. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” - 5:18
5. “All I Need” - 3:48
6. “Faust Arp” - 2:09
7. “Reckoner” - 4:50
8. “House of Cards” - 5:28
9. “Jigsaw Falling into Place” - 4:09
10. “Videotape” - 4:39

The discbox release of the album includes a second disc, which contains eight additional tracks, along with digital photographs and artwork. It is 26:53 in duration.

1. “MK 1″ - 1:04
2. “Down Is the New Up” - 4:59
3. “Go Slowly” - 3:48
4. “MK 2″ - 0:53
5. “Last Flowers” - 4:27
6. “Up on the Ladder” - 4:17
7. “Bangers + Mash” - 3:20
8. “4 Minute Warning” - 4:06

Radiohead - In Rainbows Editorial Review

On the deliriously satisfying In Rainbows, Radiohead returns to a more straight-ahead (though subdued) rock sound. Much hubbub has been made about this record’s innovative release. Radiohead allowed fans to pay what they wished to download fairly low-resolution tracks from the band’s own website. Like so many innovations, it already seems funny both that it was such big news and that someone else of similar stature hadn’t done it sooner. Some pundits were appalled that it took awhile to download the tracks if you tried to do it at the same time as thousands of other people, while others decried that the group was trying to kill the music industry (or save it). Little of the press seemed to focus on the record itself, which actually made sense because it was so entertaining and inviting, the most low-key album Radiohead has made to date. There’s even a very straight-forward, simple, silly little love song, “House of Cards.” It might be a bit lethargic, but the simple instrumentation of electric guitars, bass, and drums is lovely as heck. A handful of these tunes enchanted fans for years before finally being committed to computer “tape.” This is particularly fitting as In Rainbows is the group’s most “band”-sounding album since OK Computer. This is not a record that hits you over the head with how far this group is pushing the envelope; it’s simply a phenomenal, well-crafted, and exciting album. As soon as it’s done, you’re playing it again. –Mike McGonigal
source amazon.com

The band had worked on In Rainbows for more than two years, beginning in early 2005. In between recording, the band toured Europe and North America for three months in mid-2006. The announcement of details about the album led to a flurry of media attention centered around the band’s decision to first release the album online as a digital download for which fans could decide the price they paid.

The album release marks the band’s first album after the end of their contract with EMI and the end of the longest gap between studio albums in their career. Upon its initial release as a digital download, the album earned widespread critical acclaim, though the commercial success of the album is still unclear. The band plans to embark on a world tour beginning in May 2008.

source wikipedia.org