The eight tracks on In Rainbows Disk 2 are “MK 1,” “Down Is The New Up,” “Go Slowly,” “MK 2,” “Last Flowers,” “Up On The Ladder,” “Bangers + Mash,” and “4 Minute Warning.” Radiohead had already included these recordings in the special In Rainbows Discbox in 2007. They reached streaming services in October 2016, almost nine years later, and were not created that year.
The key is to distinguish three releases: the original album's ten songs, the bonus CD sold with the special edition, and the later digital release of those bonus recordings. They are different commercial presentations of music connected to the same project.
What are the eight tracks on In Rainbows Disk 2?
The order and running times below follow Radiohead's In Rainbows (Disk 2) page on Bandcamp. Track titles are reproduced as they appear on that digital edition.
| No. | Track | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MK 1 | 1:02 |
| 2 | Down Is The New Up | 4:59 |
| 3 | Go Slowly | 3:48 |
| 4 | MK 2 | 0:53 |
| 5 | Last Flowers | 4:26 |
| 6 | Up On The Ladder | 4:17 |
| 7 | Bangers + Mash | 3:19 |
| 8 | 4 Minute Warning | 4:04 |
Two recordings are especially short: “MK 1” runs for 1 minute and 2 seconds, and “MK 2” lasts just 53 seconds. The remaining six range from 3 minutes and 19 seconds to 4 minutes and 59 seconds. This is a useful detail when identifying the complete disc rather than assuming it contains eight similarly sized songs.
Why weren't these recordings on the original album?
The standard version of In Rainbows, released as a download on October 10, 2007, had ten tracks, opening with “15 Step” and closing with “Videotape.” None of the eight recordings listed above was part of that main running order. A press announcement issued on Radiohead's behalf on October 1, 2007, already provided separate track lists for the album and the bonus material on the second CD.
The Discbox was a special edition featuring CD and vinyl versions of the album, plus a second enhanced CD with additional music, images, and artwork. The edition was distributed in December 2007. The eight tracks were therefore bonus material attached to the original release, not a new studio album issued in 2016.
The edition's documentation establishes that the tracks were presented separately, but it does not supply a definitive individual reason for leaving each one off the main album. Assigning a specific artistic motive to the band without a supporting statement would go beyond the available evidence.
When did In Rainbows Disk 2 arrive on streaming services?
Pitchfork reported the bonus disc's arrival on services such as Spotify and Apple Music on October 13, 2016. Radiohead's official Bandcamp page gives In Rainbows (Disk 2) a digital release date of October 14, 2016, with the same eight recordings available for streaming and download. October 2016 therefore dates the documented release on digital services, not the recordings' first public appearance.
It is also necessary to distinguish streaming from downloading. The main album was already distributed as a download in 2007, and the Discbox included its second CD that year. The 2016 coverage concerned the bonus disc reaching streaming services and being offered as a separate digital release.
Why do some platforms show 2007 instead of 2016?
The Brazilian Apple Music listing dates In Rainbows Disk 2 to December 3, 2007, whereas Radiohead's Bandcamp page gives October 14, 2016. These dates reflect different ways of cataloguing the same material: the first refers back to the historical edition, while the second is the date displayed for the Bandcamp digital release. The 2007 date on Apple Music does not, by itself, show that these tracks were available to stream back then.
For the question of when the tracks could be heard through streaming, contemporary reporting from October 2016 is the more direct evidence. For their origin, the relevant evidence is the 2007 press release and the bonus CD in the Discbox. There is no contradiction in describing the recordings as material from 2007 that reached streaming services in 2016.
Is Disk 2 a sequel to In Rainbows?
Not in Radiohead's studio-album discography. In Rainbows is the ten-track main album; Disk 2 is a set of eight extra recordings originally packaged with a special configuration of that same release. Bandcamp maintains separate pages and track lists for the two, making the distinction between the standard album and its bonus material clear.
Sources and references
- Radiohead press office: In Rainbows announcement and Discbox tracks (2007)
- Radiohead on Bandcamp: In Rainbows and its ten tracks
- Radiohead on Bandcamp: In Rainbows (Disk 2), eight tracks and digital date
- Pitchfork: bonus disc arrives on streaming services (October 13, 2016)
- Apple Music Brazil: In Rainbows Disk 2 listing and catalogue date
