in rainbows

Radiohead continued to break barriers with the distinctive distribution and innovative instrumentation of this captivatingly colorful landmark album. The recording of 'In Rainbows' started slowly after the year hiatus that followed the tour for 'Hail to the Thief'. When the sessions with producer Mark Stent began to drag, the band went on a three month tour and found themselves reinvigorated. When the tour was over they returned to the studio with producer Nigel Godrich. Sessions took place at a condemned mansion called Tottenham Court House, Halswell House in Taunton, Godrich's Hospital Studios in Covent Garden, and Radiohead's studio in Oxfordshire.   The album features the Matrix Music School children's choir and strings by the Millennia Ensemble. 

Thom Yorke admits:  "There's very little anger in 'In Rainbows'. It's in no way political, or, at least, doesn't feel that way to me. It very much explores the ideas of transience. It starts in one place and ends somewhere completely different. That was the only way we could fit it together, but it turned out to be a real upside in the end. The first half of it is pretty raw, pretty hectic. Even though you have 'Nude', what the lyrics are actually saying is pretty messed-up, nasty. After a while, everything calms down and you get it out of your system. You feel better; there's this feeling of elation. As far as the artwork goes, that was heavily influenced by the pictures NASA puts on their website. They have this great library of stuff online that we were looking at, and it coincided with Stanley Donwood's experiments, throwing wax around. It was just experimentation, but it gave a sense of release, letting go...There is a certain way of a life, a certain way of being, that is, one way or another, going to come to an end. Hopefully something good to come to fruition, or maybe nothing will. A lot of background to this, for me, is the environmental thing. I didn't want to put that anywhere in the music, but it's absolutely there all the time, in my consciousness."

Ed O'Brian considers:  "What I liked about arriving at this record, thematically, was the lyrics had changed. What's really strong to me about the record is, the lyrics are perennial in their scope...It's a very human thing. Music, at the end of the day, is communicating something: emotion, a feeling, a rite of passage, where you are in life. This record really does that. It's not a thing that's being written by someone who's in an exclusive position. It's something that's felt by everyone."

Colin Greenwood said at the time:   “If you’re doing anything that’s important or confronting, you’re going to get the fear. That validates it in a way. For me the big thing about having kids last year is that, as a parent, you’ve got to have something that you do that you’re happy about that defines yourself, because if you don’t have that you’re no good to anyone. In a good way it validates the passion you had for music."

Since their contract with EMI had expired, the band decided to make the unprecedented move to release 'In Rainbows' for download before it was available in stores. They also gave fans the choice of how much they would pay for it.  The physical release of the album came two months later, with the album going to number eleven in Japan; eight in Germany; two in Australia and New Zealand; and number one in Canada, France, Ireland, the UK, and the US.  'In Rainbows' entered the album charts in the UK and the US at number one and went on to sell more than three million copies.  It won Grammy awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Special Limited Edition Package.  'In Rainbows'  is the catchiest, most direct album they'd put out in years. Letting go of the outrageous runaway experimentalism, they let themselves be a band; and the results are wonderful:  the arpeggio of a house of cards jigsaw puzzle falling into place. We see their true colors.







http://www.radiohead.com/









Live From The Basement






'In Rainbows' 
full album:

1. 15 Step - 0:00
2. Bodysnatchers - 3:57
3. Nude - 8:00
4. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - 12:15
5. All I Need - 17:33
6. Faust Arp - 21:21
7. Reckoner - 23:31
8. House of Cards - 28:21
9. Jigsaw Falling into Place - 33:50
10. Videotape - 37:59
Bonus Tracks:
The Daily Mail - 42:41
Staircase - 46:18




'disk 2' was a bonus disk that came with pre-ordered copies of the album through the band's website.





1.   00:00  MK 1
2.  01:04   Down Is The New Up
3.  06:03  Go Slowly
4.  09:51  MK 2
5.  10:44  Last Flowers
6.  15:11   Up On The Ladder
7.  19:28  Bangers + Mash
8.  22:48  4 Minute Warning