OK! You guys didn’t sleep? Neither did we. Just got the magic link in an email from W.A.S.T.E. Zip is downloading. We’ll post our thoughts here throughout the day, as well as the best of your comments. And let’s make it fun: sign-off your post with how much you paid — and how much you think it was worth. Early buzz says In Rainbows is … well, actually you’re gonna help dictate that early buzz right now.
Ready?
Let’s do this.
You Might Also Like
 Quakers – “Fitta Happier” Video (Feat. Guilty Simpson &… |  Hear OK Computer & Kid A 8-Bit Style |  Coachella 2012 Weekend 2 In Photos |  Thom Yorke Joins Modeselektor, DJs Day And Night At… |
 |
 |
%s1 / %s2
199 comments! it would rule if this was the biggest thread ever. 300! go for 300!
also: love the album so far, downloaded it like a scamp, but i think i’ll plump for it anyway…10 lbs at current exchange rates sounds about right.
dang, my credit won’t accept the transaction=== i dont think its over and all the info is right//////// anyone have any conversion issues?
i was tryin to give 10 us dollars — 7.11 lbs or something… i guess i will just havta wait until they make a little white casette tape.
Bought the discbox…
It’s been on repeat for a few hours now…
I love new Radiohead album days…
It’s like Christmas…
PS – Stop complaining about 160kbs, like most of you even notice the difference…
i paid 5 gbp which is 10 US dollars. worth every penny on principle alone.
i’m loving the tracks, too! i’m not familiar with any of the live versions, but i love how it turned out in the studio.
staying up late last night to listen to it, knowing that there were thousands more around the world listening at the same time. genius!
Well after listening to it once i thought i wasn’t too impressed, but now the third time around I’ve realised its awesome. It’s like Radiohead doing lounge music or something, and it’s NOT tacky like that might sound.
Weird Fishes!! and videotape is killer — that drum clang is gut-wrenching.
Really looking forward to the discbox.
i’m a casual radiohead fan (hopped on with OK computer, went back and enjoyed the bends, liked Kid A, fizzled after that…), but haven’t listened too much to these boys since then. wooo boy. the walk to and from class this morning was intense. 15 Step, Bodysnatchers, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi and especially Reckoner are the highlights for me after 1.5 listens. i can tell already that Reckoner is going to be on heavy rotation for quite some time for me…
paid about 3.5 quid/ $5ish
i paid $8.
i almost pooped myself when i heard the intro to “bodysnatchers”.
best album of 2007.
I downloaded it this morning and listened to it on my iPod on the way to work. My initial impressions are very positive. It has a much more accessible sound than “Hail to the Thief,” yet still retains the Radiohead vibe. Very good stuff.
i have more to say about this album,i want to say faust arp is a masterpeice, this song is nearly as good as nick drakes river man, thats saying alot, nick drake breathes the breath of a million or more souls in that song, also lyrics like “In the deepest ocean,The bottom of the sea,Your eyes,They turn me”
lyrics like that make me want to put money basicaly directly into there account, which is what it has come to. but after kid a and amnesiac, radiohead came to be known as the band that could break rules and do it well. trudge through the ice and brave the snowstorms and cold to stick a radiohead flag somewhere dark and deep and beautiful, i myself was convinced they were true pioneers,and they were musically. but the rules they are breaking now are different,i mean it feels pretty amazing to think that everyone on this blog has just heard it for the first time,with no blog writers shaking there fists or pitchfork weilding there blessings around beforehand.i can hear my roommate below me playing the album over and over aswell.its amazing to think of all the places and rooms that are buzzing with all this new music on oct 10th,that feels different, that feels ground breaking that feels new, that almost redeems the fact that its not up to my previous radiohead standards.so radiohead are still pioneers than but in a different way. im not sure they are still the pioneers or groundbreakers they once were musically,no one is who they used to be, these new songs have there moments for sure, but alot of obvious radiohead kinda tricks are applyed and it doesnt feel as deep and convincing as most of there previous works.i mean it has moments that are deep and convincing but i kinda feel insulted in a way that they think they can pass some of these ideas off as the real gold, i mean alot of people consider radiohead the real gold, but with this new album they might have dropped a few karets-MUSICALLY, they also gained a few with regards to letting people pay what you want as well,im started to realize some of the overindulgent qualities of this album like – why cant arpeggi just float along in an ambient vain instead of forcing the drums down my throat, it would have been just as strong a song without drums ,”all i need” feels like limp radiohead, and the singing in reckoner feels so new age cheesey to me, i cant get over how great a song house of cards is and how horrible they recorded it,i wanna slap radiohead on the wrist and say NO MORE REVERB,
It feels like everything else in the world at the moment is just a distraction from this album.
