Reign in Acai
Of Elephant and Man
I'm not caring too much for Hail to the Thief. I'll still keep it in my collection due to my fanboyism of "The Bends".
Radiohead
- Thread starter J.
- Start date
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
This album annihilates O.K Computer. You're absolutely right about the trifecta of goodness that comes at the conclusion of this album. It's on another plane my friend!!
The Bends paved the way for the mass reaction to OK Computer. Obviously not even Radiohead could have predicted the response to OK C.
The Bends brings you to your knees, OK C sends you to your maker, and Kid A is the journey to the afterlife.
Both Hail and Pablo are just bookends IMO.
There is no need to overdose and absorb all Radiohead in one go.
If necessary, put away all other Radiohead and focus solely on The Bends before moving to the next release.I'm fairly certain I appreciate "Paranoid Android" or "Let Down" more because of my earlier love affair with The Bends.
Krilons Resa
Jerry's married?!
Evil?
omghaxlol!1
I listened to Kid A and thought, "hey this is pretty ok". Listened to it once or twice more and have not touched it since. Didn't do a helluva lot for me really.
Eminor
Member
- Oct 31, 2005
- 572
- 1
- 18
Nice, hadn't heard that. OK Computer is where I really got on board. The Bends is definitely a good album, but I don't regard it as highly as most. I hear a lot of praise for Kid A, but I enjoy Amnesiac just as well.
Reign in Acai
Of Elephant and Man
A week, and 50 spins later, and this album has surpassed "The Bends" and "OK Computer" in the discography foodchain. This is the best mainstream album I have heard since Lateralus.
Krilons Resa
Jerry's married?!
Night Mare
Camberwell Carrot
Reign in Acai
Of Elephant and Man
Roughly 12,000 albums are released in an average year, so the announcement late Sunday night that the new Radiohead record, In Rainbows, will be out Oct. 10 is not itself big news. Sure, Radiohead is on a sustained run as the most interesting and innovative band in rock, but what makes In Rainbows important — easily the most important release in the recent history of the music business — are its record label and its retail price: there is none, and there is none.
I
n Rainbows will be released as a digital download available only via the band's web site, Radiohead.com. There's no label or distribution partner to cut into the band's profits — but then there may not be any profits. Drop In Rainbows' 15 songs into the on-line checkout basket and a question mark pops up where the price would normally be. Click it, and the prompt "It's Up To You" appears. Click again and it refreshes with the words "It's Really Up To You" — and really, it is. It's the first major album whose price is determined by what individual consumers want to pay for it. And it's perfectly acceptable to pay nothing at all.
Radiohead's contract with EMI/Capitol expired after its last record, Hail to the Thief, was released in 2003; shortly before the band started writing new songs, singer Thom Yorke told TIME, "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'F___ you' to this decaying business model." On Sunday night, guitarist Jonny Greenwood took to Radiohead's Dead Air Space blog and nonchalantly announced, "Hello everyone. Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days. We've called it In Rainbows. Love from us all."
While many industry observers speculated that Radiohead might go off-label for its seventh album, it was presumed the band would at least rely on Apple's iTunes or United Kingdom-based online music store 7digital for distribution. Few suspected the band members had the ambition (or the server capacity) to put an album out on their own. The final decision was apparently made just a few weeks ago, and, when informed of the news on Sunday, several record executives admitted that, despite the rumors, they were stunned. "This feels like yet another death knell," emailed an A&R executive at a major European label. "If the best band in the world doesn't want a part of us, I'm not sure what's left for this business."
Labels can still be influential and profitable by focusing on younger acts that need their muscle to get radio play and placement in record stores — but only if the music itself remains a saleable commodity. "That's the interesting part of all this," says a producer who works primarily with American rap artists. "Radiohead is the best band in the world; if you can pay whatever you want for music by the best band in the world, why would you pay $13 dollars or $.99 cents for music by somebody less talented? Once you open that door and start giving music away legally, I'm not sure there's any going back."
The ramifications of Radiohead's pay-what-you-want experiment will take time to sort out, but for established artists at least, turning what was once their highest value asset — a much buzzed-about new album — into a loss leader may be the wave of the future. Even under the most lucrative record deals, the ones reserved for repeat, multi-platinum superstars, the artists can end up with less than 30% of overall sales revenue (which often is then split among several band members). Meanwhile, as record sales decline, the concert business is booming. In July, Prince gave away his album 3121 for free in the U.K. through the downmarket Mail on Sunday newspaper. At first he was ridiculed. Then he announced 21 consecutive London concert dates — and sold out every one of them.
