Published on Jun 11, 2003
Many die-hard
Bends and
OK Computer fans have been patiently waiting for Radiohead
to get their fascination with computer blips and loops out of their
system. In the early ’90s, U2 (whom many have said Radiohead
replaced for ‘best band in the world’ status) forced fans down a
similar path of acceptance with
Achtung Baby and
Zooropa. In 1997, U2 promised fans that
Pop would be their ‘return to form’ album. It wasn’t (not
that
Pop was the failure so many have claimed it to be).
So, in early 2003, when music insiders said Radiohead’s new
album,
Hail To The Thief, was going to mark a return to their
guitar-oriented attack, I was skeptical. And much like
Pop,
Hail to the Thief is not so much an album that reclaims
their guitar-god status, as an album that continues to show the
progression of a continuously evolving band.
Hail To The Thief has a ton of Radiohead staples: jazzy
piano (“Backdrifts,” “We Suck Young Blood”), Thom Yorke’s tortured
choirboy falsetto and lyrics dealing with isolation and paranoia
(pretty much name any song on the album). And like
OK Computer and
Amnesiac, it’s not all going to sink in on the first few
listens.
Radiohead do indeed begin
Hail To The Thief with the sound of a guitar plugged into an
amp, with feedback ensuing. It’s an unsubtle way of the band
shouting to the listener: “The guitars have returned.” But just
when people start to pick up their air guitars hoping to tear into
a “Planet Telex” solo ala
The Bends, Radiohead playfully pull back and incorporate
elements of electronica, trance and free-form jazz into “2+2 =5”
and “Sit down. Stand up.”
Oh, and did I say pretensions? Enough pretentiousness to make
Sigur Ros’
() album with no definable titles for songs and Fiona
Apple’s 90-plus word album title
When The Pawn… seem downright earnest. Not only are
the song structures disjointed for most of the tracks on
Hail To The Thief, each song has a sub-title in parenthesis
(e.g. the Sprockets-like title “The Gloaming (Soft Open our Mouths
in the Cold).” But in the age of monoliths like Clear Channel and
homeland security, far better for a mass audience to be challenged
than to be fed another J-Lo and Ja Rule summer anthem.
Much like
Amnesiac,
Hail To The Thief sounds like it’s too intelligent for its
own good. The album was recorded as Yorke was vocally expressing
his opposition to the military buildup in Iraq. Much of the album
contains songs of apathy and resignation, mixed in with a nice
Orwellian overtone, such as the song, “A Punchup at a Wedding.”
“Hypocrite opportunist/Don’t infect me with your poison/ A bully in
a china shop,” Yorke sneers, as much as he can sneer. Highbrow has
become as synonymous with Radiohead as ho’s are in a Snoop Dogg
video. Yet, Radiohead’s live album,
I Might Be Wrong, expertly demonstrated how rocking the most
un-rocking songs on
Amnesiac could sound. That will likely be the case when they
take
Hail To The Thief on the road.
Radiohead have the near-impossible task of trying to stun their
legions of rabid fans. With Pablo Honey, they were greeted with
minimal expectations, so when they pulled one of the best “one-two”
punches in rock history with
The Bends and
OK Computer it was indeed a shocker at the time. And now,
expect fans to ravenously analyze, consume and digest every nuance
of
Hail To The Thief in a month’s time (call it
The Matrix-Reloaded syndrome).
As is, Radiohead’s latest album is not a step back for the sake
of nostalgia (see
All That You Can’t Leave Behind) nor a glorious step
forward, offering limitless possibilities for the band. Rather,
it’s simply another great album in Radiohead’s impressive
collection. For many fans, this may not be enough. But for those
willing to put the myth of the band aside,
Hail To The Thief will do just fine.