"That's Not The Album, It's The Demos" Radiohead: Hail to the Thief Demos.
May 03 '03
The Bottom Line The demos to Radiohead's upcoming album "Hail to the Thief" is an excellent album filled with experimental tracks and guitar songs while taking shots at G.W. Bush.
The double-experimental onslaught of 2000’s “Kid A” and 2001’s “Amnesiac” helped Radiohead retain their status as the world’s best band. While some of band’s fans, who enjoyed the anthemic, stratospheric guitar rock of albums like 1995’s “The Bends” and 1997’s “OK Computer”, were a bit alienated by the band’s new sound although they were glad to hear Radiohead wasn’t trying to repeat themselves as they later released a mini-live album in the summer of 2001. After some extensive time off, the band returned to the studio in April of 2002 with longtime producer Nigel Godrich to helm their sixth release. While doing shows in Europe in mid-2002, the band did preview a few of the new songs they’d been working as fans and critics immediately anticipate the band’s upcoming album.
After the brief tour, Radiohead returned to the studio to cut more tracks for the new album as they finished principle recordings in early 2003. Fans, who eagerly wanted to get the new album found it on the Internet and downloaded it quickly as they could. Radiohead however, wasn’t pleased (I got my copy of the demos from friends of mine at the local used record store). The band was upset not because their fans downloaded their unreleased songs but songs that weren’t entirely finished. The new album being called “Hail to the Thief” (a reference to U.S. president George W. Bush) is already slated for release on June 10, 2003. Currently at the moment, Radiohead is currently doing mixing with Nigel Godrich for the new album. While the album may not be finished, the demos to the new album are still amazing to listen to.
The HTTT Demos in comparison to previous album does have the experimental vibes of “Kid A” and “Amnesiac” with more of the pop, noise-rock grandeurs of “The Bends” and “OK Computer”. Yet, being the perfectionist they are, Radiohead have no desire to repeat anything they did which is why the songs on the HTTT Demos are a mix of all of them with more dense, noisier, eclectic textures. The electronic experimentalism of “Amnesiac” and a bit of “Kid A” plays a lesser role in the demos as the songs become a bit more accessible. There are more guitars on the new record than on “Kid A” and “Amnesiac” making fans of guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood happy though he still caters around to gadgets like pedals, radio machines, programmers, and the French-theremin instrument, the Martenot.
While the last album “Amnesiac” did contain many great songs, the only problem that frustrated some fans was its inconsistency since the album was filled with experimental textures and guitar-driven songs. On the demos to “Hail to the Thief”, the songs are great and do flow better with each track while it is still a bit inconsistent. The songs do range from upbeat, guitar rockers, melodic-texture songs, harrowing ballads, and electronic-driven tracks that are definitely more accessible than any of the songs from “Amnesiac” and “Kid A”. The pop conventions from “The Bends” and “OK Computer” don’t appear very much on the album as the band is trying to stretch the boundaries between pop and experimental music. Lyrically, most of the album is filled with incendiary references to the U.S. government, including George W. Bush, as the band gets a bit angrier on this album. The demos show that the band is still making very successful attempts at doing so. Whether or not the mastered album will help exceed Radiohead’s intentions on changing pop music, the demos to “Hail to the Thief” shows that the band are still trying to break the rules of conventional pop and rock music.
The unmastered album begins with "2+2=5" as it starts off with stuttering, scratchy guitar riffs from Jonny Greenwood, who then leads into a more melodic-driven textured while being accompanied by soft, pulsating drum machines. Thom Yorke sings, “Are you such a dreamer/To put the worlds to right/I’ll stay home forever/Where two and two always make a five/I’ll lay down the tracks, sandbag and hide” as Yorke sings obtuse lyrics throughout the song. Then Jonny Greenwood’s guitar brings in a stuttering, melodic drone as Yorke sings, “It’s the devil’s way now/There is no way out/You can scream and you can shout/It is too late now”. Then comes a crashing chorus filled with powerful drum fills and cymbal crashes from Phil Selway and Colin Greenwood’s thumping bass lines and Ed O’Brien’s droning guitar crashes as Yorke sings, “Because you’re not there/Payin’ attention (repeat 3 more times)”. Yorke’s incendiary lyrics seem to reference the troubled authority U.S. President George W. Bush had done as the song marks as a great opener.
