2008 Woodie Awards
Radiohead returns to form
Gabe Antonello
Issue date: 10/29/07 Section: Entertainment
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How much would you be willing to pay to listen to one of your favorite artist's new records? Well Radiohead's sixth studio album is here, but you won't find it in any stores. In an unprecedented step, Radiohead's new disc, the slyly crafted "In Rainbows," can be downloaded online. But instead of something along the lines of how you might buy songs using iTunes, you get to choose the price you pay for the whole album. "How much would you pay?"
While there has not yet been an official statement from the band, it has been projected from a survey of people who have downloaded the album that the record has already netted over ten million dollars. For a band that was not only originally pegged as a one-hit wonder from their first single "Creep," but which has also struggled to break gold record sales status consistently, that's quite impressive. And if all that still wasn't any indication, let's just say that the album is definitely worth it.
Radiohead has always been known as a band focused on their art, meticulous in every aspect of their work. Thom Yorke, lead singer and lyricist of the Oxford-alumni quintet, continues to satisfy, delivering consistently striking lines. From the clearly distressed, but helpless words of secret admirer on "All I Need" like, "I am a moth/who just wants to share your light/You are all I need," to his soaring high-pitched delivery on "The Reckoner," Yorke delivers a strong performance.
Despite its optimistic and colorful title, "In Rainbows" seems to follow the story of an average, underappreciated Joe as he struggles to find some happiness. On the rhythm-driven opener, "15 Step," where an urban landscape passes by, complete with the voices of schoolchildren, to the sobering sound of Yorke's voice atop a multi-guitar attack (or at least about as much of an attack as an atmospheric band like Radiohead will deliver) on "Jigsaw Falling into Place," it's clear this album isn't about a sunny day.
With only 10 tracks in all and clocking in under 45 minutes, the album is long enough to satisfy but can still feel as though it slips away, losing the listener in the spacious environments. This kind of depth of sound and environment is Radiohead's strength that, when created by the echoing vocals, clean guitar, and steadily pulsing drums on tracks like "House of Cards", the band delivers in spades.
While there has not yet been an official statement from the band, it has been projected from a survey of people who have downloaded the album that the record has already netted over ten million dollars. For a band that was not only originally pegged as a one-hit wonder from their first single "Creep," but which has also struggled to break gold record sales status consistently, that's quite impressive. And if all that still wasn't any indication, let's just say that the album is definitely worth it.
Radiohead has always been known as a band focused on their art, meticulous in every aspect of their work. Thom Yorke, lead singer and lyricist of the Oxford-alumni quintet, continues to satisfy, delivering consistently striking lines. From the clearly distressed, but helpless words of secret admirer on "All I Need" like, "I am a moth/who just wants to share your light/You are all I need," to his soaring high-pitched delivery on "The Reckoner," Yorke delivers a strong performance.
Despite its optimistic and colorful title, "In Rainbows" seems to follow the story of an average, underappreciated Joe as he struggles to find some happiness. On the rhythm-driven opener, "15 Step," where an urban landscape passes by, complete with the voices of schoolchildren, to the sobering sound of Yorke's voice atop a multi-guitar attack (or at least about as much of an attack as an atmospheric band like Radiohead will deliver) on "Jigsaw Falling into Place," it's clear this album isn't about a sunny day.
With only 10 tracks in all and clocking in under 45 minutes, the album is long enough to satisfy but can still feel as though it slips away, losing the listener in the spacious environments. This kind of depth of sound and environment is Radiohead's strength that, when created by the echoing vocals, clean guitar, and steadily pulsing drums on tracks like "House of Cards", the band delivers in spades.
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Doug
posted 10/30/07 @ 7:07 AM EST
You mean 7th studio album
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