When TV on the Radio’s “Return to Cookie Mountain” came out, I predicted that the new Radiohead would sound pretty similar. I guess in some ways I’m not that far off, it sounds like a jazzier take on it. “15 Steps” could be right alongside “I Was a Lover.” That said, I’m a little disappointed the album’s not really bigger, in a way. You know, Kid A had all those trumpets and distortion and whatnot. This is the most traditional thing I’ve heard from them in a while. This is, of course, based on 9 tracks on my morning commute and a couple of half-assed listens with the volume down at work. And I absolutely love “All I Need.” Do you think we can say Radiohead sounds like Muse now, instead of the other way around?
am crazy excited. been waiting and waitin’ was getting angry. then realized that my bastard email sent it to bulk folder. ecstasy awaits
I went to bed on Christmas eve hoping for new Superman pajamas.
I awoke to find a working Superman suit that would allow me to stop bullets, use x-ray vision, and fly.
Hyperbole?
Not in the least.
Truly beautiful music.
Thank you Radiohead.
Is anyone else waiting to hear it on vinyl first?
Keeps telling me my bank won’t approve purchase! two pounds, fifty?!! I’m rich, Bitch! Dying out here in Encinitas, CA!
paid roughly $3.00/USD.
i can’t stop listening to it.
will buy the vinyl/cd when it comes out.
plz plz plz let some U.S. tour dates come soon.
6 pounds = $12
I am shocked by how good this album sounds, even with the 160 kbps. I will admit that my expectations were lower for this album than with past radiohead albums released since OK Computer, so that might have something to do with it. As I’ve grown older, my music tastes have changed, and I feared that Radiohead would not sound quite as good as they did to me 3, 5, 7, 10 years ago. However, this album destroyed that theory after the first 2 songs. It’s the only thing that I want to hear right now. In Rainbows is intense, quiet, sinister, brooding, rocking, etc. Everything that I could have wanted it to be. I’m predicting it will be in heavy rotation for me for quite awhile.
oh yeah…and it’s my birthday. best gift ever.
I paid 10 USD just for the novelty of the system. I’ve only been able to give the album a single listen, but so far worth every penny, if not more.
alright, fine I’ll be the one to say it because you’ve all thought it. The end of Nude is a rip off of the Little Mermaid. Just sayin.
I only had time to listen to ‘videotape’ this morning.
I love it. It’s crazy how some peopel can’t stand the drums- it changes things up, gives it a whole differnt feel.
I think maybe though I just love the song so much I couldn’t be dissapointed with it.
I remember first listening to the bends in 1995, and loving it because it was different from anything else music had to offer. ok computer was different, kid a was different…
kid a, amnesiac, and hail to the thief form a solid sonic trilogy, but i am pleased to say that with In Rainbows, radiohead has finally moved on from that sound, and that stripped down/minimalist doesn’t mean moving backward.
i seem to see a lot of it’s not “_____” enoughs floating around. statements of general dissappointment in the fact that old elements from the radiohead arsenal are missing, or that you can’t liken this album to it’s predecessors. well a band’s sound should evolve, not devolve. your favorite radiohead album isn’t re-visited here (if anything it reminds me of the airbag ep, somehow, ostensibly).
with that said, this album is excellent. it is open, not constrained by layers of digital ticks and distortion. you will hear real drumming. you will hear thom breathing, and remark that he actually has space to do so. you will hear radiohead actually enjoying what they do.
yes this album is different, but isn’t the variety what made you fall in love in the first place?
i bought the discbox.
$10.45 CDN
still listening, and will continue too, but the listening sounds good…
You hipsters are funny. It’s just Radiohead. Give me a fucking break.
