Hail to the Thief (2003)

I was sure I really liked Hail to the Thief when it was new (a live version was released just this past week), even though I kept thinking of it and too often still think of it as It Takes a Thief. I understood the title as a reference to the US election of 2000, but I was confused why that would matter to Radiohead, being Brits. Perhaps I think reference to a jazzy 1960s TV spy show makes more sense. Or maybe, like most of the rest of the world, Radiohead had a problem with the US / Iraq War II. Can’t blame them. Anyway, I bought the album new, played it a lot, enjoyed it, and eventually put it away. But when I pulled it out earlier this year I found myself puzzled again. As with the usual pattern of this survey, only parts of some songs sounded all right. The album as a whole was alienating. In 2003 it was considered by fans to be something of a return to form after time in the WTF wilderness with Kid A and Amnesiac. It’s true it might bear more electronic effects and textures than before generally. A poll in my app asked for favorite songs on the album but I had no idea—“2 + 2 = 5” was the overwhelming winner but it doesn’t sound notably better to me than anything else here. “We Suck Young Blood” is all slo-mo handclaps and mounting chaos. But such an overstated title. “There, There” brings a nice ringing charge in service of a dramatic buildup and appears to be one of the favorites on the album. In “I Will” singer Thom Yorke puts on a clinic in mumbling, but you can sing strong with the chorus. “A Punch Up at a Wedding” has a great title. “Myxomatosis” does not. The medical term means “a highly contagious and often fatal viral disease primarily affecting rabbits.” Not sure I even want to know where that comes from out of the minds of Radiohead, but the tune has a great hook, like some maniac semitruck bearing down on you. Hail to the Thief might be the unusual album whose second half is better than the first, but as usual I’m all mixed up and listening to it more only confuses me further. Last note from yesterday: “Oh fuck I really liked the whole thing on ‘one more listen.’” As always, go figure.