When discussing Radiohead’s groundbreaking career, the general perception is that Hail to the Thief and Amnesiac were relatively meek afterthoughts obscured by the twin titanic shadows of OK Computer and Kid A. While the two former albums certainly had cult followings and critical acclaim, neither made waves that upset the music world status quo or redefined the band’s sound adequately to hurl them to the front line of boundary-pushing art rockers. However, Capitol’s reissue of Hail to the Thief serves as a reminder of the underrated album’s brilliance. And while few of the bonus CD or DVD elements are essential, they offer entertaining and intriguing insights into the band’s creative process and prowess as a live act.
What excited me most about Hail to the Thief was the way the band managed to marry the strangled and schizophrenic guitar rock of their first three albums with the knob-twisting and alien textures of Kid A and Amnesiac. While moments of Hail to the Thief illuminated the band at its furthest fringes of experimentation (“The Gloaming,” “Backdrifts”), much of the songwriting was more straightforward than anything that the band had done since The Bends. The result—an album of gems such as “2+2=5,” “There There,” and “Scatterbrain”—showed Radiohead integrating the tools they had accumulated while writing and recording their previous albums and using them to sculpt thrilling new songs that were accessible without sacrificing artistic integrity. Hail to the Thief may lack the coherency and flow that characterize the band’s previous three albums, but its songs stand up among the band’s most adventurous and genuine work.
The bonus disc features nearly an hour of demos, live cuts, and remixes as well as a number of intriguing unreleased pieces. “Paperbag Writer” layers fragments of film noir strings with Thom Yorke’s slurred moans over hyperactive bass pulses and drum machine. “Where Bluebirds Fly” and “I Am Citizen Insane” offer gorgeously hypnotic layers of uneasy electronics and wordless vocals that belong in any Radiohead fan’s library. Four Tet offers a brilliant remix of “Scatterbrain” that colors the song with metallic clinking, clustered found sounds, and electronic beats. “Gagging Order” is a charmingly stripped-down acoustic guitar/vocal number, and while most of the live cuts aren’t essential, it’s interesting to hear a largely acoustic (and drumless) version of “Go to Sleep” or hear the band brilliantly tackle the pathos of “2+2=5” in away from the shelter of overdubs and studio tricks.
Then there are the videos. The strange Tim Burton / Hitchcock / Wind in the Willows take on “There There.” The chalkboard animation that channels the Orwellian nightmare of “2+2=5” and the chilling black-and-white digital depiction of capitalism for “Go to Sleep.” Four fantastic live videos from a 2003 performance on Later . . . With Jools Holland illustrate the band’s jaw-dropping live power (“Where I End and You Begin” is particularly amazing).
Hail to the Thief hasn’t demonstrated the influence or staying power of OK Computer or Kid A, but it presents Radiohead in a nearly perfect balance of adventurous and accessible, electronic and organic, in-your-face rocking and hauntingly atmospheric. It won’t be remembered as the band’s best album, but that’s not because it lacks fantastic songwriting and innovation, or because it isn’t worlds better than what most of the music world was doing when it was released. Rather, it’s because the best of Radiohead’s output is so good. And while the original album itself is obviously the most important part of Hail to the Thief: Special Collector’s Edition, and the quality of the unreleased and live takes are inconsistent in quality, the extra discs offer a treasure chest of discoveries bound to thrill any Radiohead fan.
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