I paid $12 US and though my credit card has been charged I never received a confirmation email or downloading instructions. I’ve emailed the folks at InRainbows and so far, nada. Thanks, Radiohead.
Oh my god, this is something epic right here.
Bodysnatchers took me by surprise, easily my favourite track.
God I can’t even decide anymore.
where do you download it i cant find it on their website
paid 10 pounds. 15 Steps my favorite. Can safely say best album of the year. Go cry about that Kanye West.
This is, in all seriousness, many shades of awesome. Thom York’s lyrics are some of the most beautiful around today. The arrangements are amazing. On my third listen, and i’m gonna be listening all day.
I paid five pounds, and i gotta say, it is worth the eighty bucks the discbox costs, not the ten i put down.
So this morning I totally felt like Kelly from the Office in the “Business School” episode where Michael gets mad at Ryan and banishes him to the corner with Kelly and Toby and Kelly is just going “ohmygodohmygodohmygod” over and over and can’t stand still.
That’s all I wanted to share. The album is fucking beautiful.
If that damn website would have let me pay for the album, I was going to pay about $10 for it. The problem could have been my bank, as I was using a debit card, but still. Sometimes the Pre-order buttons weren’t even available for like a minute. Options, man. Usability trumps “cool” sites.
So, I’m listening to a copy a friend gave me (he ordered the discbox), and I don’t feel bad about it at all. I’ll buy it when it’s in the stores. Or wherever CDs will be sold in 2008.
What’s everyone’s timestamp for the email arrival? Mine came at 10:31pm, West Coast. I paid around $15 USD for the album. This may sound retarded, but I wonder if there is some connection between how much was paid and how soon you received the link. BTW – shame on all of you no-payers.
I think it’s phenomenal and already my album of the year. I never thought that they’d be able to improve on the version of Nude that appears in MPIE but this version is unreal. My only complaint is Videotape, which is an amazing song but far better without the drums (i.e. the From the basement recording.)
Nude and Videotape are perfect. Who cares about the rest.
$10 US
Brilliant. Just going through the first few tracks and I love.
4.50 British Pounds.
I can only describe this album with hugs at this point…mmmmmmmm. Wow
Why shame on all us no-payers, Louie? Weren’t we given the option to not pay? Are we stealing? Should we be sued? Do you want a cookie for paying $15? I know people who paid more. So shame on you, douchebag. I will buy a tangible copy of this album upon its physical release, but even if I didn’t, why should people care? It’s being offered for free.
Obsessive fan since OK Computer, now in my mid 20s and they can still do this to me. I went through some major shit this year (death) and this record made me curl up and cry like a baby during at least 5 songs (even bodysnatchers!). That’s never happened with any other record on first listen, ever.
1 15 STEP really does sound like Peaches (listen to this and “Fuck the Pain Away”), and that’s what Thom was going for. Plus the slinky spy guitar. Comes out of the gate dancing and twitching, like Airbag and Planet Telex before it.
2 BODYSNATCHERS. Seems like every record has one consummate Radiohead rock song, with the DNA passed on from Paranoid Android -> Optimistic -> There There -> Bodysnatchers. So much snarl to this one, and Thom screaming “I SEEN IT COMING I SEEN IT COMING” to end it is awesome in the studio.
3 NUDE is aching and gentle and timeless, like it always deserved to be. The little bit of Beach Boys shine to it is probably the contrast that was missing from earlier versions.
4 WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI. Nigel Godrich pulls his weight with those extremely natural-sounding arpeggios that he sprinkles all over his work with Air. Jonny on Rhodes for the buildup is ridiculous.
5 ALL I NEED. All religions are a form of sun worship, right? Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung talk about the sun being the ultimate universal symbol of life and creation. So they end this one with Thom singing “The sun The sun The sun” with glockenspiels climbing higher and higher.
6 FAUST ARP. Ha, “Wakey wakey.” Nice little White Album-ish breather, starts the 3 song happy run that they’ve never tried before. Really captures the woodsy acoustic thing I got out of the Trade Justice rally bootlegs.
7 RECKONER. Bait and switch, motherfuckers. I wanted skull-crushing apocalyptic guitars and… is this the same song, really? But it keeps growing on me and that sunny-but-minor thing reminds me of 60s “Time of the Season” or “California Dreamin’,” which is pretty great.
