tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627891267029264947.post4588957213199559502..comments2023-10-31T10:27:51.261-05:00Comments on Range Life (Music. The Midwest. More.): Album Review: Radiohead - In RainbowsFemme Fatalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09598929221869918124noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627891267029264947.post-7825734242932222182007-10-20T02:16:00.000-05:002007-10-20T02:16:00.000-05:00I should probably have mentioned that I'm Erik and...I should probably have mentioned that I'm Erik and I'm also a Foucault fan, huh? :)<BR/><BR/>(tangent)<BR/><BR/>It's disappointing that so many "fans" of Radiohead are being supercritical of this album because it's not exactly the perfect album THEY thought it would be. <BR/><BR/>To them I say: You are a critic, not a fan. Anything released into the public is bound to be disseminated and deconstructed to the most infinite degree, much like Fox News on any polarizing issue only with slightly more relevance. <BR/><BR/>BUT!<BR/><BR/>We as fans do not write the songs, nor play them, only listen. Any art - music or otherwise - is meant to be a source of inspiration and personal reflection, not stripped down to its most bare elements searching for flaws. <BR/><BR/>Whatever choices Radiohead chose to make in this album/live show/whatever are their choices to make as artists and should be respected as such. People may dislike it, but there is a vast difference between "I don't like this" and the infuriating "I would have done this here."<BR/><BR/>If you would have done xxxx instead, why don't you write your own album? <BR/><BR/>(end artistic credibility tangent)panopticonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08034013832009348947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627891267029264947.post-31003926826225457792007-10-17T18:11:00.000-05:002007-10-17T18:11:00.000-05:00To me it sounds like the end of the tape as it's w...To me it sounds like the end of the tape as it's winding off the spool...SonicRyanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04921877563167552790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627891267029264947.post-79605176225416966602007-10-17T17:08:00.000-05:002007-10-17T17:08:00.000-05:00I love the whole album, and I've been listening to...I love the whole album, and I've been listening to all of the songs equally. I don't know if I can pick a favorite.<BR/><BR/>On Videotape... "Red Blue Gree... Red Blue Green..." gets me every time, for reasons I cannot describe. That said, I see where people are coming from with the drums at the end. The first time I heard them, they literally drove me nuts.<BR/><BR/>I'm more used to the drums now, but they're still disturbing. I don't know that it's a "bad" kind of disturbing, but I see how they could be offputting to someone who had gotten used to an earlier version of the song.Hackworth Artifexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03455928961249160138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627891267029264947.post-75227802942677338482007-10-17T16:30:00.000-05:002007-10-17T16:30:00.000-05:00I'm convinced that it is a case of "I heard this v...I'm convinced that it is a case of "I heard this version first so I like it better." I've even read people complaining about "Reckoner", which apparently was quite rockin' the one and only time they played it live. It so happens that "Reckoner" is my personal favorite right now. But whatever, to each their own I suppose. Panopticon, thanks for the insightful comment. I hope you keep coming back.SonicRyanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04921877563167552790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627891267029264947.post-48107956817971208812007-10-17T11:42:00.000-05:002007-10-17T11:42:00.000-05:00Panopticon,Crazy Radiohead fan or not, I think you...Panopticon,<BR/><BR/>Crazy Radiohead fan or not, I think you've hit the nail on the head in terms of why this album is not only adored by old fans, but why I suspect it will also bring legions of new fans.<BR/><BR/>Your comments got me thinking, what is the deal with all of this backlash surrounding "Videotape"? Like you, I adore the song. It's been the first Radiohead song to grab me emotionally in a LONG TIME. I've listened to live versions of the song online, and though they've sounded pretty damn cool, I don't understand why everyone feels like the album version is so inferior. Is this just the case of "I heard this version first, so I like it better"? Why doesn't anyone just accept that the looped drum beats at the end (versus wailing guitars) was a STYLISTIC choice??Femme Fatalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09598929221869918124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627891267029264947.post-52821675536491662062007-10-17T09:55:00.000-05:002007-10-17T09:55:00.000-05:00"squat grocery checkout hermaphrodite"...where do ..."squat grocery checkout hermaphrodite"<BR/><BR/>...where do you shop?!?!<BR/><BR/><BR/>Let me first say that I am not the Radiohead fan that any of you are. I enjoy their music and perhaps more their musical interpretation of the machine-driven alienation that creeps in all around. Music as it should be - both created for aural pleasure as well as societal commentary. I really got into Radiohead through The Bends (and awesome video for Fake Plastic Trees) then subsequently OK Computer (best and most relevant album of the 90s, IMO). I still have yet to give Amnesiac the time it deserves, nor have I taken the time to dive headlong into b-sides and rarities.<BR/><BR/>That said -<BR/><BR/>I am incredibly impressed by two things in this album:<BR/><BR/>1. It manages to sound distinctly Radiohead without sounding distinctly like any other Radiohead album. There are bits and pieces here and there, yet the album is a showcase of the variety of sound. It's very accessible (unlike Kid A, for example). <BR/><BR/>2. Much has been made of the release format, and I would like to applaud Radiohead for stretching the boundaries of common distribution. Smaller bands require the promotional blitz and push of a corrupt label in order to push copies and drive revenue, otherwise they get lost in a sea of soundalikes. Having both the scope and capacity to break free of any label to make the music you want to make - yet still managing to make something not only listenable, but enjoyable - requires a vast knowledge of sound, voice, and fan base. I would say that Radiohead as a collective have all three in supply.<BR/><BR/>A litmus test:<BR/><BR/>Imagine how weird/good/completely unlistenable some of the seminal albums of the last fifty years would be without the influence of the label or "creative control." Imagine how the White Album would have flown off the rails in a drug-fueled bender. Now take that lack of a "safety net," if you will, and apply to this album - this album could very well have been too weird/not enough guitars/too many guitars/too much like Kid A/any number of things.<BR/><BR/>But it's not.<BR/><BR/>This album is just right, if a little bit short. It's an appreciation of the full range of the Radiohead sound to this point. <BR/><BR/>And...<BR/><BR/>3. "Videotape" is an ideal song for this rainy dreary gloomy day.panopticonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08034013832009348947noreply@blogger.com