Maps of Music

In Rainbows (2007)

Where the lyrics of In Rainbows take you, and where it was really made.

Radiohead recorded In Rainbows without a record label and released it on their own website, where fans set the price.

Key places

Working at Tottenham House (2006)

Recording site Tottenham House — For three weeks in October 2006, Radiohead worked at this country house in Marlborough. The building was in poor repair, so the band members lived in caravans. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sessions at Halswell House (2006)

Recording site Halswell House — In December 2006, sessions took place at Halswell House in Taunton. The band also recorded at the Hospital Club in London during the same month. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Godrich's studio at the Hospital Club (2006)

Recording site The Hospital Club — In December 2006, Godrich's studio at the Hospital Club in Covent Garden, London, was where Radiohead recorded Videotape and completed Nude. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• In Rainbows: seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead
• Self-released as a download on 10 October 2007
• Retail release through XL Recordings internationally on 3 December 2007
• North American release through TBD Records on 1 January 2008
• First Radiohead release after the EMI contract ended with Hail to the Thief (2003)
• Promoted with the singles "Jigsaw Falling into Place" and "Nude"

Background

• Radiohead went on hiatus in 2004 after the world tour for Hail to the Thief
• Drummer Philip Selway said the band still wanted to make music but took a break to focus on other areas of their lives
• Sessions with producer Spike Stent began in December 2005 and proved unsuccessful
• In 2006, longtime producer Nigel Godrich was re-enlisted
• Thom Yorke released his first solo album, The Eraser, in 2006

Recording

• Work on the album began in early 2005
• Sessions took place at Halswell House, Tottenham House, the Hospital Club in London, and the band's Oxfordshire studio
• The lyrics are less political and more personal than on previous Radiohead albums
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig in July 2007 at Gateway Mastering, New York City

Cover

• Artwork designed by longtime collaborator Stanley Donwood
• Donwood worked in the studio while the band worked on the album
• The cover was not revealed until the retail release

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985.
• The members met while attending Abingdon School, a private boys' school in Abingdon.
• The band was first called On a Friday, and signed to EMI in December 1991 under the name Radiohead.

Members

• Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards), Colin Greenwood (bass), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Philip Selway (drums).
• Nigel Godrich (producer) and Stanley Donwood (cover artist) have worked with the band since 1994.

Career

• Debut album Pablo Honey (1993); The Bends (1995); OK Computer (1997) is considered a landmark record.
• Kid A (2000) marked a dramatic change in style, incorporating electronic music, jazz and krautrock.
• In Rainbows (2007) was self-released as a pay-what-you-want download.
• Over 30 million albums sold by 2011; six Grammy Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The pay-what-you-want release drew international media attention and sparked debate about the music industry
• Mojo said the release was hailed as a revolution in the way major bands sell their music
• Time called it easily the most important release in the recent history of the music business
• NME described the album as Radiohead reconnecting with their human sides
• Will Hermes in Entertainment Weekly called it the gentlest, prettiest Radiohead set yet
• Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone praised its vividly collaborative sonic touches and wrote that there were no wasted moments and no weak tracks
• Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork wrote it was a more human album that represents the sound of Radiohead coming back to earth
• Alexis Petridis of The Guardian said it was perhaps Radiohead's strongest collection of songs for a decade
• Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails thought the release did not go far enough
• The Wire was more critical, finding a sense of a group magisterially marking time

Reappraisal

• Metacritic: 88 out of 100 based on 42 reviews, indicating universal acclaim
• The 2011 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide called it Radiohead's most expansive and seductive album, possibly their all-time high
• In the 2020s, Selway and O'Brien named it their favourite Radiohead album
• In 2024, Rolling Stone critic Andy Greene said it completed perhaps one of the best 12-year runs in rock history

Records

• UK Albums Chart number one in the week of its retail release, with first-week sales of 44,602 copies
• Billboard 200 entry at number 156 after record stores broke street date agreements, then number one in its first week of official release with 122,000 copies
• Over three million copies sold worldwide by October 2008, including 1.75 million physical sales
• Best-selling vinyl album of 2008
• Certified platinum in the UK and Canada; gold in the US, Belgium and Japan
• Won Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package at the 51st Grammy Awards; nominated for Album of the Year
• Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: number 336 in 2012, number 387 in 2023

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Radiohead recorded a version of "Nude" during the OK Computer sessions, but discarded it.
• In 2009, Radiohead made the bonus disc In Rainbows Disk 2 available to purchase as a download on their website.
• Days after Radiohead signed to XL, EMI announced a box set of earlier Radiohead albums, released in the same week as the In Rainbows special edition.
• The cover was not revealed to the public until the retail release.
• Colin Greenwood wrote a new bassline for "Nude" that Godrich said transformed it into something with much more of a rhythmic flow.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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