Album of the day (#899): Hail To The Thief by Radiohead

[albummaster]

Today's album of the day

Hail To The Thief by Radiohead (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 2003.
Country:
Overall rank: 102
Average rating: 80/100 (from 659 votes).

Tracks:
1. 2 + 2 = 5
2. Sit Down. Stand Up
3. Sail To The Moon
4. Backdrifts
5. Go To Sleep
6. Where I End And You Begin
7. We Suck Young Blood
8. The Gloaming
9. There There
10. I Will
11. A Punchup At A Wedding
12. Myxomatosis
13. Scatterbrain
14. A Wolf At The Door

About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

[Guest]

No bad songs, but it's too long and there are no stand-out tracks. Still better than Amnesiac, at least.

[junodog4]

[Norman Bates]

Very good.

[joshtraina]

It's okay, Wolf At the Door is a classic, 2+2=5 is good, Sail To the Moon, There There, and Sit Down Stand Up. The Gloaming is literally the worst post Pablo Honey song. Crap loads of filler and throw away tracks. It's better than Pablo Honey but not a masterpiece what so ever.

[useless]

Well, I think it's fucking awesome. My favorite after In Rainbows and OK Computer. I think it's extremely cohesive-every song in here has a little political message thrown in, aiming for making this work sound like a concept album, an allegory on the true, vicious nature of politics ("Sit down, stand up, we can wipe you out anytime", "Hypocrite opportunist don't infect me with your poison"). It has incredible variety, from straightforward alt-rock affair like There There to Kid A-style electronica like The Gloaming or even slower ballad pieces like Sail To The Moon. If I have a complaint, it's that I think We Suck Young Blood and The Gloaming are rather weak, expendable tracks (especially the first one) but everything else in here is in the worst case good, in the best case among Radiohead's finest work. 2 +2 = 5 is fucking amazing, probably among their top 5 tracks, the way it starts relatively calm and ends up being so intense, with Greenwood's guitar and Yorke's voice antagonizing each other's efforts to soar and unleashing a shitload of emotion, from melancholy to frustration. There are a lot of other highlights as well: The underrated A Punchup At A Wedding, the haunting Where I End And You Begin, Go To Sleep, the-often-regarded-as-the-best-track-in-here There There... It always confuses me why this did not meet the humongous expectations of their fans when it was released, personally I think it's superior to Kid A and definitely a lot better than Amnesiac and it was a great way to pave their route to In Rainbows (their magnus opus imho).

[meccalecca]

[Dingerbell]

My fifth favourite Radiohead album (behind In Rainbow, OK Computer, the Bends and Kid A), but still great nevertheless. There are some great songs on here, There There and a Wolf at the Door, with some not so great. However, I still enjoy most of the songs, which gives it a modest position on my chart.

[Bach]

Another great Radiohead Album. 9/10

Best tracks: "Where I End and You Begin", "The Gloaming", "A Punchup at a Wedding", "2 + 2 = 5", "There There".

1. The Bends
2. Ok Computer
3. Amnesiac
4. In Rainbows
5. Hail to the Thief
6. Kid A
7. The King of Limbs
8. Pablo Honey
_________________
"De gustibus non disputandum est"

[Guest]

I like all the songs on here...I don't know how I would rank Radiohead's albums, but it wouldn't be near the bottom. I think it is great.