Radiohead - In Rainbows
Critic Score
Based on 30 reviews
2007 Ratings: #2 / 717
Year End Rank: #1
User Score
2007 Rank: #1All Time: #3
Liked by 3,982 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Entertainment Weekly

Using the full musical and emotional spectra to conjure breathtaking beauty, the collection is well named. It may have arrived via computer, but the vision is timeless.

100
The Guardian

The most heartening thing about In Rainbows, besides the fact that it may represent the strongest collection of songs Radiohead have assembled for a decade, is that it ventures into new emotional territories.

100
The Skinny

With sumptuous, enveloping production, fluid guitars soaked in reverb, and Yorke's voice at its most soulful, In Rainbows is Radiohead's leanest, warmest and most accessible record in a decade. 

100
NOW Magazine

It's true that we've come to expect a certain level of genius from this band, but when they actually exceed expectations, as they do here, it's a clear sign that Radiohead will continue to reinvent themselves and drop more jaws along the way.

100
Gigwise

The most pleasing thing about this Radiohead album is that it truly is a Radiohead album. It’s a band effort with instrumentation in its finest form from those who are refusing to sit in the background behind Thom Yorke.

100
Q Magazine

It arrived by unconventional means, but it's their most conventional work in a decade. And their best.

93
Pitchfork

Radiohead's sudden willingness to embrace their capacity for uncomplicated beauty might be In Rainbows' most distinguishing quality, and one of the primary reasons it's an improvement on Hail to the Thief.

91
A.V. Club

This is still the Radiohead that finds straight-ahead pop structures gauche or just plain tired ... That said, In Rainbows takes tenuous steps back toward more straightforward territory, though with nothing as obvious as a verse-chorus-verse to speak of.

90
No Ripcord

In Rainbows ... comes from a more composed place in their personal and musical pantheon, creating an unassuming but worthy addition to their revered discography.

90
DIY

To the casual listener ‘In Rainbows’ is exactly what you’d expect from Radiohead; intelligent, satisfyingly thought-provoking and sure to be lauded by all who appreciate the less conventional. For the fans it’s the latest evolution of something really rather special. 

90
AllMusic

In Rainbows will hopefully be remembered as Radiohead's most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download.

90
PopMatters

Once you get in, and Radiohead invites us in here more than any other time in its career, the album proves itself to be what we all thought Radiohead couldn’t make again: a masterpiece.

90
Rolling Stone

No wasted moments, no weak tracks:just primo Radiohead.

90
musicOMH

Packed but sparse, thrilling, complex, innovative, simple. Without even a dud bar never mind a filler track, In Rainbows is more than any fan could hope for.

85
Coke Machine Glow

Refracted through the prism of pure pop songcraft, Radiohead sound as ephemeral and variegated as ever, flowering and streaming and as big as the light our eyes can catch.

85
Under the Radar

While it will undoubtedly disappoint fans still pining for OK Computer’s flashes of unhinged chaos, it is a mature statement that shows the band as capable of penning lush and affecting music as ever.

85
Prefix

This is a grownup album, made for grownups. It’s the sort of record Nick Hornby could have enjoyed without all of his Kid A angst about being too old to interpret a record’s cryptic signs.

84
Time Out London

As these ten songs stand, the ’Head remain doggedly experimental but they’ve added a mainline to the heart as well as the brain, chilling and warming in equal measure with orchestral magic, Aphex-y ambience and a futuro-rock masterpiece.

80
The Irish Times

Not an album for the karaoke machine, then, In Rainbows is still tense, nervous Radiohead, but the solicitudes here really soar. It's more quietly confident than triumphant.

80
Mojo

Both artistically and in terms of a new business model, In Rainbows is a necesary masterstroke.

80
Evening Standard

Everything meets the band's usual perfectionist standards, but In Rainbows is destined to be remembered for its sales technique, not its songs.

80
Uncut

By entertaining this merest glimpse of light in their customary shade, Radiohead seem to have found fresh purpose and life.

80
American Songwriter

Thom Yorke and company have never stopped writing good songs-and this is even more apparent on In Rainbows, a seamless mash-up of the many Radioheads that have been unearthed over the years.

80
Sputnikmusic

Despite the amalgamation of styles, a technique employed on Hail to the Thief as well, In Rainbows sounds surprisingly focused, as the album possesses its own distinctive qualities.

80
Paste

In Rainbows is like a sigh of relief, a pre-apocalyptic album that’s obviously the work of a full band. It’s the sound of Radiohead funneling everything they’ve learned about space and timing and digital enhancement back into melodic, accessible songs.

80
SPIN

After a decade of taking apart rock songs to find out how they work, these technophobic gearheads are ready to start putting them back together again.

75
The Line of Best Fit

Its short, and sweeter than anything they’ve offered in the past. Yorke’s voice has never sounded better. Whilst not their best, it is a worthy addition to their catalogue.

70
Slant Magazine

As with almost every Radiohead album, there are moments of brilliance, inventiveness, and surprise.

70
Tiny Mix Tapes

Sure, Yorke's not directly singing about music as commodity or industry politics, but what In Rainbows will always signify is just that.

60
Record Collector

Ultimately the songs aren’t quite there. Each has a moment of greatness, but it is often lost in Radiohead’s desire to either build to climax or not build at all.

morningsbell
100

in rainbows by radiohead was released on october 10th which means it's automatically 10/10

BradTasteMusic
98

Pure magic

HotelRestaurant
100

βœ… 900 reviews βœ…

You know it's an impeccable work of art when it repeatedly appears in your dreams!

Analysing In Rainbows was such a wonderful, yet difficult task. Beautiful, in the sense that the music is absolutely spectacular and breathtaking, but difficult because after each track, I just had to replay them befors moving to the next because how shockingly beautiful they were. Just a near-endless cycle of "nah, I gotta run that back, what was that?", something I haven't ... read more

revolution9
100

MIGHT be better than ok computer πŸ™

tompa
100

Bro i can't even explain this one. It feels like it expresses a full spectrum of sadness.

Humcatscan
70

To get it out of the way, this record is gorgeous. Thom and especially the drummer bring their absolute best to this album and on cuts like Reckoner and Nude it really makes you feel like you’re floating on air. However, I don’t know If it’s because of how hyped up it is but I’m walking away semi disappointed. I was expecting the greatest album of all time so maybe I went in for my expectations too high but I will give this some more time and see if it grows on me, but ... read more

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Track List

115 Step
3:57
95
2Bodysnatchers
4:02
95
3Nude
4:15
97
4Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
5:18
98
5All I Need
3:48
96
6Faust Arp
2:09
89
7Reckoner
4:50
95
8House of Cards
5:28
92
9Jigsaw Falling Into Place
4:08
98
10Videotape
4:39
94
Total Length: 42 minutes
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