My thoughts on "In Rainbows", an album by Radiohead

Radiohead's seventh studio album, "In Rainbows", was released on October 10th, 2007. Since its release the album has become one of their most critically acclaimed works. The album has won a Grammy Award for "Best Alternative Music Album" in 2009, and has a Metacritic rating of 88 out of 100. Many publications, such as Billboard, PopMatters and Mojo have given it the title of "Best Album of 2007," with many others ranking it in the top ten albums of 2007.

"In Rainbows" starts off with the punchy and percussive beats of "15 Step," and is a great introduction to the vast experimentation of the rest of the album. It is one of their energetic high-points of the album, and creates a nice contrast to some of the more somber and melancholic tracks set to appear later on the record.

The instrumentation of the album is cohesive and does not stray away from the well-known, signature sound of Radiohead, while still managing to create a unique and personal feeling for each of the tracks. This is achieved with the help of a wide array of elements used in the album: cryptic and poetic lyrics, electronic and lively instrumentals, upbeat and down-tempo rhythms, and blissful and sorrowful sounding chords. Due to the vast amount of different components featured in "In Rainbows," this record contains many fan favorite Radiohead songs. 

My personal favorite tracks are "Nude", "Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi", "Faust Arp", "Reckoner", "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," and "Videotape". All of which are somber-sounding and melodic, with meaningful and beautiful lyricism that speaks about existentialism, relationships, love and the feeling of loneliness and melancholy.

Along with being critically acclaimed, In Rainbows is also considered to be an easy first listen for someone who is unfamiliar with Radiohead's discography, due to it not having a as complex composition or being as experimental as some of their other albums. "In Rainbows has a well sequenced track-list, giving the album a good flow from start to finish. This allows the listener to relax and enjoy the album as a whole, and not have the mood or sound of the album abruptly change, disturbing the listening experience. Despite being over a decade old, the album has aged exceptionally well. This is mainly due to its extremely high production quality and vocal recording.

Radiohead is an original, creative, and incredibly talented band with a fantastic, diverse and vast discography. The introspective lyrics, unique and beautiful composition, and overall production value of their work is outstanding, and something every music maker wishes they could achieve.

In my opinion, this album is a masterful piece of music that absolutely deserves the high acclaim and massive popularity it has garnered since its release. It is passionate, cohesive, romantic, thought-provoking, melancholic, bright, and depressing. In Rainbows expresses raw emotion and conveys it to the listener, allowing them to immerse themselves into the album and experience the music and mood of the record in a much more personal manner.

The artwork for In Rainbows was designed by Stanley Donwood, who worked on the cover art in the studio while Radiohead was recording the album. This allowed him to portray the atmosphere and mood created by the album into his artwork, making it suit the record perfectly.