Track Listing

1. 2 + 2 =3D 5
2. Sit Down. Stand Up
3. Sail to the Moon
4. Backdrifts
5. Go to Sleep
6. Where I End and You Begin
7. We Suck Young Blood
8. The Gloaming
9. There There
10. I Will
11. A Punch-up at a Wedding
12. Myxamatosis
13. Scatterbrain
14. A Wolf at the Door

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3152 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk review
Radiohead's Hail to the Thief bridges the gulf between OK Computer's epic progressive rock and Kid A's skittering electronic theatrics, borrowing equally from each. Its title implies that this is a collection filled with songs of anger and dissent, but Radiohead no longer howl at the moon like they did on 1995's The Bends. Instead, they use eloquent metaphors and complicated arrangements to express the uncertainty, fear and anger arising from the 2000 US presidential election and a post-9-11 world. There's no doubt about where Thom Yorke and company stand; the prog-rock break on "2 + 2 = 5" and Yorke's terror at the thought of being "put in a box" make that immediately clear. But there's a prevailing sense of powerlessness here. The tinkling piano behind the cold sonic surface of "Backdrifts" and the brief, swooping melody in the middle of "Sail to the Moon" are islands in a sea of confusion. Like the band's best work, Hail to the Thief requires more than a few listens to fully appreciate, but those who stick around will be richly rewarded. --Matthew Cooke

CD Description
Sixth studio album from indie rock megastars follows 2001's'Amnesiac'. Purportedly a return to the song-based style oftheir breakthrough smash 'OK Computer', but in reality closer to the style of 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac', with weird electronic elements, odd time signatures, fearless studio experimentation and defiantly uncommercial songwriting. Includes thesingle 'There There'.

Customer Reviews

Album of the year?
Having scaled great heights both commercially and musically It seems incredible that Radiohead, with their fifth album, Hail To The Thief, are able to not only scale similar mountainous heights once again but they are in fact on course to surpass them.

OK Computer, Radiohead’s zenith moment and worthy of all the acclaim it received arrived into our homes with meteoric effect. Astounded by its clear brilliance the world became besotted with the intelligent musicianship of the Oxford collective. Ok Computer’s impact was clearly massive - the crater it created is something than any band would struggle to claw itself out of. The testing but worthwhile Kid A and the even less accessible Amnesiac were clear reactions of a band fearful of plummeting from their self-made position of apogee.

Both Kid A and Amnesiac were careful (and fitfully beautiful) treads in the direction of Hail To The Thief which dutifully avoids the stickier protracted attempts at computer experimentation that beset the two aforementioned albums and puts an emphasis on the band’s supreme song-writing skills and moreover, the enchanting and often haunting voice of Thom Yorke.

Gone will be all those ill-informed Aphex Twin comparisons given the much heavier use of guitars (’Where I End & You Begin’, ’2+2 = 5’, ‘There There‘) than on the last two albums but that isn’t to say that it pays homage in any big way to Radiohead’s breakthrough album The Bends. No, Radiohead are certainly not about to regress and they certainly are in no mood to play the old rock trick of ‘going back to what you know best’. As an exposition of the band themselves, Hail To The Thief is a clear indication that Radiohead are comfortable with where they are now - making symphonic sounds that pierce your soul and endure until the songs themselves become irremovable fixtures in your mind. Radiohead are clearly not interested in the idle fancies of ordinary pop musicians and money-sucking uber-producers yet it is the challenging and brutal yet beautifully melancholic nature of this band and this album that allows tracks to outlive the 3 minute perfection of radio-friendly post-pop.

Whilst eclipsing previous achievements may be an impossible task Radiohead are still gaining plenty from the album-making process and as a result Hail To the Thief has a very polished feel. The vocals of Yorke are beautifully harmonized like never before(’Sail To The Moon‘, ‘I Will‘), the electrical wizardry is measured (’The Gloaming‘) and the pace of the album is carefully programmed so that its shocks then lulls you in emotionally. With your breath taken you are left in a state of truly satisfied reverie.

An astonishing album by an extraordinary band.

