IN RAPTU_RES

An often-times galling feature of Radioh/ead is that you have to get the feeling that regardless what hoards of joy starved critics and armies of fans say radiohead will always do their own thing;. No doubt the suits at EMI know this feeling better than any after, not only being dumped but then, reliably reportedly, almost stiffed for big wads of cash monies.

As it was that in the post OK Computer years Radiohe_ad lurked in a murky alternative wilderness, admittedly successful, but also dogged by people wistfully muttering: "I liked their old stuff".
With the release of Hail to The Thief came another album cut in the same mould as the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum albums of Kid A and Amnesiac-rhythmically brilliant and diverse, coloured with psychedelia but short on traditional melody or memorability; Yorke's solo venture, The Eraser, only led to the belief that the group was being led further down the rabbit hole.

Following the release of IN RAIN_BOWS it took me a full three months to actually listen to it; I refused to listen to snippets and highlights in people's cars and homes to avoid missing the over arching effect of the album but at the same time I simply couldn't bring myself to buy it as I agonised over what price to put on art.

What a relief it was when I could finally slide back into comfort and purchase an actual copy via a regular source and for a standard price. From the opening track I really felt that Rad/iohead had at last revived some of the features of their early material that had been cast aside from Kid A onwards. The key and content of the lyrics has lightened and the distinguishable tones of authentic instruments are once again at the fore of their music. These are opinions shared by other music bloggers who equally feel that lyrics are lighter and a more authentic rock style has been revived. It really is an album that melds the best of both Radio_head universi, they have continued using much of the boundary defining experimentation into rhythm, but this time they have also plucked from the back catalogue some of the more main streamesque lyricism and catchy riffs. Lyricism and riffs that granted them the platform in the 90s to be a popular band and a great band in the new millennia.