RA D IOHE_AD IN/RAINBOWS" continuing discussion thread part V

[FitzChivalry]

Except they did.

It's almost like after "Fake Plastic Trees" they're so afraid, or insistent, on not having a song in the vein of a traditional big, beautiful, all-out ballad. "How To Disappear . . . " comes close, but it still has that weird, chaotic break towards the end.

It's like they're consciously saying we're Radiohead. We can't make anything conventional.

Kind of reminds me of U2 around ATYCLB talking about how they had been trying so hard to make Edge not sound like Edge, that they forgot how great Edge could sound if they just let him loose.

In hindsight, and if I had their ear, I would've given RH the same advice about "All I Need" and "Videotape".

Ahhh, Videotape. We really didn't need another "Motion Picture Soundtrack" Part II type song.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I can believe people can quote the lyrics already. I've listened to it nearly nonstop and haven't learned any yet.

I never understand half of what Thom is saying, I kind of enjoy it...

 

[LemonMelon]

I can believe people can quote the lyrics already. I've listened to it nearly nonstop and haven't learned any yet.

http://www.greenplastic.com/lyrics/

 

[zoetrope]

I can believe people can quote the lyrics already. I've listened to it nearly nonstop and haven't learned any yet.

I know these songs by heart cause I've been listening to most of these songs for at least a year. It's kinda sick when you think about it ("yeah, the new Radiohead cd is getting released tomorrow but all of the songs are already imprinted on my brain!"). I mean, when I heard All I Need for the first time I immediately noticed and was kinda disappointed that they used the "I'm an animal trapped in your hot car" line and not "I'm a flash flood running through your ground floor".

 

[u2popmofo]

The Shins were great. This was the second show this year for their hometown crowd, after a long absence. The first show was in a club they used to play in way back when and was heavy on their earlier material, practically ignoring Wincing, but it was clear why--this was a show for the fans who supported them before they got big. That was a really exciting show. Last night was a theatre show and was more oriented towards the newer material. They are a really tight live band and much more rocking than you'd think (as you probably know since you've seen them).

And their light show was very rainbowy (to bring this back to the topic at hand).

Listening to In Rainbows on the late night drive home under the big desert sky was bliss.

Very cool. Did they play 'Sea Legs'? If so, how was it? They didn't play it here earlier this year, and it sounded majorly screwed up on Leno the other night (completely guitarless, despite the fact that two guitars were being played).

It would be awesome to see The Shins in Albuquerque. When they played here, they hadn't announced any dates in NM yet, and they said lots of family and friends were at the show, so I kinda got a small taste of what a real "hometown" show for them might be. Glad the show was good. I agree that they are surprisingly more rocking in concert.



Back on course, 'All I Need' is stuck in my head, and I don't even know the lyrics.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Very cool. Did they play 'Sea Legs'? If so, how was it? They didn't play it here earlier this year, and it sounded majorly screwed up on Leno the other night (completely guitarless, despite the fact that two guitars were being played).

They didn't play Sea Legs here earlier this year either and I was bummed. But they did play it last night and it was incredible! They nailed it. It was a highlight of the show. I can see how it could easily go wrong--it has that weird tempo in the beginning and if it starts out wrong it would be hard to fix.

They did mention that they played it on Leno (I missed it) but said they heard that in Abq it was interrupted by the pubic emergency broadcasting test. "The story of my life," the guitarist said.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Okay, my typo has now been quoted three times.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Okay, my typo has now been quoted three times.

I didn't even notice it was a typo until you pointed it out

 

[coemgen]

Sorry if this has been posted:

Rollingstone: "In Rainbows" = 4.5 stars

These wily boys may have a secret album-title exchange program with Kelly Clarkson, but everything else about In Rainbows is typically hard-rocking Radiohead. Like every other Radiohead album except Kid A — still their most famous album, but they only made it once — In Rainbows has uptempo guitar songs and moody acoustic ballads, full of headphone-tweaking sound effects. All of it rocks; none of it sounds like any other band on earth; it delivers an emotional punch that proves all other rock stars owe us an apology.

In a brilliant move, Radiohead released In Rainbows via optional-pay download; I paid $5.27, in honor of my mom's birthday. Almost all the songs are already familiar to fans from live versions, but here they become expansive new creations. "Arpeggi" and "Bodysnatchers" ride on white-heat rhythm-guitar overdrive, while "House of Cards" is a fragile lovers-rock ballad closely resembling Dusty Springfield's (and the Byrds') "Going Back." "All I Need" has erotic pleading ("I'm an animal trapped in your hot car"), sad chimes in the "No Surprises" mode, and an ominoso synth-piano rumble.

On 2003's Hail to the Thief, Yorke's vocals were all punk rage, but here his voice has an R&B lilt that suits the songs' romantic directness. The end of "Videotape" is the only time the band dips back into dated glitch-blip electronics. Otherwise, the music is full of vividly collaborative sonic touches, from the Gary Numan synth-nightmare drones of "All I Need" and "House of Cards" to drummer Phil Selway's surprisingly deft way with his brushes and woodblocks. No wasted moments, no weak tracks: just primo Radiohead. Hell, I'm going back and tipping them another quarter just for the finger-cymbal solo on "Reckoner."

 

[LemonMelon]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NaZM0qQejhg&mode=related&search=

With House Of Cards and All I Need, IR could be the first Radiohead babymaking album. I approve.

