In Rainbows: A Cursory Review

I will admit to putting off posting this review longer than was strictly necessary. Blame it on a guilty conscience; I never thought I'd accumulate more than a handful of fightin' words about one of my favorite musical groups, but there it is.

First, let me state unequivocally that I am a huge Radiohead fan. I have spent more money to see them in concert twice than probably all of my other past shows combined, and both were spectacular. Radiohead is no studio band, despite the complexity of their sound. I have always found them to be musically exciting, the social commentary incisive and even humorous at times. So you can imagine the height of my expectations when the new album, "In Rainbows", was released online, free to those of us who like to try before we buy.

It is not what I expected, dear readers. "Bodysnatchers" smacks of a neutered "National Anthem": both are even in the same key, featuring the same decisive bassline that made the latter so structurally sound, but renders the former almost ineffective. And what, exactly, is one supposed to make of "All I Need"? I never thought I could ever describe a Radiohead song as cloying, but that's the kindest way to put it. "Faust Arp" combines the musicality of Elliot Smith with the vocal bastardizations of, say, Prussian Blue (sans the white nationalism). The result is unsettling: a troubling, icy little melody with no resolution. As for "Reckoner"? Meet Antony and the Johnsons. On second thought--don't.

What's killing me is that, in prior albums, the subject matter of each song was almost always reflected in the melody and instrumentation, or vice versa, and that's hard to pull off, and it's very satisfying and rewarding when accomplished with the finesse most fans have come to expect. If you downloaded "In Rainbows" with that in mind, well, lasciate ogni speranza. You've been warned.

Here's the thing, though: if this were any other band's album, I'd think, "Gee, this is pretty interesting stuff. I wonder where they'll go from here! Maybe I should check out their other stuff!" But this is Radiohead we are talking about. Not some second-rate, electro-pop wannabe band. This isn't innovation, it's some sort of flimsy noise-quilt stitched haphazardly from patches of past opera. It's lazy, and I'm not at all impressed, Radiohead. I expected better of you.

The only possibility for redemption that I can see is that maybe, just maybe, mediocrity was the goal. If indeed this is the case, then kudos.