Hail To The Thief
by Radiohead

From II 06/14/2025 12:18 | #309531

It's an impressively good album! And what II personally like about it the most is the band's more personal approach of making the songs for it, which overall feels more raw, flowing and comfort-zoned, and as a result feels like a very emotional album.

There are a bit too many tracks and some of them span a bit too long, so it took quite a while for me to listen to the album as a whole instead of making different tracklists and omitting tracks off them. After a while when the struggle of listening to the whole album wears off, the listening experience is going to feel very nice and interesting.

II feel like this album is one of Radiohead's best and is up close there with OK Computer in my opinion.
It might not be critically considered Radiohead's best, but it feels to me like a pinnacle in the ridge of alternative rock music among Radiohead's other albums. A great achievement! And as far as II know; yet no alternative rock album have sounded closer to "Hail to the Thief" just like their other albums too!
This album feels like going through a trip in the woods and reflecting about life, and as you keep walking, you face very wise animals who challege you with riddles.
If you haven't listened to it yet, II really recommend you to, since it might shine a light upon you on some spots, as the album contains quite a lot of Radiohead's most emotional music! And some tracks' lyrics and mainly their instrumentals feel very melancholic.
Thus, it is one of the most emotional albums II've ever listened to!

While I do believe other Radiohead projects are better then this album, I did really enjoy it. Hail to the Thief captures the essence of Kid A’s Electronic and Ambient music, as well as The Bends’s rock music. Where I End and You Begin is a perfect example of combining Radiohead’s old, and new. Very Cool

From lleon79 03/27/2023 03:44 | #295502

My second least favorite Radiohead album...

One that has many great songs, but as a whole just doesn't feel as compact as other releases. I even prefer "The King of Limbs" because it is a more cohesive listening experience. I'm not the only one with this opinion, but yes, "Hail to the Thief" would be a much better record if it had like 3-4 songs cut from it (personally I would remove "Backdrifts", "We Suck Young Blood" and "The Gloaming" (I do like these songs, but I think taking them out would make the album as a whole flow much much better) and would include "Gagging Order" from their 2+2=5 EP).

Anyways, it's still an enjoyable music album. The first 3 songs are an amazing way to open up. After that, "Where I End and You Begin" and "There, There" are definitely two of their best songs ever, with a dark atmosphere that calls back immediately to "Amnesiac" or "Kid A" while reincorporating more rock sounds that were somewhat absent from their two earlier releases. "A Wolf At The Door" on another hand is a fabulous cut that doesn't really resemble any other of their songs.

Some people were wondering if this would get a re-release as their previous 3 records. I doubt it a lot. I think even the band knows it didn't get as much recognition as earlier or later material, but it's still interesting revisiting it.

From AlvaroIesus 09/21/2022 16:55 | #289851

Scatterbrain, A Wolf At The Door, There There, Sail To The Moon, I Will, 2+2=5, Go To Sleep..

Good music but somehow gets boring after a few listens.

From Jboy56 03/28/2022 06:04 | #283490

Scatterbrain, A Punch at the Wedding and There, There. That's it.

As someone who stopped listening to Radiohead after OK Computer, this album was a great surprise.

Excellent mix of traditional and modern instrumentation…and more importantly, a return of the dramatic shifts in dynamics that attracted me to the band in the first place.

A little bit bloated which is the only reason I have it so low in Radiohead's bestography. But it's still a great album. There There is one of their best and has really grown on me over the years. Other highlights are A Wolf At The Door, Go To Sleep and A Punchup At The Wedding. Weak tracks are I Will and The Gloaming.

From AlvaroIesus 10/12/2021 07:34 | #274887

A Wolf At The Door, There There, Sail To The Moon... beautiful tracks.

From teague 09/17/2021 17:10 | #273860

Hail to the Thief strikes a fairly considerable balance between their electronic side and their more alt rock side. This is my favorite Radiohead album so far. Songs like Where I End and You Begin, There There, Sit Down, Stand Up, I Will are some of their best, in my humble opinion.