IN RAINBOWS

Twenty years ago when I was very limited in my music knowledge I thought Radiohead was a force to be reckoned with. For a long time I thought that everything from "The Bends" to "Hail To The Thief" was 5 star music with the exception of "Amnesiac". Now I have listened to many more rock bands I no longer think that Radiohead is anything special. I am glad that "Ok Computer" still holds up remarkably well. That album is still five stars. So last night I decided to listen to "In Rainbows" to see how that holds up with me.

There are ten tracks in the album and I only liked four of them. These four tracks are "15 Step", "Body Snatchers", "Nude" and "All I Need". All those tracks I rated at a solid 3 stars except for "Body Snatchers" at 3.5 stars. Thinking about it now, "Nude" could very well be rated lower, maybe 2.5 stars.

The rest of the tracks range from bad to mediocre. "Faust" is horrible, with a name like that you'd think you're in for something good and spooky like with "The Pyramid Song". "House of Cards" is almost boring, a tune that can be done by any you can name. "Videotape" has some cool noises, but it doesn't quite reach Tangerine Dream levels of noise. Not that Tangerine Dream is anything special, but at least they can make their noises rise to a solid three stars for most of their albums.

The main problem with the album is that its rather mellow and somewhat simple. I used to love Radiohead, but they are a one album wonder to me now. But I am still happy that a band from the 90s could pull off a five star album. I can't think of another band from that decade that has. "The Verve" came very close at a 4.5 stars with the gorgeous "A Storm In Heaven". Radiohead peaked with OK Computer, but they experimented too much after that and quickly started going downhill ever since. Don't get me started on A Moon Shaped Pool, I still choose The King Of Limbs over that one and that is saying something. 2.5 stars for In Rainbows. An okay listen at best.

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