With each Radiohead album, the listener is introduced to a completely unique musical experience. From The Bends to Hail to the Thief, Radiohead shifts in an entirely different musical direction. These are not only shifts in musical style but also shifts in the emotions the music invokes in the listener. This willingness to transcend cryptically defined musical genres, genres by which every musician and the music they create are identified, is what truly distinguishes Radiohead as one of the great vanguards of music today. There are of course still similarities that connect their collective works. This seamless integration of both identifiable and cutting edge sound leads to albums that are more than simply vocals mixed with instrumental tracks but broad and vivid musical soundscapes. This trend continues with Radiohead’s newest release, In Rainbows.


One shared quality that comes with the experience of listening to a Radiohead album is a feeling of utter hopelessness, despair, anxiety, and of being unsure of our future. Amnesiac, Kid A, and Ok Computer are classic albums that paint a bleak picture for mankind. We all get up to go to work, come home, sleep, and repeat. You never belong, there is no home, and men forcibly becoming paranoid androids. After In Rainbows was announced Oct. 1, I waited patiently for 10 days to hear the next chapter of the story. Finally, at midnight on Oct. 10, I laid down on my floor with my speakers on full blast, and my ears were finally able to glimpse a new picture.



If previous albums paint a grey and ominous world, In Rainbows paints a picture of redemption, of a way out, even in death. This is a somber and delicate album about saying goodbye. Uncharacteristically organic sounds were used in place of previous machine-like noise. The consequence is some of the most beautiful tracks the band has ever recorded. Johnny Greenwood’s use of an orchestra on “Nude” creates an emotionally brilliant and haunting masterpiece. The final song “Videotape” sums up the album, “This is my way of saying goodbye.”