Let’s get a couple things straight before I tackle my insta-review of THE MOST IMPORTANT ALBUM OF ALL TIME OMG:
1) I did not, to my knowledge, hear any of these songs before 10:22 AM, when I downloaded them — with the exception of "Arpeggi," which is only technically half a song ("Weird Fishes/Arpeggi") and which I heard a couple months ago, thanks to an emergency session of Take Five that someone made me do. I have never really understood why people would rather illegally download crappy versions of songs (or watch blurry YouTube videos) ahead of time instead of waiting for the album-quality experience the artist intended, but then, I’ve never gone looking for my Christmas presents in the closets beforehand, either.
2) I did not stay up all night, waiting for my download to arrive. Much like my friend Maura over at Idolator, I hit the sack about an hour before my email arrived, at exactly 2:40 am. In my younger days, I used to stand in line outside Tower Records on Monday nights to pick up new music at midnight on Tuesday. That was fun. Sitting on my couch in Queens, obsessively checking my BlackBerry for new messages while watching the second re-run of SportsCenter? Less fun.
3) I paid £10 (that’s British pounds) for my copy of In Rainbows, despite the fact that I could have downloaded it for free. This is because when I got to the Radiohead site and was asked to punch in a number, "10 pounds" seemed right. My colleagues have since informed me that 10 pounds equals 20 American dollars; I’m fine with that, strangely, and not just because I can expense it. I’m fine with it because I know there are plenty of asshats out there who aren’t paying for the album — and on top of that, aren’t even downloading it from Radiohead themselves but instead going to OiNK or some other illegal-downloading site because they’re so stuck in their music-stealing ways they can’t stop themselves, even if the music can be theirs for zero dollars legally — and I’m more than happy to make up for their asshat ways. This issue probably deserves a longer post of its own, but I’ll wait until we see how the pay-what-you-will experiment shakes out.
Okay, enough prologue. After the jump, I actually talk about the music!
I am a fan of Radiohead, stretching all the way back to Pablo Honey. I will agree with the consensus that OK Computer is probably one of the greatest albums of my lifetime, but I kind of think I like The Bends better. And everything from Kid A onward is rather a blur to me, as I am the type of gal who likes it when you sing her a song, not just throw a bunch of nifty sounds into a blender with some ice and pour them on her feet.
So the clicky-clacky kiddie-playground soundscape of In Rainbows’ first track, "15 Step," scared me a little, right up until track 2, "Bodysnatchers," came on, and I felt my toes tapping immediately. Why, I do believe that might be an actual rock riff! I’m not saying the song is verse-chorus-verse, or that I can understand a single word Thom Yorke’s fuzzed-over voice is saying, but it’s a song with purpose and direction that builds to an actual climax and contains what appear to be guitar solos. It is my favorite track on this album by far, after one listen — remember, this is a snap judgment, people — and possibly my favorite thing Radiohead’s cut this century.
Up next is the cinematic "Nude," which the context clues — swirling synthetic strings and layered vocals — lead me to believe is a love song. The aforementioned "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" starts pretty and loops around like bubbles with sinister ulterior motives. "Faust Arp" is a gorgeous gothic folk number; "Reckoner" has the kind of beat Moby wishes he was still brewing (in between pots of tea), but there’s a dampness to it all, like the drumline’s being held against its will in a leaky basement. "I don’t want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover," Yorke sings in "House of Cards," a bluesy little number where he shockingly reveals that if he wanted us to know what he was saying, he could make himself understood just fine. And the whole thing ends with the dour piano of "Videotape," Yorke’s voice floating over the keys like a gray balloon. I forgot that the guy has one of the most unique voices in music — it’s usually so cluttered up with crap. Here, his tenor gets a couple minutes to shine, before a ghost chorus comes in and steals the show, and the album ends like it began, clicking and clacking into the foggy, half-lit distance.