8 HOUSE OF CARDS. My only complaint is that the three pretty/happy songs in a row chips away at the energy that they’ve built up by this point. But like somebody said, I could listen to blissed-out aging Radiohead forever.
9 JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE really takes the song out of the “Trickster” space it occupied live and carves out a real identity for it. Deserving of the penultimate Lucky/Morning Bell spot, but does anybody else wish it was longer?
10 VIDEOTAPE made me feel betrayed on first listen and almost ruined the whole thing for me because all of my favorite parts have been gutted. But that’s my fault for coming in with expectations – we have to assume they tried that “godlike” version and it just didn’t pan out in context. I hated what they did to Motion Picture Soundtrack at first, too, but now I’d never trade it for the guitar version. And this one sounds better every time I hear it, so…
Yes, In Rainbows has things about it that disappoint me, but so did Kid A at first. And I haven’t liked any of their records so much on first listen since OK Computer. Give the newer stuff some time to grow on us and it’s probably another classic. It really feels like the White Album to me because it strips everything down but swaggers more than ever at the same time. Now watch Pitchfork shit all over it just because they can.
so apart from faust harp, 15 step, bodysnatchers and videotape (minus the trying to hard to be weird drums) this album is thom and the gang blowing a load in everyones faces and yawning at the sametime,you probley just think im some dumb lamen trying to pick a fight in the lions den but infact ive been an extremely obssesive fan in the past…. i really feel they should have went with a REALLY solid EP instead of all the filler of all i need(got the point thru all the youtube videos), nude(same as all i need),reckoner(nearly muse),and the bombed take of house of cards(actually a really great song), ..i suppose its nearly illegal to speak out against radiohead, i wonder about the people who heard it and denied there REAL feelings cause its RADIOHEAD. no one has a strong opinion anymore. nearly everyone lays on the bed and gets beaten up, im more excited about the music that deerhunter is making than i am about most of this new album
oh: paid what, $80 for the discbox? worth it, even for my broke ass.
Pablo Honey – one great song
The Bends – “is the same band? wow…who would have guessed?”
OK Computer – terrifying, shocking, absolutely mind-warpingly good
Kid A – officially this generation’s Beatles. no one can touch these guys
Amnesiac – only radiohead could scrape together such a great record out of leftovers and experiments.
..Thief – a little long, but great songs and arrangements.
In Rainbows – it’s certainly good, but if I’m honest I find it a little boring. sort of sounds like any band could have put this together, and doesn’t seem all that special to me. I feel like the tracking is wrong or something….the arrangements feel flat, and I’m just left with a feeling of “OK, that was good but let’s find something else to hear”.
I have the discbox on order, so here’s hoping the second set of songs moves me more.
I can’t get the fucking website to work. I didn’t preorder and I can’t get in to order now. Fuck. FUCK. I’m going to try to get it off Soulseek, but I’ll be paying four pounds, or $8, when I’m able. FUCK. I need to hear this now.
OMGOMg is that Justin Kelly?!!
Justin Kelly the deerhunter fan??
The best way to release an album. No crap media reviews to mull over, etc.
Loving the crap out of this on the 3rd-4th spin now.
Paid 5 US.
Will end up picking up the box as well.
Has anyone else had trouble buying the album right now? Radiohead’s server keeps “updating my basket” without letting me pay. Argh! The pain. And I thought there was no need to pre-order it…
My birthday is tomorrow and I feel like Radiohead sent me a present early. “All I need” is something special and the whole album is really strong. I paid $0.00 and kind of feel guilty, but will pick up the CD whenever it comes out to make amends. Now if only Radiohead would come to North Carolina.
didn’t pay intitally, thinking i would pay after listening if i liked it, which i think is fair. didn’t dig it. don’t know what all the indie rock kids like so much about radiohead. kid a was pretty great, admittedly, but the rest of their catalog is pretty mediocre i feel, and kind of commercial sounding at that. and i don’t mean that in a ‘i won’t buy it if it’s not on an indie or sounds raw’ kinda way. i mean it as in the sort of formulaic cues and choices similarly found in hollywood movies. i know i’m being vague with that description, but maybe you get the gist?
