In Rainbows |
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Released: October 10, 2007 Charted: January 6, 2008 Peak: 11 US, 11 UK, 13 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.3 UK, 3.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: experimental rock |
Tracks:Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.
Total Running Time: 42:39 The Players:
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Rating: 4.239 out of 5.00 (average of 29 ratings)
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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A Breakthrough in Digital MusicNone of Radiohead’s albums “shook the music world quite like that album did. Three years before LimeWire shuttered and four before Spotify became available in the US, Thom Yorke and company self-released their seventh studio album as a pay-what-you-want download to spite their then-label EMI — a first for any major musical act, and unfathomable for an artist of Radiohead’s caliber at the time.” CQThe Music Itself“Virtually no other artist could have profitably self-released a record in 2007, but no other artist could have made In Rainbows. While its predecessor Hail to the Thief saw Radiohead combine their grungy roots with the electro-art-pop of their Kid A and Amnesiac sessions, In Rainbows was a more firm return to rock – but this couldn’t be ordinary rock music.” CQIt was a “surprise…how expansive the music turned out to be.” RS500 “In Rainbows, as a title, implies a sense of comfort and delightfulness.” AM “Symbolically, rainbows are more likely to be associated with kittens and warm blankets than the grim and glum circumstances Radiohead is known for soundtracking. There’s a slight, if expected, twist at play. The band is more than familiar with the unpleasant moods associated with colors like red, green, and blue – all of which, of course, are colors within a rainbow – all of which are present, and even mentioned, during the album.” AM “Despite references to ‘going off the rails,’ hitting ‘the bottom,’ getting ‘picked over by the worms,’ being ‘dead from the neck up,’ and feeling ‘trapped’ (twice)…the one aspect of the album that becomes increasingly perceptible with each listen is how romantic it feels.” AM It “feels more human than most of their works, with an injected warmth from the instrumentals of which their previous works were absent.” PM The album is “In a triumph of abstraction and honest reflection” PM “with the vibe of a communal jam session. One that’s taking place at the end of the world, of course.” RS500 The SongsThe album opens with “the fuzzed-out riff at the beginning of Bodysnatchers.” PM “The sick-in-love Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” CQ “constant arpeggio feels endlessly hypnotic.” CQ The “hidden syncopation” CQ of “the funereal Videotape…has become one of indie rock’s most hot-button topics.” CQThough its more straightforward moments like 15 Step and Jigsaw Falling into Place were customary enough to, say, land a needle-drop in the Twilight film franchise, much of the rest of In Rainbows feels like being suspended somewhere in space.” CQ “Yorke gets soulful in the intense love songs” RS500 such as All I Need, House of Cards, and Nude, RS500 which sports a “funky groove.” PM “All I Need” “is a study in “utter devastation.” PM It “has to be one of the saddest, most open-hearted metaphors used to express unrequited love.” AM “’House of Cards’ begins with ‘I don’t want to be your friend/I just want to be your lover/No matter how it ends/No matter how it starts,’ and the one with the worms includes ‘I’d be crazy not to follow/Follow where you lead/Your eyes/They turn me.’” AM Conclusion“This effective weaving of disparate elements – lyrical expressions commonly associated with the band, mixed in with ones suited for everyday love ballads – goes for the music as well. The album is very song-oriented, with each track constantly moving forward and developing, yet there are abstract electronic layers and studio-as-instrument elements to prevent it from sounding like a regression. In Rainbows will hopefully be remembered as Radiohead’s most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download.” AM |
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First posted 5/12/2008; last updated 10/3/2026. |
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