“Sit Down, Stand Up” is a more eclectic, mid-tempo song filled with chiming xylophone beats, spacey synthesizer riffs, throbbing piano and live, electronic percussion tracks. Yorke then sings, “Sit down, stand up/(repeat)/Walk into the jaws of hell (Sit down, stand up)/(repeat)/Anytime (Sit down)/Anytime (Stand up)/Sit down, stand up/(repeat)/We can wipe you out anytime (Sit down, stand up)”. While Yorke sings, his piano playing becomes a bit denser as well as droning bass-fuzz textures arrive. Then Yorke sings the word “The rain drops” repeatedly to sputtering drum machine tracks followed by Selway’s live drums and Colin Greenwood’s pulsating bass lines with layers of warbling electronic textures appearing in the background during the song’s coda.
“Sail To The Moon” arrives with its dreamy, melancholic guitar textures and Yorke’s morose piano track as the song returns to the dreamy, stratospheric textures of “OK Computer” as Jonny Greenwood plays a spacey, chiming riff on his guitar. Accompanied by Colin Greenwood and Selway’s slow rhythm, Yorke sings, “I sail to the moon/I spoke too soon/And how much did it cost/I was dropped from the moonbeam/And sailed on shooting stars” with his seductive, falsetto vocals. The song returns to its sterile, dreamy tone as Yorke sings, “Maybe you’ll be president/But know right from wrong/Or in the flood, you’ll build an Ark/And sail us to the moon/Sail us to the moon (repeat 2 more times)” as Yorke sings the bleak, melancholic song as it shows the world’s desire of escapism from the war and today’s bleak economic tone.
“Backdrifts” opens with electronic loops from Jonny Greenwood’s keyboards and programmers as Ed O’Brien plays an eerie, guitar-driven feedback to Selway’s thumping drum machine. Yorke sings, “We’re rotten fruit, we’re damaged goods/What the hell we’ve got nothing more to lose/One burst and we will probably crumble/We’re backdrifting”. With its electronic-driven textures and scratchy guitars, Yorke sings lyrics filled with bleak overtones about the state of the world as he sings, “I’m backsliding/You fell into our arms/(repeat line)/We tried but there was nothing we could do”. Yorke plays his throbbing piano to Selway and Colin Greenwood’s sputtering, programmed drum and bass tracks to Nigel Godrich’s rich production.
“Go To Sleep” is a return to the more rocking aspects of “OK Computer” and “The Bends” as Yorke plays an acoustic guitar track as he sings the opening verse of “Something for the rag and bone man, over my dead body/Something big is gonna happen, over my dead body/Something saw someone’s daughter, over my dead body”. Selway brings a smooth, mid-tempo rhythm with Colin Greenwood’s thumping bass lines and the melodic guitar textures of Ed O’Brien and Jonny Greenwood. Yorke gets a bit more incendiary as he sings, “We don’t really want a monster taking over/Tip toeing, tying down/We don’t want the loonies taking over/Tip toeing, tying are arms down” as Jonny Greenwood plays a blistering guitar solo. While it’s a mid-tempo song, its unorthodox approach does bring some fire at G.W. Bush as the band prove that the guitars aren’t leaving.
