Hail to the Thief (Radiohead)

Hail to the Thief being Radiohead's 6th studio album and their 2003 release was met with positive reviews by the critics and did also very well with the general public. Allmusic, IGN and Pitchfork Media all gave it high marks. The album reached nr 1 in the UK and nr 3 in the US. Three singles were released on this album. These being, i.e., "There There", "Go to Sleep" and "2 + 2 = 5". All the lyrics are included in the booklet and we also get a personnel list that lists what they played. 4/5.

This album got me through hell - specifically, my first year of law school. (If you've survived that you know what I'm talking about.) I spent many post-studying late nights with this CD, playing cards on the laptop (something to occupy my eyes but not my strained brain) while dissolving into the glorious gloom and despair swirling around in my headphones. And strangely loving it - there's something about wallowing in misery that's oddly freeing. I know Yorke & Co. have denied it had any expressly political overtones, but part of the album's impact at the time (at least for me) was its ability to articulate a sense of the anxiousness surrounding the invasion of Iraq. Whether you thought we should be there or not (I didn't), it was gonna happen and you felt powerless to do much about it. Bigger forces than you were at work in the post 9/11 world, and those feelings of inevitability, confusion, irrelevance, and dread were expressed in the repetition of the lyrics and percussive ins... Read more

Hail to the Theif was the first Radiohead album I'd heard that I didn't immediately fall in love with. On both OK Computer and The Bends, and even Kid A and In Rainbows, right from the opening songs I loved the albums, with even the lesser songs getting at least 4 stars. Not so with Hail to the Theif. There are some good cuts, sure, but on the whole... not their best album. I'd only recommend this for the most devoted fans and/or completists, and definitely not until you own their other albums.

Radiohead Hail to the Thief; 2003 Capitol Records My Rating: 58/100 It's hard to complain about a Radiohead record of any kind. After all, this is one of only a few bands in recent memory to score a string of three near-perfect albums (THE BENDS, OKC, KID A). Given the rousing success of IN RAINBOWS, Radiohead has pretty much cemented their status as the grand champions of left-field pop music. And while there are quite a few great tracks on THIEF, the record suffers from being a little TOO conventional and overly glum (yes, Radiohead can be overly glum). It all begins with the title. In my book, Radiohead's brilliance lies precisely in their indirect manner of expression. I'm used to a band that skirts the fringes of our present reality, mining the subconscious dread and paranoia fear that haunt us all. I'd much rather leave the political rants to the Rage Against the Machines and Sean Penns of the world. Still, themes aside, THIEF might be a five star record if the production... Read more

Hail to the Thief is one of my favorite Radiohead albums. It is an interesting album. I still hear alot of Kid A in it but it definately rocks alot more and has a beautiful acoustic piece. Hail to The Thief also contains There There which is probably my favorite Radiohead song period. A Punchup at a Wedding has a beautiful rhythm to it, Where I End and You Begin is one of my favorites on the album. The album ends with Scatterbrain and A Wolf At the Door, two songs I can never skip over. Love the way it starts, 2+2=5 and Sit Down Stand Up, great energy. Actually the only song I do not like on the album is We Suck Young Blood but that is something personal with me. It is a dirge and I tend to not like them regardless of who is doing them. I like the rocking on this album mixed with the electronics, a different album where Kid A and Amnesiac were quite similar and In Rainbows is different from Hail to the Thief. You can definately hear the evolution though. If I was being... Read more

Radiohead usually gets by on tone rather than song construction. This album has one song ("There There"), which is at least better than the two CDs that came before it. The UK Guardian did a funny list of overrated albums which includes the following remark from the singer in Cornershop: "Radiohead are the 21st-century Floyd, which says it all really" (http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2102991,0 0.html). Doesn't it, though?

I wish Radiohead would quit making music.

I did'nt care for Radiohead's techno albums and while this album did'nt totally abandon the formula there was somewhat of a return to the traditional Radiohead sound of old.

A great CD. It had great beats, great songs, great lyrics. Go to Sleep is an excellent song, with sort of a dark tone to it, it makes it great.