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FIRST LISTEN: Radiohead’s In Rainbows Much, Much Better Than Anticipated

10.10.07 | 4 Comments | Posted by E.J.

In a world full of meritless claims to the reins of modern music’s royalty status, I was half-expecting Radiohead’s In Rainbows to come out and put me to sleep. On first listen, it’s clever, inventive, delicately pretentious in a non-abrasive or suffocating way, and seems to me their most consistent effort since Kid A. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi has me hooked as my instant favorite, followed by the track which follows it, All I Need — full of sick keyboard flashes, mellow droning and Thom Yorke’s flawless tenor over beats which cover the spectrum from straight ahead rock to hip-hop-esque. Faust Arp I need to hear again, but it reminds me of a Jeff Buckley song to be quite honest.

In any event, far from being the bore and toss I thought would end up in my inbox, it comes thru loud and clear as an immediately influential record whose depth I have just scratched the surface of. All I can say for certain is I plan to listen to it a great deal more.

Though they would not know or likely care one way or the other, it has made for a wonderful birthday present. Thank you, lads.

Revision 1: So, the more I think about it, the more bummed out I am about the sound quality of the files. I know, I know…not everyone can hear the difference, but because I can it’s bugging me. Some of the songs, like Nude, muffle and almost feed back slightly even when I re-adjust my levels. The problem with digital delivery is that it’s hard to please everyone. At the very least, the album is good.

Revision 2: It will probably sound like a random revelation, but I’m fascinated by how many thousands (hundreds of thousands? millions?) of people will have purchased and downloaded this record by day’s end. Now if we could just get those same people to get out and vote (those who have the right to vote, of course), think of the changes that could happen.

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Frank Jewett

I thought Radiohead destroyed Videotape with overbearing, gimmicky percussion. The opening with just Yorke and the piano sounded like an instant classic, but then this silly drum track thing shat all over it and at the end an obnoxious metronome thing ran in for a dump as well. Truly sad given the beauty of the underlying song, but I guess we will have to live with stripped down bootleg versions until cooler heads offer a better remix.

All I Need’s keyboards were a welcome hook in a hook shy album. I love classics like How To Disappear Completely and You And Whose Army, but there is nothing wrong with throwing in a few hooks here and there. Having Bends era guitars in the background of Bodysnatchers was a nice touch. Too bad those guitars couldn’t find a starring role in anything. One wonders if the band knows a guitar tune will expose the impotence of the other tunes. Unfortunately All I Need needed those guitars at the end to achieve the power of Paranoid Android but alas, twas not meant to be.

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi was another highlight and one of the few that improved over the bootlegs. These guys should be given strict limits on the use of technology because their organic music is attractive, but the endless tacky syncopations overshadow their talent and make a poor substitute for real passion. There’s a good reason why there is guitar rock and synth rock but no cymbal rock. Cymbals are tinny and offer a limited range which makes them suitable only as compliments.

I was extremely disappointed that the guitars were stripped out of Reckoner. Granted, the live guitars were a bit ponderous, like old Black Sabbath, but again putting the percussion front and center was a bad idea. It sounds like pathetic, new age Dave Brubeck wannabees. Listen to Take Five. It kicks ass. Reckoner does not kick ass nor does it achieve anything else memorable in this new arrangement. Depth and delicacy can be precious gifts, but Radiohead often treads close to soft rock irrelevence.

Jigsaw Falling Into Place (Open Pick) was the best of the lot with the odd, Bowiesque opening vocal drawing attention in the midst of soundalike tunes and the propusive boogie providing much needed heft in the second half.

The magic of Radiohead was imbuing hard rock with intricacy, then turning that intricacy into an art form. Unfortunately they’ve played that out and when they desperately need a return to energetic, organic rock, as shown by the quality of the bootlegs from their 2006 tour, they instead turned to new studio gimmicks like tacky, obtuse drum machine effects. It’s desperately different, but not very effective. Live touring was supposed to reconnect the band with their music. Perhaps they should be barred from studio recording until further notice?

Final verdict: Percussion is the new masturbation.
bh

Certainly their most consistently good album in some time. Although it may take me many more listens to validate this, I would rate it up there with OK Computer, which is saying a lot.

This is by far the most accessible, mature Radiohead since The Bends, but it has little in common with that effort (although “Bodysnatchers” would fit in nicely with that recording). My initial favorites include Weird Fishes, All I need, Faust Arp, Reckoner, and Jigsaw Falling Into Place. I do like the treatment applied to Videotape, the droning drums/clicks remind me of watching old home movies of my father on VHS. It made me cry on the way to work this morning.

This is a serious work from the world’s most important band.
http://www.jen-sized.net Jen

Am I the only one who thinks “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” sounds like Broken Social Scene? I can’t place it.
eddie vedder

fuck this shit.