RADIOHEAD HAIL TO THE THIEF ALBUM PARLOPHONE, CAPITOL RELEASE: JUNE 10, 2003 REVIEW: JUNE 11, 2003

Long time readers might remember my troublesome relationship to Radiohead's two latest albums. As I was hoping for, this album is a marriage between the old and the new Radiohead, and I can finally let out a sigh of relief. The sad thing is that songs with the same power and emotional impact as “Fake Plastic Tree”, “Street Spirit (Fade out)” and “Exit Music (For a Film)” are nowhere to be found. On the other hand we have a full on electronic track that’s actually good! I think that the band's flirts with the Warp sound was a bit sad on the two previous albums, but “Backdrifts” is a masterpiece with washes of synthpads over a clinical beat, and of course Thom’s characteristic singing. Overall it seems like they have found their way back to the songs again, and incorporated the electronics more fluently - thus creating a very unique style.
The perfectionism that exudes from all their material is evident here as well, every little detail is painstakingly placed in the audio picture, and every time I listen to it I find something new. With songs as complex as this, it’s amazing that Radiohead is one of the biggest bands in the world, and not many can combine quality with mass appeal the same way. So there’s not much I can do but rate this new effort eight out of ten. It will be huge. No obvious singles though.

JOHAN CARLSSON