I realize that I'm a little behind in my reviews seeing as this album came out electronically almost a year ago, and physically back in December (still 8 months ago), but since I wasn't actively reviewing albums back then, well at least not reviewing on a public forum like this fancy ol' blog, I thought I'd give praise where it deserves to be given. Well, that and nothing that has come out in the last few weeks has been overly exciting to me, and I've felt the need to write about music for the last day or two.
My last review, as you can all see below, was a major disappointment. I really hate it when I anticipate a new album for sometimes months before its actual release, only to be overly disappointed and $9.87 poorer (I buy my CD's at Walmart). Although I was highly anticipating Radiohead's latest, there is always a part of me that is afraid of what they might just come up with. Now don't get me wrong, Radiohead has great material on all of their albums, but some of the music they were putting out in the late 90's and early 00's was even a little much for a devoted fan like myself. So... without any further rambling, lets review!
1 - 15 Step - This track starts out with a techno-ish drum beat, which is quickly accompanied my a whiny Tom Yorke. When this track started, I honestly thought Radiohead had become either a techno or not-so-good R&B group, but then 40 seconds into the track Jonny Greenwood comes in with a brilliant guitar line, the guitar is then joined by the bass, and this seemingly bizarre track suddenly become an amazing song. It's brilliant, not only is this a great album opener, but it has also become one of my favorite tracks on the album. Good job Radiohead!
2 - Bodysnatchers - If track one wasn't good enough to get you exited about what is to come in the next 45 minutes of great music, then "Bodysnatchers" will. The track starts with a great little riff with an early 90's grunge crunch distortion sound, paying homage to Radioheads early tracks off of albums like "Pablo Honey" and "The Bends." This is my official favorite track on the album, it is a great, grungy sounding, Radiohead classic.
3 - Nude - This track is much slower than the previous two. It seems kind of long and repetitive to me, kind of like the last album I reviewed :) It's not horrible, but it isn't really anything special either.
4 - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Like the first track, this song has kind of technoish sounding drum beat, and layered on top are two different acoustic guitar tracks playing arpeggio's, a bass line, and of course Thom. While this isn't one of my favorite tracks, it is a good melodic piece, and the guitar work is really good.
5 - All I Need - I think this is about as close to writing a love song as Radiohead gets. I really love the instrumentation on this track, it starts out with a bass line (it may be played on a keyboard, on the lower keys though) which sounds like it was recorded at about 8 bit's (think cheesy NES sound effects), over top of a basic drum beat and some sustained keyboard notes. As the song builds up the drums, piano, and a xylophone (I think) become more present. I really love the dynamic build of this track. This is the perfect meshing of bizarre Radiohead sound effects and great song writing!
6 - Faust Arp - I really like this track, it starts with a nice acoustic part, followed by some off beat vocals which I just love. The song later incorporates a strings section to accompany the acoustic guitars. In some ways this song almost sounds a little too pretty to be a Radiohead song. At just over two minutes, this is a great, short track.
7 - Reckoner - This track starts out similar to track one, although this time the drum beat isn't so techo-ie... The drums are accompanied by a fabulous guitar part. Thom brings in some classic Radiohead falsetto, which is good, not great, but it works with the song. The middle of the song gets really slow, with harmonizing ooohs or mmmms or something like that, kind of reminiscent of something off of "Amnesiac" or "Kid A". Musically it's really good, lyrically it reminds me of some of my lesser favorite Radiohead material.
8 - House of Cards - Have I mentioned how many great guitar parts this album has? Because if not, nearly every track has a brilliant guitar part, including "House of Cards." This song is a little more radio-friendly than many of the other, hence it being a single. It's a good track, it is a little slow and repetitive for me though, it's a decent track, but not as good as a lot of the others on the album.
9 - Jigsaw Falling into Place - Honestly, I really can't get over how good the guitar work on this album is. Musically, everything about this track is great! It sounds a bit like earlier Radiohead, say "The Bends" or "Ok Computer" which is not a bad thing at all. This is a great track that should appeal to all Radiohead fans, and even to some of you who aren't fans yet.
10 - Videotape - This track reminds me of the good tracks off of Radiohead's more bizarre albums (Amnesiac and Kid A). This track is a slow piano/vocal piece that in my opinion, is a great closer for the album. It's a very emotional sounding track and really raps up the album nicely. One thing that impresses me about this track is that it leaves the listener wanting more, in a good way. (I guess thats why if you but the bonus edition of the album you get a second disc... great marketing guys!)
Before I give my official grade, I'd like to discuss a little bit about the positives and negatives of this album. Positives: this album, unlike several of Radioheads albums, sticks to traditional song writing, they don't use near as many crazy sound effects, electronic noises and so on, but instead experiment within the realms of traditional song writing. I really like this, because it reminds me of the Radiohead of early days before they discovered that computers can make crazy sounds. In addition to this, the guitar work is brilliant throughout pretty much the entire album, I'd have to say that this may possibly be Radioheads best guitar album.
As for negatives, I really only have one issue with album, it all kind of sounds the same to me. The first time I listened to it, the only track that stuck out was "Bodysnatchers" while the rest of it kind of just blended together. Now don't get me wrong, after a few listens I started picking out tracks I really enjoy, but for the most part, all of the tracks are slow and melodic. Aside from "Bodysnatchers" there really aren't any other powerful songs on the album.
That being said, I give the album a B+, with a disclaimer. Radiohead isn't for everyone, if you haven't liked their work in the past because they're too weird or what not, you probably won't enjoy this album. Thom Yorke's vocal and writing style are definitely an acquired taste.
With that being said, if you enjoy earlier Radiohead, but have been turned off by their last few albums, give "In Rainbows" a try, it may just renew your love for these 5 lads from the UK.
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