Review Summary: Radiohead rises from the ashes of their past 3 albums and compose a beauty of a record.
Ah Radiohead. What's not to like about them? They have tremendous commercial and critical success, Their lead singer Thom Yorke can sing at a frequency so high that only dogs can be able to hear it, They're English. If you aren't familiar with Radiohead, let me cue you in. They debuted in '93 with their smash hit "Creep", but it wasn't until '97 till they truly came into the limelight with "Ok Computer" often regarded as their best album. They have a huge following and if you don't like Radiohead, their crazed fans will send your ass to Belize(Breaking Bad reference)
Radiohead is known for their uncanny and nontraditional way of composing music. This is evident in the album Kid A. Which I think is the point where Radiohead just got into a group meeting and said:
"lets make music as strange as we possibly can!"
"Does it have to have meaning"
"*** no! Just make it sound really weird and strange"
Note: weird and strange music doesn't indicate it being bad.
After "Kid A" the band hit a downward spiral. With two releases that where duly noted by even the most hardcore Radiohead fans. But "In Rainbows" is where the band makes a decent comeback. The band clearly saw where they went wrong in "Kid A" and took what they did right in "Ok Computer" and crafted this beauty of an album. Take the track "Nude" for example. Sure it has strange sound effects and weird distortion. But the melody in it is strong and evident.
It's clear that a lot of hard work and precision went into this record. Notice how in "Reckoner" vintage Lo-Fi sounding drums blends in nicely with the piano which isn't common but Radiohead finds a way to make it work. The strings mesh together with Thom's vocals perfectly. There's a point near the end of the song where there strings build up more and more causing tension to tighten up inside the listener, then it soothingly fades away into the next track.
The band mixes sound effects with very well played instrumentation. An attempt that was failed with "Kid A". The band also uses Thom's voice as an instrument . Notice how in "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" starts off with Thom's humming which is consistent throughout the whole song as it builds up with a dramatic climax near the end of the song.
The album has it's weak points. Like "Bodysnatchers" a mediocre song with the middle-eighth being the only good part. The album ends beautifully with "Videotape", with all the sound effects and beats that are consistent through the album, the album ends with just a piano and Thom's voice. Of course there are some sound effects in this song as well, but the piano is the most distorted instrument, and rightfully so.
"In Rainbows" is arguably the bands best effort since "Ok Computer". While it's no master-piece, the album is artistically beautiful and shows that Radiohead still has some gas left in the tank. Hopefully the band will use their innovative and creative music composing skills to good use.
Best Tracks:
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
All I need
Reckoner
House of Cards
Videotape
