I’d like to issue a minor correction to my previous “In Rainbows” review. After buying the physical copy at FYE, and listening to it again, I can honestly say that it ranks up there with their last few albums. “Not that great” was a bit of an understatement. I was disappointed because my expectations were too high.
I still don’t think it’s “Ok Computer,” but it’s definitely “Hail to the Thief.”
I’ll just rest easy knowing that I wrote that short-sighted review on an indie blog that no one will ever read, and not after we become huge.
Also, for people that haven’t heard somehow, Radiohead released some live studio footage on New Year’s Eve. It contained the entirely of “In Rainbows” performed live in the studio. As you would expect, they changed up the songs quite a bit from what I’ve heard. Justin and I are planning on watching it tonight. I’m highly looking forward to it.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:10 am
About reviews
The fact that this album had to deliver under such pressure is an interesting commentary on its own. How many listens did it take to get to your current conclusion about In Rainbows? Another thing that’s good to remember is that it’s hard to reproduce the impact that something has. I don’t think Radiohead will ever have another “OK Computer” because in many ways that was a case of the right music at the right time. The best we can hope for out of a band is for its members to persue the music they love and hope that it hits us the same way it hits them.
January 12th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I think it’s a little unfair to compare other Radiohead albums to Ok Computer.
The Bends was a great album, but it was a great use of fairly standard elements of rock music. Ok Computer was different: it was a great use of new elements; it was revolutionary. The transition isn’t quite as clear-cut as I’m making it out to be, as one can certainly find common elements in these two albums, but the point is that what made Ok Computer special is that it marked a transition.
Radiohead has since had several more transitions — as a whole, I think they do a good job of changing substantially album to album — but they can never again move from “conventional” to “unconventional,” so they will never again be able to make the kind of jump they made with Ok Computer.
I think Radiohead’s style has a change/mature pattern. The style that was established with Ok Computer shifted a bit in Kid A and matured in Amnesiac. Then there was a fairly major change in Hail to the Thief, some shift and growth in The Eraser (which I know was just Yorke), and then a maturation in In Rainbows. I see the “middle children” (Kid A and The Eraser) as the weakest of these. And while the most novel albums like Ok Computer generate the most attention, I actually think the “mature” albums (Amnesiac and In Rainbows) are the best.
By the way, have you listened to the second disc of In Rainbows? It’s excellent.