The Drop music blog
This week's musical forecast: In Rainbows shines
By Jillian Mapes, Assistant Managing Editor
October 12, 2007 | 1 a.m.
Other albums were released this week besides the digital download of In Rainbows, but they just don’t matter nearly as much. I’ll get to the non-Radiohead albums in a few paragraphs, but I’m going to need to reserve a good chunk of space for all things Thom Yorke.
I’m not going to lie: I cried while listening to In Rainbows for the first time. The final song, a haunting, dejected piano number called “Videotape,” really got to me. Tears literally fell from my tired eyes for no reason other than the song’s incredible beauty.
As much as I’d like to displace my own wildly amorous feelings about Radiohead when critically evaluating In Rainbows, my love affair with the band is too passionate for that to happen. I may obsess over Radiohead, but I also know a good album when I hear it. I’ve been anticipating this album to be one of the best I will hear all year, so I think that I would have noticed if it sucked. Trust me, it doesn’t suck. Radiohead would have to try terribly hard to make a sub par album.
Update: It’s now about 5 p.m. on Oct. 11. I’ve listened to In Rainbows more times than I can count today (I’m thinking it’s close to eight times completely through). In fact, I’ve never listened to an album so many times in such a short period time. I finally feel as though I am prepared enough to talk about it, so let the games begin.
As last week's blog explained, Radiohead basically leaked its own new album via the band’s cryptic Web site. It’s not free, but you can pay whatever you’d like for it (I paid one pound, roughly two American bucks). The discbox that will be released in December, however, costs $82 and also can only be purchased via the band’s Web site. You should really know all this already, kids. If you don’t, then you probably wouldn’t enjoy reading this blog anyway.
So, I’m sure many people are wondering if In Rainbows is worth the $82 that the chocked-full-of-fun discbox costs. The answer is "yes." Besides being Radiohead’s first new album in four years, In Rainbows measures up to the band’s now-classic releases. It is obvious that the album is even more well-produced and well-orchestrated than previous Radiohead records, thus taking the band’s sound to an entirely new plateau of indescribability.
Radiohead proves on In Rainbows that when it commits to a song style, it delivers, damn it. The jangly songs that are meant to shake you up (like the banger of an album opener, “15 Step”) really rattle you around, while the meandering, more melancholy songs (like “Nude,” aka the best song of 2007) retain a driving piano focus while still compelling you to pathetic sobs. And don’t even get me started Thom Yorke’s vocals on In Rainbows, as they have managed to become even more melodic since Hail to the Thief.
So, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve promptly hopped aboard the first train to overkill city with my thorough Radiohead analysis/freak-out. In the realm of non-Radiohead albums released this week, there weren’t necessarily an extensive number of them.
Indie rock up-and-comers Band of Horses released a second effort, Cease to Begin, much to the delight of those who enjoyed their unexpectedly listenable first album, Everything All the Time. Cease to Begin suffers just slightly from the sophomore slump, but the band still nabbed a spot on Rolling Stone's 2007 Hot List (it’s funny how Rolling Stone grabs one semi-obscure band and hypes it into the ground).
The strong songs on the album are really quite exceptional, but it’s those few unoriginal songs that weaken Cease to Begin by just sounding like aimless, generic indie. The album’s best song has to be “Lamb on the Lam (In the City),” which boasts an infectious piano line and lyrics that bash the critics (“What the writers say/Means shit to me now”). Cease to Begin goes a little alt-country, so fans who saw Band of Horses on tour this summer with Modest Mouse may want to proceed with caution on this purchase.
Also released this week were Robert Pollard’s (formerly of Guided by Voices) two (!!!) new albums, Coast to Coast Carpet of Love and Standard Gargoyle Decisions. Of course, the two albums with the same release date shtick can be overbearing, but Pollard nearly escapes this faux pas by differentiating each album’s musical angle.
And, finally, one of the worst albums of 2007, Debbie Harry’s Necessary Evil, was released this week. The former Blondie crooner is even more washed-up on this album than any foul-tongued critic could have anticipated. From ridiculous lyrics that tackle such topics as “the devil’s dick” to the contrived synth solos that frame Debbie’s smoke-depleted pipes, Necessary Evil is an over-produced mess. Seriously, my roommate literally begged me to turn it off after we listened to maybe four tracks.
Remember kids, rock’n’roll won’t kill your soul -- just your ears.
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