In Rainbows

I got home late last night after some birthday celebrations for yours truly and was thrilled to see the download code awaiting in my email inbox. I immediately downloaded the album and listened to a couple of tracks before sleeping. I woke up early this morning to listen again and am listening again now after work.

I can't figure it out. Is it the best album or the second worst (the worst obviously being Pablo Honey...what an embarrassment that was)? I'm really having a hard time figuring it out. I love (like everyone else) The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A but thought Hail to the Thief was boring. Thom Yorke's Eraser was fantastic but he hired long time Radiohead and Beck producer Nigel Godrich to help him shape the record. According to some reports, there would be no album without Godrich's songwriting, producing, arranging, etc.

Having said that, it's obvious that Radiohead as a band was strongly influenced by The Eraser and perhaps used a similar method while recording In Rainbows. They are fairly similar albeit less electronic. Either way, they drift in and out of a heady psychedelic rock and into their normal could-be soundtrack music. It's very eclectic and different. There was much speculation as to which album it would sound like and the answer is none of them. It has elements of many of them and I think it will only grow stronger with each listen. Kudos Thom and co.

The only thing wrong with it, of course, is its availability and packaging (or rather its lack thereof). I'm upset I can't get a hard copy or a VBR version (it's DRM-free 160kbps). But in early 2008 that's rumored to change.

Verdict: Buy a hard copy in 2008 but download it now from inrainbows.com