My biggest complaint? There is way too much high end on this album for my tastes. Nearly every song is masked behind a curtain of treble noise, high hat cymbals, and whatnot — like someone is constantly turning over one of those stupid rain stick things right next to the microphone. I’m not sure this will bother anyone else, but it makes me nuts and makes songs like "Reckoner" very hard to listen to.
But overall, I really do think this is a very good Radiohead album, possessing all that which makes Radiohead Radiohead these days — someday the knobs are going to fall off if you keep fiddling with them, Thom — but also a decent glob of what used to make Radiohead Radiohead, i.e. the tight, effective writing of actual songs, songs with beginnings, middles, and ends. I’m now on my third listen — yes, time does pass while blog posts get written — and already, I like "15 Step" better. In fact, In Rainbows may just be the balance I’ve been questing after all these years, ever since that one time I tried to walk around the East Village on a gray post-9/11 day with Amnesiac playing on my Discman and I got so freaked out/frustrated that I literally threw the disc away when I got home because I don’t like my music to double as regression-hypnosis therapy, thank you very much. This does not, however, mean that when I want to listen to a Radiohead album, I am going to grab this one first. Most likely, I will return to my friend The Bends, and blast "Black Star" for the millionth time, because it makes me feel something other than, like, chilly. I suppose we’ll find out.
So, PopWatchers — your turn. Did you download In Rainbows? If so, how much did you pay, and what was your logic behind the dollar value? And now that you’ve had a couple hours to digest it, what do you think?
Comments (1-30) of 48 Add your comment
i like the bends better too
I paid 4 pounds for it, which works out to about 10 bucks Canadian, what I would pay if I bought it from iTunes, if Radiohead was on iTunes. I think the album is great, best in quite some time for sure. I agree I like “15 Step” the best, but I am sure that will change on repeat listens to the album. Well worth the purchase, I am even thinking the diskbox might be a good investment for the outtakes of a good Radiohead album.
Sorry, this has nothing to do with Radiohead. Whitney, did your checks from the big record labels clear yet? Because that intro sounded like it was co-written by some label exec trying to use “the Internets” to stop people from downloading online. You can’t understand why people would download bad copies of songs, (in Amy Poehler/Seth Meyers voice) Really, that’s a difficult concept for you, is it?
I love it. Was expecting to after hearing most of the new songs in concert. What I love about Radiohead is that even after hearing it live you never know how it will actually end up when it is finally recorded to an album. Each song is growing on me with each listen and I was happy to have some moments on my subway commute where I felt that music euphoria that hearing a Radiohead song can provide me with. So far I have enjoyed listening to each song repeatedly throughout the morning and am not tired of them yet.
I am also eagerly awaiting the other disc because it has some of my favorite of the new songs. Wish I had access to them all now but at least these first 10 will tide me over for a while. I will be buying the box set too if that turns out to be the only way for me to get them.
Junior: In defense of Whitney, some people atucally prefer their first encounter with a song to be in it’s intended quality. Really, that’s a difficult concept for your lack of patients and cynicism to understand, is it?
Ok, this will sound bad until you hear my reasoning but… I downloaded it on their site for free, even though I pretty much am in love with every one of their albums (I even enjoy Amnesiac). The reason for this was, however, so that I could see how it was before deciding whether I should just re-download it for a more justified price or go ahead and pre-order the discbox. I’m still deciding but I think I’m leaning a lot more toward buying the discbox right now. This album is awesome!
Whit – you need to bone up on your internet slurs. “A–hat” comes from the term “sticking ones head up his own a–.” So you say this about people who are stupid, not just jerks, like those who download the album without paying for it. Many of them are just twits, jerks, or d–chebags.
Adam, I was going to go with “d—–bags,” but that word’s gotten enough play around here this week.
