Let me preface this by saying it's my first review, and it's probably going to be a pointless review after a good 15 years since this album's release, but since it's my favorite album from my favorite band, I couldn't start with anything else.
This is the first album that comes to mind when I pick up the guitar, because yes, there's a lot of guitar in the album, played in the style I love the most, intertwining arpeggios that weave together delicately, maintaining this even through bursts of distortion, never harsh to my ears. But there's much more, starting with Yorke's sublime and clean voice, always central in the album, engaging and never dull bass lines from Jonny Greenwood's perhaps too underrated brother, Colin, and piano inserts here and there leading up to the beautiful Videotape. The drumming in this album is discreet (not in the sense of mediocre, of course, but shy), rendered very subtle yet fitting greatly in the album's mood and even contributing significantly to its output.
Like all Radiohead albums, it's packed with filling sounds, the kind you only discover upon the tenth listen that leave you amazed that you didn't notice them before, because still, even though I consider it one of their most accessible albums, it's very complex, but obviously, that's no surprise, we all know by now what they're capable of doing.
In conclusion, I consider In Rainbows to be the album of their synthesis, the one that knew how to take inspiration from OK Computer, combining it with what they learned during the Kid A/Amnesiac period, perhaps what Hail to the Thief didn't fully manage to do, too heterogeneous for my tastes.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 15 Step (03:58)
How come I end up where I started?
How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again
You reel me out, then you cut the string
How come I end up where I started?
How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again
First you reel me out, and then you cut the string
You used to be alright
What happened?
Did the cat get your tongue?
Did your string come undone?
One by one
One by one
It comes to us all
It's as soft as your pillow
You used to be alright
What happened?
Etcetera, etcetera
Fads for whatever
Fifteen steps, then a sheer drop
How come I end up where I started?
How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again
You reel me out, then you cut the string
02 Bodysnatchers (04:02)
I do not
Understand
What it is
I've done wrong
Full of holes
Check for pulse
Blink your eyes
One for yes
Two for no
I have no idea what I am talking about
I am trapped in this body and can't get out
Ooooohhhh
You killed the sound
Removed backbone
A pale imitation
With the edges sawn off
I have no idea what you are talking about
Your mouth moves only with someone's hand up your ass
Ooooohhhh
Has the light gone out for you?
Because the light's gone out for me
It is the 21st century
It is the 21st century
It can follow you like a dog
It brought me to my knees
They got a skin and they put me in
They got a skin and they put me in
All the lines wrapped around my face
All the lines wrapped around my face
Are for anybody else to see
Are for anybody else to see
I'm a lie
I've seen it coming
I've seen it coming
I've seen it coming
I've seen it coming
03 Nude (04:15)
Don't get any big ideas
They're not gonna happen
You paint yourself white
And fill up with noise
But there'll be something missing
Now that you've found it, it's gone
Now that you feel it, you don't
You've gone off the rails
So don't get any big ideas
They're not gonna happen
You'll go to hell
For what your dirty mind is thinking
04 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (05:18)
In the deepest ocean
The bottom of the sea
Your eyes
They turn me
Why should I stay here?
Why should I stay?
I'd be crazy not to follow
Follow where you lead
Your eyes
They turn me
Turn me on to phantoms
I follow to the edge of the earth
And fall off
Yeah, everybody leaves
If they get the chance
And this is my chance
I get eaten by the worms
And weird fishes
Picked over by the worms
And weird fishes
Weird fishes
Weird fishes
I...I hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape
I...I hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape
05 All I Need (03:49)
I'm the next act
Waiting in the wings
I'm an animal
Trapped in your hot car
I am all the days
That you choose to ignore
You are all I need
You're all I need
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the reeds
I am a moth
Who just wants to share your light
I'm just an insect
Trying to get out of the night
I only stick with you
Because there are no others
You are all I need
You're all I need
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the reeds
It's all wrong, It's all right
It's all wrong, It's all right
It's all wrong, It's all right
It's all wrong, It's all right
It's all, it's all
06 Faust Arp (02:10)
One two three four
Wakey wakey
Rise and shine
It's on again, off again, on again
Watch me fall
Like dominoes
In pretty patterns
Fingers in the blackbird pie
I'm tingling, tingling, tingling
It's what you feel, not what you ought to
What you ought to
Reasonable and sensible
Dead from the neck up
I guess I'm stuffed, stuffed, stuffed
We thought you had it in you
But no, no, no
For no real reason
Squeeze the tubes and empty bottles
And take a bow, take a bow, take a bow
It's what you feel, not what you ought to
What you ought to
The elephant that's in the room is
Tumbling, tumbling, tumbling
Duplicate and triplicate
And plastic bags
And duplicate and triplicate
Dead from the neck up
I guess I'm stuffed, stuffed, stuffed
We thought you had it in you
But no, no, no
Exactly where do you get off?
Is enough, is enough
I love you but enough is enough
Enough of that stuff
There's no real reason
You've got a head full of feathers
You're gonna melt into butter
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Alex1965
Radiohead are a thousand miles above everything and everyone.
Listening to them makes everything seem so unreal. They are the therapy against the ugliness of our existence.
By Lennox
This album is a masterpiece.
"In Rainbows" shouldn’t be listened to, it must be lived.
By joe strummer
"In Rainbows" is thus, beyond its musical value, an album that will certainly be remembered.
A uniform, compact work, without any significant qualitative drop. An operation of full substance, without any avant-garde pretentiousness.
By Stephen Write
"In Rainbows" (the title of their new album) will be available for download starting October 10 at the price of... well, the novelty is that you decide the price.
The final judgment on "In Rainbows" is very positive, even if the expectations for this album were enormous and therefore a bit of disappointment in certain aspects is physiological.
By Fatal
An album I would define as intimate.
Thom Yorke is the absolute protagonist in all the tracks. His voice, cleaner than ever, dominates everywhere.