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I saw yesterday that Radiohead's new album had been leaked to the net. So I went over to, um, a friend's computer, where the album had been downloaded and was playing.
AT EASE reported that recording on the album was completed in January. By early march, the record was being previewed before being sent to mastering. But Johnny Greenwood has commented on NME that the band is pissed about the leak, which they say is of incomplete recordings:
I see it like this: there's Napster-style file sharing of released music, then there's early Internet distribution of what we at least consider to be a finished body of work. Then there's this - work we've not finished, being released in this sloppy way, ten weeks before the real version is even available. It doesn't even exist as a record yet.
Doesn't exist as a record? They were reviewing it before mastering in early March! The recording I heard sure didn't sound like a bootleg of early sessions: it has all the production values of a full release. There may be some tweaking and additional experimentation in the "final" cut that Greenwood refers to. But I'd venture to bet that what has been leaked is the final release. JMHO.
The band has suggested that the title of the album, Hail To The Thief, doesn't refer to George W Bush (the refrain was used by protestors during the 2000 election). Ironically, that's true now, whether they intended it or not. The title of the record now refers to the method of its first distribution. And the record's release finally offers a good case study to disprove the RIAA's claim that MP3 filesharing reduces the demand for CDs. And if I might offer a prediction: I think that the case of Hail To The Thief will come down on the side, not of the RIAA, but of the "thief."
Posted by brandon barr at April 3, 2003 09:59 AM | TrackBackYes, but...
Well?????
What's it sound like? Did you enjoy it? Tell us something about it. Please?
Posted by: Anastasios on April 3, 2003 11:22 AMOh geez, I was hoping someone wouldn't ask that.
After only a little bit of listening, I think the album is yummy--a good mix of slow and rocking songs. Clearly they've hit a groove.
A.raw sees the album as a bridge "OK Computer" and "Kid A"; I see it a little differently: to me it extends "Amnesiac" while drawing earlier sounds.
In fact, the first couple of songs clearly push together different styles. "2+2=5" (track 1) starts slow, with light beats and stringy chorals--kind of like "Everything in its right place"--but then breaks into transformation halfway through: from electronic to rock through-and-through. "Sit Down. Stand Up" (2) features a haunting piano riff and haunting vocals which build to a slow crescendo before pushing into IDM-like beats and quickly repeated vocal samples.
"Sail to the Moon" (3) breaks out of the song schizophrenia: it is balladish and slow--think "Fake Plastic Trees" with piano instead guitar. "Backdrifts" (4) features breaky beats with overlaid orchestral riffs and noise art--and desperate but slow vocals. "Go To Sleep" (5) feels pulled off Amnesiac (like a softer "Dollars & cents"). "Where I end and you begin" (6) pits a hard groove with tenors that feel like "Kid A"--a similar feel to "I might be wrong", with a bit more experimentation on the vocals. "We Suck Young Blood" (7) is vampy and features a repetitive group-clap which harkens up the feeling of slave spirituals. "The Gloaming" (8) pairs deep bass growl and click and beats, which nicely crescendo with high melodic vocals. "There there" (track 9 and the first single off the album) is very singlish: it features jangly guitar and standard rock patterns and is in probably the most singable track on the album, if not the most interesting. "I will" (10) is a slowly paced guitar song with harmonizing high and low vocals and no electronic experimentation. "A Punch-up at a wedding" (11) has a jazz-funk groove feel to it, bass rolling against piano riffs and vampy vocals on top--it's probably my favorite song on the album right now. "Myxamatosis" (12) is probably the hardest song on the album--a cacophony of heavy, almost bloated, distorted bass and driving drums with percussive lyrics and discordant organ strains: the results grabs you and shakes you (whether you want to be shaken or not). "Scatterbrain" (13) is this album's "Paranoid Android", IMHO. And "Wolf At The Door" descends from a more radio-friendly tune into a freewheeling vamp with insistent, rhythmic vocals and wailing distorted guitar.
The album is varied, but its disparate elements meld together well. Several of the tunes take surprising turns--but if any band can make the most of surprising turns, its Radiohead.
Posted by: brandon on April 3, 2003 11:56 AMI've have a CD burned of this disk -- yes, it sounds pretty finished, but I've heard tons of unreleased studio tracks from the band going back to Pablo Honey, and they seem to manage to get some very polished stuff done quickly -- they've trashed entire albums worth of very complex, even innovative music.
So in any case I'm not listening to the new CD until it's out -- I don't want to get used to the tinny .mp3 sound anyway.
