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For the greatest band of their generation, Radiohead is in a rut.  Their string of brilliant but difficult releases throughout the 1990’s awarded them critical acclaim and a fervent fan base; both groups ready to unleash rivers of praise at every move the band makes and with good reason.  Each album had been a progression in their sound and in their message.  From their great pop debut Pablo Honey through possibly the greatest guitar-pop album ever, The Bends, through a minor masterpiece OK Computer, each release showed them to be more and more alienated from the world around them, yet more and more willing to scream in the face of that nonsensical world.   Then came Kid A.  The band traded in the guitars and drums for keyboards and computers.  The cold, disjointed music reflected a world gone wrong, lost in technology that ruined life rather that enlightened it.  It was a bold move for the band, yet the new direction worked, if only for a short time.  The follow-up, Amnesiac, was just as cold and disjointed, but somehow missed something.  Now that Radiohead has released Hail To the Thief, the band appears to be treading water.

Although the album closely follows the style of Kid A and Amnesiac, the songs are all over the place.  “Sail to the Moon” and “Backdrifts” come off as an attempt to extend the statement made by Kid A, but end up sounding like outtakes from Amnesiac, which is not good, because Amnesiac was composed of outtakes of Kid A.  “Scatterbrained,” with its uninspired guitar playing and drumming, sounds like a demo the band just never got around to finishing.  “The Gloaming” is the best song the Kraftwerk never wrote.  The worst of the bunch is laughable “We Suck Young Blood,” with a rhythm that sounds like Igor walking down the hallway of Frankenstein’s castle, and the phoned in “Wolf at the Door.”

Even Amnesiac had moments worth returning to, and luckily, so does Thief. The opener, “2+2=5,” serves as a solid reminder that the group hasn’t forgotten the guitars, which is good since they’re promised the fans more guitar for two albums.  The single “There There” is a solid rocker content at just being, not being over your head.  “Punch Up at a Wedding” is Radiohead at their funkiest.  You might even find yourself bobbing your head a bit, if it’s ok to actually enjoy Radiohead anymore. 

In the end, it is not a bad record, its just not good, especially by Radiohead standards; one must wonder if Radiohead could even make a bad record.  But gone are the anthemics of the earlier material.  They have traded in the Dark-Side-of-the-Moon heights for Delicate-Sound-of-Thunder mediocrity.  They have ceased to be compelling, even if they are still interesting.

Tim Odem  6/15/2003

Part of me admires Radiohead though my fandom disappeared with Kid A. No longer would I listen for pleasure but for analysis and though some of that analysis is enjoyable and sometimes fascinating, there is a faint suspicion that is hard to admit in public that maybe they are just full of it. I imagine there are those who struggle to admit that they no longer enjoy the band and others who continue listening in the delusion believing that they do really like it. I do not deny that there are still those who genuinely love it but I think they are fewer than the sales figures will reveal.

Another part of me is angry and at the end of my tether with Radiohead, angry at the games they are playing with their public. There are those artists who compromise their vision and their art to sell records, to chart to get the swimming pool. They write and mix songs with the radio in mind and their true vocation is lost in their dumbing down for public acceptance. They are and should be despised. Radiohead seem to be an antithesis of such compromise and yet as I listen to Hail To Thief I wonder.

Are Mr Yorke and his Oxford pals really telling us that it is not within their hearts to write another song that grabs the attention like a "Creep" or "Fake Plastic Trees" or a "Lucky" or a "No Surprises?" It seems that they are inverted compromisers determined to be as obtuse as possible for the sake of being obtuse. This is not their true calling either. The guitars are back on Hail to the Thief and lyrics worth printing on the CD booklet but it does not mean that the songs are any more accessible than Kid A or Amnesiac. We have a word in north Antrim where I am from; thran. It is someone who is being hard headed awkward with a self satisfied rye grin in their soul at the fact that they are winding you up with their unreasonableness. Radiohead are Thran Band of the Decade! The most amazing thing about it is that they go straight in at number 1 again and after a guitar band releasing two experimental electro pop meanderings and a live one they are still phenomenally popular. Radiohead are something!

Having said that of course my mate David Dark is right in his book Everyday Apocalypse when he writes, “Like all apocalypse, Radiohead rewards repeated listening and dooms to madness the cursory look.” This fact and not the music itself might be why I am a little peeved. In this modern world with all that needs doing and all that needs a listening or watching how can I give this album the number of plays needed for it to not only make sense but become a great album. Maybe I’ll eventually come to understand or maybe I’ll be hypnotized into the delusion.

