i only have the live versions of 6 tracks (still to hear MK1).these songs sound to me , even in that format , better than some of the "in rainbows-disc1" tracks!
I don't like this version of "down is the new up". I do love the album version on Bangers & Mash and 4 Minute Warning. I also like Go Slowly and Last Flowers. Overall, I'd say it is a really good collection of extras but I don't buy into the hype that these songs are better than the main disc (with the exception of 4 Minute Warning).
I can't believe almost no one is discussing disc 2 (did everyone quit reading this thread once it landed in alternative?). I would really like to hear what everyone thinks about it.
I just downloaded it last night, and love it so far. I still don't understand why "Down Is the New Up" isn't on the album. (According to green plastic, Thom said it didn't fit, but I think it would fit better than "Bodysnatchers," actually.) It's a terrific song, with the best lyrics of any song from either disc. Loved "4 Minute Warning" live and this version's equally great. "Go Slowly" and "Last Flowers" are two more gorgeous slow songs. "Up on the Ladder" might be my second favorite after "Down is the New Up." "MK 1" is an outtake from "Videotape," and "MK 2" is another short instrumental. I don't really love "Bangers and Mash" for whatever reason.
I didn't purchase the discbox, so it would be great to hear from those of you who did. I don't feel guilty in the least, given that I paid for the album download and plan to buy a traditional CD also. They're making enough money off me; they don't need my $80 too.
_______________________ I think I might have heard you on the radio But the radio waves were like snow
Posts: 241 | Location: Virginia | Registered: 14 August 2006
I can't believe almost no one is discussing disc 2 (did everyone quit reading this thread once it landed in alternative?). I would really like to hear what everyone thinks about it.
well, I'm waiting for my discox still, but I got a bit too excited yesterday and repeatededly listened to disc 2 on you tube. "Down is the new up" is brilliant. It sounds pure "Hail to the Thief" to me, way better than the live version. "Go Slowly" is gorgeous, however, I can't get over how much it sounds like the Vines' "Spaceship"(which is a bit more fully realized) as well as the "There, There" guitar line in the end. "Last Flowers" is the song I was waiting for and I'm not dissapointed, however, I'd prefer if the acoustic guitar softly played with the piano in the verses, a la "Karma Police". One of my favorite Radiohead songs ever probably. "Up on the Ladder" is great, although I want drums to kick in in the middle and it to take off like the live versions. OH well. I'll probably get used to these versions and like them as they are like "Videotape". "Bangers and Mash" quicks ass, I love it, yet, I understand why it was left off the album, giving me ever more respect for Radiohead's artistic choice. What a mature band they've become, to resist leaving off such great songs to keep "In Rainbows" uniform as one work. However, "Last Flowers" should be on no matter what. The last song "4 Minute Warning" is gorgeous. Perfect. I think Thom changed it to avoid being Radiohead's "Coldplay song", which I'm kinda glad, cause I really don't like Coldplay. Overall, I wish Radiohead had written a couple more great songs and released "In Rainbows" as the greatest fucking double-album since the White album. That's right, with the right overall arrangement and a couple more songs, it could have been better than the "Wall". Still, a great work. I just don't like to consider such great songs as "Bonus" songs. In my mind disc two is the fantastic prologue.
Posts: 115 | Location: winnipeg | Registered: 03 November 2007
blueskyoas, I think "Down is the New Up" isn't on "In Rainbows" because of it's thematic pretenses. Whereas it would work ingeniously on "Hail to the Theif"(which I'm tired of people bashing), "In Rainbows" seems to be a record about beauty, and the songs paranoia doesn't fit into this theme. It is a great song though. However, I have no idea why "Last Flowers" was left off.
Posts: 115 | Location: winnipeg | Registered: 03 November 2007
It was more experimental and better written musically. The chords on some of the songs were just beautiful.
Something that bugs me a bit is that In Rainbows didn't actually need to be split up into two discs. As far as I can see, the only reason to do that is green and folds.
Crappy marketing strategies don't necessarily detract from the quality of the music though.
"Listen to the silence in between. It's louder than the bombs when they come screaming in."
Posts: 251 | Location: Between 762 and 767 | Registered: 10 June 2007
Hmm... I don't think I agree with you that CD2 is better than CD1, Twinkie. But that may be just because I've grown to love CD1 so much.
But CD2 sounds like a continuation of CD1. Put them together and they sound like they belong. In that context, CD2 is certainly a worthy second half of In Rainbows.
Originally posted by The Twinkie That Wouldn't Die:
Something that bugs me a bit is that In Rainbows didn't actually need to be split up into two discs. As far as I can see, the only reason to do that is green and folds.
I can see how you would say that Twinkie. However, Radiohead makes albums as pieces of art, not collections of songs. "In Rainbows" itself works perfectly thematically, and many o he songs on disc 2 wouldn't work, with the exception of "Last Flowers" in which case I have no idea why it wasn't put on. There are many instances in the past that point to my estimation. "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" were recorded at the same time. Their are a few songs on "Amnesiac" that are up there with Radiohead's best ever work, but wouldn't fit into the sonic flow that is the masterpiece of "Kid A". Also, "Last Flowers" was written a decade ago, I guess it didn't fit on any album, although I think it would be perfect for "In Rainbows". "Up on the Ladder" was written for "Hail to the Theif" but wasn't recorded for some reason.
Posts: 115 | Location: winnipeg | Registered: 03 November 2007
I hear Kid A as a chunky, uneven mess, rather than the messianic statement of unadulterated revelatory godhood many seem to find within it. I don't deny that it may be a viable interpretation, I'm just not hearing it and I never have.
Twink knows that album can be "albums" and not just random collections of songs, don't insult his intelligence by assuming otherwise. Everyone on this entire site knows that.
I got my Super Radiohead package today, and I'm now on Disc 2 for the second time. If anybody's interested, I can try to go into detail on the packaging. It looks so fortified that I could probably throw it against a brick wall and the vinyl wouldn't break. No, I'm testing that.
"Naked Woman, Naked Man Where did you get that nice sun tan?"
Posts: 12874 | Location: Behind the Orange Curtain | Registered: 14 May 2004
I can see how you would say that Twinkie. However, Radiohead makes albums as pieces of art, not collections of songs.
No, no. That's exactly what In Rainbows is. A collection of songs, mostly written for other albums and rejected. It was in no way written as a coherent statement. As I said before, it doesn't detract from the quality of the art, but it does bug me.
"Listen to the silence in between. It's louder than the bombs when they come screaming in."
Posts: 251 | Location: Between 762 and 767 | Registered: 10 June 2007
i m hearing disc 2 n i have to say that i m quite dissapointed.
i v had the live versions of these tracks n i thought that radiohead had one of their most beautiful set of songs in their hands , songs that could easily be the highlights of disc1!
hearing the final result , imo , they mangled some of these tunes like the excellent "Go Slowly".Where is the anthemic n passionate piano at the beggining of the song?now it sounds like a ghost of itself , bringin back the introversion of their last albums. the same about "4 Minute Warning" a track that once sounded like an hymn , a song that could fill a stadium's hearts with its emotional power and melody , now sits shy n uncomfortably in the shadows. dont get me wrong , i still like these tracks but somehow their magic touch of disc 1 is missing...
Disc 2 doesn't do anything for me. First the dissapointment of In Rainbows, and now the "experimental" b-sides dissapoint even more! It's tragic because I think there is a ton of potential in these tracks to be great songs, but most are content to play out for a few minutes and die away.
I guess I was expecting some really challenging songs, like a new "Spinning Plates." Obviously that is too much to hope for.
