in rainbows

[Daniel]

it's got some nice beats

[Captain Hot Stuff]

Preliminary analysis: An excellent album (I mean it is Radiohead), but also proof that the band peaked quite a while ago and will never again make anything as good as OK Computer/Kid A (depending on your personal preference.) Kinda depressing, but hey, they're still awesome.

"All I Need" is head and shoulders above the rest.

[Maynard,]

It's great, but definitely nowhere near their peak.

I'm somewhat disappointed with Videotape. The version from From The Basement beats this version hands down. It also feels like it doesn't belong on this album.

[emily]

I wouldn't say its their peak either but at the same time I love how. . .relaxed it is? Like I feel like this is the closest we'll ever get to an album where it sounds like the five of them just sat around together jamming until an album came out.

I wish it were longer than 43 minutes but since they essentially just said, "hey here's an album we made, have it" I can't complain about the shortness.

[Daniel]

43 minutes is a pretty solid run time for an album

[emily]

Is it? Maybe it just seems short because I've been listening to it on loop all morning. 10 tracks seemed like less than the average to me.

[Hanstock]

start listening to punk bands and 43 minutes is like listening to The Wall twice

[Casey]

yeah, it's certainly not an "EPIC ALBUM" or whatever but it's just so wonderful. I think the whole album is solid and there are some really great performances on it. I've been listening to it all morning and I may just spend the rest of the day doing the same.

[Randy Jones]

lol son of a bitch the site is undoubtedly overloaded i shoulda preordered but i didn't get paid until this morning and now it ain't loading

[Daniel]

randy

http://nodatta.blogspot.com/

[Randy Jones]

cool thx howevs at some point i gotta pay the pipers for they servix

[Jon]

The first listen through, I was a little disappointed. Some of the songs, like "Videotape" and "Jigsaws Falling Into Place", had a little more energy to them when I heard them live last year. Stupidly enough, I expected the studio versions to sound the same. I listened through a few more times, though, and at this point I like them at least as much.

The "which Radiohead album does this sound like" game is kind of silly, but if I had to make a guess, it strikes me as if they took a break from recording in the middle of Amnesiac, then went back and recorded an OK Computer B-side. As with every Radiohead album, though, it also sounds distinct from everything else they've done. So far, "House of Cards" is probably my favorite.

[Randy Jones]

well, the songs sound more like songs than i expected, but otherwise this album seems kind of light on musical revelations.

[Casey]

I definitely agree with the OK Computer B-side comparison.

[Duzzy Funlop]

i'm on "nude," and i was wondering where i've heard it before. i've had a "big ideas" mp3 for years but never really liked it. i like nude though, a lot.


it's probably not good for the rest of the album that i like the song written 10 years ago the most.

[Dollo]

The first two songs I was not a fan of at all. That being said I really enjoyed 'nude' and am currently listening to 'Weird Fishes', which I also like. Hmmm...it's getting better with each track thus far.

[Daniel]

the first 40 seconds of the first song is my favorite thing on the whole album. other than that i don't like anything a whole lot except the second song and the drums on a few of'em.

[Randy Jones]

"House of Cards" really should have been cut. It kills the momentum of the entire album, which is really the best thing it has going for it. The album sounds really good, but there's not any Radiohead magic.

[DGMacphee]

"All I Need" is head and shoulders above the rest.

I'm up to All I Need now and it's the turning track for me, turning from a half-hearted "Hmm, yeah, that sounds good." to "Hell yeah, now we're getting some where!"

EDIT: Up to House of Cards. Whatever those background noises are in the intro, whether it's Thom yodeling, a guitar, or a synth, whatever it is, it's sending a good little shiver down my spine. Very beautiful, whatever it is.

[First-Tiger]

I spent a long time trying to find where I had heard Videotape before, until I remembered it was from Jon's "Tourette's Guy" article.

I think that and "All I Need" are the most memorable songs on the album for me, but I like the whole thing just about equally. On first listen, it wasn't a disappointment, which is pretty good praise in retrospect. I'll end up listening to it a whole lot over the next few weeks.