Another observation that might have as much to do with me as them is that it seems to me that Radiohead makes more sense live than in the living room. There is an emotional and spiritual impact that these songs can conjure live that is a little lost once it is set in an artificial space. There are very few straightforward radio hits though there are songs that begin with the anticipation of such. "Sit Down," "Stand Up," "Sail To the Moon," "There, There," particularly have beautiful intros but then they create a chaos or an uneasiness that again will pack a great punch live. Persevere to the end though for "Scatterbrain" is as close to an undamaged ballad and "Wolf At the Door" is a wordy rapish thing that really works. You see already am repeated listens is paying dividends!

The birth of Torke’s son Noah has its effects on and between the lines. There are dinosaurs, monsters Snakes and Ladders and wolves at the door kidnapping children. The key line in the children’s story "Chicken Licken" becomes a concluding idea on 2 + 2 = 5. Yorke says himself that "Sail To the Moon" is being dreamed of as a future President though one who would “know right from wrong” in another attack on George W whose election debacle is found in the albums title. In the same song he takes the role of his Biblical namesake and builds an ark. In that line you begin to understand how carefully Yorke has named his son. Radiohead’s mission has been to warn of the flood that is imminent and here again there are all kinds of alarm bells trying to grab your attention as “jaws of hell” prepared to welcome you. 2 + 2 = 5 begins with dreamers putting the world to rights and the warning that:

It’s the devils way now
There is no way out
You can scream and you
Can shout
It is too late now
Because
You have not being paying attention

By Steve Stockman 6/22/2003
 
 

It's difficult, almost impossible, to sum up the significance of the influence that Radiohead has had on the music world as a whole over the past decade. Between the albums The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A, Radiohead has developed a dedicated following few bands have enjoyed in recent history. Known for its musical innovation, every release from the band has pushed the envelope musically, bringing Radiohead into new territory at every turn.

Given that fact, there aren't a whole lot of new places that the long-awaited Hail to the Thief album could go musically. The music on this release uses elements of all of the former Radiohead releases, mixing them in a way that is still very original and cohesive. The biggest influence from early Radiohead on the new album is probably OK Computer, but this album dabbles in equally experimental ways with rock and electronic sounds.

In the long run, what really sets this album apart from other Radiohead outings is the lyrics. This dark, doubt-filled collection of songs sees the world as a frightening place, largely devoid of any kind of goodness. Songs like "Sit Down, Stand Up" ("Sit down, stand up / Walk into the jaws of hell") and "Go to Sleep" ("This is how I ended up sucked in  / Over my dead body / I'm gonna go to sleep / And let this wash all over me / We don't really want a monster taking over") are good examples of the sense of dread that is expressed on Hail to the Thief.

The album's themes almost beg to be called apocalyptic, depicting a time in which the end is near. The album opener "2+2=5" pleads, "Go up to the king, and the sky is falling in." The songs seem to have mixed feelings on God's place in the midst of it all. "Where I End and You Begin" says, "I am up in the clouds / And I can't come down" then continues later in the song to warn of judgment: "I will eat you alive / There'll be no more lies." This idea of judgment is mingled with the idea of God as a protector in "I Will": "I won't let this happen to my children / Meet the real world coming out of your shell." "Sail to the Moon" is a song written to give some kind of hope to the children: "Maybe you'll be president / But know right from wrong / Or in the flood / You'll build an ark."

The songs on the album can also be taken from a political sense, especially considering that the album's title Hail to the Thief could be a reference to President Bush's victory in the election. It seems like most people in Europe are bitter with Bush these days, and making it known through music has become a common idea.

Hail to the Thief is most meaningful when seen as a look at the world through the eyes of someone with serious concern. The Radiohead idea of the human condition is seen through the song "Backdrifts": "We're rotten fruit / We're damaged goods / What the hell we've got nothing more to lose / One burst and we will probably crumble / We're backdrifting."

Here we have an album that mixes meaning with chaos in a way that will have people scratching their heads for years to come. Hail to the Thief may not be the most enjoyable album that Radiohead has made, but it is one of the most important, as it paints a picture of the modern world with strokes few artists could manage.

Trae Cadenhead 8/14/2003