2008 Woodie Awards
Sound Check
Radiohead--In Rainbows
Danny Dyer
Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: A & E
Continuing a trademark exploration of progressive psychedelia, Radiohead's "In Rainbows" is arguably the band's best album to date, transcending the barrier between commercial music and art.
"In Rainbows" is a culmination of earlier albums. Each has had its fantastic tracks and its simply good tracks; "Rainbows" epitomizes the best of each previous album, adorned with deep instrumentation and progressive beats. With "Rainbows," Radiohead's ever-consistent evolution of sound comes to a mature culmination - creatively liberated and yet more vulnerable than ever before.
Part of this vulnerability can be attributed to a comparatively simple, minimalist approach to songwriting. The awe-inspiring electronic "soundscapes" created in previous albums (like "Kid A") are not as apparent in "Rainbows," but still exist in smaller portions.
Songs range in style from the progressive, industrial "Bodysnatchers" to the flighty, haunting "Nude" to the uncharacteristically soft "House of Cards" - but, amazingly, Radiohead consistently retains that vibrant, vivid intensity that has attracted the group's many fans.
Another audible aspect of genuine vulnerability is the addition of extra instruments - a surprising amount of acoustic guitar, string sections, piano and a variety of light percussion that comes in at just the right moment.
The final element of the exposed quality is singer Thom Yorke's raw vocal expression. Often, Yorke shows great emotional expression and range in his voice through his stretched falsetto, varied enunciation, rhythm and occasional vocal intricacies.
This vunerability introduces a side of Radiohead that is both intimate and personifying, allowing the music to open up into the realm of true expression. It approaches the listener with the same uninhibited dexterity and sophistication as one would expect a great poem to do and, inevitably, has the same profound effect.
5 out of 5 stars
"In Rainbows" is a culmination of earlier albums. Each has had its fantastic tracks and its simply good tracks; "Rainbows" epitomizes the best of each previous album, adorned with deep instrumentation and progressive beats. With "Rainbows," Radiohead's ever-consistent evolution of sound comes to a mature culmination - creatively liberated and yet more vulnerable than ever before.
Part of this vulnerability can be attributed to a comparatively simple, minimalist approach to songwriting. The awe-inspiring electronic "soundscapes" created in previous albums (like "Kid A") are not as apparent in "Rainbows," but still exist in smaller portions.
Songs range in style from the progressive, industrial "Bodysnatchers" to the flighty, haunting "Nude" to the uncharacteristically soft "House of Cards" - but, amazingly, Radiohead consistently retains that vibrant, vivid intensity that has attracted the group's many fans.
Another audible aspect of genuine vulnerability is the addition of extra instruments - a surprising amount of acoustic guitar, string sections, piano and a variety of light percussion that comes in at just the right moment.
The final element of the exposed quality is singer Thom Yorke's raw vocal expression. Often, Yorke shows great emotional expression and range in his voice through his stretched falsetto, varied enunciation, rhythm and occasional vocal intricacies.
This vunerability introduces a side of Radiohead that is both intimate and personifying, allowing the music to open up into the realm of true expression. It approaches the listener with the same uninhibited dexterity and sophistication as one would expect a great poem to do and, inevitably, has the same profound effect.
5 out of 5 stars