A few years counting since their last long player, Hail To The Theif, Radiohead have done a novel service in allowing buyers to pick their own price for this download only release. An approach that can either be viewed as part of their cutting edge approach, or perhaps a ploy to allow more to take a chance on these guys after years of public confusion and indifference. Then again, based on the success of Hail to the Theif it would seem like they would have no trouble selling this as a regular cd. Personally, I've grown a little skeptical of the band in the past with their unevenly experimental Kid A and it's sagging counterpart Amnesiac which was released six months later.

Still, Hail to the Thief brought them back to a more tuneful, user-friendly approach and In Rainbows is no exception. Kicking off with soulful numbers like "House of Cards" and "Fifteen Step" we get doses of vaguely romantic fare that could very well find a place alongside OK Computer tracks. "All I Need" contains some of their best lyrics in recent memory and "Faust Arp" maintains the spacey production of producer/legend Nigel Godrich.

Despite a slightly lackluster ending with the bland "Videotape,"the band seems to be in the process of finding themselves again and freeing their songwriting of the darker and drearier subject matter. Still it would be nice to see a more surefure single along the lines of their "Bends" and "Ok Computer" salad days.