In Rainbows (album) by Radiohead

From Timestarter 05/29/2020 17:23

Fav. Tracks: Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, Reckoner, House of Cards, Jigsaw Falling Into Place.

From NoAlarms 05/26/2020 05:47

For many, In Rainbows is the definitive record for the prodigal sons from Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It's certainly the most earthly and naturalistic of the lot. More importantly, it's the most human from a band that's consistently alien. The warm embrace that In Rainbows provides is a welcomed outlier amidst a catalogue fearful of the outside world and entrenched in emotional isolation. On the album, Radiohead don't create panic over climate change like on Kid A. They don't warn of a technology-driven future due to human complacency and they don't protest the political direction of world powers like on Hail to the Thief. They simply reflect, ponder human vanity, recall drunken evenings and most of all, have fun.

The band collectively "letting their hair down" has led to an undeniably earnest entry in the Radiohead canon. Emerging with the bouncy, yet refined 15 Step, it's easy to admire Phil Selway's percussion on the track. The 5/4 time signature creates the illusion of a mutated pop song, awash in sarcastic wit. Bodysnatchers seems to rekindle the band's love for guitar rock as Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien imprint their likenesses all over the thundering track. Nude, track three, could easily take the cake for Radiohead's pinnacle of aesthetic beauty, a song that unfurls slowly and fades into the ether ever so softly. Yorke's vocals on this cut are among the finest he's ever produced. It's very apropos that a song about physical vanity ends up being so tangibly gorgeous.

Late album entries such as Reckoner, Jigsaw Falling Into Place and the heartbreaking Videotape, bookend an album submerged in consistency. Still, there is no grand memorandum, no life-lesson other than what it means to be human, whether fallible, physically self-conscious or devoid of direction. Radiohead have made a name for themselves by zigging and subsequently zagging, but In Rainbows resides on the straightest of lines. A line that is neither accessible nor challenging, existential nor nihilistic. Ten tracks of simply being, at the heights of exuberance and the base of sorrow. A full spectrum of emotion, paralleled by the spectrum of light that dons the album cover.

"No matter what happens now
You shouldn't be afraid
Because I know today has been
The most perfect day I've ever seen."

-Videotape

Standout Tracks:

1. Nude
2. Videotape
3. Jigsaw Falling Into Place

98.8

One of the best Radiohead's works, just amazing.

I remember waiting for the album to come out in Mexico. They put it out there on the web, but I decided not to hear it until I had the CD, because 90's kid. Due to issues with their label, it came out 'til January, just one day before my 21st birthday. It was a Wednesday, classes were starting and my party had to wait for the weekend. So I just called my best friend, my girlfriend at the time, and my oldest brother and we sat and listen to it.

It is for me the most accomplished Radiohead album. You can see the innovations and the inventiveness of Ok Computer or Kid A, but put there on an album that is pristine in its composition, balanced.

the best radiohead album.

Fantastic.

In my opinion this album is their best album, I give it 9/10.

This is by far my favorite album by Radiohead, it's a constant wave of interesting and creative tracks that flow so seamlessly into one another. There is no boring or weak part of this album, it is a perfect length and is a very very solid album.

While not as innovative as OK Computer, not as experimental as Kid A, In Rainbows could be Radiohead beautifulest album. It's great from the beginning to the end with no weak moments. Who thought they could do it again ? Another masterpiece.

Standout tracks: Nude, Weird Fishes, Reckoner, Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Personal favourite: 15 Step

This sounds modern and classical in all the right ways. Perfectly proportioned and never derivative.