From this I took he meant the final tracks to be rubbish but maybe he means the takes they didn't use, such as the experimenting tracks. Although, right before that he states that they got the final arrangements for the songs down from doing the live shows in the middle of the recording process, so I'm not sure. I know they always have problems recording, such as the Kid A/Amnesiac sessions, but like Ed said, it took three fooking years for In Rainbows to be completed from starting with Spike Stent producing, then going back to Godrich. I'm just glad the new one is almost done, and nobody has heard anything from it. The problem with the last one was everyone had heard every song from it. No surprises….or alarms. Ha

Funniest thing I've read in awhile, and the second Radiohead tidbit I've read today. Guitarist Ed O'Brien basically called In Rainbows rubbish and added they want their new album to be out before the end of the year, as he called it their best yet. So maybe your Tree of Life quip isn't out of the realm of possibility.