#4.Hail To the Theif(2003)-Radiohead
A few months ago, I was an avid radiohater. I then found The Bends and fell in love with the cliche alternative sound of it. As my taste in music improved, as it has greatly the last three months, I discovered the addicting, almost unclassifiable sound of Ok Computer. They were the only Radiohead albums that i liked, but earlier this week i was willing to complete their discography by downloading Hail To The Theif, a great decision on my part. It sounds completly diferent from The Bends, and OKC, but it has it's own unique and very impressive sound. The album starts of with
2+2=5, a song I'd heard much about before getting the album. It is definatley remiscent of their earlier work, as it starts off with Thom's slow, sootihng voice I've come to love, then fades into a blaring mixture of energy, a very solid track. The album continues to take a unigue path with the next tracks
Sit Down, Stand Up and
Sail To The moon, the latter being almost aballad of sorts. Then we come to one of my favorite songs on the album,
Backdrifts. It sounds very electronic, like some of the slower songs on the previous album I reviewed. It is also lyrically one of my favorites, starting off the track with the biting verse:
We're rotten fruit
We're damaged goods
What the hell we've got nothing more to lose
One gust and we will probably crumble
Then we get to songs that are very Bends-ish, which I found to be a suprise after hearing the first four songs on the album. Especially the song
Go To Sleep, which to me sounds like a very unique take on folk music. The second half of the album starts out with anothe runexcpected turn with
The Gloaming. I feel i could give this album a much higher rating if it wasn;t for this one track. It's borderline unlistenable, because it's just noise for the most part, and not in a good way. The lyrics are also sub-par for a Radiohead song. Thankfully, the album returns to the previous styles of the album throughout the last few tracks. The one exception is my favorite song on the album
Myxomatosis. Humourous lyrics, with a very serious undertone, coupled with soem of the best percussion work Radiohead has ever done, makes it so listenable. It would be one of the first tracks I would tell someone trying to get into Radiohead to listen to. This album is very underrated by Radiohead fans, and I can understand that, as it does sound very mainstream at points, and we all know how Radiohead fans are
Top Tracks:Backdrifts, Where I End and You Begin, Myxamatosis
Overall Grade:A-