HAIL TO THE THIEF

After a strong change suffered by Radiohead's style with Kid A and Amnesiac, here in Hail to the Thief, the band tries to go on making electronic/ambient pieces, but, at the same time, coming back to the early stuff (OKputer, The Bends... even Pablo Honey). As a result of this blend, here is a long album (14 tracks), in which you can find some tracks in the vein of his predecessors (Myxomatosis, The Gloaming, Backdrifts) and rather poppish numbers, as Sail to the Moon, Scatterbrain, and the opening track, one of the best songs here. As this album is pretty good but not at all, there are fillers like Sit Down, Stand Up and Where I End..., which sound repetitive and lack of inspiration. The lyrics of the songs speak about political bussiness, mainly.

Outstanding tracks:

- 2 + 2 = 5: Starting with a soft and depressing riff, then breaking into a harder beat and a more agressive guitar attack; finally ending with a poppish riff and Yorke's falsettos... Awesome, the best track by far!

- Sail to the Moon: Beggining with a very relaxing intro with piano and soft guitar (that blows mi mind everytime I hear it), but quickly turning into a much more depressing (as usual) melody; very nice song.

- Scatterbrain: Wow... There are few songs that turn me depressed when I hear it... and one of these is this song. The guitar riff speaks for itself.

- A Wolf at the Door: Another extremely depressing tune, with slow guitar arpeggios and abundant vocals by Thom... intrincate lyrics, but superb closing song.

Not the best Radiohead's album from his second era (from Kid A until this release), but interesting... Four stars, no more or less.

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