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In the last
record of their six-album deal with Parlophone, Radiohead find
themselves at something of a crossroads. They’ve more or
less got the beeps ‘n’ buzzes of ‘Kid A’
out of their system, and are slowly returning to the more guitar-orientated
songs. But will this transitional stage prove too busy and unfocused
to make a proper album? |
Radiohead
- Hail To The Thief
[1] 2+2=5
[2] Sit Down
Stand Up
[3] Sail
To The Moon
[4] Backdrifts
[5] Go To
Sleep
[6] Where
I End & You Begin
[7] We Suck
Young Blood
[8] The Gloaming
[9] There
There
[10] I Will
[11] A Punchup
At A Wedding
[12] Myxomatosis
[13] Scatterbrain
[14] A Wolf
At The Door
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Okay guys,
you can stop with the electronica already. 'Kid A' was a good
album, but the ‘Head seem to have tacked ‘Backdrifts’
and ‘The Gloaming’ on just for the sake of it. Tellingly,
they’re the worst songs on the album. Equally revealing
is that the good old guitar-led numbers – ‘2+2=5’,
‘Go To Sleep’, ‘Where I End And You Begin’,
‘There There’ – are among the best.
Don’t
think that Radiohead have given up on the innovation and variation
that typified their last two albums, though – this album
is probably their most varied. ‘Myxomatosis’s tumbling
fuzzed bass stands out, as does ‘A Punchup At A Wedding’s
utterly bizarre mid-tempo piano & drums mix – though
lyrically, it’s one of the more conventional songs on the
record. And the powerful finishing track, 'A Wolf At The Door',
combines a D-minor arpeggio with spoken lyrics that sound almost
like rapping. |
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'Hail To The
Thief’ continues Radiohead’s mastery with building and
progressing songs – starting quite, ending loud. The opening
track in particular, with its creepy leading riff that morphs into
a storming rock-out anthem, is among the best songs the band have
ever done – and with a back catalogue like Radiohead’s,
that’s saying something. ‘There There’, the first
single, begins with a dull riff that borders on the turgid, but
after the first two verses, adds an irresistible three-note melody
that transforms one of the weakest tracks into one of the finest.
And ‘Sit Down Stand Up’ would be utterly unremarkable
if not for the constantly quickening drum patterns that culminate
in a rousing pitter-patter of percussion, with Thom Yorke chanting,
appropriately enough, “the raindrops”. |
'HTTT' is difficult
to quantify. On one hand, it’s home to some stunning music and
is much warmer than ‘Kid A’ (and ‘Amnesiac’
to a lesser extent). But it has little flow as an album, and arguably
has only half-a-dozen really excellent tracks, out of a not-inconsiderable
fourteen. But in the end, those six or seven superb tracks, plus the
competence and likeability of the remaining songs, makes for a classy
and highly enjoyable album that you’ll want to get to know, and
discover all the nuances of. Recommended.
5 out of 5
Patrick
Robertson
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