onlyidleft's Full Review: Hail To the Thief by Radiohead
I had read in a magazine sometime last year, Thom Yorke saying that he wanted the then upcoming album to have the ability to make people dance. Not quite sure what that would entail, having just absorbed the numbing Amnesiac, I didn't think much more of the comment. That is, until I picked up (downloaded off Kazaa) the new album, Hail to the Thief, and said to myself, "ah... I see"(not exact words).
The new album is, in one underweight word, subtle. It doesn't start off with a knockout punch; it finishes with usual Radiohead-esque confusion. Yet somewhere over the course of these 14 songs, I found my head nodding up and down... in time to a beat? Foot starts tapping - interesting. I even kind of felt like shouting along with the lyrics - or at least humming an approximation of them. Could this be the new, user-friendly Radiohead?
Well, no, not quite. But the common musical thread that links the songs on Hail to the Thief is indeed dance-ability. Is that a word? How about assgroovability?
The booty-shaking originates from different sources. Radiohead proves that they're still among the best at flat-out rocking - lead off track "2+2=5" climaxes with wonderful intensity. Already in this opening song, it is apparent that Radiohead have not lost their one consistent strength - dynamics. The song, like most of the tracks on Hail to the Thief, builds in fury with the band's soaring crescendos and peaking in their trademark barrage of sound.
Dancefloor influences drive the rhythm of tracks such as "Sit Down Stand Up", "Backdrifts", and "The Gloaming". The beats, combined with Radiohead's gloomy atmospherics, leads one to think that the band's new influences extend to more than just to the new crop of "indie" rock bands.
First single "There There" and "A Punch Up at a Wedding" take the beat to a laid back cruising speed. With especially the latter, the band is content to let the rhythm section be responsible for the look and feel of the song.
While Hail to the Thief may not garner airtime at most clubs, it is an interesting venture into a more danceable form of Radiohead. Beats are introduced and layered slowly together, bass lines are simple and groove-based, even Thom Yorke's vocals are often voiced to sound like a loop.
Speaking of the vocals, it is interesting to hear that very few effects have been put on Yorke's vocal tracks. One can actually hear much of the lyrics, at least when he's not mumbling them.
The same can be said about the instrumentation. Other than the obvious electronic sounds (analog beeps and bloops, synth noises, etc.), we hear clear guitar and piano tracks. The drum tracks are integrated well with the synthesized beats, carefully taking the forefront when required, or hanging back softly to provide depth.
Upon the release of each new Radiohead album, everyone seems to want to know what it sounds like compared to the previous ones. Well, Hail to the Thief lacks the straight up rock sound of Pablo Honey, or the attention to song-crafting of The Bends. Some would liken the album mostly to OK Computer, if only because it certainly isn't another Kid A or Amnesiac.
However, the truth is that Radiohead has succeeded in doing what they presumably set out to do with every album - make something completely unlike those that came before. Musically, Hail to the Thief is a logical progression from Kid A/Amnesiac, but still a solid statement on its own. Only time will tell how the album will be regarded among the others.
If you're a Radiohead fan, you probably already have this album. If you were in the early years, but got a bit confused during the last couple albums, give Hail to the Thief a try, you just might be surprised. If you're into electronica, you've probably heard much of these beats done before - but it sounds different with Radiohead doing it, I swear. If your musical tastes are encircled by Billboard's Top40, well pick it up anyways. You never know. At the very least, you'll have some artsy liner notes and a matching coaster.
Radiohead s six album, Hail To The Thief, returns the band closer to their rock side while still retaining the experimental elements of their music.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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