January 1, 2008 In Rainbows by Radiohead was released on C/D. Radiohead who’s material has found it’s way to the internet since the days of Kid A, finally leaked their own album by selling it over the net for whatever you felt like paying for it. I think the minimum charge was 2 pense or 4 cents. I thought the MP3s were of poor quality, and I didn’t want to review the music until the CD was released.
The CD was totally worth it. I paid something near $7.50 at Target, which quite good for a CD, which usually run about $15. CD quality is so much better than MP3 or MP4 in general, but Radiohead is band that you want to hear everything. The CD sound of In Rainbows is so much warmer and fuller that it fills the room in like a warm morning sun.
In Rainbows is somehow the best and worst Radiohead album so far. Well, Hail to the Thief is really my least favorite Radiohead work. I only say that this could be the worst because this is the most commercial Radiohead I have yet to hear. It did seem like they were going in that direction. And why not? So so many bands have made fortunes by producing radio-friendly Radiohead music; like anyone remember Coldplay. Why should Radiohead loose out on their own sound?
The collection of new songs are great and beautiful. You could totally listen to them with your mother. However, Radiohead is one of those bands that you used to alienate other people in the room, those that might have enjoyed Justin Timberlake. In Rainbows is Radiohead for everyone. One the hand, it sucks, because you expect more from Radiohead. You want something you have never heard before. On the other hand is this is a new direction for Radiohead. It isn’t tired at all. It feels fresh. You wish they had done this in 2003.
Maybe Radiohead is out of their experimental stage, and now they are Masters of their art. There is a confidence that comes through here. Maybe they are ready to take their place amongst U2 and The Rolling Stones. Of course, that would be sad too, because U2 has not produced a great album in this decade besides a few great singles, and The Rolling Stones are just a skeleton of their former selves. You expect Radiohead, maybe even count on them, to push the envelope. If not them, then who?
Getting back to the early release of the MP3s, it was the greatest marketing experiment of the digital age. They got so much good press about it, that more people than ever know about Radiohead. They looked like hero’s for cutting out the middleman. They were written up in such places as the Financial Times and The Economist.
If I were to compare this endeavor The Beatles, I would compare it too With the Beatles, because it was an album of an extremely innovative band that made an impressive non-innovative album. It can also be compared to U2’s All that you can behind. U2 had gone too far off the edge (no pun) in the 90’s, and they needed to be brought back to center, which they did with a conservative album, which was better received than their breakthrough material from before. It worked. Unfortunately, U2 followed up that success with a banal next album. So, it will be interesting to see what Radiohead does next. They can’t here very long, or they will get stale.
As a listen, I can’t stop listening to In Rainbows. Every song is good. Every song is catchy. I do miss the new worlds that OK, Computer and Kid A took me to, but this is classic Rock album. It is almost like they remade Hail to the Theif and got it right.
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