“Where I End And You Begin” is a big album standout with its blend of intense, scratchy rock and eerie, electronic textures. Jonny Greenwood leads the track with his eerie performance on the French, theremin machine the Martenot. Phil Selway brings a more intense, pulsating drum track filled with pulsating fills accompanied by Colin Greenwood’s thumping, melodic bass lines. Yorke then sings, “There’s a gap in between, there’s a gap where we meet/Where I end and you begin/And I’m sorry for us, the dinosaurs roam the earth/The sky turns green, where you end and I begin” as Ed O’Brien plays a scratchy guitars as Jonny Greenwood’s Martenot gets louder. The song’s intensity builds up as Yorke sings, “X’ll mark the place/Like the parting of the waves/Like a house falling in the sea/In the sea” as Yorke plays droning, metallic guitar track. The song becomes more menacing as Yorke sings, “I’ll eat you alive (repeat 4 more times)/There’ll be no more lies (repeat 4 times)” repeatedly as the guitars and Martenot make the instruments noisier and more intense.
“We Suck Young Blood” is the album’s darkest track as Yorke plays a chilling, melancholic piano track throughout the album with Colin Greenwood’s brooding bass slide. Yorke then sings, “Are you hungry/Are you sick/Are you begging for a break/Are you sweet/Are you fresh/Are you strung up by the wrists/We want the young blood (repeat 8 times)”. The song’s slow; chilling tone filled with ominous claps after each verse is easily Radiohead at their darkest led by Yorke’s seductive falsetto vocals. With Jonny Greenwood appearing on a Martenot, the song’s tempo picks up a bit as Yorke plays a menacing piano track to Selway’s pulsating drums briefly. Then Yorke sings, “Won’t let the creeping ivy/Won’t let the nervous bury me/We want the sweet meat (repeat 8 times quietly)/We want the young blood” as the song sounds like a strange, new update of a cool vampire song.
“The Gloaming” is an electronic-driven song filled with distorted, loops and programmed bass and swirling synthesizers led by Jonny and Colin Greenwood. Phil Selway also brings in drum machines to track that are soft, pulsating beats that accompany Thom Yorke’s vocals. Yorke sings strange, obtuse lyrics filled with brooding overtones as he sings, “They will suck you down to the other side/(repeat line 4 times)/To the shadows blue and red, shadows blue and red/Your alarm bells, your alarm bells/Shadows blue and red, shadows blue and red/Your alarm bells, your alarm bells/They should be ringing (repeat line 12 times)/This is the gloaming”. With feedback guitar textures from Ed O’Brien in the background, the drum machines get more and more distorted through its loop from Jonny Greenwood’s electronic programming as Yorke continues to sing his strange lyrics.
The first upcoming single off of “Hail to the Thief” is the song “There There”. Led by Selway’s smooth, bass-pounding drums and Colin Greenwood’s throbbing bass lines, the song is a return to the world of guitar rock as O’Brien and Jonny Greenwood play an array of droning, melodic guitar riffs that are menacing in its performance. Yorke then sings, “In pitch dark, I go walking in your landscape/Broken branches trip me up as I speak/Just cause you feel it doesn’t mean it’s there/(repeat line)” as he himself plays a distorted, droning guitar track. With the guitars playing at a more dense tone, Yorke continues to sing with his high-pitch wails. With Jonny Greenwood leading with his melodic guitar tracks, Yorke sings, “Feel it, why so green/And lonely (repeat 3 times)/Heaven sent you/To me (repeat 3 times)/We are accidents, waiting, waiting to happen/(repeat line)” as the song’s tempo intensifies a bit led by Jonny Greenwood playing a blistering, wailing guitar solo.
“I Will” is a dreamy, melancholic ballad led by melodic guitar textures from Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien. Yorke and O’Brien sing, “I will lay me down/In a bunker, underground/I won’t let this happen to my children/Meet the real world coming out of your shell/With white elephants, sitting up”. The vocal harmonies between Yorke’s high-pitched vocals and O’Brien’s bass-sounding vocals are powerful in its delivery as O’Brien finally shines as a vocalist. The duo continues to sing bleak lyrics of “I will, rise up/Little babies, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes/(repeat line 3 times)” in this short ballad. “A Punch-Up In The Wedding” is a throbbing mix of electronic beats and rock guitars as Yorke plays a piano track to the throbbing electronic beats and loopy bass lines from Colin Greenwood. Yorke repeats the word “No” as he then sings, “I don’t know why you bother/Nothing’s ever good enough/(By the way) I was there, and it wasn’t like that/You’ve come here to start a fight”. Some of the lyrics on the song are filled with more incendiary references to George W. Bush as Yorke sings, “Hypocrite, opportunist/Don’t infect me with your poison/A bully in a China shop/When I turn ‘round you stay frozen to the spot”. O’Brien brings in some scratchy guitar tracks as well as Jonny Greenwood providing melodic textures to the song.