I’m really digging the album – on my third listen of the day so far. I downloaded it around 10 am this morning…like you, Whitney, I’ve outgrown the need to stay up late to get the latest whatever. I especially like “Nude,” “Weird Fishes” and “House of Cards” but (as with most Radiohead albums) the whole thing hangs together really well. I find I like listening to whole Radiohead albums, in order, which is a rare experience these days. I paid 7 pounds for the download, which, at about US$14 is about what you’d pay for a new CD at a store. And Junior, if you can’t figure out why people who aren’t even recording industry tools would be angry about illegal downloads, you need to go think about it for a while. Illegal downloads are *stealing*, regardless of sound quality. Try to think of Whitney’s comments as coming from someone who appreciates music and musical artists.
Thanks scott t. for basically repeating what Whitney already said, albeit in a snarky tone. My point was 1) this intro was trite even by Whitney standards and 2) obvs, people download because they want something for free. Clearly Whitney and you understand THAT concept. Her “difficulty” in grasping that fact adds to the intro’s overall corporate “stop downloading, y’all” tone. About Radiohead, I think their project is great because I see it not as “pay what you want” but “pay what you can.” Radiohead is acknowledging that some people can’t afford the ridonkulously high music prices and still want to listen to good music or people (like me) don’t want to give their money away to greedy music labels but more to the actual artists themselves. And I’m spent.
I downloaded the album and I paid 0.00 but only becuase I want the pyshical CD in my hands… I think the artwork for the DISCBOX release is vey cool and it is pricey but I may order it cause even a LP of an album can run you 20.00-40 depending but I also want the bonus CD. So I will more than likely order the BOX set if you will very soon. I think the album is very good. Radiohead always comes up with the most imaginative artwork pieces for their album releases and I feel I need that as part of the experience. I just ownder how long it takes to ship etc iin DEC. ?
I am a fellow asshat because I didn’t pay for the album either. I don’t regret having gotten it for free. Don’t get me wrong, it is a flippin’ amazing album. But the sounds quality isn’t there. After all, they are MP3s in only 160kps. A FAR cray from CD quality. I will listen to these MP3s for now and tide myself over until I can get my grubby little hands on the CD.
another “yawn” album from radiohead. might have appreciated it more if i was still in college, cramped in a small dorm room where i could sit around and mope all day to the lyrics.
I’m waiting. I’m not really a fan of the whole MP3 thing. I’m cool with putting my albums on a hard-drive or on an iPod, but I’m not really down with purchasing albums or songs in MP3 form. I need the artwork, the lyrics, the whole package. I need the ownership. Sure, I’ll download some obscure 50s or 60s tune or maybe the live version of some song that I love, but if I LOVE a band (as I love Radiohead), I need to own the studio album in whatever physical form it takes. So if it means I have to wait another year for a $60 boxdisc, then I will have to do that because some random, unseen collection of ones and zeros just doesn’t do it for me.
The benefit of the way Radiohead’s done it here is that none of what you decide to pay goes to those greedy music labels. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the band is not signed to a label right now.) I plan to buy the box set when it comes out, but I still paid for the MP3 download…again, it’s about intellectual property, not just sound quality and whether you prefer CDs to digital.
Hey Whitney, I just wanted to say that one reason there is so much high end on these songs is the format we have received them on. MP3’s are notorious for boosting higher frequencies and losing lower frequencies. That’s the biggest issue with an mp3. I’m sure when we get the actual CD, it’s gonna sound a lot better. I paid $5, I think…I’ve only gotten to track 4, but it is sounding good so far. The Bends is my favorite too, but I have to tell you, Kid A and Hail To The Thief are very awesome records. I will agree however, that Amnesiac was seriously missing something. Can’t wait to have the actual CD in my hands, Love ya Whitney!
Been really digging on the new album all day. i ordered the discbox, the 2nd disc should be cool. not to mention having this on vinyl, and at cd quality as well. every so often over the past week i’ll think of that 80 bucks and kick myself for a second.. but music is what i choose to blow my money on… hopefully it’ll contribute to a big F-U to the RIAA, with radiohead essentially giving away this preview of the album for free, yet still raking in the bucks themselves.
On the issue of payment.