too much pitchforkey fuss, people. btw, did you hear sufjan and girl talk and deehunter probably ate lunch today? more later as news develops…
when was the last time there was a communal listening experience as vast as this? i’m gonna take a stab and say it was the day the beatles released “sgt. pepper” over 40 years ago.
brilliant move by a brilliant band. oh, and of course the album’s brilliant as well. certainly worth the 2 pounds i contributed (knowing full well that i would be contributing more when the hard copy comes out).
i paid the 40 pounds for the discbox.
my premature evaluation is that it’s a solid radiohead record, concise (was “hail” too long for anybody else? even if it wasn’t, 42 minutes is a pretty perfect album length) and beautifully recorded.
we’ll see if it holds up – i suspect it will, this band’s got a few growers under its belt – and i’m sure there’ll be naysayers (many just reacting largely to the hype on the method of release, etc.), but right now it’s a pleasure to listen to.
So… we’ve decided it’s better than the new Bloc Party?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9UUEpgdkgw
First of all, the email never came…after I paid $80 for the discbox. I went ahead and paid 3 pounds plus tax for the download which I’m guessing rounds out to $6 US dollars. Not too happy with their customer support but very satisfied with the album.
I like every track except for bodysnatchers (because I can barely hear Thom’s melodic voice), Reckoner is just not the rocker I was expecting and it sort of melds into the songs around it. As for House of Cards, I just never liked it.
Now on to what I blew me away: All I Need, Nude, and Arpeggi. These songs made me feel like I was watching the sea burn as the sun went down from a safe distance yet close enough to hear the glorious waves. Oh so lovely and surreal. As to Videotape, up there with the best Thom’s ever written, sure it’s not as good as the From The Basement session but haunting none the less. I need to hear it more to get an idea for the whole album.
i think people who are skeptics just don’t get this album or like the band…
if you like OK Computer, Kid A, The Eraser, this album will fully satisfy you
I got the box set because i’m an obsessive fan and a completist but bias opinions aside, i’m still confident in saying if you like those 3 albums, this one is like a hybrid of the 3 and is comparatively enjoyable, plain and simple if you don’t like it you dont truly like the band to begin with,
best album of year so far, i like it more than person pitch, S.J, Battles, SO FAR, we’ll see….
The website/checkout page is definitely not working right now. I had to find a zip file elsewhere, even though I was willing to pay 15$ for it.
Fucking SHITE! Eez fucking nipples aren’t a band. My band is far superior!!!
Oh dear. I certainly hope this is a grower, as nothing has really stunned me as of yet – that’s after repeated listening since last night. :sigh:
I acknowledge that it may be my fault rather than the album’s =..[
$20.00 USD- met my wife at a Radiohead show years ago. They’ve enhanced my life since pablo honey and I feel like I owe them. I respect the experiment as Radiohead will continue making industry altering music. In Rainbows- cohesive and beautiful.
Back to bed Liam!! Wanker. What’s this? Fuck Radiohead. Fucking bullocks, man.
15step-8/10 bodysnatchers-7/10 nude-8/10 apreggi-8/10 allineed-9/10 faustarp-9/10 reckoner-8/10 houseocards-5/10 jigsawfalling-8/10 videotape-7/10—-4minutewarning-9/10???? downisthenewup-10/10????——-inrainbows-8/10
It’s pretty damn good, and it sure is better than I thought it would be based on the live versions. Better than Hail To The Theif, but still not quite as amazing as OK Computer/Kid A, but rarely is anything ever that good.
Tight. Upfront. Modern. Best vocal performance as yet by all parties involved. Fantastic showing by the rhythm section. I paid $81 for the discbox and Amen. Nevermind the fact it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Can’t wait for the vinyl and the donwood and the additional tracks. Bravo.
