When Radiohead first announced the rapidly approaching release of their newest album, entitled “In Rainbows”, Jerome ordered the discbox set immediately (this was in October), and we both swore not to listen to anything from the album until the discbox arrived and we could sit down and listen to the vinyl on the hi-fi system at my place.
Finally, the package arrived on Christmas Eve, and just this afternoon, me, Tyler, and Jerome sat down to have a listen. The discbox is packaged beautifully. 2 LP’s, dual CD set, lyric booklet, large booklet of previously considered cover art images, and a great cardboard sleeve.
After we brewed a couple pots of imported English tea, we sat down and listened to the album straight through, on vinyl.
Needless to say, I am amazed by the material that Radiohead has put out this time, as well as the lovely recording and engineering of the entire album. The opening track, “15 Step”, set the bar for the rest of the album in my opinion. With it’s amazing beat and various loops, it really brings out the experimental side of Radiohead.
“In Rainbows”, really makes use of wonderful ambient synths, strings, and guitars. A lot of the background instrumentals reminded me of Sigur Ros. In fact, Thom Yorke really sounds like Jónsi on this album, with his wonderfully smooth falsetto and reverb on his vocals.
Overall, I feel that this is my second favorite Radiohead release, right behind Kid A, and I believe that it is also the most listener friendly besides The Bends. Almost anyone could listen to this album and enjoy it on some level.
Standout tracks for me were: 15 Step, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, All I Need, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, and Videotape.