I
n Rainbows will be released as a digital download available only via the band's web site, Radiohead.com. There's no label or distribution partner to cut into the band's profits — but then there may not be any profits. Drop In Rainbows' 15 songs into the on-line checkout basket and a question mark pops up where the price would normally be. Click it, and the prompt "It's Up To You" appears. Click again and it refreshes with the words "It's Really Up To You" — and really, it is. It's the first major album whose price is determined by what individual consumers want to pay for it. And it's perfectly acceptable to pay nothing at all.
Radiohead's contract with EMI/Capitol expired after its last record, Hail to the Thief, was released in 2003; shortly before the band started writing new songs, singer Thom Yorke told TIME, "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'F___ you' to this decaying business model." On Sunday night, guitarist Jonny Greenwood took to Radiohead's Dead Air Space blog and nonchalantly announced, "Hello everyone. Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days. We've called it In Rainbows. Love from us all."
While many industry observers speculated that Radiohead might go off-label for its seventh album, it was presumed the band would at least rely on Apple's iTunes or United Kingdom-based online music store 7digital for distribution. Few suspected the band members had the ambition (or the server capacity) to put an album out on their own. The final decision was apparently made just a few weeks ago, and, when informed of the news on Sunday, several record executives admitted that, despite the rumors, they were stunned. "This feels like yet another death knell," emailed an A&R executive at a major European label. "If the best band in the world doesn't want a part of us, I'm not sure what's left for this business."
Labels can still be influential and profitable by focusing on younger acts that need their muscle to get radio play and placement in record stores — but only if the music itself remains a saleable commodity. "That's the interesting part of all this," says a producer who works primarily with American rap artists. "Radiohead is the best band in the world; if you can pay whatever you want for music by the best band in the world, why would you pay $13 dollars or $.99 cents for music by somebody less talented? Once you open that door and start giving music away legally, I'm not sure there's any going back."
The ramifications of Radiohead's pay-what-you-want experiment will take time to sort out, but for established artists at least, turning what was once their highest value asset — a much buzzed-about new album — into a loss leader may be the wave of the future. Even under the most lucrative record deals, the ones reserved for repeat, multi-platinum superstars, the artists can end up with less than 30% of overall sales revenue (which often is then split among several band members). Meanwhile, as record sales decline, the concert business is booming. In July, Prince gave away his album 3121 for free in the U.K. through the downmarket Mail on Sunday newspaper. At first he was ridiculed. Then he announced 21 consecutive London concert dates — and sold out every one of them.
Krilons Resa
Jerry's married?!
I'm fucking beyond psyched about the new album and didnt know it would be available that soon...BUT....Im fucking pissed that it won't be available in hard copy. WTF.
Reign in Acai
Of Elephant and Man
Yea it pisses me off as well. Atleast they're not doing the itunes dealy and all money received will go straight to their pockets. Perhaps it will be released on compact disc down the road when they reach a deal with a label.
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
I'm not sure if it's in the article above (after a quick scan I couldn't see any reference) BUT the new Radiohead WILL be released on CD in January 2008. Plus it will be a special edition 2CD in a box or something.
Chromatose
Squid pro quo
December actually, big crazy box with CDs AND vinyl, but it comes to like 81 USD, unlike the name your price of the mp3s.
Krilons Resa
Jerry's married?!
Demonspell
cheating the polygraph
My feelings on this are just about what you would expect....screwing over the major labels by cutting them out completely? Hell yes. Gouging fans by charging $80 US for the complete version? Goes against my principles, but I suppose its necessary for them to make any profit from this arrangement. Possibly setting a precedent for the final nail in the coffin for the CD and/or record store as we know it? They may never be forgiven if everyone follows their lead...
NAD
What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse
I dig the concept of this new album, although odds are I'll wait until the actual physical release comes out. I'm still baffled these dudes are popular. I would say it gives me hope for future generations in terms of good quality art, but nay, it must be a fluke.
Fucking christ, just DIE. It's called an ALBUM, you dull cunt.some douche said:
~Neurotica
perfectly insane
- Mar 27, 2006
- 7,913
- 236
- 63
"In Rainbows" is awesome. What makes it great, is that they didn't really change. It's old good known Radiohead. Seems like this album is some kind of mix of the past Radiohead's albums. Depressive, deep, weird, phylosophical, psychedelic.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Krilons Resa
Jerry's married?!
Wait, huh? How the fuck do you have this? I dont know how it's possible if they recorded it at their own studio, BUT did it leak?!?! 111?!111
Will Bozarth
Everlasting Godstopper
They released it for download on their site... you go to buy it, and you name the price you want to pay. No matter how little (yes, even free) or how much.
