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When rumor of a new Radiohead album arose, fans began salivating for Tom Yorke’s falsetto vocals and wishing Jonny Greenwood would try to ruin another song with his aggressive down strums (listen to the guitar on “Creep” and you’ll know what I mean). Soon, Radiohead finished recording. They called it In Rainbows.
The band’s contract with EMI was fin and they started recording on their own in early 2005. They began to debut songs at local sets and continued writing the rest of the album, including songs for the second disk, which would be released with the discbox set. The album was first released online, in an avant-garde fashion. Fans could actually name the price of the download. Many chose the price of £0, but some actually bought the download and in doing so applauded the efforts of releasing an album without any support from a record company.
The first song “15 Step” is a mixture of steady beats, slidy guitar riffs and repetitive lyrics paired with the cheering of children. With its energy and ability to mesmerize you with percussion, it is a perfect song to start the album. Following “15 Steps” is “Bodysnatchers.” The song starts off with a strong beat. Then Yorke’s vocals come in, much lower than normal. The song seems to revolve around Colin Greenwood’s bass. Only for a moment does the bass seem to fade for a softer sound. When one thinks nude, they think stripped, bare and minimal. Track three entitled “Nude” is anything but. Though a simple song, it differs from the rest of the album in a very special way. About two minutes and 30 seconds into the song, string instruments erupt in the background, then leaves room for a solo by Yorke before it fades out.
Introduced by Phil Selway’s drumsticks, “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” was one of the first songs on the album to catch my ear in a profound way. With lyrics like, “I’d be crazy not to follow where you lead” and “everybody leaves if they get the chance and this is my chance,” this song captivates any listener to simply sit and listen to Yorke’s ballad. “All I Need” marks the halfway point in the album. Almost every Radiohead album has a song in which the listener feels like they wrote it. This is In Rainbow’s. A sister to Pablo Honey’s “Been Thinking About You,” “All I Need” makes a listener feel like they are listening in on a hopeless fight between a couple. It reminds me of life.
“Faust Arp” feels like the listener is being pulled back and forth. Yorke sings the lyrics as if he is just reading them, just is a very high voice. As in “Nude,” the string orchestra is present towards the end. “Reckoner” consists mostly of Yorke’s famous falsetto vocals. Though it does not stick out in the album, it is pure genius nonetheless. “House of Cards,” the first single on the album, just sounds like Radiohead and a listener would be able to tell if they heard it for the first time. With the line “I don’t want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover,” one must question whether the author was listening to a little bit too much Bright Eyes circa Lifted. “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” reminds me of a twangy country song being played under a Radiohead song. Wrapping up In Rainbows is “Vidoetape,” a soft ballad that starts out with a piano and a familiar voice and softly brings the listener down from the In Rainbows high.
The album is no longer available for free download online but can be bought almost anywhere (as seen at Target) or ordered at inrainbows.com.
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