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Rating: Well, here we are at the moment of truth. After much anticipation and many conversations, postponements, and delays of various kinds, the new album by Radiohead has finally arrived. I want to say one thing right away, just to avoid creating further suspense: this album is a masterpiece.
Radiohead have managed the almost impossible feat of demonstrating once again how they have been able to further develop their journey of artistic maturity. We are not faced with an innovative or revolutionary record. They don't surprise you because they have created a new style; they are Radiohead, and they want to remind you of it. It took "Amnesiac" to revolutionize the genre. Here, they catch you off guard because they abduct your senses without you even realizing it, and the soul becomes a musical instrument. You are overwhelmed by the increasingly strong feeling, piece after piece, of being in front of perfection. They no longer need to overdo it and amaze at all costs; maturity has led them to concreteness, and whatever they do now sounds damn brilliant to you. Lyrical. Poetic. "In Rainbows" is the palindromic work of an entire career; each of its pieces is an echo of enchanting beauty and further, perhaps definitive, elements that complete an absolutely unparalleled career.
I don't feel like talking about the individual pieces of the album because doing so would trivialize the immense value and depth of this work. Thom Yorke at his highest levels undergoes a metamorphosis as a damned soul transformed into an angel. His voice-instrument becomes now delicate, now energetic and hopeful, now nostalgic and impetuous, letting itself be lulled by the colors of the rainbow that seem to have brought a bit of light to those dark and gray lands where the soul roamed solitary and pessimistic. That soul that has now sprouted wings and learned to fly, soaring into the sky and light, a sky that is only colored by the rainbow, as if Icarus could have a second chance for redemption, gaining courage in the absence of the sun, flying free towards colors and eternity.
An extraordinary and intense album. To listen to and listen again until the steps become increasingly lighter and you have the impression that wings are sprouting on the back. Actually, no, "In Rainbows" shouldn't be listened to, it must be lived.
Tracklist Lyrics 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
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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 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.
By Breus
In Rainbows does not appear to be particularly lavish in post-production, nor is it lavish with an extraordinarily inspired writing. But perhaps this is its strength.
The atmosphere is pervaded by a mood that is certainly not sunny, at best nostalgic.
