In Rainbows...again

So I posted my first knee-jerk reaction to In Rainbows last week and I took it down because I realized that it sucked and I hated it. "How come I end up where I started?"

Albums as a whole usually have more meaning. Liking individual songs is one thing...liking whole albums is completely different from that. It's an experience, it's a journey, it's dedication. The ability to put an album in and listen to it without seeking to the next track is so incredibly difficult...putting an album in and not wanting to switch to the next track is something else entirely.

But I find I can do that with In Rainbows.

Of the 50 or so times I have listened to it (I'm not sure if that is an exaggeration or not) I have only changed tracks 3 or 4 times. Usually in the car when I'm about to get to work or go to class and I know that I want a particular song in my head. But for the most part it has been glorious repetition of the same ten songs over and over.

The amazing thing about Radiohead is that they really push their talent. They don't just let songs happen. For this album a lot of these songs have been written in some form or another for over a year. They road tested a bit and spent time in the studio to make sure they had what they wanted.

Music doesn't seem to be a...creative explosion for them. It's more...it almost seems like they have to do what they do. They have to sit for hour and hours until the sounds and depth of the track is just right. That's just the way it seems anyway. They are never under produced and never over produced and they never seem to have a song that just out right is not good. And if it seems that way at first then all you have to do is listen to it about 4 or 10 times and then you get it.

Because they are capable of making absolutely stunning music. OK Computer was stunning. Kid A was stunning. (side note: has any other band released an album that was easily considered their 'best' and then the very next album is considered even better?) This album is...

I'm hesitant to say 'better'. But let us say 'just as good'....well...'just as great'.

They just do things differently on this album. It isn't necessarily a major departure from all that they have done before...and then again it is.

This album is so understated. It's like they wrote the songs, then put them underwater. The album only comes up for breath a spare two or three times. On 'Nude' when the music drops and Thom's voice just comes flying out of the water, and the end of 'All I Need' when you kinda feel like they just looked at each other and said: "Fuck It...we're rocking this shit out." and they all come out of the water...and it becomes transcendent and I lose all track of what I am doing.*

But the rest of the album stays underwater. Not that there aren't great moments...on 'Bodysnatchers' when everything calms down right before the end and Thom is moaning and the bass and the guitar and the drums and everything is perfect. Again on 'Reckoner' the band has a similar sort of moment. The beat drops and the music rises and falls with Thom's voice and it's gorgeous.

And of course Videotape. The song has the ability to be a huge anthem (and indeed when they toured it was mostly) but for the album the almost leave it alone completely and let Thom's voice and lyrics just completely dominate. It makes me happy. When he sings: "This is my way of saying goodbye..." I feel like there should be like gunblasts and a great big orchestra behind because the lyrics are just so powerful. But they let them stand alone, and it might be my favorite Radiohead track ever. This is the song I usually switch to when I'm about 4 minutes away from getting out.

Overall the album is the opposite of all the things that we've come to expect from great Radiohead albums - sweeping, grand, depressing, a vision...epic. It is just this little album with ten little songs that the band just wants you to listen to. I for one am enjoying.

"I won't be afraid because I know today has been the most perfect day I have ever seen."

_Todd