If you ask anyone who has listened to radio over the past two decades to name you a Radiohead song, a strong chunk of people (including myself up until the beginning of this year) would have named the group’s famous 1992 release “Creep”. And there’s a good reason. It’s a captivating song about social ostracism (self-inflicted or otherwise) and lust all wrapped up in a plaid bow. It spoke to the disgruntled youth of the 90’s-00’s in a way that only grunge could. But if you were to poll the band on their opinions of the song, the entire group’s feelings could probably be summarize by Thom Yorke’s response to a crowd’s request for them to play it: “Fuck off. We’re tired of it!”
I never understood that. How could a band feel so vehemently negative about a single that catapulted their careers (or at the very least gained them a global audience) into the ears of an entire generation? How could one, as an artist, hold so much disdain for something THEY created?
The reality? The song is not indicative of who they became as artists. It was a moment in time that represented a studio’s pressure for a band to release something more appealing to the mainstream, but the reality (at least, what I’ve gleaned from this album and also this years’ The Smile’s release (a band fronted by Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead)) is that the music they create has little connection with “Creep”.
In Rainbows is an album filled with fuzzy guitar riffs, jazzy drumming, spacey atmosphere, and Yorke’s haunting vocal performance. There are songs like “Nude” and “Faust Arp” that float past like shapes in the mist, while others, like “Bodysnatchers” and “Jigsaw Falls to Pieces” groove and bop like flowers on a summer breeze. It’s a kaleidoscope of different sonic soundscapes, shifting slightly from piece to piece, each composition bringing their own flavor and moments to the album. When this album is at its best, it’s absolutely gripping (tell me “Videotapes”, a song that haunted its way into my brain from the very first chords, doesn’t leave you with a sense of longing, and nostalgic sadness).This is definitely an album, not a collection of singles, and to truly appreciate it one must forego the desire to shuffle it or even catch select songs. There are times when it feels like it sinks into doldrums, but when captured as a whole the ebb and flow of energy in songs service it as one composition, and not 11 individual pieces. This is the first of three Radiohead albums on this list. If their albums only become stronger, I’m elated to discover what’s next (and “better”) in the catalog of one of the greatest rock bands in history.
My Rating: 3.5/5
The Word and The Song 