Radiohead - In Rainbows

Whether you subscribe to the church of Radiohead or not, you have to give the group credit for its earnest devotion to music. Far more than contemporaries of their status, they are committed to the production of fresh, creative albums that push their sound in new directions.

Unfortunately, this attitude has led them down a creative path that has alienated many of their former fans. After 1997's widely acclaimed OK Computer, Radiohead wasn't sure how to follow up what is still the greatest album of their career. The mounting pressure led the band to deconstruct its anthemic guitar-rock in favor of electronic experimentation. While many heralded their next effort, Kid A, as an artistic triumph, others decried its inaccessibility and wished the group would return to playing guitars properly.

Ten years after the fact, In Rainbows may well be the follow-up to OK Computer those estranged fans were looking for. Though it heeds the experimental lessons of Radiohead's last few albums, the group has made a pointed return to traditional songwriting. Excellent new songs such as "House of Cards" and "Reckoner" could easily have been highlights in Radiohead's pre-OK Computer catalogue, featuring traditional guitar hooks and inviting, accessible songwriting.

Of all the directions Radiohead could have taken, this seems the least likely. Songs such as "The Gloaming" and "Backdrifts" on 2003's Hail to the Thief pointed toward frenetic glitch-pop territory, while Thom Yorke's solo project The Eraser suggested a pretty mess of homemade agit-pop.

In Rainbows, however, is notably warmer and simpler than anything the band has done in its career. Strange electronic effects still haunt a few of the tracks (see the fractured drum introduction of "15 Step"), but the clear focus is on guitar, percussion and supple string arrangements.

So breathe a sigh of relief, OK Computer fans – Radiohead has decided to embrace actual songwriting again. Whether it's with the incredible love-sick buildup of "All I Need" or the frenetic, infectious guitar freak-out of "Bodysnatchers", it's clear this is Radiohead's most unabashedly melodic material in more than a decade. Many songs are among their greatest.


Radiohead - "All I Need"; live in studio 12/31/07
Sometimes, however, In Rainbows feels maddeningly basic. Though each track sounds great in the moment, the album as a whole may leave listeners unsatisfied. Compared to all of Radiohead's previous work, there is noticeably less substance to the music. Is the simplicity here an artistic choice, or indicative of a dearth of new ideas? The album's frustratingly short run-time (at a little over 40 minutes) does little to allay listener's doubts.

But fans know it's impossible to thoroughly evaluate a new Radiohead album in less than a week. Perhaps, given time, In Rainbows may prove itself equal to Radiohead's greatest albums (The Bends and Kid A, and of course OK Computer). Certainly, it's clearly superior to 2003's great-but-not-amazing Hail to the Thief, and an excellent return to form. Only repeated listens, however, will reveal whether In Rainbows will achieve "classic" status.

Originally published for the Cavalier Daily:
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2007/oct/18/radiohead-returns-to-a-more-fundamental-sound/