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| reissue cover |
release date: Oct. 10, 2007
format: digital (18 x File, FLAC) / vinyl (2016 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,04]
producer: Nigel Godrich
label: self-released / XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "15 Step" (4 / 5) - 3. "Nude" (4 / 5) - 4. "Weird Fishes / Arpeggi" (4 / 5) - 5. "All I Need" - 6. "Faust Arp" - 7. "Reckoner" ( 4 / 5) - 8. "House of Cards" (4,5 / 5) - 9. "Jigsaw Falling Into Place"
[ Live from the Basement 2008 (includes other tracks) ]
7th studio album by Radiohead is the first studio album after the record contract with EMI had ended, and the band initially made the album accessible for download only to the prize of 'what-you-want-to-pay'. Three months later it was issued on the British label XL Recordings (the American label ATO Records for the North American market).
Style-wise, it's a combination of what may be found on OK Computer and the band's later releases with more experimental compositions. In addition to that, the band successfully incorporates strings on most of the tracks.
The album seems quite homogeneous but it's hard to narrow down an overall genre or style. It's somewhere in alternative rock-land. It's experimental without being strange and yet almost impossible to label as it explores stylistic elements taken from jazz, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and ambient elements as well - but is it post rock? It sort of breaks stylistic boundaries and just... is. And what that 'is', is fascinating and truly exquisite music.
Even without including sales based on the download distribution, the album topped the UK album charts list, as it also did in Ireland, Canada, and France, and making it to #2 in Australia, Belgium, Finland, New Zealand, and in Switzerland, and it generally faired more than just well. According to Thom Yorke, the album is the band's best-selling album.
In Rainbows is the fourth and so far final studio album [as of 2016] by Radiohead to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In my mind it's the most deserved Radiohead album on that list - and it's generally considered a major work by the music critics.
I find this particular album, the band's easily strongest and most fascinating release.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, NME 4,5 / 5, Spin 4 / 5, The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]
