#336 - Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)
MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:
RADIOHEAD BIO
Radiohead formed in 1985 in Oxfordshire, England. The lineup consists of Thom Yorke on vocals, guitar, piano and keyboard, Brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar), Colin Greenwood (bass), Ed O'Brien (guitar and backing vocals), and Philip Selway on drums. They were originally called "On a Friday", the name referring to their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. The band later credited their music teacher for introducing them to jazz, film scores, and 20th century classical music. They actually received a record offer from Island records in the late 1980s, but declined and decided to focus on going to university. EMI records came calling in 1991, and requested a name change. They named themselves after the Talking Heads song "Radio Head" that was released on the True Stories album in 1986. Their first release, the Drill EP, didn't do well, but the release of the single "Creep" sparked attention in them, and the success of their first album "Pablo Honey" in 1993 was followed by the critically acclaimed "The Bends". They continued to churn out more game-changing albums like "OK Computer" (1995), "Kid A" (2000), "Amnesiac" (2001), and "Hail To Thief"(2003), leading us to today's album.
They would later go on to be inducted into the RnR HOF in 2019, and have five Mercury Prize nominations (best album released in the UK by a British or Irish Act - an alternative to the Brit Awards), the most in the history of the award.
BACKGROUND – IN RAINBOWS
This is the 7th studio album by Radiohead, released in October 2007. The work for this album started in early 2005. The initial recording sessions with new producer Spike Stent didn't go well, so they went out and toured, performing some of the new material. After the tour, the band brought back producer Nigel Godrich. Regular recording sessions began in August 2005 with the familiar producer, but the sessions were slow, and the band struggled to regain confidence; according to Yorke, "We spent a long time in the studio just not going anywhere, wasting our time, and that was really, really frustrating." They attributed their slow progress to a lack of momentum after they took an extended break following the Hail To The Thief tour, and the fact that all the members had become fathers. O'Brien said the band considered splitting up, but kept working "because when you got beyond all the shit and the bollocks, the core of these songs were really good". Radiohead incorporated a variety of styles and instruments, using electronic instruments, strings, piano and the ondes Martenot (which is similar to a theremin, it's an early version of an electronic keyboard that makes wavering sounds).
The lyrics on this album are more personal and less political than we're used to. Yorke said that the In Rainbows lyrics are based on "that anonymous fear thing, sitting in traffic, thinking, 'I'm sure I'm supposed to be doing something else' ... it's similar to OK Computer in a way. It's much more terrifying." He also said that, unlike Hail to the Thief, there was "very little anger" in In Rainbows: "It's in no way political, or, at least, doesn't feel that way to me. It very much explores the ideas of transience. It starts in one place and ends somewhere completely different." In another interview, Yorke said the album was "about the fucking panic of realizing you're going to die! And that any time soon [I could] possibly [have] a heart attack when I next go for a run."
The retail release topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and by October 2008 it had sold over three million copies worldwide. It won Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, and was ranked one of the best albums of the year and the decade by various publications. The vinyl edition of the album sold the most copies of any album in 2008.