 

[Dalton]

I don't think you'll be hearing anything like the majority of the stuff on In Rainbows anytime soon.

That may be, but if it isn't as good as the stuff that sounds like someone else does it really matter?

 

[joyfulgirl]

I mean, when I heard All I Need for the first time I immediately noticed and was kinda disappointed that they used the "I'm an animal trapped in your hot car" line and not "I'm a flash flood running through your ground floor".

Oh dear. The latter is a better lyric.

 

[coemgen]

btw, that Rolling Stone rating is .5 stars better than any of their other albums.

 

[joyfulgirl]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NaZM0qQejhg&mode=related&search=

 

[phanan]

btw, that Rolling Stone rating is .5 stars better than any of their other albums.

Rolling Stone changes their stupid minds all the time, though. I mean, look at their latest album guide for Radiohead:

Pablo Honey - 2.5 stars
The Bends - 5
OK Computer - 5
Kid A - 5
Amnesiac - 4.5
Hail To The Thief - 5

 

[LemonMelon]

Oh dear. The latter is a better lyric.

The entire meaning of the song has changed. It has gone from how awful Thom is for this woman to how awful the woman is for Thom.

It's gone from "I'm a flash flood running through your ground floor" and "You only stick with me because there are no others"

to "I'm an animal trapped in your hot car" and "I only stick with you because there are no others"

Not sure which I prefer.

 

[Dalton]

How in the world is HTTT a 5? I'm a pretty damn big fan of the album and I don't think its a 5.

 

[phanan]

Beats me.

 

[coemgen]

I know. If you look online though, they gave, Hail to the Thief, Kid A, OK Computer and The Bends 4 stars each. Amnesiac got 3.5 and Pablo Honey isn't even rated.

So, if these are initial ratings, well, it's interesting.

 

[AtomicBono]

Rolling Stone changes their stupid minds all the time, though. I mean, look at their latest album guide for Radiohead:

Pablo Honey - 2.5 stars
The Bends - 5
OK Computer - 5
Kid A - 5
Amnesiac - 4.5
Hail To The Thief - 5

HTT is a 5 and Amnesiac is a 4.5? theyre good but theyre not that good. and poor Pablo Honey. I'd give it a 3...maybe...

 

[LemonMelon]

OKC - 5 stars
In Rainbows - 4.5 stars
Kid A - 4.5 stars
The Bends - 4.5 stars
Amnesiac - 3.5 stars
Pablo Honey - 3.5 stars
Hail To The Thief - 3 stars

 

[joyfulgirl]

How in the world is HTTT a 5? I'm a pretty damn big fan of the album and I don't think its a 5.

I think it's a 5. I know I'm in the tiny little minority but I don't care. I hear those opening notes and my heart beats a little faster and off we go.

In fact, in nitpicking IR, I would have to say that it lacks stunning opening notes. The Bends through HTTT have openers that make me happy to be alive (okay, a little dramatic but this is the place for that, right?)

 

[joyfulgirl]

The entire meaning of the song has changed. It has gone from how awful Thom is for this woman to how awful the woman is for Thom.

It's gone from "I'm a flash flood running through your ground floor" and "You only stick with me because there are no others"

to "I'm an animal trapped in your hot car" and "I only stick with you because there are no others"

Not sure which I prefer.

I of course have no idea what this song (or any of them) is about yet. I'll get to it.

 

[Dalton]

I of course have no idea what this song (or any of them) is about yet. I'll get to it.

I'm not sure I know what ANY Radiohead is about. They're one band that I just don't care what Thom is singing about. I'm just happy he's singing.

 

[thetitans2k]

I wish I could hear the lyrics when I'm listening to In Rainbows.

 

[LemonMelon]

I of course have no idea what this song (or any of them) is about yet. I'll get to it.

I would probably try not to delve too deeply into that one...I just take it as the token broken relationship tune, something that Radiohead seldom attempts.

 

[FitzChivalry]

I wish I could hear the lyrics when I'm listening to In Rainbows.

Go print them out. They're posted on page 57 (approx.) of the last thread, part IV.

 

[LemonMelon]

New top 10:

1. Subterranean Homesick Alien
2. Airbag
3. In Limbo
4. Let Down
5. All I Need
6. Black Star
7. Kid A
8. Pyramid Song
9. The Bends
10. House Of Cards

Something like that, anyway.

 

[AtomicBono]

All I Need
Where I End and You Begin
Climbing Up The Walls
Gagging Order
Bodysnatchers
Just
You and Whose Army?
Idioteque
You
Everything in its Right Place

somethin' like that. I dunno. Videotape, Karma Police, Sail to the Moon, Bullet Proof... (I Wish I Was), In Limbo, and I Want None Of This are close too.

 

[GibsonGirl]

I'm not sure I know what ANY Radiohead is about. They're one band that I just don't care what Thom is singing about. I'm just happy he's singing.

Same. I honestly don't give a flying toss what Radiohead's songs are about most of the time. Which is odd for me, because I'm very much a lyrics kind of person. They're one of the few bands I love purely for the sounds they make and the way the vocals interact with those sounds (on a purely musical level).

The ones that I do look into are good though. With Thom, I enjoyed Harrowdown Hill twice as much as I did once I found out what it was in reference to.