Loving it…
Now give me the other eight songs!
streaming: http://ethanzimman.blogspot.com/
bought the box…
i was afraid the album wasn’t going to be very good…i was let down by HTTT – loved the live recordings before the record came out, but the album just didnt do it for me. my least fav radiohead album.
and i didn’t really like the live recordings for in rainbows aside from a few songs – but the songs turned out really great on the record! much better than i anticipated. actually brought me nearly to tears on a few songs.
not as good as ok computer/kid a – but really really great nonetheless.
too early to say for sure…but i think this is how it goes for me:
1. okcomputer
2. kid a
3. thebends
4. in rainbows
5. amnesiac
6. pablohoney
7. hail to the thief
So, so good. Woke up early to download it before heading to the office this morning and it was definitely worth it. I’ve listened three times now, and it just keeps getting better. Bodysnatchers – WOW!
http://rapidshare.com/files/61633167/Radiohead_-_In_Rainbows.zip
I bought the discbox for about $80, with free download.
I think the album is amazing. Read my full review:
http://theskyreport.blogspot.com/2007/10/radiohead-in-rainbows_10.html
They call it minimalism I call it ?organic.?
That was the first word to come to mind after my first listen through at 1:30 AM. I was happy to see I?m not the only one to use the word. (And even happier I?m not the only one who stayed up all night.)
As someone who saw and heard bootlegs of the new material live. I wasn?t at all disappointed, there were still surprise.
Faust was a immense surprise. Thanks Brian for the Elliot Smith and John Lennon comparison. I hadn?t thought of Smith, but you?re right. My thought was that it could have been white album track.
I was hoping they?d go the ?ether? route for Arpeggi, but I?m still not disappointed.
I love the percussion on Videotape; I was surprised to read that I?m a minority on that one.
Reckoner was a huge surprise, too. It?s not at all the same, but it?s definitely growing on me. I really like that the words are almost secondary to the notes. Yorke?s voice is defiantly a unique instrument, and this track is a great example of it. (I don?t care if he doesn?t like his voice, I think it?s brilliant.)
And the strings ? Jonny Greenwood is a genius.
I?m very happy. I?ve never worked the ?repeat? button so hard?
(for the sake of those keeping track, I bought the discbox and have no regrets.)
i love it… after living with last year’s boots only videotape is falling short of what i expected. i miss its catharsis. this version seems much more resigned.
faust arp and reckoner were huge surprises. right now reckoner is my favorite track. like brian i hear elliott smith in farp. reckoner reminds me of U2′s please (which thom sang at some show awhile back). guess he’s a Pop fan.
no matter how old i get new radiohead makes me turn into a little kid on xmas morning.
discbox
again I ask.. is the album version of RECKONER the same song they played live here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc_3R2-TIJk
>>>>>>> ??????????
PA PA PA?
Paid 2 pounds, but then again I’m ordering the discbox soon.
This album is every bit of perfect. Just fucking amazing in every sense. If you want to hear OK Computer, go fucking listen to it. Radiohead has progressed their sound perfectly and have created a beautiful and cohesive album that is every bit as good as OKC and Kid A.
Videotape is stunning. Possibly the best Radiohead song I’ve ever heard. The staggered percussion is genius. All I Need and Faust Arp are brilliant too. And I’ll take kids clapping and yelling any day. Makes 15 Step even better.
And to the person who said they’d rather hear Deerhunter: you’re functionally retarded. I heard and saw them live years before the hype-fest that Pitchfork created, and they have always been terrible. But liking them explains your taste in music.
Absolutely amazing. Hell, it’s one of the best albums ever, right next to OK and Kid A. 10/10
Shame on anyone who’s whining because most of the songs have been around the web for a year. Since when is it a bad thing for bands to play “new” songs on tour? That’s the whole point, they’re “new” and will probably appear on the next release.
My one complaint concerns Videotape. It’s an incredible song, but the version they played on tour last year is even better. Here’s a recording of it from Boston on 6/4/06: http://www.mediafire.com/?2dgrgmhdvlr
I bought the discbox and can’t wait for it to ship. It’s Radiohead and a special event of sorts so those reasons justified spending $80 on an album.
this is the best performance of “videotape” -
http://youtube.com/watch?v=So_JEs2FVeA
the quality of the recording is iffy, but i think the drums kick in at a better spot than on later performances.
7 listens in, enjoying it but still hating on “videotape.”
£5 beautiful album… let the dinosaur be crushed!