“Myxomatosis” is a noisier, fuzzy track with droning guitars and bass lines followed by Phil Selway’s incessant drum fills as the band decides to get a little noisier. Yorke sings, “The mongrel cat came home/Holding half a head/Proceeded to show it off/To all his newfound friends/He said I been where I liked/I slept with who I like”. Yorke then goes to the chorus of “But now, I don’t know why/I feel so tongue-tied/Don’t know why I feel/So skinned alive”. Jonny Greenwood accompanies Yorke with his stirring performance on an eerie keyboard track. Some of the song’s lyrics seem to reference of the fear of disease, particularly since SARS is making everyone scared lately. “Scatterbrain” is a smooth, melodic track led by Jonny Greenwood’s smooth, melodic guitar performance as Phil Selway’s smooth, vibrant drum taps accompanies him. Yorke then sings, “I’m walking out in a force ten gale/Birds thrown around, bullet for hail/The roof is pulling off by its fingernails/Your voice is rattlin’ on my window sill/Yesterday’s headlines blown by the wind/Yesterday, people end up scatterbrain”. The song’s smooth, melodic textures and swooning production from Nigel Godrich gives the song a return to Radiohead’s dreamy textures while the lyrics aren’t exactly dreamy since it involves bleak overtones.
The album closer is the melodic; “A Wolf At The Door” that opens up with Jonny Greenwood and O’Brien’s melodic guitar textures and the power-thumping rhythm section of Colin Greenwood and Selway. Yorke then sings, “Drag him out your window, dragging out your dead/Singing I miss you, snakes and ladders/Fire the lid, out pops the crackers/Smacks you in the head/Knifes you in the neck/Kicks you in the teeth” as each lyric is filled with a sense of anger Radiohead hasn’t done. The song’s bitterness in its lyrics accompanied by its melodic textures provides a sense of tension that is brilliant in its performance. Yorke continues to sing his bitter lyrics of “Stepford wives, who are we to complain/Investments and dealers, investments and dealers/Cold wives and mistresses/Cold wives and Sunday papers/City boys in first class” as the song provides a bitter close to the album.
Whether or not the new mixing for the upcoming mastered release of “Hail to the Thief” will be superior, the demos presented from the album are still brilliant. Though a little bit uneven, the album is sure to give Radiohead another achievement in their rich catalog. Really, “Hail to the Thief” is sure going to provide something for everyone as Radiohead continues to push themselves and the music world on its feet. While many of the songs that are filled with the bitterness towards George W. Bush, it’s not really a political album since the songs don’t go very far into politics. With the mastered album coming on June 10, 2003, it’s very likely the fans who got the demos will try and hear how the demos can be compared to the mastered album. In the end, the demos to “Hail to the Thief” are an enjoyable as an album and it’s a good collector’s item. For more info on “Hail to the Thief”, lyrics and everything else go to: www.ateaseweb.com/
Album Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Other Radiohead Reviews:
Pablo Honey (1993)
http://www.epinions.com/content_95348559492
The Bends (1995)
http://www.epinions.com/content_95871995524
OK Computer (1997)
http://www.epinions.com/content_96662949508
Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP (1998)
http://www.epinions.com/content_96968150660
Kid A (2000)
http://www.epinions.com/content_97367264900
Amnesiac (2001)
http://www.epinions.com/content_97684721284
I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings (2001)
http://www.epinions.com/content_92662173316
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
thevoid99
|
 - Top 100 |
|
Member: Steven Flores
Location: Smyrna, Georgia
Reviews written: 1533
Trusted by: 440 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.