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Since the release of 1997's OK Computer, Radiohead have grown consistently more adventurous -- and, in some ways, consistently more obscure. Hail to the Thief, which was initially described as something of a return to the song-based dynamic of the band's earlier work, is anything but; it is, however, another fascinating turn on the long and winding road that Thom Yorke and company are staking out. The jarring tone of the thrashing "2 + 2 = 5" seems to indicate that a heavy rock mood is in store, but that supposition is set aside by densely layered electronic tracks, such as the 9-11 meditation "The Gloaming" and "Backdrifts," an ambient piece that swirls like the more elegiac end of Spiritualized. Yorke has grown more confident about standing -- figuratively speaking, of course -- naked before his audience, and Hail has its share of stripped-bare moments, the best of which might be "Sail to the Moon," a piano-laced ballad that threatens to drift into the ether. Yorke is equally revelatory on "I Will," a fretful wisp of a song that hints at a fear of impending apocalypse. His mates don't exactly slough off, of course: Jonny Greenwood's guitar elevates the surprisingly warm "Scatterbrain," while his bass-slinging brother Colin takes the reins on the fuzzy, enveloping "Myxomatosis." While not as whiplash-inducing in its innovation as some of Radiohead's albums, Hail to the Thief is richly textured and whip-smart enough to keep fans bowing in awe.
Condition:NEW. Slashed case
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc 1
1 2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm) 3:19
2 Sit Down. Stand Up (Snakes & Ladders) 4:19
3 Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky) 4:18
4 Backdrifts (Honeymoon Is Over) 5:22
5 Go to Sleep (Little Man Being Erased) 3:21
6 Where I End and You Begin (The Sky Is Falling In) 4:29
7 We Suck Young Blood (Your Time Is Up) 4:56
8 The Gloaming (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold) 3:32
9 There There (The Boney King of Nowhere) 5:23
10 I Will (No Man's Land) 1:59
11 A Punchup at a Wedding (No No No No No No No No) 4:57
12 Myxomatosis (Judge Jury & Executioner) 3:52
13 Scatterbrain (As Dead as Leaves) 3:21
14 A Wolf at the Door (It Girl. Rag Doll) 3:21
Disc 2
1 Paperbag Writer (There There) 3:58
2 Where Bluebirds Fly (There There) 4:31
3 I Am Citizen Insane (Go to Sleep) 3:32
4 Fog (Again) (Go to Sleep) Live 2:18
5 Gagging Order (Go to Sleep) 3:35
6 I Am a Wicked Child (Go to Sleep) 3:06
7 Remyxomatosis (2+2=5) Cristian Vogel RMX 5:09
8 There There (2+2=5) First Demo 7:44
9 Skttrbrain (2+2=5) Four Tet RMX 4:25
10 I Will (2+2=5) Los Angeles Version 2:22
11 Sail to the Moon (Jo Whiley Show -- 05/28/03) 4:10
12 2+2=5 (Live at Earl's Court, London -- 02/26/03) Live 3:35
13 Go to Sleep (Zane Lowe -- 12/08/03) 3:31
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