Best Album of 2007?
Posted on January 10, 2008
by: Big Jar
Not only is Radiohead’s In Rainbows the best album of 2007, it is the best album the band has ever released. It is certainly not as adventurous Kid A, and there may not be an overarching storyline that grips the listener like the machine takeover did in OK Computer. But Radiohead accomplishes something here that they missed in their earlier endeavors: they have created an album that is uniformly consistent from start to finish.
It is rare to find an album devoid of filler or throwaway tracks, but each song within In Rainbows feels cared for with extreme deliberation, as if the songs were hand crafted by master tradesmen. This is the band’s most optimistic music to date, with lush string instrumentations and honey drenched vocals from Thom Yorke that provide the album with a romantic tone. Even so, this is still a Radiohead album, and the unsettling metaphors still pop up frequently–Yorke explains “I’m an animal trapped in your hot car” in “All I Need”–but they have a sweeter intent in this collection. The crazy computer voices still pop up, and there are moments of techno beats and Mellotrons, but the band sounds more like a band on this album than they have in a long time.
This shift in tone is just as much of an experiment as the weird voices were in Kid A and the choppy sound production was in Hail to the Thief. Radiohead brought themselves far beyond the precipice of what everyone else was doing, but that sort of pioneering cannot continue indefinitely. It is a fine line between pushing the boundaries of sound and rehearsing in self-indulgence, and the band has wisely reigned in their experiments before they became another Sonic Youth.
This music has been upstaged by Radiohead’s innovative method of distributing the music, which may have been a glimpse of things to come for the whole industry. Despite this, the band has put forth an exemplary collection that will become one of the most revered albums in the decade.
Here’s what the field experts chose for the best albums of 2007:
Pitchfork Media: Panda Bear, Person Pitch
Rolling Stone Magazine: M.I.A., Kala
Spin Magazine: Against Me!, New Wave
Blender Magazine: M.I.A., Kala
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4 Responses to “Best Album of 2007?”
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Double album….? In Rainbows is a single album from what i know and gather. If there is a second disc i need to get my hands on it.
I would agree that In Rainbows is a great album but i still have big heart for The Bends. This is nothing like the band sounds now, but the disc is so good. With songs like High and Dry and Fake Plastic Trees you can not go wrong.
But, i agree this album is sweet, check it out but if there is a double disc let me know.
Not a double album (2nd disc is a bonus disc not included with every copy) Not album of the year (sorry, I love Radiohead and this just isn’t) Album of the Year isn’t any of the album picked by the mainstream… I’ll get a post up soon on what I pick, and you folks can all tear that to shreds…
It is one of the best albums of the year, don’t get me wrong… Just not “The”…
Rob:
I actually don’t know The Bends very well. The thing that got me first interested in Radiohead was their alienation-through-technology bent, and I have heard that The Bends is much more of a straightforward rock album. I’ll have to check it out, though–it sounds interesting!
Dr. P:
You went with the Pitchfork album, didn’t you? Cool, man. I’ll be sure to write the “Best Hipster of 2007″ post next. I don’t want to give away anything, but you’ll be mentioned like ten times in that column.