Cheering and waving, twitching and salivating at HTTT
Hmmm... what can I say. This is a typically brilliant album from one of the best bands ever (although sadly I doubt this will be acknowledged when we looking back in a couple of decades) and quite simply represents a group who have their own unique style and can put tremendous variety into their work, as well as add thought-provoking lyrics and leave the rest of recent popular music in a light much worse than you've ever seen before, simply because you've discovered the greatest band of the last 20 years.

Admittedly, it will take a few listens to get into this album, as has been stated before, but patience will pay dividends and at the 20th listen you will be brainwashed into knowing who are the greatest artists of this era. Instead of liking inferior dross you will be marvelling at the wonderful evocative wails of Thom Yorke and the guitars in songs like "2+2=5" and "There There"; the piano that leads superb songs like "Sail To The Moon" (which takes a "Say 'No' to time signatures" stance) and the evil "We Suck Young Blood" (which any self-respecting vampire would have as his signature tune) as well as the bittersweet "Punch Up At A Wedding"; the riff-heavy and political (yeah Green Day, you don't have to be as subtle as a cow's arse in Antarctica to be political) "Go To Sleep"; the electronica-mad yet compelling "Myxomatosis" (spell that will you!); and finishing with "A Wolf At The Door" which - had it been released as a single - would have left mainstream nobody rappers like 50 Cent/Eminem looking like the chav at the back of the class with just his ego for a friend.

If you don't like any of Radiohead's work, be it The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A or HTTT, then you're not human.... who needs slapped*. Which reminds me, I need to slap somebody....

*The author of the above review does not advocate the use of violence against human or non-human species, although would encourage any readers to buy the above product or any products related to the band "Radiohead" from this website as a kind gesture to the hosts of this review and to your lacklustre record collection.

Album Of The Year?.......
Having scaled great heights both commercially and musically It seems incredible that Radiohead, with their fifth album, Hail To The Thief, are able to not only scale similar mountainous heights once again but they are in fact on course to surpass them.

OK Computer, Radiohead's zenith moment and worthy of all the acclaim it received arrived into our homes with meteoric effect. Astounded by its clear brilliance the world became besotted with the intelligent musicianship of the Oxford collective. Ok Computer's impact was clearly massive - the crater it created is something than any band would struggle to claw itself out of. The testing but worthwhile Kid A and the even less accessible Amnesiac were clear reactions of a band fearful of plummeting from their self-made position of apogee.

Both Kid A and Amnesiac were careful (and fitfully beautiful) treads in the direction of Hail To The Thief which dutifully avoids the stickier protracted attempts at computer experimentation of the two aforementioned albums and puts an emphasis on the band's supreme song-writing skills and moreover, the enchanting and often haunting voice of Thom Yorke.

Gone will be all those ill-informed Aphex Twin comparisons given the much heavier use of guitars ('Where I End & You Begin', '2+2 = 5', 'There There') than on the last two albums but that isn't to say that it pays homage in any big way to Radiohead's breakthrough album The Bends. No, Radiohead are certainly not about to regress and they certainly are in no mood to play the old rock trick of 'going back to what you know best'. As an exposition of the band themselves, Hail To The Thief is a clear indication that Radiohead are comfortable with where they are now - making symphonic sounds that pierce your soul and endure until the songs themselves become irremovable fixtures in your mind. Radiohead are clearly not interested in the idle fancies of ordinary pop musicians and money-sucking uber-producers yet it is the challenging and brutal yet beautifully melancholic nature of this band and this album that allows tracks to outlive the 3 minute perfection of radio-friendly post-pop.

Whilst eclipsing previous achievements may be an impossible task Radiohead are still gaining plenty from the album-making process and as a result Hail To the Thief has a very polished feel. The vocals of Yorke are beautifully harmonized like never before('Sail To The Moon', 'I Will'), the electrical wizardry is measured ('The Gloaming') and the pace of the album is carefully programmed so that its shocks then lulls you in emotionally. With your breath taken you are left in a state of truly satisfied reverie.

An astonishing album by an extraordinary band.