RED VINYL

While building new arrangements for the 2025 theater production Hamlet Hail to the Thief, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke dug into the archives for live recordings of songs from the band's politically charged return to guitars, 2003's Hail to the Thief. "Shocked" by the intensity of those performances, Yorke and the band decided to officially release these selections, captured between 2003 and 2009 in London, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Dublin. Mixed by Ben Baptie and mastered by Matt Colton, Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009) is an energized, visceral reimagining of the original album, with the urgency of the band's performances and Yorke's uninhibited live vocals elevating these songs into a brand-new beast. "Backdrifts" and "A Punchup at a Wedding" are noticeably absent, but everything else follows the original track listing. Somehow managing to amplify the already unbearable paranoia and dread, these dozen tracks ferociously careen from frenzied fury (the ends of "2+2=5" and "Sit Down. Stand Up") to breathless urgency ("Where I End and You Begin," "Myxomatosis") to haunted paranoia ("The Gloaming," "We Suck Young Blood"). Even by itself, the glorious highlight "There, There" -- the audience's pure joy and excitement practically leap from the speakers -- is enough to warrant checking this out. For any critics who complained that Hail to the Thief was just too long, bloated, and disjointed, this is the course correction that'll give that album the justice it has always deserved. Yet another reminder of their power and prowess as a live entity, Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009) is a stunning addition to the Radiohead catalog that most fans didn't realize they needed.

2 + 2 = 5 (Live)    3:36
Sit Down. Stand Up (Live)    4:12
Sail To The Moon (Live)    4:19
Go To Sleep (Live)    3:46
Where I End And You Begin (Live)    4:11
We Suck Young Blood (Live)    4:57
The Gloaming (Live)    3:59
There, There (Live)    5:34
I Will (Live)    2:09
Myxomatosis (Live)    4:05
Scatterbrain (Live)    3:26
A Wolf At the Door (Live)    3:31