In Rainbows

RadioheadIn RainbowsThe first band to ever officially release a Platinum-bound album before even finalizing their cover art (let alone going to the press), Radiohead rushed their first self-released album, In Rainbows, to their fans via the Internet less than three weeks after announcing they’d finished recording. They did it this way, sadly (and smartly), as a reaction to the currently hopeless state of the music industry. They also did it this way, one would assume, because they knew they had their fourth classic album on their hands. They did it this way because, frankly, they’re Radiohead, and they do things differently.

Though consumers will be able to eventually acquire a copy of the band’s haunting seventh LP in one of a few various “official” forms in due time, a name-your-price download is the proemial format.  That goes for not just the music media, but also for the fans, who for one get to hear an album before it’s reviewed. As for Rainbows’ 10 songs, well, let’s just say they’re good, but that’s expected, right? Big ideas demand big results, right? How’s this: even when compared to Radiohead’s mostly great catalog, these songs are worth celebrating.

The one thing that had been crippling Thom Yorke and Co. – and thereby muddying up their output – were the ever-looming expectations of living up to their signature album, OK Computer. Here, for the first time since that landmark album, Radiohead don’t seem to care about expectations. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel (Kid A) or please fans (Hail to the Thief), they’re just being Radiohead. They’re not worrying about trends, deep conceptual themes or worldly relevance, they’re simply playing in a band again, same as it ever was.

Opening In Rainbows is a distorted drum machine loop that works as a fixed backbone for the excellent “15 Step.” Guitars, keyboards, various vocal layers, thrumming ambiance and live drums come in and out, building and bottoming for what is ultimately their best composition (“There There” aside) since Kid A. Next up is the energetic “Bodysnachers,” a complex rocker that Radiohead and only Radiohead could come up with. Guitars (yes, real deal guitars) tease and tickle – both suble and rollicking – before announcing the official return of Radiohead, the best band on the planet, somewhere around the 3:33 mark. Not quite OK Computer- or The Bends-level guitarplay, but close enough.

Yorke’s soulful vocals (which are better here than ever before), a strong inclination for thick, rhythmic Krautrock moodiness and an often less-than-full sound mark just three of the new tools Radiohead incorporate here. Really though, In Rainbows simply sounds like a band who have finally discovered how to operate within the confines of what they do best without feeling the need for grand gestures of massive style overhauls. Though the whole of In Rainbows very clearly sounds like the band responsible for Kid A and Hail to the Thief, closer “Videotape” is the only obvious fan pleaser (think “Pyramid Song” and “True Love Waits”). The thing is: it’s good. Very good. Good enough, you’d have to assume, that it made the final cut over the eight forthcoming b-sides the band has already promised.

And let’s not forget “Reckoner,” a song they originally wrote in 1997. The best song of 2007? Well, it’s at least very close. Within the sweep of the band’s most typical set of tools – subtle melodic guitar, entranced vocal harmonies, sprinkled piano licks, strings, calming machine-gun drums, etc. – Radiohead do what they do best: construct. It’s all there, the details, the vocals, the lyrics and even the guitars. Everything you’d expect from Radiohead – including their inventivness – plays a part in the all-around specialness that is In Rainbows.

Also important to discuss with any Radiohead album is production value. To the dismay of many bored-but-loyal fans, In Rainbows utilizes longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. Known for his ability to twist just about anything into an epic (including crappy Paul McCartney albums), Godrich’s treatment here is thankfully a bit less in-your-face. Rather than melting everything into a potpourri of swirling sound, he’s finally letting things pop. He’s layering, but only 30 or so tracks per song, as opposed to the 100-plus heard on the band’s last four albums.

About as minimalist as Radiohead gets these days, In Rainbows is still huge, thick and vast, but without the Thief-like sheen this long-labored, fragile set of compositions shine for what they are, brooding . Brightly. Yorke’s soars more than ever and Ed O’Brien and Jonny Greenwood’s guitars (at least when they choose to really play them) are ablaze. But the key here is the band’s unrivaled knack for structure. As was the case with OK Computer, In Rainbows is fast-thinking, moving from idea to idea seamlessly, leaving in its tracks a deceivingly complex batch of accessible prog-rock songs.

Due to how In Rainbows was released, it’s bound to go down in rock geek history as one of the pivotal moments of the current transitional download era. Everything about how the album’s release was handled is interesting, and, with any luck, it just might scare the fleeting corporate set straight. Err … half-straight. Thankfully for fans In Rainbows is not just an album with a story, but a great album with and unthinkably great story. File this one right net to OK Computer under “landmark.”   9.5/10

Written by G. William Locke