Radiohead - In Rainbows

Radiohead
In Rainbows
(10.2007, Self Released)
9.0/10

The dust is still settling from the insanity that In Rainbows produced. Given ten days to adequately rile ourselves up, the blogosphere turned into slobbering pack of hungry dogs counting down the days like little girls standing in line to see their favourite dreamboat from Tiger Beat magazine. And as the downloading ensued a veritable wave of critique spread instantly across the web. Now, nine days after the 'virtual insanity' and nine days with In Rainbows, I feel like I may not have any new insights here. Radiohead simply created an extremely solid batch of ten songs that, as a friend of mine has mentioned, don't take a lot of mental investment to enjoy. That isn't to say that the songs aren’t complex or original, but this time around Radiohead seems to have stripped the post-OK Computer experimentation they have been running with and affirmed themselves, not only masters of audio innovation, but masters of the song. Crowned with dizzyingly good songs like "Nude" and "All I Need," In Rainbows simplicity also reasserts Thom Yorke's voice as the quintessential voice of our generation. Even with all the imitative Yorkian vocalists that have budded during Radiohead's career, Thom's voice singularly maintains that otherworldly beauty caught of balance with a tarred lung of humanity. He has no equal. One thing this brief period of listening to In Rainbows has proven is that these songs aren't going to fade away because of their more generic approach. If anything they seem to resonate clearer and more powerfully on each listen as preconceptions about what the album should be are slowly removed. This may become your favourite Radiohead or it may not, but one thing is for sure: Radiohead's streak continues - they are incapable of making a bad album.

-Mr. Thistle

Download In Rainbows here.