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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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In Rainbows
by Radiohead
Radiohead releases their latest with a pay-what-you-want price.
| LABEL: |
Radiohead (self-released) |
| RELEASE DATE: |
10 October 2007 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock, Alternative |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
The Guardian
The most heartening thing about In Rainbows, besides the fact that it may represent the strongest collection of songs Radiohead have assembled for a decade, is that it ventures into new emotional territories.
100
Entertainment Weekly
Rainbows may be the gentlest, prettiest Radiohead set yet.
100
NOW Magazine
It's true that we've come to expect a certain level of genius from this band, but when they actually exceed expectations, as they do here, it's a clear sign that Radiohead will continue to reinvent themselves and drop more jaws along the way.
100
Q Magazine
Once again, Radiohead have proven themselves priceless. [Dec 2007, p.107]
93
Pitchfork
The brilliant In Rainbows represents no such thing [downshift]. Nonetheless, it's a very different kind of Radiohead record. Liberated from their self-imposed pressure to innovate, they sound--for the first time in ages--user-friendly.
91
Lost At Sea
Excluding the established Radiohead franchise from consideration of In Rainbows, it is still one of the most compelling recent releases, and should be considered for 2007's Album of the Year in any context.
91
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Elsewhere, it's business as usual--mostly amazing business, to be sure, but never entirely unexpected.
91
Stylus Magazine
In Rainbows, then, is Radiohead as straight and lean as they’ve ever sounded.
90
All Music Guide
In Rainbows will hopefully be remembered as Radiohead's most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download.
90
Under The Radar
Maybe In Rainbows is their life--settling into things, creating permanence. If so, we may grow to miss the anger and the striving and the discovery that comes as a result. But for now, we can enjoy the beauty of Radiohead understanding their identity and the craftsmanship that lies in comfort.
90
PopMatters
The album proves itself to be what we all thought Radiohead couldn’t make again: a masterpiece.
90
Los Angeles Times
The first time I listened to Radiohead's In Rainbows, I loved it, no holds barred.
90
musicOMH.com
By turns danceable, blissed out romantic, familiar and new, it's technologically and musically fascinating. Its juxtaposition of orga and mecha is one of its many well executed contradictions. Packed but sparse, thrilling, complex, innovative, simple. Without even a dud bar never mind a filler track, In Rainbows is more than any fan could hope for.
90
No Ripcord
It’s as brazen, bold and brilliant as anything it’s done thus far. It is, as Thom Yorke claimed, very minimal. Yet, the album never sounds half-finished, but instead focused and refined. It’s as vital as anything the band has done.
90
Delusions of Adequacy
This album is more a statement of where they're going. It feels big, open, and alone, like you are listening in on something you shouldn't hear.
90
Rolling Stone
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.
90
BBC collective
In Rainbows really does present Radiohead at their most full-blooded and confident.
90
New Musical Express
Sonically, it was staggering.
85
Hot Press
First impressions are pretty damn good. It’s dreamy, eerie, epic, soaring, soothing, very occasionally manic... and more.
85
Prefix Magazine
This is a grownup album, made for grownups.
85
cokemachineglow
Radiohead sound as ephemeral and variegated as ever, flowering and streaming and as big as the light our eyes can catch.
80
Blender
In Rainbows is far more pensive and reflective than its predecessor.
80
Spin
The album succeeds because all that cold, clinical lab work hasn't eliminated the warmth from their music. [Dec 2007, p.111]
80
Mojo
Both artistically and in terms of a new business model, In Rainbows is a necesary masterstroke. [Dec 2007, p.96]
80
Paste Magazine
Not only is this Radiohead’s most straightforward, organic-sounding album since The Bends, it finds the band shedding the bulk of its trademark anxiety while remaining indomitably themselves.
80
Uncut
Radiohead have made their most well-behaved, classically structured album since "OK Computer."
80
Under The Radar
In Rainbows, its first new album in four years, is a gorgeous, if understated return to form.
80
Billboard
Overall, the material feels more human, more honest, more assured.
80
Dot Music
Happily, In Rainbows is pretty, pretty good.
80
Sputnikmusic
The music within the album has many sides to it, and the execution gives each aspect enough emphasis to add to the sound without creating clutter or over saturation.
80
Sputnikmusic
'Videotape' closes off the album peacefully, like a peck kiss goodbye, and it fittingly finishes the sparse emptiness of the record. However, the entire album lacks a climax.
80
Hartford Courant
In Rainbows, the band's seventh studio album and first since 2003's "Hail to the Thief," is dense and thorny, complex and beautiful.
80
Boston Globe
In Rainbows is a wonderful, absorbing album.
80
Tiny Mix Tapes
Amazingly, it lacks any pretense: their aesthetic is organic and fluid, indicating a band that responds honestly and artistically to circumstance, rather than one that imposes a rigid, stagnant aesthetic for more idealistic purposes.
80
The New York Times
Rhythmic layers crackle and coil, percussion spatters prettiness, and noise sometimes looms from murky corners....Radiohead has also reclaimed its tunefulness. Its new songs take care to string long-lined melodies across the rigorous counterpoint.
80
Trouser Press
In Rainbows is a richly textured and resonant record. In a career marked by dramatic reinvention, Radiohead’s latest phase — growing old gracefully--is going quite well.
78
Austin Chronicle
'Bodysnatchers' exhibits the electioneering energy of The Bends with a monstrous riff that explodes into a spiral galaxy of guitar, but the remainder of the album flows like an extended Soma holiday.
70
Slant Magazine
In Rainbows with the all-too-familiar stiff, programmed beats and strategically placed effects of '15 Steps,' but soon more organic elements (spare bass and leftfield guitar--literally, coming out of the left speaker) take center stage, rendering it one of the band's best hybrids in years.
68
Almost Cool
It's certainly pretty, and definitely has its moments, but it simply lacks the vitality of past work.
67
cokemachineglow
It feels like vital parts are gone, missed somewhere in Radiohead’s search through their own oeuvre for something more and more facilely universal, something that draws lines within lines of song types and not the larger methodology, something that can be "important" without being challenging.
60
The Wire
There is still a sense here of a group magisterially marking time, shying away this time round from any grand, rhetorical, countercultural purpose. [Dec 2007, p.63]
40
Dusted Magazine
I can sense that there's something pretty great going on and even briefly catch glimpses of it. But as an experience, it's a little bit maddening, and eventually I'll want to throw away the glasses and pick up a book.
The average user rating for this album is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 1057 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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