Tynan's Anger

SONGS OF THE DECADE #42

[For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List]

Radiohead - All I Need (2007)



What happens when the best band of the worst half-decade in rock n roll history (and one of the best half-decades in American history) has to deal with the fact that boring people aren't really the biggest enemy anymore? You can turn to generic Bush/Blair bashing, as Radiohead did on Hail to the Thief, or you can mature your art at the same time you do your part to overthrow larger economic forces.

In Rainbows will always be tied to its legacy in the music industry, and its artwork will get overlooked by the fact that it didn't "innovate" as much as Radiohead's previous albums. Picky picky. It would be easy to overlook the fact that, musically, In Rainbows was one of the more all-encompassingly great Radiohead albums, and the crown jewel is "All I Need," a pop song that tones down Yorke's self-righteousness for a much darker, nuanced love song. Take time to listen to "All I Need," and you'll realize guys would be smart not to play with a girl over, and girls would be smart to run away if she heard a guy play it.

Despite the band's fantastic musical prowess (most of which is more Greenwood than Yorke), it wasn't really until In Rainbows that Radiohead reached an emotional range beyond teenage angst. Considering that Thom Yorke just turned 41, that makes him an appropriately mature spokesman for his generation.

Labels: 2000s, all i need, lists, pop music, Radiohead, songs of the decade