Hail to the Thief review

Sorry it has been so long since my last post; I have been travelling for the past 3 weeks. Having been to a Radiohead live gig (Sort of, I didn't have tickets but I listened from nearby), here is my review of Radiohead's 6th album.

Tracks:

1. 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm): 9/10 a hugely enjoyable and delightfully cynical rock song, and a welcome return to Radiohead's previous guitar-driven music.

2. Sit Down. Stand Up. (Snakes & Ladders): 8/10 this one is repetitive, but as always it's musically brilliant and has a terrific outro.

3. Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky): 8/10 one of the best lullabies of all time, even if Thom Yorke's vocals are at their most moany here.

4. Backdrifts (Honeymoon is Over): 8/10 this excellent track represents a skillful mix of the electronic Kid A/Amnesiac material and the rock stuff which came before.

5. Go to Sleep (Little Man Being Erased): 9/10 as I've said before, Thom Yorke really should write a horror film.

6. Where I End and You Begin (The Sky is Falling in): 10/10 a masterful and poetic song which evokes very favorable comparisons with OK Computer.

7. We Suck Young Blood (Your Time is Up): 9/10 a brilliant musical nightmare. Why I haven't seen this among more 'Best of' lists of Radiohead songs is a mystery.

8. The Gloaming (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold): 8/10 a haunting, highly unsettling and deeply interesting attack on Right-Wing politics.

9. There There (The Boney King of Nowhere): 8/10 not the album's most lyrically sophisticated song, but one of its most powerful and enjoyable.

10. I Will (No Man's Land): 9/10 short but devastating.

11. A Punchup at a Wedding (No no no no no no no no): 6/10 far less interesting than most of what's on the album, but at the same time not bad in any particular way.

12. Myxomatosis (Judge, Jury and Executioner): 8/10 confusing at times yet it's an unusually deep and intelligent examination of the dark side of fame.

13. Scatterbrain (As Dead as Leaves): 8/10 a shapeless, strange yet endlessly compelling song.

14. A Wolf at the Door (It Girl. Rag Doll.): 10/10 a brilliant, haunting and stunningly clever album closer which is also the closest thing to a hip-hop song Radiohead have ever done.

Best song: Where I End and You Begin
Worst song: A Punchup at a Wedding

Summary: Radiohead seem to dislike this album, but it's hard to see why. It may have some extra baggage, but it is a superb work. With terrifying yet relevant lyrics and a brilliant mix of guitars and electronics, Hail to the Thief forms a brilliant bridge between the pre-Kid A stuff and Kid A/Amnesiac. Some of the songs could have been cut loose and if they had done the album would probably have been a masterpiece. Still, the album we got is hugely impressive.


Final rating: 9/10