Posted by: bks on April 8, 2003 03:06 PMsaw the cover of HTTT today. A satire on the US color security coding system.
Posted by: anastasios on April 18, 2003 05:22 PMi love that it mixes the old with the new in a perfect blend where you know they are still transforming which is what i love about radiohead..i also think that real fans will by the album when it comes out regardless to whether or not they have a burned copy
Posted by: erin on April 23, 2003 02:39 AMI have downloaded all of it except for track 4. I LOVE IT! It boggles my mind that Radiohead can keep getting progressively better.
I dare say "Hail to the Thief" is the best Radiohead yet.
hey
have you guys noticed a lot of the files are faulty and will not play?
Posted by: steve on April 26, 2003 04:14 AMThis album is amazing, and for those doubters out there, it HAS been fully mastered in a studio. I know this because I work in a recording studio and my ear for this sort of thing has gotten rather precise in my 22 years of experience. I'm also an avid radiohead fan, and I've heard their bootlegs and unfinished recordings, and this sounds nothing like those. Some further tweaking may occur in a studio before the official release, but if they released it the way it is now, no one would be the wiser...as for "tinny" .mp3 sound, you must be mad, because this sounds GREAT! Anyway, buy this album when it comes out...any band as good as radiohead deserves your support. (I recommend tracks 4, 6, and 11).
Posted by: andrew on April 26, 2003 06:41 PMJust er....borrowed the album of a street urchin who was giving them away just outside Littlewoods in Manchester and i have to say it sounds most fabulous. I read the recent review of this album in NME which confirms to me what pompous pseudo intellectual musos 'they' all are determined to rubbish anything that reminds them that 'they' can't play instruments or write music.
Buy this album. Sure, occasionally Thom sounds like a tortured boar from Hannibal but it works. (And any band that lifts Orwellian quotes and brandishes a thoroughly anti-G.O.P title is worthy of praise, especially in this restrictive, freedom taking time we live in!)
Top tracks are:
2+2=5
Wolf at the Door
Where i end you begin.
Steve, I think Hail to the Thief's release on the Kazaa network is being combatted by creating spoof files that are the exact same length as the album tracks but are filled with silence. Another interesting twist in the copyright side of the album's story.
Andrew, thanks for the "expert take" on the mastering situation. Yes, I've heard early releases too, and this doesn't sound like one. :)
Posted by: brandon on April 29, 2003 05:03 AMI recently acquired the downloaded version of the album... at first, the music didn't "click", but for me, neither did previous Radiohead. Radiohead tends to be so advanced that it takes a while to "get it". I believe that right now my favorite song from the album is We Suck Young Blood (track7). The combination of the background clapping and the vocal harmony sends a shiver up my spine. Also, unless my ears deceive me, it sounds as though the number of people clapping diminishes gradually...
And Mr. Yorke, if you ever read this, I didn't steal the album out of impatience; I stole it out of love for your music - and yes, of course I'll purchase the original when it graces the shelves ;)
Posted by: A Thief on May 2, 2003 03:00 AMWell the final mastered version is now doing the rounds, so those of you with an 'ear' for these things should thing about getting some of that wax shifted ;)
Posted by: dane on May 16, 2003 12:51 PMRegardless of the leak, I think most Radiohead fans are dedicated enough to go buy the album. I got the album off Kazaa, but I'll be in HMV when it's released. Won't be a big loss for them anyways, more or less the princible that someone screwed them,unless otherwise. Besides they got money, and nobody can take away their talent regardless. On the new album, seems like they can't go wrong with nice balance of chemistry in their songs. Love all the new tracks, judge for yourself, let the music do the talking. 'Hail to the band' for another great album.
Posted by: Advent on May 18, 2003 03:19 AMsome of the songs of the album HAIL TO THE THIEF that the band played the last year in Lisboa, are in a japanese page called IDIOT COMPUTER. I assure to all that is quite simple to get them even if you donīt know japanese at all.
Posted by: salvador on May 28, 2003 11:54 PMAlbum is out, folks. Keeping me up all night. Music is pure Radiohead - play any track and you know who it is. It is interesting to read reviews while listening to the music. Someone's favorite is someone's least. The last 6 songs on the album are the best thing the band has done. The first 6 songs are pretty darn good too. The middle two songs are quite strange. Mahlerish "nightmusic". Incredible, wonderful depressing shit!
Posted by: Jeff on June 20, 2003 01:21 AM