The Cold Cut

Artist: Radiohead
Album: In Rainbows
Rating: 9/10

[Slow Clap] Well done, guys, you've done it again. Not only is 'In Rainbows' a massive triumph over the machinations of the music industry, its quite possibly the best collection of Radiohead material recorded since the bands formation. The "you decide" price marketing scheme has garnered so much publicity that this album could be mediocre and still change the music industry, but rather than being eclipsed by it's own publicity, Radiohead have produced a 7th which is as strong as its marketing ideas. As well as producing the most bravely controversial albums of the year they've also produced the most musically accomplished offering thus far (well worth the reasonable £5 I paid for it)- 'In Rainbows' is a serious contender for album of the year. 'In Rainbows' shouts clearly to the world that in Radiohead, we have a band who buck the trend, and for that matter, don't give a damn what said 'trend' is.

With all the publicity surrounding this release, you could get so wrapped up in it all that you forget about the musical content of this album; however, for the purpose of this review, I'm going to assume we all know about the price of the new album, or should I say, lack of one. After flying through the registration process yesterday, I was greeted by a long link to download the album, which was playing within 5 minutes of purchase. Things open in Kid A fashion with '15 Step', which starts with processed beats and then tricks the listener seconds later once the full band come in, moving swiftly into Hail To The Thief territory. But fear not, things are mixed up again half way through as Thom Yorke howls and we are thrown back to Ok Computer. To finish things off, we have an echo effect, some more eerie synths and even a group of shouting children in the background. So, all that in one song? Well, '15 Step' is a brilliant opening track, but the rest of the album is much the same: In Rainbows is a masterful mix of all their previous styles- The synths of Kid A and Amnesiac are mixed with the eerie guitar-trio of The Bends, OK Computer contributes atmospheric falsetto from Yorke alongside the overall polish of Hail To The Thief.

'In Rainbows' is such a dense collection of songs that I really have my work cut out describing them to you: as you've read, summing up 15 step took me upwards of 150 words, and thus I'm not going to give you a full track by track description, rather a condensed idea of what the band offer here. Following 15 Step, a distorted baseline announces the arrival of 'Bodysnatchers': this is text-book Radiohead, all wailing falsetto, but I suppose you could call it the weak spot. But, hey, what a weak spot: most other bands would kill to produce music so sonically diverse, and its a testament to this album that such a brilliantly crunchy (listen to it, then comment) song can be considered weak. Next comes 'Nude', a real standout track, with a procession of falsetto ooh's and acoustic guitar solos that rise higher and higher until Yorke is singing in his trademark falsetto at the end. I can't really express how beautiful this song is, but I'm sure many of you have heard live versions, and if not, download it and have a listen (below). We are brought back down to Earth by 'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi', another one of my favourites, but listening here I realised I had only heard half the album. Possible singles from the second half include 'Reckoner' and 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place'.

As I said earlier, 'In Rainbows' doesn't need a track-by-track runthrough, rather a confident assurance that this is a brilliant album. It's been a long hiatus for the band, but listening to this album, you can see its been well spent. As if it weren't obvious already, Radiohead have firmly cemented themselves as a great band once again: all said and done, 'In Rainbows' presents an even better combination of the band's styles than Hail To The Thief, an album which most felt was brilliant but more of a stepping stone than a progression- agreed?

Just a few seconds ago a little pop-up appeared on my Digg widget stating that 'In Rainbows' has already gone platinum, just days after its release. What more can I say? The numbers speak for themselves... Take my word, buy the album for a price of your choice, and enjoy listening to this album both for the music and what it stands for. I'm not including any tracks because defeats the idea of this experiment, but here's a link to the download website...

In Rainbows- Download

*Okay- I couldn't resist posting at least one track: its available for a very short time only, so download it quick by following the link

Radiohead- Nude