I don’t believe I’ve ever had such a touching, breathtaking experience musically as when I first listened to the album version of “Nude.” I just sat there, mouth agape, staring through my laptop’s screen. That song alone is worth whatever price I’ll pay. (As I said earlier, I can’t get the site to work, so I temporarily downloaded it off Soulseek.)
It’s an excellent album, probably at least a 9/10. I feel as though they dropped the ball on a couple of songs, though. Bodysnatchers, 15 Step, and Videotape really had better live/demo versions, but the final recordings are still great.
2 pounds 45 pence aka 5 American dollars
I can’t comment definitively because I think it takes at least a year for me to get over new Radiohead albums.
I totally stayed away from the live stuff and am not disappointed by the album. It may need to grow on me to rank with/surpass the classics, though.
They sound relaxed. Somewhat happy. Like they’re done with everything experimental they’ve wanted to “try out” and are now settling into doing whatever the fuck they like, whether it be guitar rock, big drums, or drum n bass.
We need to take a collective deep breath and let it sit in our gullets awhile.
Not the biggest Radiohead fan here but I have most of their albums on good ol’ fashioned records anyway; I think this is a pretty solid album right here. The first five songs are a terrific run, and “15 Step,” and “Bodysnatcher” are particularly great. I’m not a fan of “House of Cards” and I wish “Videotape”‘s percussion ‘unwinding’ had gone a little more … something. But definitely better than the underwhelming and badly titled HTTT.
But I’m writing mostly to say that if you think this is the best album of 2007, you haven’t heard Dirty Projectors’ “Rise Above” LP. There seems to be this weird myopia among Radiohead fans that thinks they’re the best band in the world simply because they’re the most famous band that is actually great. Anyway,
“Rise Above” came out on a small indie label, Dead Oceans … amazing, and it’s been totally ignored/underappreciated by the music press. Go find the first song, “What I See” on SoulSeek or get the whole thing as a torrent; you will love the first song, and you will keep listening, and you will think, “I’m glad I followed the advice of that random Stereogum poster that wrote a message about this record that read like spam.”
actually nfaderman, i learned about them and the song “no more” through stereogum already
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/tour-dates/dirty-projectors-played-mercury-lounge-we-secondha.html
and i totally fucking agree — they are amazing
sounds like rather ripped. doesn’t mean it’s bad though.
no tommy im not functionally retarded, im a huge radiohead fan thats the thing, some of the tracks just dont measure up to what a normal radiohead album studio track offers, a song like backdrifts jolted me into a fantasy world of where they might go next, nude,all i need,reckoner,jigsaw falling into place,these all sound like radiohead b sides, in fact i like some of there b sides better ….keep in mind that , Polyethylene,cuttooth,worrywart,a reminder,true love waits,and how i made my millions are all radiohead b sides…if your a really serious radiohead fan you will know this….tommy, this new album is NOTHING like OK computer, reckoner sounds like moby did the beat.,do you remember ok computer tommy? the sound they got with that album seemed to be based around live band takes, these songs feel very protools to me, its so funny to see everyone on here like bobble heads,i mean its radiohead, kinda like this safe bet for novice hipsters, i mean they heard so many times that they are amazing so . …they must be, and they are,im less convinced they are the gold with this record.something went wrong somewhere, go to pitchfork right now and watch the take of arpeggi.its far superior to the album version . speaking of pitchfork it will also be interesting to see how they react, it seems in there interest that this album “works”.
Justin Kelly…
Funny you should say…”some of the tracks just dont measure up to what a normal radiohead album studio track offers”.
What the f is that? Who are you? Radiohead?
Accept the album for what it is, not on what you “think” it should be.
My god…
I’m rather pissed off at those people who were boasting about getting the download by offering $0.00, and now they’re complaining about the bitrate being less that CD quality.
Here’s an idea: buy the damn record.
For cryin’ out loud, illegal downloading has turned people into friggin’ idiots.
DwD
Please do not download IN RAINBOWS from rouge links. This is a RADIOHEAD experiment – participate! Contribute! Eliminate the suits!
Use the website.
Sounds lovely so far. I paid $9 US.
To the people who didn’t get the email – it’s in your junk mail!
Enjoy,
D
I like it. I don’t care about the bitrate because I plan on buying the CD when it comes out. I just didn’t have the scrilla to shell out 40 quid (which is $80 US), so I paid 10 quid for the download. Anything to support my most favorite band.