I buy probably 4-6 CDs a month, and I downloaded this for free, from a site that was not radiohead’s.
Why?
Because first of all, the site was so overloaded with traffic this morning that I couldn’t get it through them.
And second of all, I wasn’t going to pay for it anyway – I’ll do that when they release the CD version. I pay for the cover art, the liner notes, and the and the actual physical specimen of a CD.
Whitney, I typically agree with your opinions on moral/legal/message board etiquite issues, but be careful when you call people who downloaded the album from elsewhere and for free asshats. While many most likely are pilfering music left and right, there are plenty of people like me getting lumped into that category unfairly.
I love it. I’ve been waiting for Nude to be released for almost 10 years now. As gorgeous as Nude is, I think my favorite song on the album is All I Need. I paid the $81 for the discbox. Oh and Whitney, I love the weird sounds Radiohead put into their music. And your comment that Radiohead haven’t written “tight, effective actual songs, songs with beginnings, middles, and ends” since OK Computer is so much crap. How to Disappear Completely? Pyramid Song? I Might Be Wrong? 2 + 2 = 5? I could go on and on.
oof. this is the first record where radiohead sound like out-of-touch millionaires. what a crushing disappointment. the second half of this album is insufferable. doesn’t feel like a cohesive “album,” like their previous releases (even Hail to the Thief!). who knew colin was such a lite jazz fan?? i fear “in rainbows” is the first step towards Stingdom. 4 more albums from now (which…hmmm…is about 16 years away) they’ll put out their own “fields of glory.” and i’ll put on the latest deerhunter record instead. humbug!
Here’s a link to the lyrics. I haven’t checked yet to see if they are correct. Let me know if you will.
http://www.greenplastic.com/lyrics/
I paid 0.00 for the download, but I swear to no-God that I’ll buy it when I can get it on CD ($80 for the fancy box is too much for me).
Short review: maybe not as rockin’ as I had hoped, but the songs are good, Thom sounds great (though maybe a little nasal on track 9?), and I’m looking forward to Disc 2.
Regarding this bit:
“I have never really understood why people would rather illegally download crappy versions of songs … ahead of time instead of waiting for the album-quality experience the artist intended…”
Some of us legally bought tickets to see them play most of these songs on tour last year. I also have bootlegs from some of the shows, but agree that the sound quality made them mostly unlistenable.
How can i download the album? I have been trying for about an hour now. Can someone help me??
Colin,
I think the time has passed. The web-site seems to be gone now.
I paid for the box set. I went to download the album this morning so I could take it to work and listen to it. Of Course it was the morning my e-mail would not let me log it. I too had to go find other means of downloading (a newsgroup). When i got home my e-mail was working and I downloaded it again officially.
Ugh more of Whitney’s inane musings. Fortunately her writing matches Radiohead’s new album: crappy.
Whitney: Loved that you wrote me personally, and I’m glad to report to the rest of the world that your e-mail wasn’t filled with inane details (which, unfortunately, is the case with most of your writing). Has living in Queens made you bitter? Let me know, thanks!
jambajim, do you really think anyone will remember deerhunter 16 years from now?
This is a beautiful, inspiring album. Thank God for Radiohead–there’s somebody out there taking chances with their music and challenging listeners to settle in for repeated listens.
Hi, seattlebob, thanks for asking! No, Queens has not made me bitter in the least. I love my neighborhood– have lived here for 10 years now, if you can believe that– and I’m thankful for the low rent that has enabled me to pursue two artistic careers (theater, writing) without worrying too much about how I’ll sustain myself financially. Is there anything else you’d like to know? I do so desperately wish to transform your cranky comments into cheerful ones, as you seem to be such an expert on my writing. Always nice to have a fan!
PS: Rus, I see your point on songs like “2+2=5,” but you gotta understand the Radiohead I fell in love with was busting out anthems like “Stop Whispering,” and I miss those guys. I think that ultimately, like so many other things, this comes down to a taste issue. I can’t wait to hear what people think of the discbox, though.