Hail to the Thief

Reviewed by:
David Peisner

Have you been waiting for Radiohead to quit being so goddamn weird and rock out with the unbridled fury of their younger years? Well…you better grab a Snickers and get comfy. Hail to the Thief isn’t the return to gritty guitar-rock basics you hoped for, but it’s pretty great nonetheless, as the brooding Brits work their experimental jones into songs that brood, stomp, and soar—often all at the same time. The occasional guitar does pop up, crashing into a symphony of fierce riffs and slamming drumbeats on “2+2=5,” dancing around a quiet piano refrain on “Sail to the Moon,” and strumming and squawking through the spacey, buzzing rocker “Go to Sleep.” The effect is a large wash of sound that includes skittering electronic beats, a smattering of ethereal keyboards, and, of course, Thom Yorke’s ghostly, tortured wails. The sense of oppressive dread that made 1997’s OK Computer so throttling also returns here in spades. As Yorke and mates fret about the current state of the world, their gloom is clearly our boon.