After Radiohead’s shock-and-awe approach to album release, it’s kind of surprising how conventionally “pretty” In Rainbows is. The guitars are largely acoustic, or warm, jazzy electrics. The rhythms are mostly straight-forward. There are electronics, but mostly in the form of pleasant synth washes. The album is definately good, but time will tell if it’s really going to get under my skin. There are occasional moments of take-notice experimentation, but for the most part, Radiohead are working within their comfort zone.
this is to the guy who can’t read and thought i said i’d rather listen to deerhunter. i was talking about how pitchfork hypes truly horrid bands, speaking about how hype makes taste for some. radiohead is a fairly interesting radio band who for some reason a certain contingent of hipsters think are immensely innovative and interesting.
and to that guy, don’t call people retarded. are you 9 years old?
Bought the discbox. I’m not sure about this album…I’ve been listening to it all day, and honestly it seems a little dreary to me.
I just gave it my first listen I payed 10 Us dollars, and really think it is worth every penny. Radiohead always seems to always be one that continues to amaze me. So far I really love the songs ” Bodysnatchers” and “House of Cards”
-Justin
Um, maybe it’s me, but I can’t get onto the site to download the album.
I just get a blank white page at inrainbows.com. Or is there some other trick to getting it that I am totally ignorant of??
I’m also torn because payday isn’t until Monday, but I am DYING to hear this album!! So I’m not sure how much I should pay for it, but I’m glad everyone thinks it’s awesome.
just got home from work…finally downloaded….appregi is awesome.
Downloaded my copy on a torrent! Ha ha! Well at least some of the tracks are good. The rock-ish ones anyways.
Radiohead finally got the balance between live and canned instruments right. “In Rainbows”is like Kid A with a pulse. Simple jazzy guitar parts (“15 Step”) make the listen more interesting for the display of technique and the odd musician’s choice (“What do we play Here?”) than overall great song-writing. Steve Albini put it best when he called Radiohead “tinkering millionaires,” & the production bears that out. The sound-scape should have a greater sense of space (perhaps a more extreme stereo mix) with more defined attacks on the synthesizers. Sharper vocalizations by Thom could carry the songs, rather than bobbing him along like a bouncing beach-ball. Some arrangements are weak, don’t move organically enough & get repetitious. As a musician I like it, but I’m a sucker for catchy songs, which they aren’t (by my fourth listen). My review sounds critical, but only because I favor succinctness in arrangement & editing, & clarity in production. Bottom line: I like it “In Rainbows,” worth the 5 Pounds I plunked down to stick it to the man!
Beautiful, full, orchestral sound. Paid 0, but I will buy the CD. Of course, with Radiohead, i need to listen about 30 more times to develope an opinion as to how this album stacks up with other albums, but so far I like it more than any album since ok computer! Finally, some serious music for the earbuds!
heavenly.
i think i am dead inside =\
i still cant find much joy in any of this after 10 listens or so
someone shoot me
Hey to Erin having trouble with the d/l of In Rainbows,
Check your default download folder or do a general search on your computer for the inrainbows.zip file. If you don’t turn anything up, give the service team at –
downloadinrainbows@waste.uk.com
They were genuinely helpful and efficient when dealing with my issues canceling the download order and re-ordering the discbox.
Cheers!
Rob
absolutely gorgeous. thom’s voice is ethereal, the arrangements are lush, and everything else is simply sublime. definitely on par with OKC.
it sounds like radiohead. it sounds like the eraser. nothing too exciting. nothing anthemic. only a sparse few even stuck with me. i paid $0 and i wouldn’t pay more now.
I have to say I like this less and less as time goes on. At first it was really “WOW” but now some of the longer songs are getting annoying with repeated melodies that really aren’t that great… Some of these songs stack up with their best (“Nude”, “Reckoner”, hell even “Faust Arp”) but “Bodysnatchers”, “Arpeggi”, and “House of Cards” aren’t really melodic enough to carry the same tune for 4+ minutes. Radiohead’s bridges and transitions have always amazed me (ie. practically all of the songs in “OK Computer”) but there aren’t many of those moments on this album.