199: IN RAINBOWS | RADIOHEAD

A complete masterwork. It hit me like a ton of bricks the other day while listening through this album. There is no way the OK Computer is a better album than In Rainbows. In many ways this is Radiohead’s best record.

Andy Kellman at AllMusic: In Rainbows, as a title, implies a sense of comfort and delightfulness. Symbolically, rainbows are more likely to be associated with kittens and warm blankets than the grim and glum circumstances Radiohead is known for soundtracking. There's a slight, if expected, twist at play. The band is more than familiar with the unpleasant moods associated with colors like red, green, and blue -- all of which, of course, are colors within a rainbow -- all of which are present, and even mentioned, during the album. On a couple levels, then, In Rainbows is not any less fitting as a Radiohead album title than "Myxomatosis" is as a Radiohead song title. Despite references to "going off the rails," hitting "the bottom," getting "picked over by the worms," being "dead from the neck up," and feeling "trapped" (twice), along with Radiohead Wordplay Deluxe Home Edition pieces like "comatose" and "nightmare" -- in the same song! double score! -- the one aspect of the album that becomes increasingly perceptible with each listen is how romantic it feels, albeit in the way that one might find the bioport scenes in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ to be extremely hot and somewhat unsettling. Surprisingly, some of the album's lyrics are even more personal/universal and straightforward than anything on The Eraser, the album made by Thom Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. "I'm an animal trapped in your hot car," from "All I Need," has to be one of the saddest, most open-hearted metaphors used to express unrequited love. "House of Cards" begins with "I don't want to be your friend/I just want to be your lover/No matter how it ends/No matter how it starts," and the one with the worms includes "I'd be crazy not to follow/Follow where you lead/Your eyes/They turn me." This effective weaving of disparate elements -- lyrical expressions commonly associated with the band, mixed in with ones suited for everyday love ballads -- goes for the music as well. The album is very song-oriented, with each track constantly moving forward and developing, yet there are abstract electronic layers and studio-as-instrument elements to prevent it from sounding like a regression. In Rainbows will hopefully be remembered as Radiohead's most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download.

Wiki: In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a pay-what-you-want download, followed by a physical release internationally through XL Recordings in December 2007 and in North America through TBD Records on 1 January 2008. It was Radiohead's first release after their recording contract with EMI ended with their previous album Hail to the Thief (2003).

Radiohead began work on In Rainbows in early 2005. In 2006, after initial recording sessions with new producer Spike Stent proved fruitless, the band toured Europe and North America performing new material. After re-enlisting longtime producer Nigel Godrich, Radiohead recorded in the country houses Halswell House and Tottenham House, Godrich's London studio, and Radiohead's Oxfordshire studio. In Rainbows is more personal than previous Radiohead albums, with singer Thom Yorke describing most of the songs as his versions of "seduction songs".  Radiohead incorporated a variety of musical styles and instruments, using electronic instruments, strings, piano, and the ondes Martenot.

The pay-what-you-want release, the first for a major act, made headlines around the world and sparked debate about implications for the music industry. The retail release topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and by October 2008 In Rainbows had sold over three million copies worldwide. It received critical acclaim and was ranked one of the best albums of 2007 and of the decade by various publications. It won two Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. In 2012, Rolling Stone placed In Rainbows at number 336 on its updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

In 2004, after finishing the world tour for their sixth studio album Hail to the Thief (2003), Radiohead went on hiatus. As Hail to the Thief was the last album released under their six-album contract with EMI, the band had no contractual obligation to release new material. According to the New York Times, in 2006, Radiohead were "by far the world's most popular unsigned band".

Drummer Philip Selway said: "It was definitely time to take a break. There was still a desire amongst us to make music, but also a realisation that other aspects of our lives were being neglected. And we'd come to the end of our contract, which gives you a natural point to look back over at what you've achieved as a band."Singer and songwriter Thom Yorke recorded his first solo album, The Eraser (2006), and multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood composed his first solo works, the soundtracks Bodysong (2004) and There Will Be Blood (2007) Read more